Larry Wight celebrates after winning the Super DIRTcar Series Feature on Wednesday night. (Chris Owens photo)
Sheppard Declared World of Outlaws Winner at Volusia After Erb Penalized
Wild night at DIRTcar Nationals had everything from door-banging to late-race passes for wins
BARBERVILLE, FL — Feb. 12, 2020 — A wild night of racing Wednesday at Volusia Speedway Park’s DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford took another strange turn afterward.
Dennis Erb Jr. raced to the checkered flag in the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Feature after Mark Whitener and Brandon Overton knocked each other out of the race in a door-to-door battle for the lead with seven laps to go. However, after the victory lane celebration, Erb failed to report to postrace inspection and was penalized to last place, handing the win to defending champion Brandon Sheppard for his first Series victory of the season.
Whitener was on point from the drop of the green flag, but seven different drivers swapped positions two through five until Whitener and Overton started slamming into each other trying to move to the lead. First, they hit in the middle of the backstretch, then crossed over in Turns 3 and 4 with Whitener on the inside sliding up the track and knocking Overton over the cushion, bringing both cars to stop as Erb and Brandon Sheppard shot by on the bottom.
Erb rolled the low groove on the restart with Sheppard blasting around the top. Erb’s inside position was just enough to edge Sheppard by a nose at the checkered flag for what appeared to be his first win of the season until he missed going to postrace inspection and was penalized, gifting the victory to Sheppard.
All that excitement set the stage for the Super DIRTcar Series event, where Larry Wight narrowly held off Stewart Friesen.
Defending DIRTcar Nationals champion Wight found a home on the top side of the track while Friesen was moving up and down trying to close the gap. With nine laps to go in heavy traffic, Friesen closed right on Wight. With three to go Friesen peeked to the inside of Wight exiting Turn 4, but Wight had enough momentum to power off the corner and hold off Friesen to the finish.
Series champion Mat Williamson was third followed by former NAPA Super DIRT Week winners Brett Hearn and Billy Dunn.
DIRTcar Nationals Race Report; Volusia Speedway Park; Feb. 12, 2020
World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series (40 Laps): 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard [8][$10,000]; 2. 29v-Darrell Lanigan [7][$5,000]; 3. 14-Josh Richards [13][$3,000]; 4. 20-Jimmy Owens [6][$2,500]; 5. 3s-Brian Shirley [10][$2,000]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton [9][$1,700]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie [5][$1,400]; 8. 49-Jonathan Davenport [12][$1,300]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson [17][$1,200]; 10. 18-Chase Junghans [14][$1,100]; 11. 17M-Dale McDowell [16][$1,050]; 12. 157-Mike Marlar [3][$1,000]; 13. 25z-Mason Zeigler [22][$950]; 14. 12-Ashton Winger [15][$900]; 15. 0e-Rick Eckert [26][$850]; 16. 4G-Kody Evans [23][$800]; 17. 97-Cade Dillard [19][$770]; 18. 0M-Chris Madden [20][$750]; 19. 0-Scott Bloomquist [25][$730]; 20. 7-Ricky Weiss [11][$700]; 21. 99B-Boom Briggs [21][$700]; 22. 66c-Matt Cosner [27][$700]; 23. 6-Blake Spencer [29][$110]; 24. 5-Mark Whitener [4][$110]; 25. B1-Brent Larson [28][$700]; 26. 76-Brandon Overton [2][$110]; 27. 2s-Stormy Scott [24][$700]; 28. 21-Ivedent Lloyd [30][$700]; 29. 72-Michael Norris [18][$110]; 30. 28-Dennis Erb [1][$700]. Lap Leaders: Brandon Overton – 28; Mark Whitner – 3-27, 29-32; Dennis Erb – 1-2, 33-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 0e-Rick Eckert [+10].
Super DIRTcar Series (30 laps): 1. 99L-Larry Wight [2][$3,000]; 2. 44-Stewart Friesen [4][$1,500]; 3. 88-Mat Williamson [8][$1,000]; 4. 20-Brett Hearn [1][$800]; 5. 49-Billy Dunn [5][$700]; 6. 25R-Erick Rudolph [6][$650]; 7. 91-Billy Decker [16][$600]; 8. 44P-Anthony Perrego [9][$550]; 9. 4-Andy Bachetti [3][$500]; 10. 21A-Peter Britten [12][$450]; 11. 1-Billy Pauch [10][$400]; 12. 30-Ronnie Johnson [14][$375]; 13. 19-Tim Fuller [19][$350]; 14. 42P-Pat Ward [21][$325]; 15. 19M-Jessey Mueller [22][$300]; 16. 111-Demetrios Drellos [17][$275]; 17. 3-Justin Haers [11][$250]; 18. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [13][$250]; 19. 9S-Matt Sheppard [15][$250]; 20. 23-Kyle Coffey [24][$250]; 21. 46-Jeremy Smith [20][$250]; 22. 83-Brian Swartzlander [18][$250]; 23. 48T-Dave Rauscher [25][$250]; 24. 7-Rick Laubach [7][$250]; 25. 7MM-Michael Maresca [23][$250]; 26. 6D-Dillon Steuer [26][$250]. KSE Hard Charger Award: 91-Billy Decker [+9].