Weedsport, NY — History Chases Northeast Big-Block Modifieds In Florida DIRTcar Nationals
By Tom Skibinski

The Florida DIRTcar Nationals By UNOH remains one of the most anticipated events of the year as it opens the season for Northeastern Big-Block Modifieds on neutral ground in front of a national audience during race weeks. Top regional race teams return to Volusia Speedway Park in February of 2010 to officially kick off DIRTcar Racing’s 35th season of operation and 13th consecutive trip to the Sunshine State. Offered below is a historical piece providing further insight into the annual trip south for the mighty Modified squad, plus a complete listing of every DCN points champion, race winner and host track site chronicled over the past four decades.

Since former track promoter Benny Corbin first invited the northern dirt Modifieds to Volusia for nine straight nights of racing in the winter of 1978, the annual return of the Northeast's oldest touring series has become a ritual for thousands of fans as well as some of the most recognized traveling teams in the country. Although recollections of seasons gone by vary with each passing year, in an era that holds grassroots racing so dear it is the Big-Blocks that have made some of the most solid tracks .

“There wasn’t a lot of money to work with but every year I tried to make Volusia a little bigger, a little better and bringing in the Big-Blocks became a staple of Speed Weeks,” reminisced Corbin, now in his mid 70s, who began building the spacious speedplant in 1968 and up until the 2008 season remained involved with track preparation while supplying tires and fuel from his familiar infield abode. The 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals held Feb. 2-13, marked the latest migration of Modified racers to Florida, with the 2010 edition highlighted by DIRTcar Racing Northeast's 22nd visit to VSP since staging its inaugural sanctioned event there in 1982.

“I built all the stuff myself, little by little, from the pits to the concessions stands, and just about everything in between. We had some real good clay back then, brought in from Georgia until it ran out. It started as quarter-mile, made it three-eighths for the 1971 opener and finally got the track to a half-mile for the first Speed Week the next year. I remember ’78 like it was yesterday, we had 36 cars, a good mix from the north and south. Some of the full-bodied cars even had the front fenders taken off to run. I talked to a lot of people that were new to the track, so I know for a fact that many were New Yorkers. It seems that’s the way its been for many years down here, winter is always different than any other time we race,” Corbin added.

With glowing lights across the midway, colorful billboards bordering the boundaries and double-decker enclosed car haulers filling the pits to capacity today, Volusia has remained the hub of Big-Block Modified racing in February. Since that inaugural ‘Southeastern Winter Nationals,’ a handful of tracks have crashed the annual winter bash without finding the same level of success. Entering the newest decade, Volusia has staged 91 of the 108 Big-Block Modified features run at five facilities beginning in 1978, with ‘09 DCN Champion Pat Ward the 33rd driver to reach victory lane.

"Volusia Speedway Park is an important acquisition for DIRTcar, continuing our commitment to acquire selected racing facilities to complement our national World of Outlaws touring series and our national and regional dirt racing sanctioning bodies," stated World Racing Group Chief Executive Officer Brian Carter, immediately following his group’s purchase of the track, with the transaction completed June 30, 2005. "Volusia is recognized today as the southeast's premier dirt track facility. Several of Volusia's biggest events are scheduled to complement NASCAR races at nearby Daytona, attracting both dirt and asphalt fans from all over the country."

The attraction of race enthusiasts from around the United States and Canada to the Sunshine State has never been more apparent than to seven-time DIRTcar Nationals Champion Hearn, who has amassed a record 19 feature wins in 13 trips to Florida. Upon the organization's resurgence as the world ushered in a new millennium, the all-time Super DIRTcar Series champion from Sussex, N.J. has turned Florida into his own winter wonderland.

"We always like to do well in Florida, it showcases our entire racing operation in front of a national audience,” said Hearn, 51, the lone driver to qualify for all 48 main events since DIRTcar revived its trip south in 1998, placing among the front-five a remarkable total of 39 times. He has visited Volusia’s victory lane on 16 occasions with three more wins registered at East Bay Raceway (Tampa) and nearby Putnam County Speedway.

“Most fans around here only get to follow our racing in the papers or see us in TV clips. This is the one time during the whole year to watch us race in person. We want to do well to show them it's for real. We always do our homework before heading to Florida and once we get there our only focus is on winning. Volusia has a layout that really fits our style well. It's a momentum track and that's probably my specialty. One of the best parts about traveling to Florida is having the chance to check out so many other forms of racing. I get a chance to hang out with some of the guys I only see this time of year,” noted Hearn, who teamed with Cup star Tony Stewart in his ‘98 DIRTcar debut at VSP. Stewart has competed in four winter tours, posting a 5th-place best feature finish at Volusia in 2002.

While Hearn is the heir-apparent to the modern-day throne in gator country, it was local legends Buzzie Reutimann and Will Cagle (2 wins) along with Northeast name drivers Kenny Brightbill (3) and Tommy Hager (1) from Pennsylvania, New Yorkers Lou Lazzaro (1) and Gary Iulg (1), and Walt Breeding (1) from Maryland that helped roll out the carpet three decades earlier. Lazzaro copped the opener on Feb. 10, 1978 before Breeding emerged as the inaugural points king.

“We had raced other cars there before and always went to Daytona that time of year anyways, so going to Volusia with a Big-Block was a lot of fun,” said Breeding, who wore that first points crown with consistent feature finishes registered aboard a radically designed machine constructed by Kenny Weld. Breeding purchased the car in 1977, then painted it yellow with the familiar Harley-Davidson stars & stripes number 1 adorning the side panels in time for the February lid-lifter. “It was a pretty big accomplishment to come out on top with all the big guys who raced that year. The track was always black and hard, but real fast. I remember running the same car at New Smyrna, just put slicks on to run the asphalt,” added Breeding, who serves as president of the Team United Sanctioning Association (TUSA) that he founded for Mod Lites in the early 1990s.

Reutimann went winless in ’78 yet managed second-place in the final standings ahead of Brightbill, Hager and Iulg. “It was quite a big deal bringing down the Modifieds, definitely created a lot of interest with all the cars and fans showing up from the north,” recalled Reutimann, titleholder of the first two Rite Aid 200s (then Schaefer 100) held during Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in 1972 & ’73. The Zephyrhills, Florida lifer also captured the Eastern States 200 in 1972 at Orange County Fair (NY) Speedway where he was the ‘72 & ‘74 track points champion. His son David Reutimann just kicked off his second season of NASCAR Cup competition, finishing 39th in his rookie campaign.

“Volusia was a different kind of place back then. I remember they put motor oil in the water truck, environmentalists would have a fit nowadays! Barrels were also put on the track so guys would run in the outside groove. The surface got packed down right away and then it was always hard and slick but fast, too,” said Reutimann, who automatically set the single-lap speed record of 19.38 seconds in 1978 as it was the first-ever appearance for Big-Blocks at Volusia.

The first concerted effort to bring Northeastern Modifieds into the Daytona area during Speed Weeks seemed to be a success, at least in terms of car count and spectator support. As it turned out, however, owners and drivers headed back north frustrated with the sand-based track that had been conditioned with oil instead of calcium, not affording the same type of three-wide racing they had grown accustomed to closer to home.

“Track conditions were a big concern so the next year Glenn (Donnelly, DIRTcar founder) and I went and visited East Bay,” said Andy Fusco, a fledgling attorney in 1979 when Donnelly appointed him Vice-President and legal counsel. “East Bay was fairly new and it was the kind of track conducive to Big-Block Modified racing. Jeanie Lynch helped out there and she always put in a good word for us. We finally ran some shows there and it kept DIRT in the mainstream during the height of Speed Weeks activity. Glenn knew the importance of exposure if he wanted the Big-Block class to grow,” added Fusco, citing the emergence of the Pennsylvania-based Modcar group ---a brain-child of Reading Fairgrounds rival Lindy Vicari--- which once filled in at Volusia during DIRTcar’s absence in 1984.

The DIRTcar Modifieds finally made their maiden voyage to East Bay Raceway in 1982, but not before a pair of brief stints took place at the relocated Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa. Except for a couple of years during World War II, when it would have been inappropriate to hold a festival, the Florida State Fair had been held every year since its inception in 1904. In 1975, the Florida Legislature created the Florida State Fair Authority and the following year the Fair moved to its current 355-acre site, seven miles from its original downtown location.

“Tampa was like most of the other tracks down there, real sandy and you had to stay on the bottom to get around,” said Brightbill, now in his early 60s, who was one of the first dirt trackers to race in Florida, actually competing at the Daytona Beach Memorial Stadium that was paved by NASCAR icon Ed Otto in 1976, before finding success two years later at Volusia. The Sinking Spring, Pa. standout racked up three more wins at the Florida Fairgrounds half-miler in 1980, doubling up with a ride in the Late Model division. “East Bay was different with a lot better surface than what we were used to running on down there in a Big-Block. I even built a Sprint Car but was out of my league when the Outlaws came to town. The next year (1983) I had a Modified, Sprint Car and Late Model but no money to run any.”

The four-race Kendall GT Modified Winter Tour at the Tampa Fairgrounds promoted by Bud Josey with the help of area all-star Reutimann was reduced to a pair of main events in 1981 before the DIRTcar Big-Blocks doubled up the following winter at both Volusia and East Bay. “There had always been car racing events at the Fair and I highly recommended the Northeastern Modifieds to Bud because I knew the teams would travel,” Reutimann said. “I guess they stopped racing because of the ‘noise’ pollution. Funny, right after that, the Fairboard started lining up rock concerts in the same place.”

With Northeast teams participating on both coasts in 1982, the DIRTcar debut was billed by Donnelly as the 1st Annual Speed Weeks although East Bay actually opened the four-race swing for Big-Blocks as part of its own 6th Annual Winternationals. The seed was planted that year as DIRTcar Modified driver Lou Blaney won a special match race that pitted Northeast pilots against those signed up from the North Texas Racing Association (NTRA). New Yorkers Merv Treichler, Jeff kappesser and Iulg were the pride of the north in ’82 while Doug Ingalls carried the Lone Star State on its back with feature wins at both tracks the following February.

“We were the leaders in short track racing, no matter what we did or where we went there was good support from fans and the racers,” said Donnelly, who began promoting auto racing events in 1970, two years before launching what has emerged as the premier dirt event in the Northeast --- Super DIRT Week. Before turning the reigns over to the World Racing Group in August of 2004, Donnelly operated five New York speedways on the 27-member DIRTcar NE circuit; Cayuga County Fair Speedway, Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Canandaigua Speedway, Orange County Fair Speedway and the State Fairgrounds mile. “Racing in Florida, then later in Texas, was important to get the DIRTcar name out. We had to get to television so everyone would know who we were. Things needed to happen, and not by themselves. We needed exposure to keep the business end growing.”

A change in ownership after Speed Weeks ’82 re-acquainted long-time Late Model car owner Dick Murphy to the Florida fast track fraternity. Murphy eased the financial burden that had been building in the Corbin camp and purchased the Volusia County oval in April following Bike Week.

“I was a racer and Volusia was a place I liked to go. Benny wanted out so I bought out him and his partner in the spring and picked up things from there,” said Murphy, who once operated Cherokee Speedway in South Carolina and Lavonia Raceway in Georgia, and owned cars for Late Model legends Larry Moore and Mike Duvall. “Like anybody who puts a lot of time and money into something, they want to make it work. Even when I didn’t own (Volusia) I hoped the track would be successful. When you give your heart and soul its hard to turn your back when somebody needs your help.”

Murphy anointed Al Klement president and general manager from the start, acquired the marketing services of Madge Logan and retained head scorer Sammy Driggers during most Speed Weeks held during the next quarter-century. Together they continued to lure quality fields of Big-Block Modified racers and their fans to get their first fix of the season for all but a handful of years before the World Racing Group purchased VSP in the summer of 2005.

“Glenn Donnelly had a name out there that was well respected in the motorsports industry so more fans and cars showed up when DIRTcar was involved, that’s for sure,” recalled Logan, today employed at Hoosier Tire South, married and recognized just as fondly as Madge Moses. “Whatever Glenn told us he kept his word on, always. If Dickie dropped the DIRTcar Modifieds for a year, they always seemed to come right back the next winter and so did the crowds. The stands were usually packed with a totally different group of fans, pretty much from New Jersey up. When the new dirt track was built and the Big-Blocks weren’t around it just never seemed to do as well.”

Carving a reputation as one of the premium dirt facilities in the country under the Murphy regime, the end of an era in Volusia County came immediately following Speed Weeks ’89 when the half-miler was blanketed with asphalt beginning in March. Possibly sensing the seemingly sudden transition, Donnelly had created a unique DIRTcar Texas swing in 1987 that continued through 1989. Nearly 20 race dates were secured at a handful of tracks in Texas yet almost half the shows were lost to rain in three seasons down south. Doug Hoffman (1987), Alan Johnson (’88) and Jack Johnson (’89) were declared annual point champions, with Hoffman (3), Jack (3) and Danny Johnson (2) the only multiple feature winners.

Back on the Atlantic coast, the freshly paved Volusia oval played host to the first of four Busch Grand National Series events that summer with Rob Moroso capturing the inaugural ‘Firecracker 200’ on July 1. Ironically, Donnelly had initiated his DIRT/Asphalt experiment with a special tire test at nearby New Smyrna Speedway the year prior and in the summer of 1988 debuted the Big-Blocks at Bob Slack’s Cayuga Int’l Speedway in Ontario, Canada.

“Dickie had been friends with the NASCAR brass for awhile and they painted a rosy picture promising him a lot of big events,” recalled Corbin, himself a long time promotional partner with the late NASCAR kingpin Otto, as well as Ted Johnson and Lanny Edwards when they presented the first-ever World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series race at Devil’s Bowl (Tex.) Speedway in March of 1978. “Obviously, all things didn’t go as planned and I knew he always liked the dirt racing better. He got out after a couple more years and when he returned put the dirt track back where it belonged.”

Murphy sold the track to Wisconsin construction company owner Steve Ross in 1992, and with his first big race what became the final appearance of the Busch GN Series in July. From the beginning, Ross never recovered from the down payment of a reported $700-800,000, and before his tenure was up in five more years he renamed the facility Volusia Speedway Park with the creation of Volusia County Dirt Speedway only meant to complement the adjacent asphalt oval.

“Before I even put down the pavement I looked at some other tracks,” stated Murphy, who began his own racing career in the 1950s as a member of the Greater Miami Racing Association. During a rare trip to New York in 1972 he teamed with driver Nokie Mallory at Orange County to get his first taste of Northeastern Big-Block Modified racing. “Jeanie (Lynch) had told us about the great three-wide racing at Jennerstown (Speedway, Pa.) so I sent Al and Benny north to take notes. I took what they had and tried to copy the (progressive) banking the best I could. I listened to the guy that paved Daytona, he told me to lay down 1-1/2-inches, not two inches. And when it got hot I watered the track to race at night. Steve didn’t know a lot of that stuff and blamed me for not doing things right when the track broke up. His first Grand National race was the last one he ever scheduled to run during the day under the sun.”

With dirt modifieds out of the picture once Volusia underwent its facelift, Pennsylvania promoter Bob Miller put together a one shot swing through Florida that included stops at JAX Raceway in Jacksonville and Putnam County Speedway in Satsuma. “There was some interest back then from a couple of tracks when DIRT wasn’t around,” said Miller, who provided first-place checks to feature winners Craig VonDohren, Dave Wenger, Dave Camara and eventual points champion Shawn George in the 1991 mini-series. Today, Miller continues to promote special events in the Northeast under his ‘Thunder On The Hill’ umbrella. “These were Small-Block Modified shows and we did all we could trying to get a full field. It was a fun deal but we got rain and I think the last race was even cancelled due to snow.”

The 1993 season began with a phone call in January from Ross to DIRTcar Northeast Headquarters in Weedsport, N.Y. In a matter of weeks Donnelly outlined an invitational that profiled a dozen Big-Block drivers in their debut at the brand-new 3/8-mile dirt track that occupied Volusia County. “At the end of his first year Steve already wanted to go back to dirt and he told me to lay out a smaller track,” Corbin said. “He got me everything I needed to do the job, I just never knew how he came up with the money.”

“I found out later he never got any permits to have another track built. Funny thing was that the day we opened a lot of county directors showed up and a member of the zoning board even cut the ribbon. Steve always seemed to be getting fined for something after that, he just didn’t really understand racing at all,” added Corbin, who revealed that Ross became an engineer for the city of Deland, designing streets and shops in a location just 15 minutes from his former Route 40 property .

Questionable track conditions at Volusia once again delayed the return of Big-Block Modified racing to Florida but when it did come back in February of 1995, St. Augustine Speedway in America’s oldest settlement was the newest attraction. While the historic city celebrated its 430th birthday that year, DIRTcar Racing was kicking off its own 20th season and the most geographically expansive field (eight states, two Canadian provinces) ever assembled for Modified competition in Florida arrived featuring Syracuse Super DIRT Week champions Bob McCreadie, Jimmy Horton, Buzzie Reutimann, Brett Hearn, Alan Johnson and Richie Tobias, Jr. On Sunday of Speed Weeks `95, four-race clips were viewed by fans across the country on TNN's "Raceday" and Prime Network's "On Pit Road Final Edition" with Pat Patterson.

Originally constructed in 1992 and located one mile west of the St. John's County Airport, the half-mile dirt oval was called St. John's Motorsports Complex before the official change to St. Augustine Speedway. Jeff Heotzler, Steve Paine, Danny Johnson and Doug Hoffman scored Big-Block wins in DIRTcar’s only trip while points champion Hoffman collected a $1,000 bonus in the Wheels Florida Open. After a rainy 1996 season that had less than half of its events take place, the track was paved. John Huffman bought the track in 1999 and renamed it the Florida Speed Park at years end. But by the end of the 2000 season, Huffman was faced with mounting debts and returned the track to original owner V.J. Usina early in ‘01. That same season fewer fans in the stands and lower car counts forced Usina to close the track for good.

Ross faced a similar plight further south yet the previous owner once again came to the rescue. Murphy repurchased Volusia in October of 1997 after a lengthy foreclosure proceeding, yet he still needed five more years to pay off $20,000 in fines that Ross accrued while operating without the proper paperwork.

“I came down to race my UMP Modified at Volusia in 1993 and things were far from organized,” noted Dean Miracle, who was hired by Ross as Race Director the very next February and became the chief pit steward at the track during Speed Weeks through 2006 under Murphy. “We kept the smaller track going for a while running mostly local stuff but it never got off the ground. Earl (Baltes, Eldora Speedway pioneer) even came down to promote a Late Model race. Once we got back to dirt racing on the bigger track it became a better program for both the fans and racers to be a part of.”

Corbin’s first assignment that autumn reunited with Murphy was to rip up the asphalt on the original half-miler and put it on the newer three-eighths mile track that had hosted UMP Modifieds, Dwarfs and Classic cars right next door. Murphy accomplished the second objective all himself by bringing back the Big-Block Modifieds from the Northeast with Donnelly’s DIRTcar organization put in control once more to kick off 1998 .

“Back then Glenn had a lot of things going on up north so he put me in charge of running the Florida tour,” said Cory Reed, who has since missed only one series down south while serving as DIRTcar Northeast Director of Competition & Track Sanctioning before moving into his current role as General Manager of DIRTcar NE founding member tracks Cayuga County Fair Speedway, Rolling Wheels Raceway Park and Canandaigua Speedway. “I think Dick and I became best buddies on about the third day and have had a great relationship that has grown ever since. I was most proud of the fact that he gave us (Big-Blocks) the benefit on most nights because the guys were always lined up, ready to race and professional once they got out on the track. We always fielded quality teams and put on a lot of good shows year after year.”

When the new millennium arrived, Volusia officials had dropped the long-standing NASCAR sanction while internal legalities sparked a name change to ‘Winter Tour’ in place of ‘Speed Weeks’ that had long been the trademark of NASCAR racing in February. One tradition-laden event that did not change was the premier off-season outing at East Bay Raceway, and in 2001 the DIRT Big-Block Modifieds were invited back to the Gibsonton track as part of the 25th Winternationals Silver Anniversary celebration.

Then owned and operated by 2VHL Promotions, Inc., Stanley Kolan was instrumental in purchasing the facility immediately following the '97 Winternationals. Kolan helped form East Bay Properties of Tampa Bay with Will Cagle and himself heading the corporation formed primarily to operate the track. Even though Kolan did not get involved until the late 1990s, his association with East Bay actually dated back to the mid 1970s when his own retail business purchased seafood from U.S. Fish Wholesalers --- what the site was before being transformed into a race track. Because of the work done by original co-owner and builder Lonnie Prevatt, with plenty of promotional effort put forth by Jim Mingo, East Bay opened on February 5, 1977.

Upon Cagle’s departure in April of 1998, Kolan consulted DIRTcar proxy Donnelly, who appointed Jean Lynch to resurrect participation on both sides of the fence. Donnelly’s advice paid off and soonafter Kolan took under his wing some of the Orange County Fair Speedway officials that had previously held posts at the popular Middletown, N.Y. track. Former Orange County Sportsman pilot Tom Hall served as East Bay's Vice-President and General Manager, Kenny Marshall relocated to Florida to assume Assistant General Manager/Flagman duties and Kenny Sands moved south after serving as a scorer. Most fittingly, all-time OCFS feature winner Brett Hearn bagged both Big-Block mains in ’01 and Kolan scheduled a special 10-lap $2,000-to-win 'Glenn Donnelly Appreciation Dash' at East Bay that was won by New Yorker J.R. Heffner.

2002 featured the fifth and final track to host an event for the Northeastern Big-Block Modifieds, with Putnam County re-emerging as a host site under the ownership of Florida Racing of Putnam County, Inc., which included promoter and company VP Bob Potter and his brother Willie. Originally centered around a quarter-mile track that first opened on April 9, 1967, Potter expanded the tract from 18 to 58 acres after closing the deal for $228,000 ---eventually investing $2.1 million--- in March of 2000 and opening for the first time exactly one year later. With a total seating capacity estimated at 8,000, the modernized 3/8-mile Putnam County oval boasted 650-feet straightaways with tight, high-banked turns that measure 320-feet around.

"This is a beautiful facility and I can see there's been a lot of attention paid to detail," said Brett Hearn, after leading all 30 laps to win the lone DIRTcar Big-Block Modified event run at Putnam. The decision to cancel the second Modified race the following day was made according to GM Lance Ward, as a result of “local planning and zoning problems combined with poor attendance.”

From 2003 to the present, Volusia Speedway Park has become the only place to witness the side-by-side broadsliding excitement generated by the Big-Block Modifieds from the Northeastern United States. The most recent voyages to Volusia have blossomed into more banner trips as the ‘Monsters of the Midway’ annually offer one of the most exhilarating brands of open-wheel competition found anywhere. And just like it has done for the past three decades, DIRTcar Racing will continue to play a lead role when the nation's top Big-Block stars make their annual visit to the Sunshine State in 2010.

“There’s always some kind of mystique about this place that kinda grows on you and I liked the challenge of making Volusia better,” said Harvey Fink, former owner of both Brewerton Speedway and Fulton Speedway in Central New York, and most recently the General Manager at Volusia through 2007. “During the time there I just tried to leave a footprint, leave it better than when I came.”

“It was sort of strange as we sold Brewerton and Fulton in May (2006) and by early July we were at Volusia doing the same thing we got away from. But just a month away from operating a track can seem like a very long time when you’ve been involved every day for 15 years. When Tom (Deery, WRG President and Chief Operating Officer) and Ben (Geisler, WRG Chief Marketing Officer) approached me to run Volusia it was hard to say no. Winter is always the busiest time down here and hopefully fans will come back every year to see what is being done, I’m sure it can only get better.”

Florida DIRTcar Nationals
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED POINT CHAMPIONS: 1978-2009
*DIRTcar-sanctioned events.
YEAR CHAMPION (wins) TRACK(S)
*2009 Pat Ward(2) Volusia Speedway Park
*2008 Brett Hearn(1)/Billy Pauch(1) Volusia Speedway Park
*2007 Danny Johnson(2) Volusia Speedway Park
*2006 Brett Hearn(2) Volusia Speedway Park
*2005 Brett Hearn(1)/Andy Bachetti(1) Volusia Speedway Park
*2004 Pat Ward Volusia Speedway Park
*2003 Tim Fuller(1) Volusia Speedway Park
*2002 Brett Hearn(2) Putnam County, Volusia Park
*2001 Brett Hearn(3) East Bay, Volusia Park
*2000 Brett Hearn(3) Volusia Speedway Park
*1999 Jimmy Horton(1) Volusia Speedway Park
*1998 Brett Hearn(2) Volusia Speedway Park
1996-97 -no races-
*1995 Doug Hoffman(1) St. Augustine
1994 -no races-
*1993 -Invitational- Volusia County
1990-92 -no races-
*1989 Alan Johnson Volusia County
1988 Danny Johnson(1) Volusia County
*1987 Danny Johnson(3) Volusia County
*1986 Jimmy Horton(2) Volusia County
1985 Billy Pauch(3) Volusia County
1984 Kenny Brightbill(2)/Jack Johnson Volusia County
*1983 Alan Johnson East Bay, Volusia County
*1982 Jeff Kappesser(2)/Billy Pauch East Bay, Volusia County
*1981 Jack Johnson(1) Florida State Fairgrounds
*1980 Kenny Brightbill(3) Florida State Fairgrounds
1979 -no races-
1978 Walt Breeding(1) Volusia County

Florida DIRTcar Nationals
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED FEATURE RACE WINNERS: 1978-2009
(108 events / 5 tracks / 33 drivers)
WINS DRIVER FIRST WIN LAST WIN
19 Brett Hearn Volusia County, 2/11/93 Volusia Park, 2/14/09
11 Danny Johnson Volusia County, 2/9/87 Volusia Park, 2/17/07
9 Kenny Brightbill Volusia County, 2/13/78 Volusia County, 2/13/87
8 Doug Hoffman Volusia County, 2/18/84 Volusia Park, 2/14/98
6 Jack Johnson Tampa Fairgrnds, 2/14/81 Volusia County, 2/14/89
6 Jimmy Horton Volusia County, 2/12/86 Volusia Park, 2/16/08
5 Tim Fuller Volusia Park, 2/15/01 Volusia Park, 2/16/07
5 Billy Pauch Volusia County, 2/11/85 Volusia Park, 2/13/08
3 Merv Treichler Volusia County, 2/13/82 Volusia County, 2/17/83
3 Doug Ingalls East Bay, 2/15/83 Volusia County, 2/16/84
3 Jamie Mills Volusia Park, 2/15/00 Volusia Park, 2/13/09
2 Will Cagle Volusia County, 2/17/78 Volusia County, 2/18/78
2 Tommy Hager Volusia County, 2/16/78 Tampa Fairgrnds, 2/8/80
2 Gary Iulg Volusia County, 2/12/78 East Bay, 2/8/82
2 Jeff Kappesser East Bay, 2/7/82 Volusia County, 2/10/82
2 Kenny Tremont Volusia County, 2/13/93 Volusia Park, 2/12/99
2 Bob McCreadie Volusia Park, 2/10/99 Volusia Park, 2/16/01
2 Billy Decker Volusia Park, 2/12/04 Volusia Park, 2/16/05
2 Pat Ward Volusia Park, 2/11/09 Volusia Park, 2/12/09
1 Lou Lazzaro Volusia County, 2/10/78
1 Walt Breeding Volusia County, 2/11/78
1 Kevin Collins Tampa Fairgrounds, 2/13/81
1 Ray Dalmata Volusia County, 2/15/84
1 C.D. Coville Volusia County, 2/16/85
1 Alan Johnson Volusia County, 2/11/86
1 Richie Tobias Jr. Volusia County, 2/13/89
1 Jeff Heotzler St. Augustine, 2/14/95
1 Steve Paine St. Augustine, 2/16/95
1 Tim McCreadie Volusia Park, 2/16/02
1 Craig VonDohren Volusia Park, 2/11/03
1 J.R. Heffner Volusia Park, 2/13/04
1 Andy Bachetti Volusia Park, 2/15/05
1 Dale Planck Volusia Park, 2/15/08

Florida DIRTcar Nationals @ Volusia Speedway Park
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED FEATURE RACE WINNERS: 1978-2009
(91 events / 29 drivers)
WINS DRIVER FIRST WIN LAST WIN
16 Brett Hearn 2/11/93 2/14/09
10 Danny Johnson 2/9/87 2/17/07
7 Doug Hoffman 2/18/84 2/14/98
6 Kenny Brightbill 2/13/78 2/13/87
6 Jimmy Horton 2/12/86 2/16/08
5 Jack Johnson 2/14/85 2/14/89
5 Tim Fuller 2/15/01 2/16/07
5 Billy Pauch 2/11/85 2/13/08
3 Jamie Mills 2/15/00 2/13/09
2 Will Cagle 2/17/78 2/18/78
2 Merv Treichler 2/13/82 2/17/83
2 Doug Ingalls 2/18/83 2/16/84
2 Kenny Tremont 2/13/93 2/12/99
2 Bob McCreadie 2/10/99 2/16/01
2 Billy Decker 2/12/04 2/16/05
2 Pat Ward 2/11/09 2/12/09
1 Lou Lazzaro 2/10/78
1 Walt Breeding 2/11/78
1 Gary Iulg 2/12/78
1 Tommy Hager 2/16/78
1 Jeff Kappesser 2/10/82
1 Ray Dalmata 2/15/84
1 C.D. Coville 2/16/85
1 Alan Johnson 2/11/86
1 Richie Tobias Jr. 2/13/89
1 Tim McCreadie 2/16/02
1 Craig VonDohren 2/11/03
1 J.R. Heffner 2/13/04
1 Andy Bachetti 2/15/05
1 Dale Planck 2/15/08

Florida DIRTcar Nationals
BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED TRACK SITES: 1978-2009
(108 events / 5 tracks)
EVTS TRACK FIRST RACE LAST RACE
91 Volusia Speedway Park - Barberville,FL 2/10/78 2/14/09
6 Florida State Fairgrounds - Tampa,FL 2/8/80 2/14/81
6 East Bay Raceway - Gibsonton,FL 2/7/82 2/11/01
4 St. Augustine Speedway - St. Augustine,FL 2/14/95 2/17/95
1 Putnam County Speedway - Satsuma,FL 2/8/02