When Drake Troutman last suited up at Volusia Speedway Park for the Emil and Dale Reutimann Memorial in 2023, he came up one position shy of the win.
He wasn’t going to be denied another chance to win as he led the final 34 laps for his first win in the marquee event against familiar competition in national dirt Late Model racing.
While Stephen Pedulla and Josh Sanford brought the field of 30 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds to the opening green flag, Ethan Dotson, Kyle Strickler, and Troutman ambushed the front two drivers around the top of the 1/2-mile track, with Dotson taking the lead on Lap 2 and Strickler taking second place.
Troutman found early pacing around the bottom lane and utilized it to pass Pedulla for third on Lap 4, then Strickler for second on Lap 8. He then shifted to the high lane to chase down Dotson’s No. 99 Beak Built Chassis.
A slip by Dotson on Lap 12 opened the chance for Troutman to race side-by-side as the two World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models presented by DIRTVision rookies exchanged slide jobs for multiple laps until the Hyndman, PA driver was fully clear of Dotson with a final crossover move through Turns 1-2 on Lap 16.
Troutman kept his No. 5 Foster-owned UMP Modified glued to the cushion as Dotson felt pressure from Strickler for the runner-up position. While Troutman managed to squeeze through the lapped traffic, the two drivers behind him struggled to emulate his abilities as the leader’s gap was stretched to 4.1 seconds.
An open red caution with 12 laps remaining gave the field a final opportunity at stealing the win away. Troutman responded by owning a one-second gap over Dotson and Strickler as Westminster, MD’s Ray Kable joined the podium mix around the low lane by passing Strickler on Lap 39, then took second from Dotson on Lap 43.
Dotson – who kept his Modified on the top – drove back around Kable for second place, but could not chip away at Troutman’s 4.7-second lead in time as he passed the twin checkered flags for his first win in the November battle.
“That was good racing, I was telling (Ethan),” Troutman said. “The dirt’s way better than what it ever has been, the track’s awesome, and they did a phenomenal job. I sailed it down across the center there, and the slick is slick. Like, I pushed across the center, and I thought I was going to take both me and him out, to be honest. But it’s always fun racing with him, I feel like we raced each other really hard and clean at the same time, but it was good. All in all, it was a good night.”
Dotson finished the 50-lap Feature in second place, marking his second podium at “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” after winning the event in 2022. He’ll set his sights on taking the experience from the Modified to the No. 74X ASD Motorsports Late Model in January for DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals.
“Honestly, ever since I won this race (in 2022), it feels like I have a curse here,” Dotson said. “I came here last year and thought we had a shot to win. This year, we were good, but we were lagging a little bit here and there. Drake was super good tonight. He could go all over the racetrack and put it wherever he wanted it. I was just limited and had to drive too hard to keep up and burn my tires off.
“That new dirt they put on, I’m super excited to come down and run Late Models on it here in January because I feel like what they did and stuff helped a lot. We could race all over the thing, and it was super exciting.”
After being stuck inside the top-20 throughout the first half, Kable finished the night on the podium to cap off his first weekend at the Reutimann Memorial aboard the Austin Self-owned No. 23K machine.
“Luckily, it was a long race,” Kable said. “Because at the beginning, I started to fall back, and I thought I was really in trouble. So, it took time. I tried the top, the middle, and the bottom. Finally, I don’t know if my tires came in or maybe I just grew some sense there, but after that red, that thing really came alive. I started coming off the corners like a bandit, so I was happy that I didn’t finish in the back, even though I ended up there for part of the race.”
Rounding out the night’s top five finishers were Strickler and 2020 event champion Tyler Nicely, with the top five drivers receiving $100 bonuses from RCP America.
Recap Notes:
Last Chance Showdown Winner: Blake Tasker
Shawn and Tiffany Reutimann Best Appearing Car: Treb Jacoby
Joy Filters Longest Tow: Greg Belyea, of Stirling, ON
DIRTVision Redraw Bonuses: Stephen Pedulla (Pole Position), Zane Oedewaldt (Eighth Place)
Capt. Bob’s Airboat Tours Hard Charger: Austin Self (+19)
Close Racing Supply Hard Luck Award: Blake Tasker
Allen Plumbing Highest Finishing Florida Driver: Devin Dixon
DIRTVision Move of the Race: Tyler Nicely
TheGreatestStoreOnDirt.com First Non-Qualifier: Greg Belyea
While Troutman celebrated his first win in the Reutimann Memorial, the 604 Late Models saw Callahan, FL’s Kole Platt visiting Victory Lane, and New Smyrna Beach, FL driver Austin Harley bested track champion Dalton Jopke by a mere 0.017 seconds at the finish line for his first track win in the 3/4 Modifieds.
Up Next: Volusia Speedway Park will open the 2026 calendar with a full weekend of dirt Late Model racing with the seventh edition of DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals on Wednesday-Saturday, Jan. 21-24. The “Late Model Palooza” weekend will open with practice on Wednesday, then racing on Thursday-Saturday with the World of Outlaws, Crate Racin’ USA Pro (604) Late Models, and 602 Late Models.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (50 Laps): 1. 5-Drake Troutman[4]; 2. 99-Ethan Dotson[3]; 3. 23K-Ray Kable[14]; 4. 8S-Kyle Strickler[5]; 5. 7-Tyler Nicely[11]; 6. J82-Treb Jacoby[9]; 7. 150-Kyle Hammer[15]; 8. 2-Devin Dixon[23]; 9. 23Z-Austin Self[28]; 10. 3-Josh Sanford[2]; 11. 00-Blake Tasker[21]; 12. 72-Todd Neiheiser[18]; 13. 78-Rich Pratt[27]; 14. 07-Eric Moon[29]; 15. 43A-Mark Anderson[13]; 16. 99W-Wade Olmsted[16]; 17. 21-Devin McLeod[31]; 18. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[25]; 19. 97-Mitch Thomas[7]; 20. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[8]; 21. 3D-Makayla Tyrrell[30]; 22. 33M-Jeff Mathews[26]; 23. 51-Dalton Lanich[12]; 24. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[20]; 25. 52-Mikey Kopka[24]; 26. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[1]; 27. 66-Joshua Kunstbeck[22]; 28. 29-Chris Spalding[6]; 29. 24B-Dillon Buhr[17]; 30. 27-Jason Garver[19]; 31. 21J-Clay Harris[10]