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Bronson, Strickler win in WoO LMS Volusia opener

By Nick Graziano

Kyle Bronson and Kyle Strickler opened up the 2021 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model season in winning fashion over the weekend.

Both Bronson and Strickler scored win in the season opening Sunshine Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida.

On Thursday night, Bronson set quick time, won his heat race and then parked his car in victory lane to make it a perfect night at the half-mile speedway.

Bronson, who hails from Brandon, Florida – about two hours from Volusia – took home a $10,000 payday for his efforts..

When asked how it felt to win in his home state, Bronson simply said with a wide grin, “Awesome.”

The victory is his second career series win. His first win also came at Volusia Speedway Park seven years ago. He was the first Sunshine Nationals champion last year with the DIRTcar Late Models, as well.

His Florida dominance was almost halted by Cade Dillard, who was going for his first Volusia win.

Bronson led the first half of the 40-lap feature but had pressure from Tim McCreadie and Dillard the entire time. McCreadie worked his way from fourth to second on the first lap and focused his scope on Bronson.

The duo hit lap traffic on lap 6. The roadblocks hindered Bronson’s momentum and brought McCreadie closer to his rear bumper.

Meanwhile, Dillard took advantage of the opportunity to close on them from third. He passed McCreadie for second on lap 12 and three laps later was on a run to take the lead from Bronson. However, before he could, McCreadie slowed down the backstretch with an issue that brought out a caution took him out of the race.

Dillard picked up where he left off when the race resumed, breathing down Bronson’s neck. That didn’t help Bronson’s tight-handling condition, either. On Lap 22, as he struggled to get a clean exit off turn 4, Dillard slid by the Floridian for the lead and pulled away.

“I was extremely, extremely tight there,” Bronson said. “The more I tried to slow down and pace myself, the tighter I got.”

Bronson continued to fade, giving up second to Darrell Lanigan four laps later.

It looked like a sure thing for Dillon until a caution flew with one lap to go, opening the door for Lanigan to try to steal the win away.

Lanigan threw a Hail Mary underneath Dillard going into the first corner on the restart. The two collided in turn two, sending Lanigan spinning and damaging Dillard’s left front fender.

“I had a chance to go for it, a chance to go for the win. Any guy in this pit area would have done the same thing with the same car,” Lanigan said. “He (Dillard) just jumped over my right front. He did what he had to do, too. Like, I said, we’re all going for the win.”

When the race resumed, Bronson pulled the same move as Lanigan, but cleared Dillard and ran away with the victory.

“Man, we had a really good car,” Dillard said. “When we lost the left front this whole car just got terrible. These things are so aero dependent. I don’t know, man, it is disappointing. We had a really good car and we’ve been working really hard. I’m not going to bad mouth anybody. I know bad things happen. Just unfortunate.”

Dillard still managed to finish second with Kyle Strickler in third, Rick Eckert in fourth and David Breazeale in fifth.

After Friday night’s event at Volusia was rained out, action moved to Saturday night, with Mooresville, North Carolina’s Kyle Strickler scoring his first career series victory.

Strickler led the first 35 laps of the 40 lap feature, but with five laps to go, Scott Bloomquist mounted a challenge.

“I seen the No. 0 (car of Bloomquist) down there and I’m like, ‘Oh, hell. This is not the right time here,” Strickler said.

Strickler’s ability to not crack under pressure led him to his first World of Outlaws victory and the $10,000 payday.

“I call Scott my dad,” said Strickler. “I know there’s nothing like having the best in the business breathing down your neck for your first Outlaw win.

“Man, that’s awesome. That’s a Cinderella story right there to be able to hold him off for my first win. Man, this thing, it was good tonight.”

Bloomquist had to settle for second, with Darrell Lanigan in third, Ricky Weiss in fourth and Jimmy Owens in fifth.

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series returns to Volusia Speedway Park on February 10-13, for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals. For more information, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.

WoO Morton Buildings Late Model Series
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
Sunshine Nationals – January 14, 2021

1. 40B-Kyle Bronson
2. 97-Cade Dillard
3. 8-Kyle Strickler
4. OE-Rick Eckert
5. 54-David Breazeale
6. 28-Dennis Erb
7. 7-Ricky Weiss
8. 19R-Ryan Gustin
9. 1-Brandon Sheppard
10. 16-Tyler Bruening
11. 12-Ashton Winger
12. 7R-Ross Robinson
13. 44-Chris Madden
14. 1P-Earl Pearson
15. 99B-Boom Briggs
16. 29V-Darrell Lanigan
17. O-Scott Bloomquist
18. 18-Chase Junghans
19. B1-Brent Larson
20. 14JR-John Baker
21. 56-Tony Jackson
22. 17M-Dale McDowell
23. 6-Blake Spencer
24. 6JR-Parker Martin
25. 39-Tim McCreadie
26. 58-Ross Bailes
27. 20-Jimmy Owens
28. OS-Ryan Scott

WoO Morton Buildings Late Model Series
Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
Sunshine Nationals – January 16, 2021

1. 8-Kyle Strickler
2. O-Scott Bloomquist
3. 29V-Darrell Lanigan
4. 7-Ricky Weiss
5. 20-Jimmy Owens
6. 14JR-John Baker
7. 1-Brandon Sheppard
8. 385-Mark Whitener
9. 17M-Dale McDowell
10. 40B-Kyle Bronson
11. 99B-Boom Briggs
12. 58-Ross Bailes
13. 28-Dennis Erb
14. 6JR-Parker Martin
15. 7R-Ross Robinson
16. 6-Blake Spencer
17. 16-Tyler Bruening
18. OE-Rick Eckert
19. 18-Chase Junghans
20. 19R-Ryan Gustin
21. 97-Cade Dillard
22. 12-Ashton Winger
23. 56-Tony Jackson
24. B1-Brent Larson
25. OS-Ryan Scott
26. 54-David Breazeale

  • Associated Categories: NASCAR News, Other Motorsports
  • Associated Tags: motorsports, Auto Racing, Dirt Track, Stock Car, Short Track, Dirt Late Model, WoO Late Model Tour
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