New
Smyrna Beach , Florida
– After
struggling with a brand new Rocket Chassis throughout
the early season it seems as though Dillon Wood and
his race team have finally hit their stride. The
sixteen year old Florida racer piloted his number 26
to very respectable fifteenth place finish at this
past weekend’s O’Reilly Southern All Stars East
sanctioned March Madness VI event at the Cherokee
Speedway in Gaffney, SC. But the task was not an easy
one as the entry list for the event read like a whose
who of dirt late model racing with names like
Bloomquist, Smith, Madden, Owens, Clanton, Babb,
Weaver, Lloyd, Franklin and Roberts just to name a
few.
Wood’s
15.518 second lap was good enough for sixth quickest
in his group which would eventually become the fourth
and final heat race of the day. On the start of the
heat race Wood quickly moved into contention for
fourth spot which was the final transfer spot in the
heat. Wood hounded Austin Hubbard for the position and
drew right up on his deck with just two laps
remaining. But Wood’s mount washed up the banking
through turns one and two which allowed Travis
Pennington to slip by. Hubbard spun coming to the
checkers allowing Pennington to transfer to the
feature and putting Wood on the outside of the front
row for the second consolation race.
“I
had a rock or something come up through the car and
hit me in the helmet. It flipped my shield up and
dazed me for a second. That’s what happened when I
let Travis get by me. What ever it was it was pretty
big because it messed up the left front fender too.
But it sure felt good to be in a car that was
comfortable and I felt like I could turn it and race
hard. I left some on the table in time trials. I was a
little nervous about it. We have been having the same
issues with being good in hot laps and then way to
tight in qualifying. And at this place too tight
usually means in the wall.” said Wood.
After
the four heat races were completed track and series
officials made the determination to rework the tracks
surface. The sun and wind had taken its toll and the
surface had severely rutted up and had become
dangerous. After the over one hour delay, Wood rolled
off in the last chance race on the outside pole. To
his inside was two-time OSAS champion and multi-time
Cherokee winner Chris Madden. After a couple of
botched starts the green finally waved. Wood took the
advantage but Madden made the young man earn his ten
lap victory with several spirited side-by-side
battles.
Wood’s
last chance victory affixed him on the outside of row
number nine for the sixty lap feature. Wood raced his
way up to tenth at one point in the caution filled
event but was eventually forced to retire from the
event with ignition problems. “We think that the
crank trigger was shorting out causing the engine to
start missing. I wasn’t sure what was going on with
it so I just parked. That is a brand new Clements
Engine and I wasn’t going to take any chances with
it. But a fifteenth isn’t too bad given everything
that has happened to us with the new car. We can head
to North Georgia with a little confidence now.” Wood
stated.
Wood
and his DWR Team will return to O’Reilly Southern
All Stars competition on Friday, March 14th
at the North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth , GA. The
fifty lap Ernest Young Memorial event will pay $5000
to the winner. Then Wood will make the short trip
north across the state line to Cleveland Speedway for
the Shamrock 60 on Saturday, March 15th.
The Shamrock is also sanctioned by OSAS and will have
$7500 winner’s purse. Any driver which can win both
events can collect the Car Smart of Cleveland $2500
bonus to make it a cool $15,000 possible. If no driver
wins both events the high point driver for the two
events will receive an extra $500.
Dillon
Wood and the DWR Team would like to thank all of their
loyal fans and supporters. Dillon would also like to
recognize his 2008 sponsors which include: Bearden Oil
Company, Screven Motor Speedway and Savannah River
Dragway, RaceSource, KELCAR Motorsports Media,
Clements Race Engines, Rocket Chassis, Dixie Dirt TV,
Carlson Race Photos, Koury Race Engines, Vickery’s
Speedshop, Coleman Outdoors, Ohlins, Hypercoils, PPM
Racing Products, Wa-Don Bert, Sunoco Race Fuels,
Hoosier Tire South, Stealth Carburetors, Beyea
Headers, Simpson Race Products, Racing Optics, Ultra
Shield Products, Duralite Wheels, Phase II Sign Supply
and Arizona Sport Shirts.
Up
coming DWR Events:
March
14 – North Georgia Speedway – OSAS Ernest Young
Memorial 50
March
15 – Cleveland Speedway – OSAS Shamrock 60
March
22 – Lavonia Speedway – OSAS Late Model
Extravaganza
Photo
credit: Carlson
Race Photos
