Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. is interviewed in victory lane after scoring the DIRTcar Late Model victory Monday night at Volusia Speedway Park. Photo courtesy DIRTcar Media
Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. did his home state proud on Monday night at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL.
The 47-year-old veteran from Ocala, FL, authored one of the drives of his career, turning back a field filled with national stars to win the 30-lap DIRTcar Late Model A-Main that opened the full-fender portion of the 43rd DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment.
An accomplished Sunshine State racer who has won often in local and regional competition at the half-mile oval, Lloyd became the first driver from Florida to capture a dirt Late Model feature during the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit since Jacksonville’s Earl Pearson, Jr. topped a DIRTcar-sanctioned event on Feb. 10, 2009. He earned $7,000 for his efforts.
“This is the biggest win,” said Lloyd, who has driven Late Models on both dirt and asphalt for three decades. “There’s races that pay more money, but this is by far the career-topper, to win this. To have all these guys here and race these guys, it’s neat.”
Lloyd started from the outside pole and led every circuit but was chased throughout the distance by Brady Smith of Solon Springs, WI, who drew within a couple car lengths of the leader several times in the closing laps before settling for second place.
Eric Wells of Hazard, KY, finished third after starting from the pole position, giving him a career-best performance at Volusia. Fifth-starter John Blankenship of Williamson, WV, slid into fourth place on lap 14 and finished there and Shane Clanton of Zebulon, GA, slipped backward from the third starting spot to finish fifth.
Lloyd’s victory was his first-ever during the DIRTcar Nationals by Summit, an ultra-competitive mid-winter meet that he doesn’t annually enter.
“We usually shy away from here during Speedweeks strictly because I can race for two months on the abuse you put on a motor here in a week,” admitted Lloyd, who operates a machine shop in his hometown of Ocala, about 50 miles west of VSP. “But with the new motor (his partner, J.B. Harris, obtained a Race Engine Design powerplant for the 2014 season) we wanted to come over here and race some.”
The decision to make an assault on Volusia paid off – after Lloyd stuck to his guns on tire choice, of course.
Lloyd’s strategy for the A-Main? “Just not get beat on tires like I have been all weekend,” he said, referring to his runs the previous three nights in World of Outlaws Late Model Series events at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, FL. “We made our decision after the heat race was over based on what happened to us the last three nights. We decided to stay with (the tires) we were on and just go at it and live or die by it.”
Perching his Snow Brothers-built car on the outside of the fast D-shaped track, Lloyd kept the field at bay from start to finish. Smith was well within striking distance over the final 10 laps, but Lloyd didn’t flinch.
“We know this track well as far as where to drive around the track,” said Lloyd. “J.B. was giving me signals, so I knew I had a little bit of room and just tried to make good laps. That’s all you could do – make good laps and not hit a hole wrong and get yourself up in the cushion.”
Smith, 36, was satisfied to continue his stretch of strong Speedweeks results, adding a runner-up finish to his first, second and third-place runs over the previous three nights at Bubba Raceway Park.
“We certainly didn’t change much (for the A-Main), but we made our car just a little bit too tight,” Smith, who started fourth, said of his Rocket machine. “I didn’t expect the conditions to stay this fast either, so maybe we misjudged the racetrack too.
“I could see (Lloyd) was getting tighter down (in turns three and four) and I thought that’s where I might be able to make my move. But the time when he made the biggest mistake I also made a mistake, so we had to settle for second.”
Just one caution flag slowed the event, on lap seven when Mike Marlar of Winfield, TN, stopped in turn four with mechanical trouble.
With 40 cars signed in for action, group qualifying was utilized to set the starting lineups for four heat races in the first of three DIRTcar Late Model programs during the DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit.
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Billy Moyer of Batesville, AR, registered the fastest overall qualifying lap at 15.352 seconds. Other group fast-timers were Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL (15.597), Clanton (15.517) and Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa (15.819).
Heat winners were Wells, Lloyd, Clanton and Smith. Rick Eckert of York, PA, and Jack Sullivan of Greenbrier, AR, captured the B-Mains.
The DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit continues on Tuesday night (Feb. 18) with another DIRTcar Late Model program topped by a 30-lap A-Main. The UMP Modifieds will also compete in triple features to close out the division’s week-long meet.
DIRTcar Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville FL
DIRTcar Late Models – Feb. 17 2014
1. (2) Ivedent Lloyd Jr./30
2. (4) Brady Smith/30
3. (1) Eric Wells/30
4. (5) John Blankenship/30
5. (3) Shane Clanton/30
6. (10) Scott Bloomquist/30
7. (9) Darrell Lanigan/30
8. (6) Gregg Satterlee/30
9. (12) Brandon Sheppard/30
10. (8) Morgan Bagley/30
11. (16) Brian Shirley/30
12. (20) Frankie Heckenast Jr./30
13. (17) Rick Eckert/30
14. (13) Bobby Pierce/30
15. (19) Kenny Pettyjohn/30
16. (15) Eric Jacobsen/29
17. (24) Tim McCreadie/17
18. (21) Billy Moyer/16
19. (18) Jack Sullivan/16
20. (11) Casey Roberts/14
21. (7) Mike Marlar/7
22. (23) Chase Junghans/7
23. (14) Dan Stone/7
24. (22) John Garvin Jr./4
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