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Ward wins again in Florida
DTD Exculsive by Adam Ross
Pat Ward doubled his Florida win total Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park taking his second victory in as many nights. The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar modifieds battled for 30 laps in night two of the Allten DIRTcar Nationals.
“There’s no feeling like winning,” said the excited Ward in victory lane. “The older you get the more they mean to you. These young guys are tough.”
Ward chased Waterloo, New York, driver Jeff Brownell for much of the event before slipping past in lapped traffic.
“He (Brownell) only really made one mistake, but that’s all it took because we were revved up and ready to go on the top. Thank God I’ve got a Bicknell because they’re the number one chassis in the country.”
Ward drew the pole position after a second place finish in his heat put him in the redraw, but it was Brownell leading the first lap after a breathtaking move to split Ward and Keith Flach in turn one.
By the fifth lap Brownell enjoyed a 15 car length lead over Ward with Flach running third followed by Matt Sheppard and Brett Hearn. Lapped cars hindered Brownell 10 laps in, but the young racer showed great poise working his way through. Ward closed the gap, but Brownell remained out front.
Brownell survived a mid-race restart to maintain his place at the head of the field, but one mistake might have cost him the race. He bobbled slightly entering turn three on lap 22. The brief mistake was all Ward needed as he shot around the high side to take the lead.
With a few laps remaining Ward extended his advantage while Brownell tried to maintain second over Hearn and Sheppard. Hearn used the high groove to pass both Brownell team cars, but Sheppard returned the favor taking second at the white flag.
The final lap saw Hearn use the middle groove to work between the teammates in front of him. He passed Brownell, but Sheppard held on for second place. At the checkers it was Ward ahead of Sheppard, Hearn, Brownell and Flach.
“Pat was super fast,” said Sheppard. “My teammate Jeffy was super fast tonight, too. The first one to the fornt is tough to beat. I think I was just as fast as those guys, but I think if you’re behind them you’re going to finish behind them, and if you’re in front of them you’re going to finish in front of them.”
Hearn was satisfied with his hard fought third place finish, but he admitted there’s homework to be done.
“We’ll just keep on tuning,” he said. “We’ll put our heads together tonight, and we’ll get with the shock guys at Bilstein, and we’ll keep on working.”
Sheppard was found light at the scales in post-race inspection. He was docked 50 per cent of his earnings |
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