Falloway Breaks Through In Volusia DIRTcar Modifieds

Cole Falloway celebrates in victory lane Friday night at Volusia Speedway Park. (Emily Schwanke photo)

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Cole Falloway drove like a seasoned veteran to score his win at Volusia Speedway Park on Friday night. However, it was only his second start there.

Finishing first in every event he competed in, the Owensboro, Ky., driver set fast time in qualifying, led every lap of his heat race, and then led all 20 laps scheduled for the DIRTcar UMP modifieds at the half-mile dirt oval.

Maryland’s Mitch Thomas and Falloway led to the green flag, with Falloway taking the top spot after getting a stronger start than Thomas on the high line.

Seeing Thomas falter early, Trevor Neville took over second place as Thomas’ No. 97 machine struggled to gain momentum on his side.

Things immediately went wrong for Thomas and Neville on the sixth lap. Their cars collided in turn four, causing heavy damage and eliminating the two from competing for the duration of the feature.

Falloway had a new lineup of modifieds to defend after that, as Will Krup and Thursday podium finishers David Stremme and Kyle Strickler attempted to take the win away from Falloway’s No. 66 modified.

As Krup chased Falloway for the win, Strickler and Stremme battled for the final podium position, culminating in Strickler taking his No. 8 Elite Chassis up to the high side of the track and swinging by Stremme for the third spot.

Falloway played it safe down the stretch, maintaining a comfortable three-second lead over Krup as he crossed under the twin checkered flags for his first career DIRTcar Nationals Gator trophy and a $1,200 winner’s check.

“Last night was mostly (about) me getting comfortable,” Falloway said. “I think we had a better car than what we showed last night, and tonight I was able to set quick time and won my heat so I could get out front and make laps in the feature. I can’t thank everybody enough who helps me out.”

Krup drove towards a feel-good second-place finish, after a mechanical issue in Thursday night’s qualifying session took the Mt. Carmel, Ill., driver out of the remainder of the opener.

“I mean, I’ll take this over last night all day,” Krup said. “We had a good piece; we just obviously need to get a little better. I couldn’t quite get turned into (turn three), but we’ll take this over last night for sure.”

Strickler snagged third place to build his lead in the UMP Modified Speedweeks point standings, and sits in prime position for a front-row starting spot in Saturday’s opening week finale after starting the feature in 10th place.

“I’m actually happier about a third tonight than I was for a second last night,” Strickler said. “I thought we had the best car last night and didn’t win, and I felt like we had a decent car tonight, but we started so far back.

“We were able to maneuver through the field and got Elite Chassis one-two-three, so I know that’s important for Nick (Hoffman, Elite founder) and everybody involved.”

Stremme, of Mifflintown, Pa., finished the night in fourth and Thursday winner Curt Spalding was fifth.

The finish:

A-Feature (20 laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway [2]; 2. K9-Will Krup [4]; 3. 8S-Kyle Strickler [10]; 4. 35-David Stremme [5]; 5. 5CS-Curt Spalding [7]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen [6]; 7. 5-Jonathan Taylor [14]; 8. 13-Charlie Mefford [15]; 9. 77D-George Dixon [12]; 10. 36-Kenny Wallace [8]; 11. 21CZ-Cole Czarneski [11]; 12. 7D-Brad Deyoung [17]; 13. 35A-Michael Altobelli [22]; 14. 77-Ray Bollinger [20]; 15. 12L-Lucas Lee [16]; 16. 56-Colton Profitt [18]; 17. 91-Chris Beaulieu [13]; 18. 27G-Jason Garver [23]; 19. 7-Evan Taylor [21]; 20. 27-Michael Turner [9]; 21. 31G-Stephen Pedulla [19]; 22. 2K-Taylor Kuehl [24]; 23. 777-Trevor Neville [3]; 24. 97-Mitch Thomas [1].