FEBRUARY TRIP TO THE SOUTH Part Two 22nd February 2026 BLOG.
The last Blog ended on Saturday the 7th of February , after I’d attended the races at the All-Tech Raceway in Florida.
Following the races I returned to my room at the Motel 6 in Starke. Florida
On Sunday morning (8th February) I set off for part two of my trip, and a week of The DIRTCAR NATIONALS at the Volusia Speedway Park
I had my usual room booked at the Sundeck Motel beside Ormand Beach.
This was my third year staying at this place, and was in my same preferred room on the ground floor.
From the front porch , I’m just 100 yards walk to the sandy beach.
I arrived at mid day and was lucky to find my room was ready to move in.
Within the hour , I was unpacked and relaxing on the beach.
The day was still young, so I decided to go out for a drive , exploring around the adjacent Daytona Beach area.
It was now time to tick off an overdue bucket list item.
It’s been well documented that the original races at Daytona took place on the sand of Daytona Beach. They were held on an oval course at Ponce Inlet which combined part of the old Highway 1 as one straightaway , and a stretch of beach as the other.
This was located a few miles south of where the modern day Super Speedway now stands.
The point where the ‘beach’ and ‘paved’ tracks joined in the north, was aptly named the ‘North Turn’ and that part is still remembered today .
There is a Bar and Grill there that has the same name marking the spot .
It also has a small museum displaying it’s historic past.
You never know who you will bump into, when you’re in Daytona during the February Speed Weeks.
When I arrived and walked inside the door, of the North Turn , the first person I met , was SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES racer Matt Sheppard, with his wife Jordan and their young daughter.
We had a quick chat and ‘photo op’ before they departed, Thanks Matt
Just like the previous year, the Sunday that precedes my week at Volusia coincided with ‘the Super Bowl’ , the annual big game for ‘American Style’ football. I’d rather sit and watch ‘paint dry’ , than watch that on TV, so with no racing on my agenda for the night, I spent some quiet time in my room , catching up with stuff that needed doing on line.
Monday the 9th of February was the start of my Volusia week , with Late Models and USAC wingless Sprint Cars on the program.
The same divisions were racing there on Tuesday too. The Late Models would also be there to accompany the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES during the rest of the week.
With that in mind , I decided to ‘pace’ myself for the busy week ahead . I decided to concentrate solely on the USAC’s for the first two nights and to leave the track early , once I’d got a few pictures.
I quite like the USAC division and the main interest for me , being the British entrants that were there .
BriSCA F1 drivers Tom Harris and Ryan Harrison were both taking part in their sprint cars which they keep stored and maintained in the USA.
Both have raced Sprint Cars on this side of the pond for a few years now, but for Ryan , it was his first time , going ‘wingless’ .
Tom is the current BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Champion, and often comes over to compete in the annual Chilli Bowl too, which takes place in Tulsa Oklahoma
As planned, I never stayed too late for the first two nights.
My down-time during the days were spent chilling out and around Ormond Beach .
Just a few 100 yards from my room , I spotted this guy surfing.
CLICK LINK TO SEE THE VIDEO I MADE
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1JS1GWcU3j
My Buddy , former Cornwall Motor Speedway owner, Ron Morin was also staying in Ormand Beach at this time, with his grandson Patrick Flannigan. They were just a mile down the road from the Sun Deck so we met up at the local Dunkin for a coffee morning.
I also spent some time hunting down ‘diecasts’ at the local hobby shops, Thrift Stores and Flea Markets .
Here’s a nice Cadillac, I picked up.
Wednesday the 11th , was the start of the DIRTCAR NATIONALS for the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES Big Block Modifieds . The main reason I’d driven all these miles to see.
The DIRTCAR NATIONLAS consisted of four consecutive days of SERIES races , with the final points winner being awarded the Big Gator Trophy on the last night.
I was there early and one of my first priorities was to check out the Big Block pits, located beside the gator pond.
This guy was happy to pose for some pics.
Close to 50 Big Block Modifieds had made the long trek south which were joined on the program by the Late Models.
Late Model Action
( I will be concentrating on the Super Dirt Series only)
With the aid of my step ladder , I chose the inside of turn one and two for my picture taking
The opening night gave us a fairy tale result that could not have been better scripted.
Last summer , I was attending the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES at Autodrome Drummond in Quebec when I witnessed one the most horrific crashes I’ve ever seen .
Right in front of me, I saw Stewart Friesen’s car disintegrate and catch fire as it smashed high into the back straight wall.
I must admit , I feared the worst , but miraculously he was carefully cut out of the wreckage and rushed to hospital . He sustained several serious fractures, and after being transferred to a hospital nearer to his home in New York State , began treatment and the long road to recovery.
He made his return to racing the previous week ,during ‘Part One’ of my Florida tour , at the All Tech Raceway . Volusia was his first time back on the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES.
Well, to cut a long story short, Stewart hadn’t lost what it takes.
He won his heat , then went out and dominated the feature.
He was followed over the line by his fellow Canadian, Felix Roy.
It was an emotional night for all concerned, especially his wife Jess and son Parker ,
Felix Roy, had also gone through some recent adversity. A week before the Volusia event, his racing shop and the family business in Montreal burned down, and he wasn’t expected to be at the Nationals. A last minute decision was made to attend , using the car that he races Friday nights, at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, and is maintained down there by its owner.
First three were , 1st Stewart Friesen , 2nd Felix Roy 3rd Erick Rudolph
Thursday 12th /Friday 13th Feb
The Thursday and Friday nights shows , gave us another Canadian winner when , Ontario’s Mat Williamson picked up , back to back victories.
Podium finishers on Thursday 12th were 1st Mat Williamson , 2nd Larry Wight 3rd Alex Payne.
Podium finishers on Friday 13th were ,1st Mat Williamson , 2nd Alex Payne , 3rd Jack Lehner
Saturday the 14th May , was the final night of the DIRTCAR NATIONALS.
The SUPER DIRTCAR Series race was won by Larry Wight.
First three were , 1st Larry Wight , 2nd Stewart Friesen , 3rd Mat Williamson
Williamson’s consistency was good enough for him to clinch the Nationals Series for the second year running , and to take home another ‘Big Gator’ to Canada.
Here he is collecting the ‘Big Gator’ from DIRTCAR’s Jeff Hachmann .
Throughout the week the program had alternated with which feature would be the last of the night.
On this, the final night, the Modified feature was the first to run with the Late Models as the final race. . This worked great for me, as I was able to get out of the track and back to my room a little bit earlier, and beat the rush.
I didn’t need a late finish , as it was time to head towards home first thing in the morning.
Sunday the 15th of February was Daytona 500 day , but as usual I would heading in the opposite direction.
I’ve attended the race a couple of times in the past, but have little interest in the NASCAR Cup Races these days.
I later discovered , that in my absence , former World of Outlaws Late Model driver Tyler Reddick was the big winner.
I can remember the time he raced at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway back in 2009, when the WoO tour paid a first visit.
He was just kid then, and I never dreamed he would one day end up being the winner of NASCARS most coveted crown jewel.
FLASHBACK 17 YEARS AGO
On the day of the Daytona 500 when Tyler got his big win, , I was on the road heading for North Carolina .
I left Ormond Beach at 7-00 am and was pulling into Willow Springs at 3-30 pm.
My daughter , Carla’s place was my over night stop , on the long journey back to Canada.
I grabbed a few hours sleep at her place and was back behind the wheel at 4-00 am .
I arrived back home at 7-00 pm .
There’d been a lot more snow in Cornwall, while I was away but I’d prearranged with a neighbor to have my driveway cleared before my return.
He did a great job with his snow blower, and I was able to drive straight in.
The weather wasn’t too bad for the first few days following my return and was able to get into the garage and check up on my Thunderbird.
I started her up and let the motor run for ten minutes .
There was still too much snow about for her to come out of hibernation , so put her back to bed again.
It was a good move, because by the end of the week , the snow was back with vengeance.
I hope the snow will soon stop.
