Pit Notes – Matt Williamson Wins Night 3 of DIRTcar Nationals   

Matt Williamson had some mid race 3 wide side by side racing & lead changes with Stewart Friesen but in the final laps he went top side to drive away from McLaughlin in second and a fading Friesen to take the win by a comfortable 2.5 second margin.

In first two nights of modified competition Williamson qualified in 4^th position and just never got to the front with two 6^th place finishes.  But on night 3 Williamson went to the #1 spot in qualifying as his group’s quick qualifier.  From there he won his heat and the outside pole in the feature redraw.  In the feature he led 26 of 30 laps and had the most dominant feature win of the week thus far.  

Max McLaughlin had another strong run to the front with a 2^nd place finish from his 7^th place starting position in the 30-lap feature.  McLaughlin adds the 2^nd place finish to a 3^rd and 8^th place finish and has been moving to the front all week no matter what circumstances present to him.   In night 2 he lost a motor and had to rolled out the backup car for the last chance race.  The 8H entry went from last to first passing 10 cars in the 10-lap last chance race.   In the one caution night 2 feature Max moved from 20^th starting position to an 8^th place finish.  Max is defending 2021 DIRTcar Nationals points champion and looking for another big gator at the end of the week.  He currently sits 5^th in “Big Gator” points only 30 points behind Peter Britten with two races to go.

Peter Britten made another late race move on lap 25 and moved from 6^th to 3^rd in the final 5 laps of the feature.  On night 2 Britten led only one lap and that was lap 30 for the win.  Britten has three consecutive podium finishes with a 2^nd, 1^st, and 3^rd place finish.  McLaughlin may be going to the “big gator”, but Britten has his eye on the “big croc”.  He currently leads the “Big Croc” points chase by 30 points over a Friesen, Williamson, McLaughlin, and Phelps.

Matt Sheppard finished 4^th in the feature from a 6^th starting position after changing to his backup car for night 3 of the DIRTcar Nationals.  The change to the backup car made a world of a difference for the 9S entry and put Sheppard back in the hunt for a gator.

For the first time this week the track produced side by side racing in the heats.  Matt Sheppard was able to take advantage of the racy surface and move into a redraw position with a 2^nd place finish in his heat race from a 6^th starting position.  For the first time this week Sheppard made the redraw and did not get relegated the last chance consolation.

Stewart Friesen stayed side by side with Matt Williamson for the lead until lap 20 when his setup started to fade dropping Friesen from 2^nd to 5^th place finish.

Stewart Friesen just missed his qualifying session by 5 minutes while in transit from the NASCAR truck series which placed him in the 9^th starting position in his heat race.  Nonetheless he still made a back to front run finishing 2^nd in his heat from a 9^th starting position and earning a redraw spot in the feature.

Jimmy Phelps continues to have a good DIRTcar Nationals week with a 6^th place finish from a 10^th starting position on his 3^rd night of racing.  Phelps led 29 of 30 laps last night but got caught in lapped traffic on the final lap and was passed by Peter Britten for the win on lap 30.  Phelps has a 4^th, 2^nd, and 6^th in his three nights of racing.

Rick Laubach finished 7^th and is one of only a few modified drivers still running torsion bars.  Laubach qualified for the feature last night but couldn’t make the feature call due to flywheel problems and was a DNS in the night 2 feature.  He repaired his car overnight and qualified to the front row of his heat which he won earning him the 4^th redraw position in the feature. 

Larry Wight had a contact flat in his heat race which sent him to the last chance consolation.  Wight drove to a 9^th place feature finish from his 21^st starting position in the feature.  Wight has been consistent with a 5^th, 8^th and 9^th finish but is still looking for podium finishes for the final two days of the DIRTcar Nationals.

Michael Parent from Quebec Canada has been able to start in all 3 features with a best finish of 10^th.

Danny Creeden recorded his best finish of his DIRTcar Nationals with a 10^th place finish and has also qualified for all 3 nights of racing.

 UP NEXT
The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Volusia Speedway Park for its fourth night of racing during the 51st DIRTcar Nationals on Friday, Feb. 18.  

DIRTcar Nationals Feature #3 (30 Laps) 2-17-22:

 1. 88-Mat Williamson[2];  2. 8H-Max McLaughlin[7];  3. 21A-Peter Britten[8]; 4. 9S-Matt Sheppard[6]; 5. 44-Stewart Friesen[1]; 6. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[10]; 7. 1K-Rich Laubach[4]; 8. 30W-Joseph Watson[5]; 9. 99L-Larry Wight[21]; 10. 16X-Dan Creeden[3]; 11. 8S-Rich Scagliotta[9]; 12. 23C-Kyle Coffey[16]; 13. 12S-Darren Smith[12]; 14. 19-Tim Fuller[15]; 15. 3H-Justin Haers[20]; 16. 111-Demetrios Drellos[13]; 17. 2L-Jack Lehner[14]; 18. 35M-Mike Mahaney[11]; 19. 14-CG Morey[25]; 20. 118-Jim Britt[19]; 21. 215P-Adam Pierson[18]; 22. 83-Brian Swartzlander[23]; 23. 25P-Michael Parent[22]; 24. 3J-Marc Johnson[26]; 25. JS98-Rocky Warner[24]; 26. (DNF) 37MD-Jeremiah Shingledecker[17]

DNQ: Matt Stangle, Michael Trautschold, Marc Johnson, LJ Lombardo, CG Morey, Andrew Smith, Francois Bellemare, Corbin Millar, Jeff Taylor, Olden Dwyer, Darwin Greene, Scott Huber, Dave Rauscher, Jimmy Zacharias, Steve Bernard, Jeffery Lapalme, Marcus Dinkins, Russell Morseman