BARBERVILLE, FL – Night #2 of the inaugural DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals was a very telling tale of who the Saturday night finale contenders will be, with two repeat winners, almost a third, on Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park.
Kyle Bronson was one of two drivers to double-up on Friday night, making a big move for the lead underneath Jadon Frame on a restart to get the edge, which he carried all the way back to the checkered flag for his second consecutive DIRTcar Pro Late Model win at Volusia. Likewise, David Showers Jr. went back-to-back in the Florida Late Model division, just one night after scoring his very first win in a Late Model, and Bud Chancey took advantage of an engine malfunction out front to claim his first 602 Late Model win at The World’s Fastest Half Mile.
DIRTcar PRO LATE MODELS – KYLE BRONSON
It was a case of déjà vu on the podium of the Pro Late Model Feature on Friday night, as Bronson led the final 20 laps and beat out fellow Super Late Model stars Randy Weaver and Max Blair. However, Bronson had to work for it a bit, compared to Thursday night.
Killer jetted out to the runner-up spot within two laps of the race, giving chase to leader Jadon Frame. A restart on lap five put Bronson’s #40B on Frame’s rear bumper as they dove into turn one, Bronson with a big run to Frame’s inside. The two made contact that ended with Frame in the wall and Bronson racing off, unharmed.
“I kept getting under the guy, and he kept turning left on me, but I really didn’t have position to finish him off with the way these Crate motors run around here,” Bronson said. “When I finally got position on him, I felt like I was about a half-car ahead of him. I went to do a slide-job on him and, I don’t really know if he just stayed in the gas or hit a slick spot and hit the fence or whatever happened.”
Frame left the track on the hook as Bronson stayed out and led the rest of the way to collect $2,000 for the win. Bronson admitted he and Frame touched as they battled for the lead out of Turn 2, but also said what followed was just the product of the drive to win.
“I hate what happened, but in my shoes, if I had to do anything over again, I wouldn’t change nothing I did. I wish the outcome would have been a little bit different, but that’s the way it goes. We come to win these races; I’m driving my butt off to win these races. [My team] are giving me a damn good car, so I’ve just got to do my job,” Bronson said.
“There definitely was contact, 100 percent. It wasn’t anything crazy, just a deal that I feel like on these Crate cars, when someone gets their quarter-panel to your left-front, it’s time to check. Or, stay out there and wreck yourself – kinda what [Frame] did,” Bronson added.
Randy Weaver had another solid drive to a runner-up finish, this time from much further back, starting 9th and dropping back to 12th on the first lap. He made patient moves through the field and used the well-timed yellows to catch the leaders within 15 laps to score his second podium finish of the weekend.
Max Blair held his car inside the top-five for most of the race, dropping back to seventh after the lap five restart, but was able to rebound for another third-place finish. For a short time, the Titusville, PA-native held the runner-up spot before Weaver tracked him down and passed him with what could have been the fastest car on the track, next to Bronson.
Douglasville, GA’s Super Late Model guru Michael Page finally brought out his #18X on day two of competition and joined the field as one of the favorites on the roster. His first night on track, however, did not go as he had planned, as his race ended by stopping at the topside of turn two with a mechanical failure.
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson [3]; 2. 116-Randy Weaver [9]; 3. 111-Max Blair [6]; 4. 66-Jake Knowles [1]; 5. 17-Nevin Gainey [12]; 6. 7T-Trever Taylor [14]; 7. 7A-Corey Almond [10]; 8. 95-Brandon Williams [5]; 9. 2-Trynt Lloyd [11]; 10. 313-Devin Dixon [22]; 11. 30-Todd Cooney [24]; 12. 5W-David Whitener [16]; 13. 38-Jamie Carter [13]; 14. 14B-John Baker [19]; 15. 11-Cruz Skinner [25]; 16. 33-Jeff Mathews [21]; 17. 7-Jason Fitzgerald [26]; 18. 87-Walker Arthur [8]; 19. 38P-Trey Pearson [23]; 20. 71-Pierce McCarter [17]; 21. 84-Sam Halstead [15]; 22. 5-Mark Whitener [2]; 23. 6-Dillon Brown [20]; 24. 18X-Michael Page [7]; 25. 6H-Clay Harris [18]; 26. J8-Jadon Frame [4] Hard Charger: 30-Todd Cooney[+13]
Qualifying Flight-A 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 17.058; 2. 2-Trynt Lloyd, 17.553; 3. 116-Randy Weaver, 17.566; 4. 95-Brandon Williams, 17.581; 5. 38P-Trey Pearson, 17.597; 6. 84-Sam Halstead, 17.618; 7. J8-Jadon Frame, 17.638; 8. 5-Mark Whitener, 17.674; 9. 38-Jamie Carter, 17.693; 10. 14B-John Baker, 17.837; 11. 71-Pierce McCarter, 17.901; 12. 10RT-Cody Overton, 17.97; 13. 44-John Ruggerio, 17.991; 14. 33-Jeff Mathews, 18.066; 15. K37-Drew Kennedy, 18.073; 16. 1-Grant Garrison, 18.106; 17. 74-Mike Franklin, 18.269; 18. 9-Jimmy Waldrop, 18.328; 19. 17M-David Markham, 18.351; 20. 16-Tom Egner, 19.076; 21. 39-Troy Dixon, 19.614; DQ. 14-Howard Stalls, 18.52
Qualifying Flight-B 1. 18X-Michael Page, 17.322; 2. 111-Max Blair, 17.336; 3. 7A-Corey Almond, 17.385; 4. 6-Dillon Brown, 17.471; 5. 7T-Trever Taylor, 17.479; 6. 5W-David Whitener, 17.485; 7. 66-Jake Knowles, 17.494; 8. 87-Walker Arthur, 17.513; 9. 7-Jason Fitzgerald, 17.522; 10. 27-Joe Denby, 17.572; 11. 6H-Clay Harris, 17.714; 12. 17-Nevin Gainey, 17.715; 13. 30-Todd Cooney, 17.745; 14. 721-Joe Kump, 17.778; 15. 313-Devin Dixon, 17.786; 16. 4-Justin Litchford, 17.822; 17. 20-Owen Osteen, 17.881; 18. 66K-Jody Knowles, 17.963; 19. 32-Curtis Glover, 18.087; 20. C71-Cody Courtney, 18.204; 21. 11-Cruz Skinner, 22.268
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson [4]; 2. J8-Jadon Frame [1]; 3. 116-Randy Weaver [3]; 4. 38-Jamie Carter [5]; 5. 71-Pierce McCarter [6]; 6. K37-Drew Kennedy [8]; 7. 38P-Trey Pearson [2]; 8. 17M-David Markham [10]; 9. 44-John Ruggerio [7]; 10. 74-Mike Franklin [9]; 11. 39-Troy Dixon [11]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 5-Mark Whitener [1]; 2. 95-Brandon Williams [3]; 3. 2-Trynt Lloyd [4]; 4. 84-Sam Halstead [2]; 5. 14B-John Baker [5]; 6. 33-Jeff Mathews [7]; 7. 10RT-Cody Overton [6]; 8. 1-Grant Garrison [8]; 9. 14-Howard Stalls [11]; 10. 9-Jimmy Waldrop [9]; 11. 16-Tom Egner [10]
Heat #3 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 66-Jake Knowles [1]; 2. 18X-Michael Page [4]; 3. 7A-Corey Almond [3]; 4. 7T-Trever Taylor [2]; 5. 6H-Clay Harris [6]; 6. 30-Todd Cooney [7]; 7. 313-Devin Dixon [8]; 8. 11-Cruz Skinner [11]; 9. 32-Curtis Glover [10]; 10. 20-Owen Osteen [9]; 11. 7-Jason Fitzgerald [5]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer 1. 87-Walker Arthur [1]; 2. 111-Max Blair [4]; 3. 17-Nevin Gainey [6]; 4. 5W-David Whitener [2]; 5. 6-Dillon Brown [3]; 6. 4-Justin Litchford [8]; 7. 66K-Jody Knowles [9]; 8. 721-Joe Kump [7]; 9. C71-Cody Courtney [10]; 10. 27-Joe Denby [5]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. 33-Jeff Mathews [2]; 2. 38P-Trey Pearson [3]; 3. K37-Drew Kennedy [1]; 4. 10RT-Cody Overton [4]; 5. 17M-David Markham [5]; 6. 44-John Ruggerio [7]; 7. 1-Grant Garrison [6]; 8. 14-Howard Stalls [8]; 9. 74-Mike Franklin [9]; 10. 16-Tom Egner [12]; 11. 39-Troy Dixon [11]; 12. 9-Jimmy Waldrop [10]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer 1. 313-Devin Dixon [3]; 2. 30-Todd Cooney [1]; 3. 4-Justin Litchford [2]; 4. 721-Joe Kump [6]; 5. 11-Cruz Skinner [5]; 6. 20-Owen Osteen [9]; 7. 32-Curtis Glover [7]; 8. C71-Cody Courtney [8]; 9. 66K-Jody Knowles [4]; 10. 27-Joe Denby [10]; 11. 7-Jason Fitzgerald [11]
FLORIDA LATE MODELS – DAVID SHOWERS JR.
He may have had the win handed to him on Thursday night when leader Bubba Whitener wrecked while leading, but make no mistake, David Showers Jr. had to work for his second-ever win in a Late Model on Friday night.
Taking the lead on lap one, Showers nearly ran away with the show in the early going, but Whitener tracked him down and put the pressure on in the final laps to make it an exciting chase for the finish line. Leading all 25 laps, Showers collected $3,000 for his victorious efforts.
Feature (25 Laps) 1. 18-David Showers [1]; 2. 5-Bubba Whitener [5]; 3. 1A-Richard Pratt [8]; 4. 18A-Jared Allison [2]; 5. OO7-Dusty Sparkman [6]; 6. 27-Bruce Harvey [12]; 7. 26B-Adam Bedenbaugh [10]; 8. 5MC-Robert Gast [11]; 9. 98-Johnny Allen [3]; 10. 29-Cameron Saunders [4]; 11. 10S-Steve Shead [16]; 12. 15-John Bledsoe [14]; 13. 33-TJ Evans [9]; 14. 11K-Josh Kunstbeck [13]; 15. 68-Ken Ellefson [18]; 16. 54-Terry Bronson [7]; 17. 45-Chuck Jackson [15]; 18. 17-Richard Ferry [17] Hard Charger: 27-Bruce Harvey[+6]
Qualifying 1. 17-Richard Ferry, 17.695; 2. 18A-Jared Allison, 18.274; 3. 18-David Showers, 18.331; 4. 27-Bruce Harvey, 18.403; 5. 29-Cameron Saunders, 18.415; 6. 5-Bubba Whitener, 18.448; 7. 1A-Richard Pratt, 18.667; 8. OO7-Dusty Sparkman, 18.712; 9. 98-Johnny Allen, 18.933; 10. 54-Terry Bronson, 19.032; 11. 5MC-Robert Gast, 19.055; 12. 15-John Bledsoe, 19.077; 13. 33-TJ Evans, 19.488; 14. 10S-Steve Shead, 19.551; 15. 11K-Josh Kunstbeck, 20.078; 16. 68-Ken Ellefson, 20.147; 17. 45-Chuck Jackson, 20.53; DQ. 26B-Adam Bedenbaugh, 19.012
Heat #1 (8 Laps) – Top 12 Transfer 1. 18-David Showers [3]; 2. 1A-Richard Pratt [1]; 3. 29-Cameron Saunders [2]; 4. 98-Johnny Allen [5]; 5. 33-TJ Evans [7]; 6. 5MC-Robert Gast [6]; 7. 11K-Josh Kunstbeck [8]; 8. 45-Chuck Jackson [9]; 9. 17-Richard Ferry [4]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) – Top 12 Transfer 1. 5-Bubba Whitener [2]; 2. OO7-Dusty Sparkman [1]; 3. 18A-Jared Allison [4]; 4. 54-Terry Bronson [5]; 5. 26B-Adam Bedenbaugh [9]; 6. 27-Bruce Harvey [3]; 7. 15-John Bledsoe [6]; 8. 10S-Steve Shead [7]; 9. 68-Ken Ellefson [8]
602 LATE MODELS – BUD CHANCEY
In what originally looked to be Cody Overton’s second consecutive win in the Sunshine Nationals 602 Late Model Feature, Thursday night’s runner-up Bud Chancey took advantage of a poorly timed engine failure on Overton’s part to scoop-up the win – his first victory at Volusia.
Overton started on the front row and jetted out to a commanding lead early on before going up in a puff of smoke on lap 12, handing over the lead, and the win, to Chancey. Chancey took no prisoners after getting the lead, out in front by a 5-second margin at the checkers.
Feature (20 Laps) 1. 32-Bud Chauncey [1]; 2. 78-Arthur Conquest [9]; 3. 33-Colton Leyendecker [11]; 4. M51-Mark Steube [3]; 5. 5-Dustin Carter [4]; 6. 25-Wiley McDaniel [8]; 7. 388-Jackson Hise [5]; 8. 3-Raymond Folwell [14]; 9. 31-Donnie Birdwell [25]; 10. 28-Brandon Elwood [16]; 11. O7-Landon Lungren [15]; 12. OO-Louis Ledlow [21]; 13. 98-Cody Allen [13]; 14. 5B-Colby Boyett [10]; 15. 9X-Chad Evans [22]; 16. 97-Cody Overton [2]; 17. 14JR-Trey Mills [6]; 18. 64-Craig Montesi [17]; 19. 22-Jonah Bozeman [7]; 20. 58-Tyler Clem [12]; 21. 27K-Timmie King [23]; 22. O2-Sean Babcock [20]; 23. 97B-Garrett Bullington [18]; 24. 17S-Brenden Smith [24]; 25. 18-Jared Allison [19] Hard Charger: 31-Donnie Birdwell[+16]
Qualifying 1. 14JR-Trey Mills, 18.924; 2. 3-Raymond Folwell, 19.106; 3. 97-Cody Overton, 19.274; 4. 5B-Colby Boyett, 19.359; 5. 5-Dustin Carter, 19.415; 6. O7-Landon Lungren, 19.421; 7. 22-Jonah Bozeman, 19.556; 8. 25-Wiley McDaniel, 19.573; 9. 78-Arthur Conquest, 19.771; 10. 32-Bud Chauncey, 19.838; 11. 388-Jackson Hise, 19.844; 12. M51-Mark Steube, 19.901; 13. 98-Cody Allen, 19.976; 14. 33-Colton Leyendecker, 20.158; 15. 97B-Garrett Bullington, 20.217; 16. 18-Jared Allison, 20.257; 17. 64-Craig Montesi, 20.262; 18. 58-Tyler Clem, 20.296; 19. 31-Donnie Birdwell, 20.363; 20. 27K-Timmie King, 20.378; 21. OO-Louis Ledlow, 20.704; 22. 28-Brandon Elwood, 20.938; 23. O2-Sean Babcock, 22.137; 24. 17S-Brenden Smith, 23.354; 25. 9X-Chad Evans, NT
Heat #1 (6 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer 1. 14JR-Trey Mills [4]; 2. 32-Bud Chauncey [1]; 3. 22-Jonah Bozeman [2]; 4. 5B-Colby Boyett [3]; 5. 98-Cody Allen [5]; 6. 28-Brandon Elwood [8]; 7. 18-Jared Allison [6]; 8. 9X-Chad Evans [9]; 9. 31-Donnie Birdwell [7]
Heat #2 (6 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer 1. 388-Jackson Hise [1]; 2. 5-Dustin Carter [3]; 3. 25-Wiley McDaniel [2]; 4. 33-Colton Leyendecker [5]; 5. 3-Raymond Folwell [4]; 6. 64-Craig Montesi [6]; 7. O2-Sean Babcock [8]; 8. 27K-Timmie King [7]
Heat #3 (6 Laps) – Top 9 Transfer 1. 97-Cody Overton [4]; 2. M51-Mark Steube [1]; 3. 78-Arthur Conquest [2]; 4. 58-Tyler Clem [6]; 5. O7-Landon Lungren [3]; 6. 97B-Garrett Bullington [5]; 7. OO-Louis Ledlow [7]; 8. 17S-Brenden Smith [8]
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals action continues on Saturday night with the 30-lap, $10,000-to-win finale for the Pro Late Models and 20 laps and $1,500-to-win for Florida Late Models and 602 Late Models. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision!