Short Track Showdown

The temperature of the “Fab Five” championship battles at Volusia Speedway Park has risen with Saturday’s Short Track Showdown complete.

Among the 604 Late Models, 602 Late Models, DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, 3/4 Modifieds, and Factory Stocks that arrived at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” was a night that included a first-time winner, championship implications, and drivers making a case to chase a track championship in 2026.

Here is how each Feature played out:

604 Late Models

Garret Stewart enjoys his Saturday nights in a 604 Late Model in Barberville.

Starting in fourth for the division’s Feature, Stewart charged to second place on the opening lap as track veteran Tuck Trentham secured first place.

Stewart kept within a 0.5-second gap of Trentham through the first half of the Feature by attempting different lanes of the half-mile facility as Trentham’s No. 54 showed the way over the former UMP Modified track champion until the caution flew at the halfway mark.

On the restart, Trentham faced Stewart’s charge as Derike Bennett and Kole Platt joined the mix for the lead. On Lap 14, Stewart attempted the top of the cushion for the lead as Trentham began to creep up the track. With the low side available, Bennett took advantage as Trentham and Stewart made slight contact to take the lead.

Though Stewart passed Trentham, he marched after Bennett by racing around the middle lane while the No. 41 machine used the high side. With four laps remaining, Stewart made his move for the lead once more by dropping to the bottom in Turn 1, then drifted up to Bennett’s door at the exit of the corner to complete the final lead change and take his first win of 2026 at the track.

“I was really surprised at Tuck’s pace, I thought I’d just be able to roll around him on the outside,” Stewart said. “I don’t know if he had somebody telling him to move up, but it stole my air a little bit. I was trying to get a good restart, he cleaned my air out, then the No. 41 was like, ‘Oh no no.’ So when he got by me and Tuck, I had to run a whole new line because where I was running wasn’t gonna be fast enough.”

RESULTS: Feature (20 Laps): 1. 67-Garret Stewart[4]; 2. 41-Derike Bennett[5]; 3. 44P-Kole Platt[7]; 4. 54T-Tuck Trentham[1]; 5. 131-Matt Herlong[2]; 6. 17-Nevin Gainey[8]; 7. 31-Tim Swartz[6]; 8. 74-Jason Garver[9]; 9. 46S-Kevin Strife[10]; 10. 0-Wayne O’Neal[11]; 11. 07S-Jeff Scofield[12]; 12. 33-Gavin Johnson[13]; 13. 23L-Lawton Minchew[14]; 14. 6S-Colin Strife[16]; 15. 23K-Korbin Minchew[15]; 16. 07-David Clegg[18]; 17. 32-James Haynes[3]; 18. 4-Billy Boyd Jr[19]; 19. (DNS) 35-Michael Whipple

602 Late Models

Before Saturday night, Austin Leamon could say he was a Volusia track champion, yet he never won a Feature at the track in his career.

After 20 laps of racing in the Short Track Showdown, Leamon removed the weight off his shoulders after keeping reigning champion Jason Garver at bay.

Starting from Pole Position, Leamon used the bottom lane to take the top spot over Brandon Yates, and Justin Dean secured third place. Behind the three drivers, Jason Garver mounted a charge to take over third from Dean on Lap 2, then passed Yates for second on Lap 3.

As Garver took second, Leamon extended the gap to 2.2 seconds until the sole caution waved on Lap 8. In the ensuing restart, Leamon maintained the lead over Garver by keeping his No. 28 Late Model around the bottom lane.

While Garver kept within a one-second distance of Leamon, he was unable to reach for the lead as the Lithia, FL native bagged an emotional first career win at Volusia Speedway Park.

“Yeah, I finally beat (Garver) after parking with him for the last three years,” Leamon said. “I broke my wrist here in January, so it’s good be back here, and first win here after four years. I’m tired of getting the podium, so finally it’s a win.”

RESULTS: Feature (20 Laps): 1. 28-Austin Leamon[1]; 2. 45-Jason Garver[5]; 3. 53-Brandon Yates[4]; 4. 52-Waylon Haynes[3]; 5. 71-Davy Cline[9]; 6. 131-Matt Herlong[8]; 7. 35-Justin Dean[2]; 8. 1A-Dustin Carter[6]; 9. 1J-Jason Papp[7]; 10. 40-Adam Bennett[10]; 11. 22-Hania Humphries[18]; 12. 17SR-Raymond Folwell[11]; 13. 21M-Mayson Mossow[13]; 14. 87-Robert Pettet[14]; 15. 55-Dustin Childers[12]; 16. 10-Rosario Camerone[15]; 17. P27-Randy Phillips[17]; 18. (DNS) 5-Hunter Blasingame

DIRTcar UMP Modifieds

Two starts and two wins are a good start for Jeff Scofield’s first year of racing DIRTcar UMP Modifieds at Volusia.

The Plant City, FL driver took the lead from the cushion on the opening lap over Jim Manka as 2024 champ Seth Geary suffered a mechanical issue under the hood of his No. 7G Longhorn Chassis that took him out of the running for the win.

Scofield continued to lead the field as Dalton Lanich caught the No. 07S and took the lead through the bottom lane on Lap 4. Two laps later, Lanich slipped into Turn 1, and Scofield took advantage by powering across Lanich off of Turn 2 for the lead.

At the helm of the field, Scofield never gave the hornet’s nest behind him a chance to reach the lead again as he wheeled the Lethal Chassis to a 4.7-second lead as he crossed the twin checkered flags for the triumph.

“Dude, I got a good crew behind me,” Scofield said. “Sean (Reutimann) and them guys, great sponsors, and (David) Stremme with this car, helping me out with the driving skills, it all plays together. I am a pavement guy, and this wasn’t no pavement tonight. This was like driving in the desert, man. I had my hands full, I got no idea what the hell I’m doing, but I’m having a blast.”

RESULTS: Feature (20 Laps): 1. 07S-Jeff Scofield[2]; 2. 24B-Dillon Buhr[3]; 3. 51-Dalton Lanich[8]; 4. 27G-Jason Garver[14]; 5. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[7]; 6. 66-Joshua Kunstbeck[5]; 7. 78-Rich Pratt[11]; 8. 3-Josh Sanford[13]; 9. 60-Jim Manka[1]; 10. 5C-Chase Cooke[17]; 11. 3D-Makayla Tyrrell[6]; 12. 99-Wade Olmsted[9]; 13. 34-Rob Giffen[12]; 14. 00B-Buzzie Reutimann[10]; 15. 2D-Ray Durrence Jr[15]; 16. 11P-Charlie Phillips[18]; 17. (DNF) 1P-Mike Phillips[16]; 18. (DNF) 7G-Seth Geary[4]; 19. (DNS) 18A-Jared Allison; 20. (DNS) 80-Paul Shead

3/4 Modifieds

Colton Lane is ready to challenge Dalton Hopke’s place as the top 3/4 Modified driver in Florida.

At the start of the 15-lap dash, Hopke was involved in a multi-car accident on the frontstretch that brought an immediate end to his chase for a second consecutive track win – forcing a complete restart.

When the racing got underway, Logan Malone took the lead as Lane rode behind him in second. Though Malone inflated the bubble to Lane by 1.1 seconds after Lap 4, Lane slowly deflated the Palm Coast, FL driver’s lead by 0.3 seconds each lap until he reached him on Lap 8.

Using the momentum to his advantage, Lane went for the lead by sliding to the bottom in Turns 3-4 and slid in front of the No. 9 off the exit of Turn 4 to become the new Feature leader.

Lane never looked back once he secured the lead by driving to a 3.7-second lead on Malone as he bagged a first Feature win at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” in 2026.

“We really had a fast car all night,” Lane said. “It was a little slow when we first got here. I had to get around No. 9, and I finally got around him about mid-race. I want to thank all my sponsors, my mom and dad, and hopefully we’re back in Victory Lane next race.”

RESULTS: Feature (15 Laps): 1. 26L-Colton Lane[2]; 2. 9-Logan Malone[1]; 3. 188-Josh Panetti[5]; 4. 5C-Chase Cooke[11]; 5. 59-Ethyn Hwan[8]; 6. 16-Matt Hodges[6]; 7. 2B-Robert Brynteson[7]; 8. 13D-Dakota Cleland[12]; 9. 29-Nathyn Hwan[10]; 10. 32P-Jesse Powers[3]; 11. 27-Steven Powers[9]; 12. (DNS) 859-Timmy Hogan; 13. (DQ) H1-Dalton Hopke[4]

Factory Stocks

Mike Tovet only had one shot to win Saturday, but he used that chance to take his No. 1-SHOT Factory Stock to Volusia Victory Lane for the first time since 2022.

As Willy Cuddy led the field to the green flag, he felt pressure at the front from Jason Garver and Tovet through the early stages, which included three-wide racing with Garver on the bottom, Cuddy in the middle, and Tovet using the top.

Cuddy held the two drivers at bay to keep the lead, then Garver dropped out of the Feature at the halfway point with a mechanical problem, bringing his chase for victory to an early conclusion.

Cuddy and Tovet ran within a half-second gap of each other as Tovet stayed patient behind the leader as the laps clicked closer towards the checkered flag.

As the white flag waved, Tovet deviated from his line by dropping to the bottom lane to attempt a last-ditch effort to steal the win. Entering Turn 3, Tovet caught the door of Cuddy, then moved by the Christmas, FL driver on the exit of Turn 4 to capture a long-awaited return to Victory Lane at Volusia.

“I kept watching (Cuddy) the whole race down there, and he kept hitting them bumps,” Tovet said.
”I tried to get in there with him, and I was like, ‘Nuh uh.’ So I figured if I could ever show him the nose, I might get him riled up a little bit, and I think that’s what happened.
He drove in way too hard, then ended up getting around him.”

RESULTS: Feature (20 Laps): 1. 1 SHOT-Mike Tovet[4]; 2. 23-Willy The Kid Cuddy[1]; 3. 1JR-Dustin Turnage Jr[6]; 4. 1T-Tanner Thomas[9]; 5. 1AR-Travis Staats[2]; 6. 38-David Dowling[17]; 7. 41-Barry Sheffield[15]; 8. 1SR-Dustin Turnage Sr[5]; 9. 44-Dexter Rodriguez[8]; 10. 118S-Donald Springer[16]; 11. 00-Shaun Daugharty[13]; 12. 25T-Patrick Thomas[11]; 13. 01-Jason Garver[3]; 14. 21M-Mayson Mossow[12]; 15. 41W-Jeffery White[14]; 16. 20-Justin Reynolds[7]; 17. 51-Dustin Peterson[10]

Up Next: Volusia Speedway Park will raise the stakes in May for the Wild Card 25, with the “Fab Five” in attendance while the 604 Late Models hunt a $2,500 payday in the springtime competition.

WILD CARD INFO

How can you watch every lap of racing at Volusia Speedway Park? Live on DIRTVision.