Through six Feature races that ran at the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, one driver visited Victory Lane for the first time while five drivers got to add another Golden Gator to their wins list.
Super DIRTcar Series competitor Justin Stone picked up his first career Gator while Curt Spalding, Kyle Strickler, Cole Falloway, Charlie Mefford, and Lucas Lee will have to make room for the Gator trophy built on their collection of Volusia Speedway Park conquests.
FEATURE #1
Six years ago, Curt Spalding was standing in Turn 2 at Volusia Speedway Park, talking with a friend about racing a dirt car. The next day, that friend – his current car owner Chris Terry – called and said he hoped Spalding was serious because he ordered a car.
Fast forward to Thursday night during the 54th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals and Spalding brought Chris and his car to Victory Lane for the fourth time at Volusia and third time in the past week.
But he had some work to do to get there in the first 20-lap Feature of the night.
Starting fourth, Spalding had to watch Austin Holcombe drive away with the lead at the start of the race while he had to plot his course by second-place Ryan Thomas and third-place George Dixon to have a shot at Holcombe.
Thomas proved to be an easy challenge as Spalding and Dixon got by him on the first lap. They both then closed on Holcombe, but a caution on Lap 4 slowed the race before a battle for the lead could break out.
When the race resumed, Spalding wasn’t interested in wasting any more time in third, passing Dixon for second on Lap 5 and putting Holcombe in his crosshair on Lap 6.
Spalding closed to Holcombe’s rear bumper entering Turn 1. Then stuck his nose underneath the No. 8A, creating an opening for him to pull his No. 5 car even with Holcombe down the backstretch. When the two entered the next turn, Spalding continued his momentous run and darted to the lead by Turn 4.
Dixon passed Holcombe for second in the closing laps, but Spalding was already ahead by more than fourth seconds.
With the win, Spalding keeps himself in contention for his first Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator title.
“It was real tight racing, and everyone was fighting for that top spot,” Spalding said. “Confidence it a lot, obviously, and you have to get into that air. We’re just kind of clicking and everything is going right.”
RESULTS:
Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 5CS-Curt Spalding[4]; 2. 77D-George Dixon[3]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe[1]; 4. 9T-Ryan Thomas[2]; 5. 45-Chase Holland[16]; 6. 8W-Gregory Moore[6]; 7. 17T-Tyler Evans[5]; 8. 16-Shawn Deering[10]; 9. 11J-Jesse Rupe[8]; 10. 23B-Ethan Boomsma[13]; 11. 3S-Josh Sanford[11]; 12. 0-Glenn Styres[9]; 13. 3F-Rob Fuqua[14]; 14. T9-Zack Tate[7]; 15. 5-Jonathan Taylor[17]; 16. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[12]; 17. (DNS) 77S-Jim Shipman
FEATURE #2
Kyle Strickler left Volusia Speedway Park “pissed off” at himself Wednesday night. After leading most of the race, he let Will Krup slip by him and steal the Victory.
Poised to right that wrong, Strickler was untouchable in the second DIRTcar UMP Modified Feature of the night.
He took the lead at the start of the Feature and after Trevor Neville got within a car length of him in the opening laps, Strickler turned on the afterburners and never let anyone close to him for the remainder of the race.
Helping Strickler pull away, Neville and Colton Profitt challenged each other for second lap after lap, not letting either one get a clean run to challenge Strickler.
The win was Strickler’s 16th Feature victory at DIRTcar Nationals.
“I just had to get that dog back in me,” Strickler said. “Felt like I was getting a little soft. I definitely wanted to come back and have some redemption tonight. I was off my game and made mental mistakes. Just worried about what’s going on behind me, more than what’s going on ahead of me.
“A lot of good time. A lot of ups and downs, but the car is still really fast. I feel like we can still get a lot better. I was on my game tonight and all the guys were too.”
RESULTS:
Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 8S-Kyle Strickler[3]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[4]; 3. 56-Colton Profitt[5]; 4. 88-Matt Crafton[2]; 5. 19-Dustin Sorensen[7]; 6. 51-Dalton Lanich[11]; 7. 90K-Ray Kable[1]; 8. 60M-Jim Manka[8]; 9. 11R-Reece Ogle[14]; 10. 99-Jimmy Wagner[9]; 11. 11D-Brian Diveley[12]; 12. 7X-Christopher Cole[16]; 13. 26-Adam Ogle[10]; 14. Z1-Zac Oedewaldt[18]; 15. 23S-Jerol Stepp[17]; 16. 81K-Kyle Cole[15]; 17. 8-Dave Pinkerton[6]; 18. (DNS) 2C-Ronnie Chance
FEATURE #3
If race fans didn’t know the name Cole Falloway before the start of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, they do now.
The young Kentucky driver sprinted his way to his fourth DIRTcar Nationals win in six starts on Thursday night.
Trent Young, who had brought a new car and was looking for his first Volusia win since 2016, led the first nine laps of the Features before Falloway evaporated his hopes.
After starting fourth, Falloway jumped to third on the first lap and then took second on Lap 4. It took him five laps to run down Young but made quick work of the pass to take the lead and drive away with the win.
However, Falloway still feels there’s room for improvement if he’s going to contend for the Big Gator title on Saturday.
“Everybody is working hard and getting better,” he said. “We got to do that too. I wasn’t as good tonight as I have been and some of it might have been me. I kind of moved around some to move by Trent there and kind of stayed around the bottom, but I should’ve moved back up. I think we have a good car and a good shot as long as everything goes good.”
RESULTS:
Feature 3 (20 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[4]; 2. 10Y-Trent Young[2]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman[3]; 4. 25-Greg Belyea[1]; 5. 72-Todd Neiheiser[5]; 6. 114B-Clayton Bryant[7]; 7. 463-Daniel Sanchez[9]; 8. 70H-Jim Britt[11]; 9. 18-Miles Beaulieu[6]; 10. 11L-Jimmy Lennex Jr[13]; 11. 5B-Bobby Bagley[8]; 12. 72S-Eric Shepherd Jr[10]; 13. 28C-Jeff Cotterman[14]; 14. 32-Chad Roush[12]; 15. 9R-JP Roberts Jr[16]; 16. (DNS) 89W-Rick Weitekamp; 17. (DNS) 91-Chris Beaulieu
FEATURE #4
Before Thursday, Charlie Mefford’s run of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals was a series of struggles and what-ifs.
In the opening week, the Belton, KY native failed to qualify on opening night and wrecked on Friday night before picking up his first top-10 on Saturday.
His luck began to swing towards his side when the Big Gator points race began by picking up a second top-10 and two top fives. However, Mefford was anxious to leave Volusia with his fourth Golden Gator.
A pep talk from fellow competitor Lucas Lee built up his confidence before Thursday night’s Feature. The message from Lee? Be a lion.
Mefford channeled that mentality around “The World’s Fastest Half Mile” by commanding the 20-lap showdown, despite the hounding of Will Krup and David Stremme chasing down the 18-year-old driver.
Though Krup and Stremme could not chase down Mefford in time for the Gator victory, they gained valuable points toward their hunt for a first career Big Gator title with second and third-place finishes, respectively.
“At the beginning of the week, I thought I never was going home with the Gator,” Mefford said. “I was down on myself, and Lucas Lee said before my race ‘You gotta be a lion. You gotta claw, scratch, and bite your way to the top,’ and I think we did exactly that tonight.
“It just means more. We busted our tails on this thing today. We had so much torn up, and now we got her back together and it’s ready to go. So maybe, we’ll be able to get another one tomorrow night too, but at least that’s three years in a row that we’ve come down here and got a Gator.”
RESULTS:
Feature 4 (20 Laps): 1. 13-Charlie Mefford[1]; 2. K9-Will Krup[4]; 3. 35-David Stremme[2]; 4. 18L-Michael Long[7]; 5. 17C-Coleman Evans[8]; 6. 24-Zeke McKenzie[6]; 7. 35A-Michael Altobelli[11]; 8. 7J-Justin Allgaier[5]; 9. 21-Scott Ladner[12]; 10. 05-David Wietholder[13]; 11. 27G-Jason Garver[15]; 12. 97-Mitch Thomas[3]; 13. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[10]; 14. S8-Jordan Stotts[14]; 15. 77C-Jason Cox[16]; 16. 07K-Curtis King[17]; 17. (DNS) 41-Brad Goff
FEATURE #5
In only his sixth-ever time competing in a DIRTcar UMP Modified, Justin Stone can leave Volusia Speedway Park with a Gator to his trophy mantle.
The Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modified competitor drove the first laps in his No.15X around Volusia on the opening night for DIRTcar Nationals. One week removed, he drove like a seasoned veteran in Thursday’s Feature.
Starting from the pole position, Stone beat Wednesday Gator winner Mike McKinney to the first corner, then built comfort at the front of the field for the remaining 20 laps.
He found competition in other multi-discipline competitors, with Kyle Hammer having to meticulously work his way up to second place from a fifth-place start, and Jordan Koehler from seventh.
Stone’s Feature win marks the 99th different DIRTcar Nationals winner in the UMP Modifieds ahead of Friday’s six Features assigned by points accumulated since Monday night.
“It’s so new to me,” Stone said. “I had never even sat in (a UMP Modified) until we had it at the shop where we brought it down and drove it around in the parking lot. Everything is different, so it’s been a learning curve.
“I guess you could say this is a dream come true. It’s a little cliche, but it’s really cool. My wife is at home, and she’s like, ‘I want a gator for the mantle, so there you go, babe.”
RESULTS:
Feature 5 (20 Laps): 1. 15X-Justin Stone[1]; 2. 45H-Kyle Hammer[5]; 3. 114-Jordan Koehler[7]; 4. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski[4]; 5. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 6. 57-Charlie Sandercock[3]; 7. 01-Brayden Weller[14]; 8. 77-Ray Bollinger[6]; 9. 21B-Hunter Breland[13]; 10. 60-Shannon Fisk[8]; 11. 2J-Troy Johnson[10]; 12. 99W-Wade Olmsted[17]; 13. 29C-Joey Cotterman[16]; 14. 65-Matt Miller[11]; 15. 10X-Billy Uptegraff[12]; 16. 155-Gavin Shaw[15]; 17. (DNS) 1-Randy Giroux
FEATURE #6
After building up confidence for Charlie Mefford to leave Volusia with a win, Lucas Lee practiced what he preached with his first DIRTcar Nationals Gator in 2025 on Thursday.
The Paris, TN driver began the night from fourth place but did not stay long in the position with a move around Kenny Wallace and Stephen Pedulla for second on the second lap to chase down Wednesday night winner Brad DeYoung.
Lee caught a break in the hunt as DeYoung suffered a mechanical issue that took him out of contention for a second consecutive Gator trophy.
The pilot of the No.12L had to manage the herd of Modifieds behind him, as Wallace used the bottom of the Barberville, FL race track to hunt Lee, but a hiccup by the No.36 cemented Lee’s fourth career Feature win at the marquee February event.
“The car was really good,” Lee said. “It started cleaning up a lot on the bottom, and I didn’t even know he broke. I hate that for Brad, he’s a good guy and a good family. Those starts get so hectic, and it’s hard to race here more and more. It’s more technical than (Volusia’s) ever been, but I’ve got a lot of good people to help me and I got one good crew. If it wasn’t for my guys, then I wouldn’t be doing this anyway.”
RESULTS:
Feature 6 (20 Laps): 1. 12L-Lucas Lee[4]; 2. 36-Kenny Wallace[3]; 3. 7-Evan Taylor[8]; 4. 23Z-Austin Self[9]; 5. 11-Aidan Hinds[15]; 6. 43A-Mark Anderson[17]; 7. 321-Denny Schwartz[16]; 8. 114K-Evan Koehler[11]; 9. 11N-Gene Nicholas[14]; 10. 6-Ryan Fowler[12]; 11. 1H-Ben Harmon[6]; 12. 17-Chris Wilson[10]; 13. 7D-Brad Deyoung[1]; 14. 0K-Damian Kiefer[13]; 15. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[2]; 16. 27-Michael Turner[5]; 17. 9-Ken Schrader[7]
Up Next: The DIRTcar UMP Modifieds invade Volusia Speedway Park for six Feature races split by points earned through the week of racing at the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals on Friday, Feb. 7. The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series joins the Modifieds once again. Tickets are available here:
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.