good racing , good crowd in stands.
32 late models
9 modifieds
11 hobby stocks
17 thunder stocks
7 gladiators
last checkers 11:15
32 Late Models is an EXCELLENT field. The others sound just a bit short, but it does sound like a fantastic start. I LOVE that track, probably my favorite for ‘fan friendly’, and its great to see it come back to life.
Don’t know anything about the new promotors, but grateful that someone put themselves on the line to bring it back.
My next ‘must see’ show.
For all the doom & gloom that everyone seems to cast on our sport, the FACT is that there are more tracks opening/re-opening than there are closings.
I just got home from there and I must say this was one of, if not the smoothest opening night I’ve seen at a track. The promoters are great people and the staff was very friendly. The track was pretty awesome also. That’s from my perspective. The fans will have to comment on the rest. I initially thought the crowd was sparse and then I noticed all the people tailgating in turn 1 and 2.
Phenomenal opening night…The late model field was worth the price of admission alone (which was only $10!) It was like they’d been doing it for years… Padgett and Fitzgerald waged an epic battle for the lead.
Dang it! I finished up some yard work around 630 and even called the track to see if they were running, by the time I cleaned up it was 645 and my pessimism got the best of me. Figured the show was going to stink. .looks like I was wrong in a big way!
Glad to hear they were so strong.
The LM car count does not surprise me as NFS, Bubba and Putman all were running classes other than the LMs. I hope the 4 tracks can get their scheduling coordinated in such a way as to reduce the number of split car counts as the spectator and the sport suffer the consequences.
Anyone knows the finishing order on the latemodels race last night?
Perhaps one of the best opening nights I have seen at a track in a long time. Great to have Volusia coming back to life on the night they deserve. Pretty good size crowd. This place sits a lot of people and parks more. My late model count differs a little bit as I came up with 36 on my score pad. Four heats of nine each with 5 cars making it to the feature. Then 2 "B"s with three cars making the trip to the feature, meaning ten cars did not make the 26 car starting field. As mentioned a great race between the 46 Padgett & the 7 Fitzgerald Very, unofficial but I had #1 Shane Williams 3rd, #40 Kyle Bronson 4th and the 47 (not sure if Tyler Ivey?) rounding out the top 5. I was in the first turn and the PA system had some tweeks which they eventually worked out by feature time. Also the victory celebration with just the winner was done professionally and quickly showing that this can be done without dragging out the program. Now if we can only get Bubba to change back to their Friday night show. Only question is why do track announcers insist on doing the majority of their announcing when the place is abuzz with noise and saying nothing when there is silence? Very good announcer when he could be heard. Well congrats again to VSP to a job well done. Concessions were very good but a little sad that the famous STEAK fries were not on the menu. Nothing to do with racing but saw a great sign on the way to the track which read; On the other hand…we have different fingers!!! (lol) Well looking forward to seeing the final results & story for this half miler, and will be returning again. Thanks for a super night VSP!!!
I saw that sign…made it my status. It was a self storage unit.
We almost bailed out because of the i-4 mess. Took two hours to travel the distance when it normally took one. So glad I stayed with it. The feature between Fitz and Padgett was epic. Anyone know where Ivedent was? He was conspicuous by his absence.
volusia
Thanks for a good night Volusia , " I’ll be back " either with or without a car,depends on work schedule. I know of several other cars (LM,Modified --Daytona area) that didn’t make it there for various reasons.
Forgot to mention what I thought was one of the best moves made by VSP…IMHO… there is not a flagman in the business any more colorful & entertaining than the famous WILD CHILD…the respect he has from the drivers & fans is awesome. Welcome to VSP Wild Child.
Tailgated in turn 1-2…80 cars,great crowd,excellent racing! At $10 to get in you cant beat it!
The Fla. Posse was in turn 4, we had a great time and watched great racing. Congradulations to the track, officials, drivers, crews and fans.
Go figure?
I passed there on my way to Bubba’s, couldn’t ever read the tiny sign out front and only read the word practice, then I passed a dozen or so rigs heading east as I got further west on S.R. 40. Bubba’s had a real small count of care except the Florida Mini Sprints, they put on a great show. I can see a huge problem for all dirt racing in central Fl., if tracks continue to go head to head with their shows. I met a guy in the stands that is from Key West, he told me of a high banked track in the keys, that I never heard of, so when it closed he used to tow all the way to the Hollywood/Halandale track, where I used to go in 1958-9 when I attended U.M., he knew some of the cars and drivers that I saw back then. Folks todat haven’t a clue how it was towing to races before the interstates.
Sounds like Volusia is headed in the right direction. When you’ve got all of the track employees doing their job AND working together you’re going to have a successful show every time. Great to see another track rise up out of the ashes.
Car counts are going to be up and down for a while I think. You’ll have racers who are on a wait and see before they tow over there. You’ll have diehards who will only race at their track no matter what Volusia offers. And you’ll have look in racers who will show up for a race or two just to see what’s happening. And there aren’t nearly enough cars to supply East Bay, Ocala, NFS, Putnam, and Volusia every week. At least until the tracks get together and agree to alternate schedules and come up with universal rules. There may not be enough cars around to even make that work.
And of course greed will get in the way, like with the tires and fuel rules. You’ll have to switch tires and drain out all the fuel in the tank before you go to the next track.
V.C.?
Is their intent to run a weekly show? Exactly where can I find out what and when? Sure would be nice if there was an updated website, or even something in the Daytona or Palm Coast newspapers.
I found their site very informative, even photos of last weeks feature winners and the top three in each division listed. Wish they would give more of a rundown. Maybe that will be coming in the future. Complete season schedule plus other info at Volusia Speedway Park.com. Looks like its a work in progress, but has the makings of a great site.
That’s the correct address Kendo. Yesterday I tried accessing it and it kept taking me to another address. Doing a google search also did. I’m not sure what was going on with it. Seems fine now.
Seems as though both addresses bring you to the same spot. Also did anyone else hear the apology from the track announcer Sat night regarding the mixed up starting time. Seems as though internet adds listed starting time of 7 while radio adds listed the starting time of 7:30. Radio adds trumped the internet adds and racing started at 7:30 promptly. Also is this the weekend of Monster trucks at Ocala? If so, maybe another good turnout at Volusia Speedway Park. Still some great pictures on the site, have a look.