Twenty of 51 cars transferred into Saturday’s $7,000-to-win finale
BARBERVILLE, FL – Nov. 19, 2021 – Twenty of the best DIRTcar UMP Modified drivers in the country have locked themselves into the richest race on the fall calendar.
The eighth annual Emil & Dale Reutimann Memorial kicked off Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park with 51 teams lining the pit area, all looking to punch their ticket into the $7,000-to-win finale on Saturday night. After Qualifying, the field was divided up into four, 15-lap Showdown Features that took the top-five finishers into Saturday’s field and redrew the top-two for a starting spot in the top-four rows.
When all was said and done, Nick Hoffman, Victor Lee, Tyler Nicely and Rich Dawson had all claimed victory, cementing their spots inside the first two rows on Saturday’s starting grid. Each of the other 31 drivers yet to qualify into the field will line up in one of two Last Chance Showdown races to start Saturday’s program.
The UMP Modifieds are accompanied by the 604 Late Models and Street Stocks in Saturday’s program, starting with Hot Laps at 5:45pm. Grandstand gates open at 4pm. If you can’t watch at the track, stream all the live action with a FAST PASS subscription to DIRTVision presented by Drydene.
Showdown Feature #1 – Nick Hoffman
Picking up right where he left off after hoisting a record sixth consecutive Big Gator trophy at the 50th DIRTcar Nationals in February, Nick Hoffman garnered his first career Reutimann Memorial Showdown Feature win, leading all 15 laps unchallenged for the $500 check and trophy.
Though he drew fourth in the redraw, one of Hoffman’s strengths in the Modified is distance racing. He hung tough with Tyler Nicely and Justin Allgaier in the Reutimann finale last year and is ready to improve two spots and cash-in for his first farm tractor trophy on Saturday.
“From fourth, it’s 100% possible,” Hoffman, of Mooresville, NC, said. “Got some pretty good cars up front, and you’ve just got to bide your time. Fifty laps is a really long time. Even that 30-lapper [Gator Championship] Feature is a long time, so you add another 20 laps to it, and it makes a big difference.”
Showdown Feature #2 – Victor Lee
With Modified ringer Kyle Strickler starting to his inside, Victor Lee didn’t flinch a bit at the drop of the green. He powered around the outside of the 2018 Reutimann Memorial winner with ferocity on Lap 1 and went on to lead every lap en route to the $500 victory and a strong third-place starting spot for Saturday.
“Starting up front means a lot here,” Lee, of Danville, KY, said. “We drew a three, so it’s a pretty good starting spot. Fifty laps is a long, long race.
“It’s been 20 years since I’ve been here, so to come here this weekend and be as fast as we are, it’s pretty exciting for us.”
Showdown Feature #3 – Tyler Nicely
After winning the event for the first time last year, Tyler Nicely is trying to replicate the success he saw in 2020 with a brand-new car rollout at the Reutimann. It held up quite well for its second night out at Volusia, earning him a Showdown Feature win and the outside pole starting spot for Saturday.
Nicely grabbed the lead at the drop of the green and maintained a solid advantage throughout the 15-lap dash, leading each circuit and holding off hard-chargers Seth Geary and Ryan Toole to score the win.
He said he couldn’t have done it without the help of the team at Longhorn by Loenbro Motorsports in China Grove, NC, who helped repair his wrecked car from an accident in a race last weekend. Now, he’s put it on the front row of a marquee event with a chance at $7,000 in prize money.
“I dropped it off after that wreck and the guys at Longhorn by Loenbro went through it. They did all the maintenance on it for me this week, I just had to go pick it up. Those guys are really helping me out a lot,” Nicely, of Owensboro, KY, said.
Showdown Feature #4 – Rich Dawson
Though he led every lap, Rich Dawson had a near-escape coming to the checkers.
Brandon Wells rode behind Dawson the entire race until they entered a lapped-car situation in the closing laps. Dawson was closing in rapidly on a lapped car as he crossed the stripe to take the white flag. He drew to within a single car-length entering Turn 3 as Wells drove it deep into the corner.
Side-by-side they raced out of Turn 4, the slower car still right in Dawson’s path. But the high-side momentum saw Dawson though and he was able to sneak by Wells’ challenge and stay off the lapped car to secure the W.
“Coming to the white flag, I was like, ‘okay, [the lapped car] is far enough ahead, I’m gonna run my same line and try to not overdrive the car,’” Dawson said. “When we were coming into Turn 3 here, I drove right up on him and figured I was probably gonna have to stay behind him because I didn’t know where [Wells] was quite at. But I was very surprised to see him peek his nose out right there.”
602 LATE MODELS
602 Late Models Feature (20 Laps): 1. 17SSJR-Brenden Smith[6]; 2. 55-Devin Walker[2]; 3. 25-Donnie Chappell[8]; 4. 14JR-Trey Mills[3]; 5. 5-Dustin Carter[7]; 6. 01-Jason Garver[9]; 7. 388-Jackson Hise[5]; 8. M51-Mark Steube[10]; 9. 18R-Bubba Roling[13]; 10. 21D-Lenny Dallman[4]; 11. 12-Allen Tatum[15]; 12. 96-Adam Higginbotham[18]; 13. 1AR-Travis Staats[14]; 14. 15-Chris Meyer[11]; 15. 23-Roger Thomas[16]; 16. (DNF) 31-Tim Swartz[12]; 17. (DNF) 28-Ben Hutto[17]; 18. (DNF) 17G-Nevin Gainey[1]
602 Late Models Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17SSJR-Brenden Smith[3]; 2. 21D-Lenny Dallman[1]; 3. 55-Devin Walker[7]; 4. 5-Dustin Carter[8]; 5. 01-Jason Garver[5]; 6. 15-Chris Meyer[2]; 7. 18R-Bubba Roling[4]; 8. 12-Allen Tatum[6]; 9. 28-Ben Hutto[9]
602 Late Models Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 388-Jackson Hise[4]; 2. 14JR-Trey Mills[6]; 3. 17G-Nevin Gainey[3]; 4. 25-Donnie Chappell[5]; 5. M51-Mark Steube[1]; 6. 31-Tim Swartz[2]; 7. 1AR-Travis Staats[8]; 8. 23-Roger Thomas[7]; 9. 96-Adam Higginbotham[9]
602 Late Models Hot Laps: 1. 17SSJR-Brenden Smith[5]; 2. 55-Devin Walker[15]; 3. 25-Donnie Chappell[10]; 4. 14JR-Trey Mills[12]; 5. 5-Dustin Carter[17]; 6. 01-Jason Garver[11]; 7. 388-Jackson Hise[8]; 8. M51-Mark Steube[2]; 9. 18R-Bubba Roling[7]; 10. 21D-Lenny Dallman[1]; 11. 12-Allen Tatum[13]; 12. 96-Adam Higginbotham[9]; 13. 1AR-Travis Staats[18]; 14. 15-Chris Meyer[3]; 15. 23-Roger Thomas[14]; 16. (DNF) 31-Tim Swartz[4]; 17. (DNF) 28-Ben Hutto[16]; 18. (DNF) 17G-Nevin Gainey[6]
DIRTCAR UMP MODIFIEDS
Showdown Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 2-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 99W-Chris Arnold[2]; 3. 36-Kenny Wallace[3]; 4. 33M-Jeff Mathews[6]; 5. 99-Justin Haley[7]; 6. 00-Buzzie Reutimann[4]; 7. 18-Eric Moon[5]; 8. 80-Paul Shead[9]; 9. 78-Troy Loomis[8]; 10. 17-Patrick Vareika[10]; 11. 1P-Mike Phillips[11]; 12. 11P-Charlie Phillips[13]; 13. (DNF) 27S-Paul Schloss[12]
Showdown Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 4L-Victor Lee[2]; 2. 00EH-Kyle Strickler[1]; 3. 13P-Rich Pratt[3]; 4. 205-Travis Varnadore[6]; 5. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr[4]; 6. 7-Jason Fitzgerald[7]; 7. 2L-Jake Leitzman[9]; 8. (DNF) 10-Dustin Thayer[12]; 9. (DNF) 57P-Zach Permann[10]; 10. (DNF) 17P-Robert Pitcher[8]; 11. (DNF) 67-Garret Stewart[5]; 12. (DNF) 96-Matt Johnson[11]
Showdown Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 25-Tyler Nicely[1]; 2. 7G-Seth Geary[4]; 3. 84-Ryan Toole[6]; 4. 00D-David Reutimann[2]; 5. 24B-Dillon Buhr[7]; 6. 2J-Troy Johnson[5]; 7. 44-Jeff Parsons[8]; 8. 54-Jason Jack[12]; 9. 51-Dalton Lanich[9]; 10. 192-Tim McLeod[13]; 11. (DNF) 8A-Austin Holcombe[3]; 12. (DNF) 33-Kenny Mihalik[11]; 13. (DNS) 4-Doug Penny
Showdown Feature 4 (15 Laps): 1. 80D-Rich Dawson[3]; 2. 39W-Brandon Wells[2]; 3. 72-Todd Neiheiser[5]; 4. 33C-Cody Overton[7]; 5. 16C-John Clippinger[6]; 6. M41-Steve Maisel[9]; 7. 88-Cody Thornhill[8]; 8. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt[10]; 9. 22-David Daughtery[11]; 10. 7+7-Jeff Solinger[12]; 11. 34P-Jim Passino[13]; 12. (DNF) 6-Ryan Ayers[4]; 13. (DNS) 96S-Slade Parsons
Qualifying Flight A: 1. 2-Nick Hoffman, 00:18.654[3]; 2. 00EH-Kyle Strickler, 00:18.952[6]; 3. 99W-Chris Arnold, 00:19.046[13]; 4. 4L-Victor Lee, 00:19.188[14]; 5. 36-Kenny Wallace, 00:19.267[19]; 6. 13P-Rich Pratt, 00:19.278[22]; 7. 00-Buzzie Reutimann, 00:19.395[25]; 8. 1A-Steve Meyer Jr, 00:19.537[23]; 9. 18-Eric Moon, 00:19.664[18]; 10. 67-Garret Stewart, 00:19.896[15]; 11. 33M-Jeff Mathews, 00:19.945[2]; 12. 205-Travis Varnadore, 00:20.079[4]; 13. 99-Justin Haley, 00:20.164[8]; 14. 7-Jason Fitzgerald, 00:20.326[1]; 15. 78-Troy Loomis, 00:20.449[16]; 16. 17P-Robert Pitcher, 00:20.672[24]; 17. 80-Paul Shead, 00:20.686[11]; 18. 2L-Jake Leitzman, 00:20.759[5]; 19. 17-Patrick Vareika, 00:21.317[9]; 20. 57P-Zach Permann, 00:21.850[7]; 21. 1P-Mike Phillips, 00:22.643[20]; 22. 96-Matt Johnson, 00:23.147[10]; 23. 27S-Paul Schloss, 00:23.219[17]; 24. (DNS) 10-Dustin Thayer, 00:23.219; 25. (DNS) 11P-Charlie Phillips, 00:23.219
Qualifying Flight B: 1. 25-Tyler Nicely, 00:18.028[14]; 2. 96S-Slade Parsons, 00:18.436[18]; 3. 00D-David Reutimann, 00:18.480[12]; 4. 39W-Brandon Wells, 00:18.509[24]; 5. 8A-Austin Holcombe, 00:18.586[19]; 6. 80D-Rich Dawson, 00:18.629[7]; 7. 7G-Seth Geary, 00:18.671[22]; 8. 6-Ryan Ayers, 00:18.714[3]; 9. 2J-Troy Johnson, 00:18.751[6]; 10. 72-Todd Neiheiser, 00:18.762[17]; 11. 84-Ryan Toole, 00:18.893[8]; 12. 16C-John Clippinger, 00:18.923[15]; 13. 24B-Dillon Buhr, 00:19.014[11]; 14. 33C-Cody Overton, 00:19.052[25]; 15. 44-Jeff Parsons, 00:19.139[9]; 16. 88-Cody Thornhill, 00:19.158[23]; 17. 51-Dalton Lanich, 00:19.272[20]; 18. M41-Steve Maisel, 00:19.529[26]; 19. 4-Doug Penny, 00:19.658[4]; 20. 11Z-Zane Oedewaldt, 00:19.676[21]; 21. 33-Kenny Mihalik, 00:19.745[5]; 22. 22-David Daughtery, 00:19.849[1]; 23. 54-Jason Jack, 00:19.998[2]; 24. 7+7-Jeff Solinger, 00:20.149[16]; 25. 192-Tim McLeod, 00:20.219[10]; 26. 34P-Jim Passino, 00:20.943[13]
THUNDER STOCKS
Thunder Stocks Feature (15 Laps): 1. 00-Shaun Daugharty[4]; 2. 22-Jonathan Croson[6]; 3. 12-Curt Spencer[9]; 4. 118-Ron Adams[5]; 5. 25-Patrick Thomas[2]; 6. 73S-David Szczepanik[15]; 7. 8-Justin Guessford[10]; 8. 3X-Scott Durlin[1]; 9. B11-Buddy Higgins[12]; 10. (DNF) 01-Jason Garver[3]; 11. (DNF) 9AR-Charlie Staats[11]; 12. (DNF) 3D-Jack Depriest[13]; 13. (DNF) 13-Scott Brumfield[14]; 14. (DNF) 30-Chris Jeune[7]; 15. (DNF) 42-Marty Sands[8]
Thunder Stocks Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 00-Shaun Daugharty[3]; 2. 25-Patrick Thomas[7]; 3. 118-Ron Adams[4]; 4. 30-Chris Jeune[2]; 5. 12-Curt Spencer[1]; 6. 9AR-Charlie Staats[8]; 7. 3D-Jack Depriest[6]; 8. 73S-David Szczepanik[5]
Thunder Stocks Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 01-Jason Garver[7]; 2. 3X-Scott Durlin[4]; 3. 22-Jonathan Croson[6]; 4. 42-Marty Sands[3]; 5. 8-Justin Guessford[5]; 6. B11-Buddy Higgins[2]; 7. 13-Scott Brumfield[1]
Thunder Stocks Hot Laps: 1. 00-Shaun Daugharty[5]; 2. 22-Jonathan Croson[12]; 3. 12-Curt Spencer[1]; 4. 118-Ron Adams[7]; 5. 25-Patrick Thomas[13]; 6. 73S-David Szczepanik[9]; 7. 8-Justin Guessford[10]; 8. 3X-Scott Durlin[8]; 9. B11-Buddy Higgins[4]; 10. (DNF) 01-Jason Garver[14]; 11. (DNF) 9AR-Charlie Staats[15]; 12. (DNF) 3D-Jack Depriest[11]; 13. (DNF) 13-Scott Brumfield[2]; 14. (DNF) 30-Chris Jeune[3]; 15. (DNF) 42-Marty Sands[6]