40th Annual DIRTcar Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, FL
February 14, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2011


Moyer Kicks Off DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH Late Model Action With UMP-Sanctioned Victory

Kevin Kovac
BARBERVILLE, FL - Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., kicked off the Late Model portion of the 40th annual DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH in triumphant fashion, capturing Monday night’s 30-lap DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned A-Main.

The 53-year-old full-fender legend steered his Victory Circle by Moyer machine forward from the fifth starting spot to grab the lead from polesitter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., on lap 13. He never looked back en route to a $7,000 payday, pulling away from the field after a lap-23 caution period to defeat Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., by 1.978 seconds.

It marked the second time in the last four years that Moyer emerged victorious in the opener of the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH. He also topped the DIRTcar UMP lidlifter in 2008 on his way to dominating that year’s action with three wins in five starts, including the week-ending World of Outlaws Late Model Series event.

“They got a good racy racetrack, big and wide,” Moyer said of the half-mile Volusia oval, where he’s won six times since 1998. “We like coming here for sure.”

Pearson, who won the UMP opener of the 2007 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, started from the outside pole and led laps 1-4 before briefly falling to third place. He regained second from Madden on lap 16 and closed within striking distance of Moyer before the race’s lone caution flag – on lap 23 for a flat left-rear tire on West Virginia driver Eddie Carrier Jr.’s car – extinguished his bid.

Madden, who led laps 5-12, lost touch with the leaders late in the distance and settled for a third-place finish. Vic Coffey of Caledonia, N.Y., advanced from the eighth starting spot to place fourth and 11th-starter Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., finished fifth after nipping Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., by .039 of a second with a last-lap move.

Coming off a spectacular 2010 campaign that saw him sweep the prestigious UMP-sanctioned Dream and World 100 events at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, Moyer showed no signs of slowing down in ’11 with a masterful performance against a star-studded field of 71 cars. He calmly ran down Pearson and Madden – both former feature winners at Volusia – to seize control of the race.

“It was like ice out there, so slick,” said Moyer. “I was just trying to take care of the car, the tires, everything on there, and was waiting for them (Pearson and Madden) to make a little bobble. They got to moving around on the racetrack a little bit and I had my old hot rod where it could stay on the bottom pretty good, and it worked out for us.”

Fuller finished sixth after starting third and running in the top five for the entire distance. Teenager Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., slipped from the fourth starting spot to a seventh-place finish, while two-time defending WoO LMS champion Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., placed eighth, Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., charged from the 20th starting spot to take ninth and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., rounded out the top 10.

Group qualifying was utilized to set the starting lineups for six heat races in the first of four DIRTcar UMP Late Model programs during the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH.

Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., registered the fastest overall qualifying lap at 16.477 seconds, but he ran into trouble in his heat race and didn’t transfer to the A-Main. Other group fast-timers were Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark. (16.824), Frankie Heckenast Jr. of Orland Park, Ill. (16.596), Hubbard (17.080), O’Neal (16.772) and Madden (17.075).

Heat winners were Fuller, Moyer, Pearson, Hubbard, O’Neal and Madden. The B-Mains were captured by Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., Brady Smith and Wendell Wallace of Batesville, Ark., and Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., earned $300 for winning the 12-lap ‘Bulrush Dash’ for non-qualifiers.

The DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH continues on Tuesday night (Feb. 15) with another UMP Late Model program topped by a 30-lap A-Main. The UMP Modifieds will also compete in triple 25-lap features to close out the division’s week-long meet. Race time is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.


A-Main (30 Laps)
1 5 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR $7,000
2 2 44 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville, FL
3 1 44 Chris Madden Gaffney, SC
4 8 32C Vic Coffey Leicester, NY
5 11 28 Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI
6 3 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
7 4 19 Austin Hubbard Laurel, DE
8 7 1 Josh Richards Shinnston, WV
9 20 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
10 6 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
11 17 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
12 13 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
13 15 24 Rick Eckert York, PA
14 12 4 Billy Ogle Jr Knoxville, TN
15 9 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr Orland Park, IL
16 19 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA
17 25 24 Ryan Unzicker El Paso, IL
18 10 16 Tyler Bruening Decorah, IA
19 22 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO
20 23 25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
21 14 21D Dan Stone Thompson, PA
22 24 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
23 18 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
24 16 28C Eddie Carrier Jr Salt Rock, WV
25 21 88 Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR

____________________________________

B-Main #1  
1 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA
2 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO
3 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
4 56 Russ King Bristolville, OH
5 25 Shane Clanton Fayetteville, GA
6 18E Eric Wells Hazard, KY
7 21JR Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR
8 4 John Garvin Jr Sarver, PA
9 54 Dillan White Crofton, KY
10 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA
11 99 Larry Wight Phoenix, NY
12 7W Ricky Weiss Winnipeg, MB
13 M14 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City, MI
14 18D Danny Mitchell Clarksburg, WV
dns 36 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
dns 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA
dns 71D Ron Davies Warren, PA
dns 82 Roger Brickler Springfield, IL

B-Main #2  
1 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
2 25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
3 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA
4 28 Dennis Erb Jr Carpentersville, IL
5 72 John Mason Millersburg, OH
6 5 Lee DeVasier Midway, KY
7 B5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
8 1S Jack Sullivan Greenbrier, AR
9 11B Stacy Boles Clinton, TN
10 15H Jon Henry Ada, OH
11 40 Joel Callahan Dubuque, IA
12 24 Ryan Unzicker El Paso, IL
13 4T Tommy Kerr Maryville, TN
14 25z Mason Zeigler Connellsville, PA
15 47 Tyler Ivey Tallahassee, FL
16 22 Jill George Cedar Falls, IA
17 27D Donald Beyers Pana, IL
18 33 Brian Reese Sharpsburg, GA
19 17M Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA

B-Main #3  
1 88 Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR
2 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
3 15C Wayne Chinn Bradford, OH
4 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
5 3 Kent Robinson Smithfield, VA
6 27B Jeff Beyers Pana, IL
7 5 Eric Jacobson Seacliff Beach, CA
8 11 Pat Doar New Richmond, WI
9 16 Aaron Ridley Chatsworth, GA
10 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
11 c4 Freddie Carpenter Parkersburg, WV
12 16 Mike Hammerle St Charles, MO
13 4D Chad Hollenbeck Kingsley, PA
14 2P Jerry Perine Lowell, OH
15 1 John Lobb Frewsburg, NY
dns 56J Chuck Julien Apopka, FL

10 Laps
Top 2 Transfer

____________________________________

Heat #1    
1 3 19 Tim Fuller Watertown, NY
2 4 1 Josh Richards Shinnston, WV
3 5 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
4 7 44 Clint Smith Senoia, GA
5 12 54 Dillan White Crofton, KY
6 11 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO
7 6 7W Ricky Weiss Winnipeg, MB
8 1 36 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
9 2 49 Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA
10 10 56 Russ King Bristolville, OH
11 8 99 Larry Wight Phoenix, NY
12 9 71D Ron Davies Warren, PA

Heat #2    
1 2 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR
2 3 32C Vic Coffey Leicester, NY
3 7 21D Dan Stone Thompson, PA
4 1 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
5 10 4 John Garvin Jr Sarver, PA
6 8 25 Shane Clanton Fayetteville, GA
7 6 18E Eric Wells Hazard, KY
8 9 M14 Brandon Thirlby Traverse City, MI
9 11 18D Danny Mitchell Clarksburg, WV
10 4 21JR Billy Moyer Jr Batesville, AR
11 5 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA
12 12 82 Roger Brickler Springfield, IL

Heat #3    
1 2 44 Earl Pearson Jr. Jacksonville, FL
2 1 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr Orland Park, IL
3 3 24 Rick Eckert York, PA
4 5 25 Jason Feger Bloomington, IL
5 4 1* Chub Frank Bear Lake, PA
6 8 72 John Mason Millersburg, OH
7 7 5 Lee DeVasier Midway, KY
8 9 B5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
9 10 24 Ryan Unzicker El Paso, IL
10 6 1S Jack Sullivan Greenbrier, AR
11 12 11B Stacey Boles Clinton, TN
12 11 4T Tommy Kerr Maryville, TN

Heat #4    
1 1 19 Austin Hubbard Laurel, DE
2 3 16 Tyler Bruening Decorah, IA
3 2 28C Eddie Carrier Jr Salt Rock, WV
4 4 2 Brady Smith Solon Springs, WI
5 5 17M Dale McDowell Chickamauga, GA
6 10 25z Mason Zeigler Connellsville, PA
7 9 28 Dennis Erb, Jr Carpenterville, IL
8 7 15H Jon Henry Ada, OH
9 12 40 Joel Callahan Dubuque, IA
10 6 47 Tyler Ivey Tallahassee, FL
11 8 22 Jill George Cedar Falls, IA
12 13 33 Brian Reese Sharpsburg, GA
13 11 27D Donald Beyers Pana, IL

Heat #5    
1 1 71 Don O'Neal Martinsville, IN
2 2 28 Jimmy Mars Menomonie, WI
3 3 15 Steve Francis Ashland, KY
4 7 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA
5 4 5 Eric Jacobson Seacliff Beach, CA
6 5 11T Tyler Reddick Corning, CA
7 6 3 Kent Robinson Smithfield, VA
8 9 4D Chad Hollenbeck Kingsley, PA
9 8 77 Jason McBride Carbondale, IL
10 11 16 Mike Hammerle St Charles, MO

Heat #6    
1 1 44 Chris Madden Gaffney, SC
2 4 4 Billy Ogle Jr Knoxville, TN
3 5 23 John Blankenship Williamson, WV
4 6 88 Wendell Wallace Batesville, AR
5 2 1 John Lobb Frewsburg, NY
6 9 15C Wayne Chinn Bradford, OH
7 3 11 Pat Doar New Richmond, WI
8 8 27B Jeff Beyers Pana, IL
9 10 c4 Freddie Carpenter Parkersburg, WV
10 7 16 Aaron Ridley Chatsworth, GA
11 11 2P Jerry Perine Lowell, OH


8 Laps
Top 3 Transfer


Courtesy of Kevin Kovac