NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Derek Griffith finished on the podium during Friday’s David Rogers Super Late Model feature that opened the 55th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, but that simply wasn’t enough for the driver from New Hampshire.

Fast forward to Saturday and Griffith, the defending World Series champion in the David Rogers Super Late Model division, was in his own zip code as he roared to his first victory of the week and third of his career during the World Series.

.@DerekGriffith12 knows his way around New Smyrna

Defending Super Late Model champ picks up his first 🏁 of 2021 World Series@AdvanceAuto | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/dGaXcYxB7a

— NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) February 7, 2021

“It just feels good, especially after last night,” Griffith said in Victory Lane. “I know we finished podium, but we got tore up and had all sorts of issues. To come out and kind of prove ourselves as someone who kind of belongs here, it feels good.”

With a band of storms washing out qualifying, the field for Saturday’s 35-lap feature was set based on the finishing order of Friday’s race. The top-six were then inverted, placing Justin Mondeik on the pole alongside Connor Mosack.

Mosack drove into the lead entering turn one from the top, with fourth-starting Griffith advancing to second by the completion of the first lap.

Griffith took several looks to the inside of Mosack in the first few laps before finally making his move on lap eight. They raced side-by-side for two laps before Griffith completed the pass entering turn one on the 10th circuit.

It was effectively game, set, match from there as Griffith drove away from the field en route to the victory.

“We’re just a small, family-owned team,” said Griffith, who is also scheduled to compete in the ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 for Venturini Motorsports. “It’s so cool to come down here and run with these guys and compete.”

Mosack finished more than a second behind Griffith in second, followed by Mondeik in third. Jacob Goede took fourth after holding off a fierce challenge from Jett Noland in the final laps of the race.

Bryan Kruczek initially won the 50-lap Sportsman feature after an intense battle with Friday’s feature winner Matthew Green, but both were later disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after their respective crews shared harsh words with each other. That eventually led to a physical altercation in technical inspection, leading to the disqualifications.

As a result, third-place finisher Wayne Smith inherited the victory.

Noland doubled his fun in the Pro Late Model class as he outran Kody Swanson for the second-straight night. Travis Eddy also earned his second victory in as many days in the Florida Modified division.

Lastly, Matt Jarrett was initially declared the winner of the E-Mod feature, but he and runner-up Michael Mark were disqualified due to left-side weight violations. Tim Walters inherited the win..

Super Late Model (35 laps)

1. Derek Griffith, 2. Connor Mosack, 3. Justin Mondeik, 4. Jacob Goede, 5. Jett Noland, 6. Ryan Moore, 7. Sammy Smith, 8. Brad May, 9. Jake Garcia, 10. Dan Fredrickson

11. R.J. Braun, 12. Kris Wright, 12. Stephen Nasse, 14. Jesse Love, 15. Kelly Moore, 16. Daniel Dye, 17. Michael Hinde, 18. Jake Finch, 19. Nick Panitzke, 20. Kody Swanson

21. Bubba Pollard, 22. Jaden Cretacci, 23. Steve Weaver, 24. Patrick Thomas, 25. Travis Wilson.

TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. – Coming off a 10th-place finish in a sports car at Daytona International Speedway, Chad McCumbee switched to a stock car and held off defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, Josh Berry to win the IceBreaker at Florence Motor Speedway on Saturday.

McCumbee ran in the Grand Sport class during the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge BMW Endurance Challenge at Daytona International Speedway last week, before heading north to take part in Florence’s return to NASCAR as part of its Late Model Stock Car showcase event.

McCumbee started on the outside pole alongside of his teammate, Matt Cox. He ran inside of the top three for the majority of the race, but coming around to complete lap 78, he took over the lead for the second time of the afternoon as he passed Ryan Millington In Turn 4. McCumbee went on to lead the remaining laps of the 125-lap race, but he had to outrun Berry on two final restarts.

“I’m very proud of our effort,” McCumbee said. “I’m not going to be able to run a full season of Late Models this year, but this is one race that I had on the calendar that I wanted to do. I certainly got the season started off right.”

“I had a plan.”@chad_mccumbee on what it took to win 2021 @FlorenceMSpdwy #NASCAR opener. pic.twitter.com/DpLt7fWSEV

— NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) February 6, 2021

On lap 120, Justin Johnson spun Bob Saville in Turn 4, and McCumbee had to dive down low to avoid the accident. McCumbee chose the outside lane on the restart, and he cleared Berry once back to green; however, a lap later, the caution flew again for a multi-car accident heading into Turn 1.

“I was sick to see that caution with four laps to go, because I felt that my strategy had worked out really well,” McCumbee said. “Luckily, we still had enough, so that told me that we had made some gains.”

With just four laps to go, McCumbee once again chose the outside lane on the final restart of the afternoon. He cleared Berry again and went on to capture his first win at Florence Motor Speedway.

“Those guys are so strong,” McCumbee said about the field of drivers on Saturday. “Late Model Stock racing in general for the last year, the competition level was just out of control. The talent and the depth throughout the field. We got beat in November, and we came back with a lot of different stuff trying to get better, and we certainly are better.”

Berry finished second after starting the race in the fifth position. Early in the race, Berry fell back and rode just within the top-10. As the laps ticked away, the JR Motorsports driver began to make his way through the field. Berry had a hard time getting around Bobby McCarty late in the race, but the cautions in the final laps gave him an opportunity to battle McCumbee for the win; however, McCumbee was just so strong on the high lane on the restarts, that Berry wasn’t able to hang with him after the field made its way around Turns 1 and 2.

Cool As Ice: Chad McCumbee holds off Josh Berry for 🏁 at Florence

📹 -> @SPEEDSPORT TV@AdvanceAuto | @FlorenceMSpdwy pic.twitter.com/djg4MKdtSq

— NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) February 6, 2021

“That was tough,” Berry said. “I don’t know, we were good. We were good again and just lacked a little bit there. The top was a lot better than the last race here, and it just got really hard to pass. I don’t know. I just needed a little bit longer run there. I think to fire off, Chad fired off a little bit better than us, and he was able to get out enough and hold us off.”

McCarty finished third after battling Berry hard in the closing laps of the race. The side-by-side racing between the two drivers got physical, but McCarty was thrilled to bring his car home with a solid finish.

“It was good, clean racing,” McCarty said about battling Berry. “I enjoyed it. I would have liked it better if my car was better, but it was good, hard racing, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Matt Cox finished fourth, and Kaden Honeycutt rounded out the top five. Completing the top

10 was Millington, Austin Somero, Jonathan Shafer, Justin Johnson and Ryan Glenski.

 

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Ryan Moore knows how to win at New Smyrna Speedway and on Friday evening during the opening night of the 55th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, he reminded everyone he is still a force to be reckoned with.

Moore, the 2013 World Series Super Late Model champion, started from the pole and held off a late challenge from fast qualifier Jett Noland to win the opening 35-lap David Rogers Super Late Model feature of the World Series.

While the stat book will show Moore lead most of the 35-lap event at the half-mile asphalt oval, the reality is he had his work cut out for him. A stacked field of 25 cars started the feature and Moore first had to contend with a challenge from Jake Finch, the son of former NASCAR Cup Series team owner James Finch, during the initial start.

A quick caution with two laps complete stacked the field back up, but Finch spun in front of the field as everyone raced towards turn one. The resulting crash eliminated several contenders, including Finch, Dan Fredrickson and five-time USAC Silver Crown champion Kody Swanson.

Moore held serve at the front of the field during two more quick restarts, fending off a brief challenge from 2019 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National champion Jacob Goede before sailing off into the lead.

Night 1 Super Late Model 🏁 goes to … Ryan Moore

Wow, what a race‼

Good news: World Series will be Keycap digit eight more nights of racing action.@newsmyrnaspdwy
| @AdvanceAuto pic.twitter.com/bQ41QA4RIj

— NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) February 6, 2021

Noland was able to chase down and pass Goede for second halfway through the race and was closing in on Moore before the final caution waved with two laps left for a car spun in turn one. However, the restart went Moore’s way and he was able to pull away to his sixth career World Series super late model triumph.

“We’ve been down here a long time and we’ve been good, we’ve been bad, we’ve been all over the board,” said Moore. “We built a new car. There is nothing wrong with our old one by any means, just ready for a new challenge, and we got with Rowdy (Manufacturing) and built this car.

“Just a stellar performance. My best friend Jamie, him and I, we pour our heart and soul into these things. It’s good to get him a win. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with this week.”

Noland fended off a challenge from defending World Series Super Late Model champion Derek Griffith to finish second. Goede and Connor Mosack followed them home in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Moore’s father, 1995 ARCA Menards Series East champion Kelly Moore, was also in the field Friday. He finished 11th.

Noland didn’t leave New Smyrna Speedway empty handed on Friday as he was able to win the first Pro Late Model feature of the week after an intense battle with Swanson that saw Noland take the lead for the first time with two laps left. Other winners on the opening night of the 55th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing included Matthew Green (Sportsman), Travis Eddy (Florida Modifieds) and Dustin Higdon (Bombers).

Super Late Model (35 laps)

1. Ryan Moore, 2. Jett Noland, 3. Derek Griffith, 4. Jacob Goede, 5. Connor Mosack, 6. Justin Mondeik, 7. Brad May, 8. Sammy Smith, 9. Jake Garcia, 10. R.J. Braun

11. Kelly Moore, 12. Kris Wright, 13. Michael Hinde, 14. Nick Panitzke, 15. Jade Cretacci, 16. Doug Elliott, 17. Mike Stacy, 18. Daniel Dye, 19. Jesse Love, 20. Patrick Thomas

21. Ruben Rovelo, 22. Jake Finch, 23. Dan Fredrickson, 24. Kody Swanson, 25. Bubba Pollard.

TIMMONSVILLE, S.C. – Florence Motor Speedway is gearing up for the IceBreaker Saturday, its first NASCAR-sanctioned event in more than 20 years.

The stars of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series will compete in the prestigious IceBreaker, which has relocated to Florence Motor Speedway after being hosted at Myrtle Beach Speedway since 2016. Past winners of the event include Tommy Lemons Jr., Lee Pulliam, Timothy Peters, Ty Gibbs and Sam Yarbrough.

Florence Motor Speedway track owners, Steve Zacharias and Savannah Brotherton, made the move to operate the .400-mile asphalt oval after Myrtle Beach Speedway shutdown in the summer of 2020. While Zacharias, Brotherton and staff packed the grandstands as they hosted several extremely successful events last season at Florence, the IceBreaker will kick off the track’s first full year under new ownership and the NASCAR banner.

As of Wednesday, the entry list features 28 Late Model Stock Car drivers, but Zacharias is expecting to have about a total of 30 or 35 drivers competing in the 125-lap race. He’s also expecting stout fields in the support divisions, too.

WATCH: IceBreaker on SpeedSport.TV

“I’m just excited for our guys to be able to go out there and race, whether it is against the National Championship guys or going for the State Championship,” Zacharias said. “It’s something that I think has been a long time coming for Florence, and I really think that it puts a good start to 2021 for us by having that (NASCAR) branding on us.”

Over the decades operating as a non-sanctioned track, Florence Motor Speedway has developed its own local stars, but now the Pee Dee region drivers will have the opportunity to compete against some of the most talented drivers that the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series has to offer.

RELATED: NASCAR Adds Regional Championships To Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series

“Anthony Adams and Averitt Lucas, they’re finally getting to prove their selves to the world going against Josh Berry, Ryan Millington, and Brandon Pierce,” Zacharias said. “I know that Chad McCumbee will be there. Matt Cox is going to be running. It’s kind of cool to see the guys that have run Florence for so long get to kind of merge in and proves themselves and say hey, we’re not low on the totem pole here. We’re able to keep up with you guys.”

Chad McCumbee, who was a regular competitor at Myrtle Beach Speedway, has followed the Zacharias and Brotherton to Florence. McCumbee has already proven that he will be a top competitor at Florence and that he will compete for wins. McCumbee is entering the IceBreaker coming off a 10th-place finish in the Grand Sport class in the Rolex24 at Daytona International Speedway. McCumbee competed for PF Racing in the 59th running of the prestigious IMSA event.

“Fortunately, I’ve been doing this so long now that I’m used to it, but you do certainly switch gears in your brain,” McCumbee said about switching back and forth between sportscars and NASCAR Late Models. “It is a different discipline. Even though the end result and goals are the same, you certainly reach those goals in different ways. At this point, it’s kind of like just getting in something that I’m used to when I go back to the stock car stuff, and it’s usually not too big of a transition.”

Defending NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I champion, Josh Berry is entered to compete in the IceBreaker while piloting the JR Motorsports No. 88 iRacing Chevrolet.

Berry finished runner-up to Ty Majeski in the South Carolina 400 last November at the track. Berry says that Florence has a lot of character and although there are two grooves, the winner of the race will need to keep the car glued to the bottom of the track next to the inside wall in the turns.

“Florence is a pretty cool track, actually. It has got a lot of character, and it seems fast in multiple grooves, so it was one of the more fun places that I’ve been.”

Berry continued and said, “It definitely seems like there are two grooves,” Berry said. “You can hold somebody off on the top for a little bit, but really, it seems like when it comes down to it, the car that wins is going to be the car that can run the bottom the whole time.”

Ryan Millington finished out the 2020 season third in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I national standings, the highest effort of his career. He even captured the track championship at Hickory Motor Speedway during the impressive season, but Millington has never competed at Florence . Over the off-season, the North Carolinian tested at the track located in Timmonsville, South Carolina.

“Florence is probably one of the most different tracks around here,” Millington said. “A lot of these places are kind of very similar, but Florence is an odd shape. It has kind of short straightaways and long, sweeping corners. It’s really a different beast.”

Millington intends on competing for the national championship once again, but he will first have to outrun the stout competition this weekend at Florence. Historically, this race attracts the drivers who will be at the top of the standings at the end of the season. Millington is hoping that his Harrington Enforcer motor will help propel him to Victory Lane.

“This one is going to be tough,” Millington said about the IceBreaker. “We’re going down with a Harrington Enforcer motor, and a lot of people will probably end up having that (GM) 604 motor with weight break, which is going to be really tough to run with down here in a long race. We’re just going to have to see how it goes. We’re just hoping for a good night and everything, but to pop off a win with this motor will be tough, but I definitely think that it’s possible.”

Florence Motor Speedway will host rotating practice on Friday, February 5. Saturday’s schedule will be packed with practice and qualifying before the features get underway. The Late Models will kick off the day with a 125-lap feature, followed by Mini Stocks (40 laps), Street Stocks (35 laps) and Super Trucks (75 laps). The green flag will fly at 12:30 p.m.

Preliminary Late Model Stock Entry List

Car	Driver	Hometown	Sponsors
2	Brandon Pierce	Oak Ridge, NC	Fremont Properties/Discount Oil/Grand Atlantic Ocean Resort
2	Bobby McCarty	Kernersville, NC	Patriot Chevrolet/Solid Rock Carriers/Autos by Nelson
7	Averitt Lucas	Manning, SC
7	Brandon Clements
8	Bob Saville
9	Riley Gentry	Easley, SC	Shore2Shore Express
10	Janson Marchbanks	Anderson, SC	Door Tech
15	Ryan Millington	Statesville, NC	Leisure Tyme Rentals/Carolina Specialty Products
16	Chad McCumbee	Ocean Isle Beach, NC	Aarons Sales and Lease/Elliotte Properties
18	David Roberts	Gray Court, SC	Roberts Racing
18	Anthony Adams	Simpsonville, SC	V6 Conveyors
18	Jason York	Reidsville, NC	J & T Woodworks Construction, Inc.
25	Robbie Mew	Aynor, SC	Lamb Performance/Small Town Lazer Arts
28	Ryan Glenski	Mooresville, NC
44	Justin Johnson	Roxboro, NC	Puryear Tank Lines/GXS Wraps
48	Kyle Campbell	Concord, NC	Prospect Motorsports/Battle Scarred Outdoors/Jersey
51	Matt Cox	Longs, SC	Aaron’s Sales and Lease/Elliott Properties/Renegade Fuels
55	Mark Wertz	Chesapeake, VA	CorvetteParts.net/Dunkin Donuts
57	Justin Carroll	Concord, NC	Industrial Battery and Charger Inc.
59	Heath Causey	Snow Camp, NC	H&A Directional Boring/Silk Hope Service
60	R.A. Brown	Columbia, SC
61	Justin Hicks
70	Jeremy McDowell	Conway, SC	Coastal Marine/Carquest Automotive
88	Josh Berry	Mooresville,NC	I-Racing
91	Jonathan Shafer	Ashland, OH	Lee Pulliam Performance
94	Jamie Weatherford	Darlington, SC	Cannon’s Small Engines
99	Austin Somero	Taylors, SC	Ted Cook Heating Service/Fika Farms

 

Going to watch races the last 11 years has been difficult for Justin Drawdy.

He would go to dirt tracks, but every time he went to an asphalt track he’d get the itch to get back in the car himself.

“I missed it. I wouldn’t go to the races because of that,” Drawdy said.

Drawdy raced go-karts as a kid, and after taking some time off, for a little more than a decade he raced at New Smyrna Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned half mile oval track just outside of Daytona Beach, Florida, as well as the ARCA Menards Series and other tracks across Florida. That was until an accident forced him to give up the sport for a time.

In 2009, Drawdy was driving from work early on a foggy morning. A pack of cows had gotten out onto the highway, and Drawdy, unable to see them through the fog, ran through the cows with his car.

Following the accident, he started losing feeling in his right hand and had bad shoulder pain. Nothing worked to help him improve, and he eventually had to have surgery for a fusion and steel plate put in his neck.

“I raced for probably 11 years and never got hurt in a race car at all,” Drawdy said. “I’ve hit the wall at high speeds before and never had an injury at all. But I was going 40 miles per hour and got hurt.”

Even though he didn’t think he’d ever get back behind the wheel, the itch to drive again never left.

He went to the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Florida this year, and told a few different people there he was thinking of getting back into racing. The next thing he knew he was getting a call from Lee Faulk Racing saying they had somebody who backed out of their car for Speed Weeks at New Smyrna if he was interested.

“I said I’ve always wanted to, so I just decided to get back into it this time.” he said.

“Once you start racing and get in it it’s hard to get back out of it.”

New Smyrna Speedway schedule

Drawdy will drive a pro late model at New Smyrna this week for the track’s 55th annual World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing

Drawdy agreed to drive for the Faulks under one condition. If he was going to drive, he was going to be driving for wins. He and his team were at the top of their game when he had to stop racing a decade ago, and he wants to get that feeling back.

“I basically told him, ‘Listen, I’m not here just to say I did it again. If I can’t get a couple days of practice in ahead of time I’m not interested in doing this,’” he said. “To be honest I’m not getting back in the car to ride around and be in the top 10. I want to win.

“I’m not going to tear the car up but I’m going to try to race every single night with the sense I’m going to win.”

He got the chance to test his car last Saturday and Sunday, and did a lot better than he expected, even if it took a bit of time to regain his speed. He had someone take out the car out for a few laps before him to see if everything was good.

When he ran the car himself, he got out expecting to see the same times as his crew mate.

“I asked what the times were and I was about a second off. I was like, ‘Man, I swore I was getting into the corners harder than that.’” he said. “The speed was a lot different and the cars are a lot different. You’ve got to be really consistent with the cars now. It’s not like what I used to drive there, but we got up to speed really quick and we were running really well by the end of the day on Sunday.

“I had kind of high expectations for myself there but I didn’t think I’d get up to speed that quick. But the car was extremely good so I’m looking forward to it actually.”

Drawdy isn’t the only one looking forward to him racing this weekend. His oldest daughter was just three when he stopped racing, and none of his other four children have ever seen him behind the wheel.

One thing Drawdy’s wife said is that racing has to be fun for the whole family, and so far it has been. On test day, the Faulks let Drawdy’s six year old son tighten lug nuts on the tires, help jack the car, and be involved with other small jobs in the pits.

Letting the family be involved has made Drawdy’s return “ten times better.”

“If the family is not involved we really don’t want to do it,” he said.

“They have been wanting daddy to get back in the race car, so that was a big push from them to get my wife convinced to let me drive again. They’re a big reason too. We go to watch the races but they’ve always wanted to see dad race again.

“They’re spun out and upside down, they’re so excited.”

Drawdy has high expectations for himself for this week’s World Series, and especially after seeing how well the tests went he’s excited to see what happens.

He knows things will be different when he gets back on the track racing against other cars, but he’s ready to see how it goes.

“We’ll see Thursday,” he said. “It’ll help out being around other cars there so just got to be smart, keep all the fenders on it and try to finish. You’ve got to finish if you want to be able to win. I think the car is extremely fast. I think we were extremely fast when we were testing but racing is going to be a bit different so hopefully it’ll get up to speed for that as well.”

If he can be competitive and regain that feeling he had before he was forced to get out of the sport 11 years ago, then this week may not be the last behind the wheel for Drawdy.

“I don’t want this to be a one-and-done deal,” he said.