By Brian McLeod
LAKE CITY, Fla. (Feb. 1) — Using the lower groove, front-row starter Kyle Strickler made a strong early move into the lead past pole position starter Tyler Nicely, but later had to rely on a late-race maneuver in the upper groove to regain the advantage from Nicely en route to a $1,500 victory in a 30-lap UMP Modified main event Saturday night at 3/8-mile North Florida Speedway.
After stealing the lead from Strickler on lap 22 and leading five consecutive laps through the 26th circuit, Nicely watched as Strickler sailed around him in the outside groove with time slipping away, Once that task was completed, Strickler established a comfortable half-straightaway lead margin over the final three circuits to secure the win at the semibanked track.
Trailing Strickler and Nicely to the checkered flag in the 25-car field were Michael Long, Terry Phillips and Mike Mullen.
It was the Mooresville, N.C., driver’s second victory in a row at the facility during the annual three-day UMP Nationals, and it nearly wasn’t a victory after Nicely took advantage of Strickler’s brake-related difficulties that hampered him through the night. Right after an early red flag for a track-blocking incident on the frontstretch that involved seven machines including Shane Taylor, Cory Hupp, Michael Wesselman, Corey Cruse, Stephen Pedulla, Dave Wietholder and Shawn Taylor, Strickler’s troubles began.
“I got to messing with my brake adjuster during the caution, and it got stuck and I couldn’t get it freed up,” Strickler said. “We ended up with all front brake on the car, and I couldn’t get it back to where it was supposed to be. I was so nervous the whole race, because we ended up with a death push that carried us higher into the corners than we’d have liked on nearly every lap. With all front brakes, it was a real battle to get the car to turn.”
Recognizing Strickler’s struggles, Nicely emerged from a midrace duel with 10th-startin
g Terry Phillips, who advanced forward into contention and was a threat to Nicely’s runnerup status for several laps of side-by-side racing. Nicely, with Phillips hot on his heels and Strickler’s lead position increasingly in jeopardy with each passing lap, finally made his move to the lead on the 22nd trip around the 58-year-old speedplant, relegating Strickler to what looked to be a runnerup finish.
Nicely was never able to put any distance on Strickler’s machine, and the eventual winner moved in for the kill. Having led the first 21 laps, Strickler was having none of Nicely’s intentions. The laps were fast slipping away when Strickler gamely steered his machine to the top side off the fourth corner and snatched the top spot back from Nicely entering turn one, making a clear-cut move to the front that sealed the race’s outcome. He quickly put an exclamation point on the move by opening a half-straightaway bulge over the final three circuits.
“I really had to get back on the wheel for that one,” Strickler said. “After Tyler [Nicely] got by us, and he’s been running well down here during Florida Speedweeks, I knew I had to really go after it. We’d raced door to door for the lead on the first lap, but I figured we’d have to go back to the top to get it done. Earlier in the race when I passed him on the bottom in turns three and four, the track was better at that end. Our car feels good and has all weekend, and we’ve run twice during Florida Speedweeks and won both of ‘em. This place has been good to us, and that’s a pretty good start to our racing down here.”
Strickler accomplished the victory in a VED Racing Engines-powered Longhorn Chassis that carried sponsorship from Bilstein Shocks, Tom Cat Performance, Walker Performance Filtration, G-Style Transport, Jerovetz Motorsports, Carolina Racing Supply, Wehrs Machine and Donaldson Grading.
UMP Modifieds (30 laps): 1. Kyle Strickler, 2. Tyler Nicely, 3. Michael Long, 4. Terry Phillips, 5. Mike Mullen, 6. Nick Hoffman
, 7. Austin Holcombe, 8. Brad DeYoung, 9. Mavrick Varnadore, 10. Josh Sanford, 11. Shane Taylor, 12. Joe Phillips, 13. Jason Garver, 14. Shawn Taylor, 15. Christian Thomas, 16. Ryan Fowler, 17. Drake Troutman, 18. Curt Myers, 19. Todd Neiheiser, 20. Cory Hupp, 21. Will Krup, 22. Michael Wesselman, 23. Dave Wietholder, 24. Stephen Pedulla, 25. Corey Crews.