Click here to watch the interview from Victory Lane
Barberville, FL – Feb. 3, 2010 – Two years ago Dave Hess Jr. was crowned an All-Star at the DIRTcar Nationals By University of Northwestern Ohio. On Wednesday night’s opener to the 39th annual running of the traditional event at Volusia Speedway Park, Hess rekindled those memories to top a star-studded DIRTcar UMP Modified main event.
Hess managed to hold off a field that included Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Jared Landers, who dominated last year’s event.
“The track was real fast so I think everyone’s car felt great,” said Hess, of Waterford, Pa. “I didn’t want to look back, there were a lot of great cars throughout the field.”
Hess used a front row starting spot to stake his claim on the top spot just as University of Northwestern Ohio driver Todd Sherman went barrel-rolling up and along the Turn 3 wall. Sherman would walk away from the vicious wreck. Hess was strong on every restart, keeping the hard-charging superstars behind him over the final 19 laps.
“We’ve had real good cars, right out of the box,” Hess said. “I just hope we can keep everything going.”
Withstanding challenges from the likes of Jon Henry, of Ada, Ohio, and Tommy Seets, of Alton, Ill., Hess would prove too strong late in the going, stretching his lead to over five car-lengths as the checkerd flag waved.
Along with 42 All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars, there were 74 DIRTcar UMP Modifieds signed in on Wednesday night on the opening night of the 39th DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, delayed a day by Tuesday’s rain. Terry Hull, of Columbia City, Ind., ran the fastest lap in group qualifying with a time of 19.983 seconds around the Volusia Speedway Park half-mile oval.
Heat race action saw Henry make quick work of a heat race filled with NASCAR names. Henry led Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Wallace to the line for the first heat win. Heat two was witness to eventual winner Hess beating the likes of former DIRTcar UMP Modified National Champion Denny Schwartz, of Ashmore, Ill., and younger Team Dillon driver, Ty Dillon of Welcome, NC.
Tommy Seets, of Alton, Ill., showed Dale Mathison, of Clearwater, Minn., and Ken Schrader of Fenton, Mo., the quick line for a Heat 3 victory, while Ben Adkins, of West Portsmouth, Ohio, dominated the action during Heat 4. Derek Groomer, of Bloomington, Ill., outdistanced Scotty Kincaid, of Rising Sun, Ind., and Jamie Lomax of Lake Village, Ind., in Heat 5. UNOH driver Todd Sherman, of Churubusco, Ind., would claim Heat 6 over Jeremy Kerzman, of Gray Eagle, Minn., and teammate Terry Hull.
Jared Landers, of Batesville, Ark., one year removed from winning 5 of 7 features at the DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH, had to fight his way to the first B-Main win. David McWilliams, of Union, KY., would claim B-Main 2 and Jason Hughes, of Westville, Okla., would capture B-Main 3 to set the 28-car field.
BARBERVILLE, FL -- February 6, 2010 -- It didn’t take long for Dave Hess Jr. to find his way back to Victory Lane during the 39th annual DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway Park.
The Waterford, Pa., driver battled early with friend and competitor Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., as the two broke away from the rest of the field. After many attempts using multiple grooves, Hess settled into the low lane behind Scott until finding an opening on lap 14 to grab the lead and march on to victory in Saturday night’s 20-lap DIRTcar UMP Modified ‘The Gator Championship’ preliminary feature.
The triumph locked Hess and the remainder of Saturday’s top-10 finishers directly into the $5,000-to-win ‘Gator’ A-Main scheduled for Monday night (Feb. 8). Ten more drivers will transfer to the ‘Gator’ championship event through Sunday night’s second preliminary feature.
“Stormy is a real good kid. I’ve gotten to hang out with him all week,” said Hess. “It kind of sucked to have to get under him like that, but this is business.”
Business was good for Hess, a regular at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., where he competes in the DIRTcar Late Model ranks, and, occasionally, a DIRTcar UMP Modified.
“My car was really good and I knew I was going to have to make my move on the bottom,” commented Hess, who earned $700 for his second win of the 2010 DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH. “He was missing it every once in awhile, plus my car is just really working well and my crew guys are doing a great job every night.”
Hess was followed to the line by Scott, 2008 DIRTcar UMP Modified national champion Jeff Leka of Buffalo, Ill., Jared Hawkins of Fairmont, W.Va., and Steven Pfeifer of Minot, N.D.
Pfeifer set fast time during the evening’s qualifying session, pacing the field of 37 DIRTcar UMP Modified competitors around the half-mile oval.
Heat winners were Heass, Scott, Hawkins and Leka. Jim Ransom of Williamsport, Ind., captured the win in B-Main 1 after battling with Curt Myers of Cameron, Wis., during the opening laps, while Jared Landers of Batesville, Ark., topped the second B-Main over 2009 DIRTcar UMP Modified national runner-up Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind.
The second half of the DIRTcar UMP Modified field will compete on Sunday night (Feb. 7) in another ‘Gator’ preliminary program, setting the stage for Monday’s big event for the open-wheel division.
For more information on the DIRTcar Nationals and DIRTcar Racing, visit www.dirtcarnationals.com and www.dirtcar.com.
Qualifying Results: 1. Steven Pfeifer, 2. Ben Adkins, 3. Wayne Hammond, 4. Jared Hawkins, 5. Jeremy Kerzman, 6. Larry Burkins, 7. Dale Mathison, 8. Justin Houston, 9. Mike Spatola, 10. Jammie Wilson, 11. Jeff Leka, 12. Dave Hess Jr, 13. Jared Landers, 14. Scott Green, 15. Stormy Scott, 16. Paul Miles, 17. Scott Martin, 18. Jamie Lomax, 19. Curt Myers, 20. David McWilliams, 21. Shane Sabraski, 22. Matt Goulden, 23. Devin Gilpin, 24. Rob Underwood, 25. Derek Groomer, 26. Jason Wheatley, 27. Nick Hoffman, 28. Jeff Thomas, 29. Jim Ransom, 30. Scotty Owens, 31. Jeremy Newberry, 32. Kent Corbin, 33. Joe Carr, 34. Darrell George, 35. Chad Evans, 36. Charlie Phillips, 37. Kyle Bronson.
Heat 1: 1. Dave Hess Jr, 2. Paul Miles, 3. Matt Goulden, 4. Mike Spatola, 5. Scott Green, 6. Curt Myers, 7. Jim Ransom, 8. Jason Wheatley, 9. Joe Carr, 10. Chad Evans.
Heat 2: 1. Stormy Scott, 2. Jamie Lomax, 3. Scott Martin, 4. Larry Burkins, 5. David McWilliams, 6. Jeremy Newberry, 7. Jeff Thomas, 8. Kent Corbin, 9. Charlie Phillips
Heat 3: 1. Jared Hawkins, 2. Justin Houston, 3. Steven Pfeifer, 4. Wayne Hammond, 5. Jammie Wilson, 6. Jared Landers, 7. Devin Gilpin, 8. Shane Sabraski, 9. Darrell George.
Heat 4: 1. Jeff Leka, 2. Dale Mathison, 3. Ben Adkins, 4. Jeremy Kerzman, 5. Kyle Bronson, 6. Nick Hoffman, 7. Derek Groomer, 8. Scotty Owens, 9. Rob Underwood.
B-Main 1: 1. Jim Ransom, 2. Curt Myers, 3. Jason Wheatley, 4. Joe Carr, 5. Jeff Thomas, 6. Kent Corbin, 7. Jeremy Newberry, 8. Charlie Phillips, DNS. Chad Evans.
B-Main 2: 1. Jared Landers, 2. Devin Gilpin, 3. Nick Hoffman, 4. Shane Sabraski, 5. Derek Groomer, 6. Rob Underwood, 7. Scotty Owens, 8. Darrell George
A-Main (20-Laps Top 10 Locked into Gator Championship): 1. Dave Hess Jr, 2. Stormy Scott, 3. Jeff Leka, 4. Jared Hawkins, 5. Steven Pfeifer, 6. Jared Landers, 7. David McWilliams, 8. Paul Miles, 9. Jammie Wilson, 10. Mike Spatola, 11. Scott Martin, 12. Curt Myers, 13. Jim Ransom, 14. Scott Green, 15. Jeremy Kerzman, 16. Ben Adkins, 17. Kyle Bronson, 18. Dale Mathison, 19. Jamie Lomax, 20. Larry Burkins, 21. Matt Goulden, 22. Justin Houston, 23. Wayne Hammond, 24. Devin Gilpin (DNS).
