USAC National Sprint Cars

WINNING NEVER GETS OLD FOR DARLAND AS HE PICKS UP ELDORA
Matt Westfall and Jeff Koz Complete Branson/Larson Classic Tripleheader

ROSSBURG, OH (April 19) – Winning never seems to get old for Dave Darland. To him, every checkered flag is as important and exciting as the first one and Saturday’s triumph in Eldora Speedway’s Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic was no exception.

Victory lane was pure jubilation for the popular Walton, IN veteran as he collected his fifth USAC (United States Auto Club) National Sprint Car win on the venerable .500-mile clay Eldora oval and in doing so, extended his USAC cumulative point lead. Sharing victory lane honors with Darland were Matt Westfall in the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Jeff Koz in the Stock Cars.

Getting to the front was no easy task for fourth-place starting Darland. Pole sitter Chase Stockon charged into the lead at the dropping of the green flag, with Dallas Hewitt, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Darland in tow.

Within three laps, Stockon had built up an eight car length lead over Hewitt, as Darland moved into third to challenge for the runner-up position. Driving hard into turn three on the fifth circuit, Hewitt brushed the outer wall which sent him into a series of flips and ended his night.

The ensuing restart set up an eight lap battle highlighted by classic Eldora slide jobs.

Darland slid under Stockon going into turn three, but Stockon retaliated by diving off of turn four and ran wheel to wheel down the front stretch with Darland before doing a slide job of his own into turn one. That move outsmarted Darland and again Stockon began increasing his margin over the field.

Darland began building up his steam and coming down to complete lap ten, he not only caught up to the leader, but tried yet another slide job going into turn one. While this time the slide job was successful, before the lap could be completed, another red flag appeared for a flipping Jarrett Andretti.

That relegated Darland back to second and set up two laps of see-saw battling between the fast-running pair. Persistence paid off for Darland as he executed a successful pass coming down to complete lap 13 to move out front, where he was to remain throughout the distance.

Stockon refused to give up and kept Darland in sight as he held off all challenges from Tracy Hines. They crossed the finish line in that order, with Coons, Jr. and Brady Bacon completing the top five.

Westfall had signed in to do double duty on the evening, but mechanical issues kept his Sprint Car from competition and reduced the driving chores on a chilly evening to his UMP DIRTcar Modified.

All disappointments were clearly erased as he simply dominated the 18-lap Modified feature event for his second win in a division that was celebrating its 250th event Saturday evening.

David Smith was turning in a strong run at the onset of the event with a spirited challenge to Westfall, before defending champion Jerry Bowersock came on the scene to set up a three-way battle. That battle increased to four as soon Zach Schroeder moved forward, but within a few laps, Westfall got hooked up and went off and running.

The fast-paced event was all Westfall from that point on, with Bowersock eventually moving past Smith for second, while Schroeder and Jesse Bittlering completed the top five.

While Jeff Koz was able to move into victory lane for his first-ever Eldora win, he had to be getting nervous in the closing laps. Two leaders before him fell to misfortune. First it was Paul Pardo, who led the first seven circuits. Pardo dropped quickly to the low side of the track to give Koz the lead he was to hold for three laps before giving way to defending champion Barney Craig.

Craig’s lead last for less than two laps before he made contact with the wall in turn one to end his night prematurely.

That put Koz back out front and was able to hold off a pair of fast-closing runners, Chris Douglas and Andy King to grab the checkered flag. Jordan Conover did a great job recovering from an earlier spin to record a fourth place run, while Adam Schaeff completed the top five.

Eldora returns to action next Saturday evening with a tripleheader program featuring the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Eldora Stock Cars and Waynesfield-Circle Track Trucks. Ticket and event information can be found on Eldora’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com or can be obtained by calling the speedway office (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours. Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and view video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android which is available for download via iTunes and Google Play.

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