Throughout the 2025 season at Volusia Speedway Park, three of Florida’s top dirt track drivers made their marks in a new era for the Barberville, FL facility.
The year saw the emergence of the “Fab 5” divisions, involving 604 Late Models, 602 Late Models, DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, 3/4 Modifieds, and Factory Stocks. Amongst the 227 drivers that competed across the divisions, three drivers added their names to the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” record books as first-time track champions.
The track celebrated the three new champions, alongside the best of the “Fab 5,” at an awards banquet that included live music, food, drinks, and prizes for the racers and their crews.
Jason Garver (Starke, FL) – DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, 602 Late Models, Factory Stocks
Showing an all-around talent, Jason Garver, of Starke, FL, bagged three of the five “Fab 5” championships in the DIRTcar UMP Modified, 602 Late Model, and Factory Stock divisions – a feat he hadn’t even fathomed at the beginning of the year.
In the DIRTcar UMP Modified division, his title fight with Seth Geary came down to the final two laps of the season. With Geary running in a podium spot during the championship race, Garver needed to climb through the field to maintain enough points over his rival. As the laps clicked off, Garver squeaked by two drivers in the final two laps to help him win the championship by five points.
“We probably picked the worst night to have the worst run of the year in a Modified,” Garver said. “It was a little bad timing, and Geary’s been good all year to race against. He was at the front, and I was falling back at the time. Under the caution, I was doing the numbers in my head, and I was like, ‘Dang, we’re gonna lose.’ So, I had to get up on the wheel, but it was close and fun for sure.”
The title that Garver was the least confident about scoring was in the 602 Late Model division. Heading into The Prelude to the Reutimann, Brandon Yates led Garver by a single marker, making whoever finished ahead of the other after 20 laps the champion. Garver’s second-place finish compared to Yates’ fifth-place result locked up his second division championship.
“Brandon was a point ahead of us going into the final night,” Garver said. “I knew we had to have a good run and beat him to win it all. The race before, he passed us late into the race and took the points lead, so I had the least confidence about coming out good with it, but we didn’t let it hold us back. I think (Yates) was a little off that night, and we were able to get by until Austin Leamon was behind me. I was really having to watch for Brandon or Austin around me, and it ended up working out in our favor.”
Garver’s strongest performance this year came in the Factory Stock division. “Racin’ Jason” claimed three Feature wins along with seven top fives and top-10s, closing the year with a 36-point gap over Willy Cuddy to make history with three championships at Volusia in the same year.
“There’s a lot of competition in that class throughout the field,” Garver said. “Most nights, most of the cars could probably win if things worked out in their favor, and it’s very tough. You got old guys that are always good, and you got these young kids that are getting better every time. I was pretty thankful for winning that (title) because it’s just as tough of a class like the others.”
Trynt Lloyd (Jacksonville, FL) – 604 Late Models
Like Garver, Trynt Lloyd began 2025 with the intention of gaining notes and improving his performance at Volusia. Those motivations helped drive the Jacksonville, FL native to his first career dirt Late Model championship.
“Mainly, we went to (Sunshine Nationals), and I wasn’t all that great,” Lloyd said. “I really just wanted to get better at Volusia, that’s all I wanted to do. I just kept working and working at it, and every time I went, I got better and better trying to run local. We got about halfway through, and we had three wins, so I figured, ‘Might as well, let’s do it.’”
Through the first four races of the season, the 20-year-old racer owned three Feature wins and built a points gap over his closest title contenders, Garret Stewart and Kole Platt. The driver of the Longhorn Chassis No. 2 did not lose sight of the championship as he earned a third-place and two wins in the final three races of the year to secure the $3,000 points fund prize.
“It’s really cool, I never won any kind of championship in a big car yet,” Lloyd said. “It was cool to mark that off the list. My car owner, Charlie Rose, he’s believed in me 100 percent, and they trust me whether they’re there or not. I got a good crew behind me with a bunch of my buddies back home. Longhorn helps us out with giving feedback, but for the most part, it’s all on me with the setup, and I’m just starting to figure it out now.”
Dalton Hopke (Jacksonville, FL) – 3/4 Modifieds
After ending his 2024 season prematurely with mechanical issues, Dalton Hopke pressed the reset button ahead of the following slate of events. The reset helped the Jacksonville, FL, racer earn a career-defining milestone with his first championship in the 3/4 Modified division.
“I think the new surface has played a key role,” Hopke said. “The last few years, we’ve been focusing on running slicker tracks. This year, it’s kind of helped me adapt to it a little bit better and given us a much better track to race on from top to bottom where we can spread out and open our wings up.
“We had some key issues happen in the 2024 season. We just parked the car and took some time off. So, going into 2025, we were going for everything. We wanted to win every race we showed up to. And I knew we were going to be the most competitive car on the track every night, try to give it 120 percent every time, and I race everyone really hard, and I expect them to do the same.”
The pilot of the No. H1 3/4 Modified started the season with a non-points Feature win in the World of Outlaws Bike Week Jamboree, then opened the 2025 points season with a dominating win in the Spring Fling to set the tone for the season ahead.
Through eight 3/4 Modified races contested at the track, Hopke scored five wins, six top fives, and seven top-10 finishes to clinch the championship by 11 points over Ethyn Hwan. With the $1,000 champion’s purse heading to Jacksonville, he’ll be using each dollar to prepare for dirt Late Model competition for 2026.
“It’s definitely going to feel good to take home the points fund money,” Hopke said. “We’re going to put that towards our Late Model program next year. I definitely wanted to get (the title) off my back.
“I felt like we were one of the fastest cars competing in the division, so that feels good to just show them, ‘Hey, we are here, and we can do this if we need to.’ It makes me feel confident going into next year, but it’s not over yet. We’re going to keep trying to win races, that’s the main goal.”
While their chance to defend their titles will wait until the Benny Corbin Memorial on Saturday, March 21, Volusia Speedway Park will begin the 2026 season of racing with DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals (Jan. 21-24), Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals (Jan. 29-Feb. 14), and World of Outlaws Bike Week Jamboree (Mar. 1-2). For the full 2026 schedule, click here.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every race from Volusia Speedway Park live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.