Now What?

What are we supposed to do now? With the WoO Late Models putting an emphatic stamp on Speedweeks Saturday, we've entered a bit of a lull, if not an unofficial offseason. We've got two weeks until WoO Sprints resume and USMTS kicks off their season. Lucas is off for a month, two if the Atomic and Brownstown dates suffer their common fate. WoO LMs are off for a month before back-to-back southern dates. What are y'all looking forward to these next few weeks?

The Big (Block) Modified headline this weekend was "Kid Rocket" Alex Yankowski took home his first Super DIRTcar Series Big Gator, narrowly holding off "Money" Mat Williamson (side note: the BB guys have the best nicknames). Yankowski started the weekend hot with a bruising 3rd and a fairly dominant dub, holding of the field from there. Overall, the Big Blocks put on a show with four different winners (Matt Sheppard, Yankowski, Peter Britten, & Erick Rudolph) in four races.

Speaking of modifieds... Big congrats to Jonathan Joiner for picking up a win in his first weekend back in an IMCA Modified. The Professor led every lap after starting fourth on Saturday at Southern Raceway.

Circling back to late models, the field is DEEP this year. Bobby and RTJ are RTJ and Bobby, but we've got a quite a few guys finding, or rounding back into, form. Garrett Alberson is the one that has caught my eye the most so far. Alberson has picked up a win at the WWS early and picked up two WoO wins during Speedweeks. If my unofficial math is correct, Alberson would be the WoO points leader had he declared prior to Speedweeks.

Max Blair also looks to have made the leap. The Keystone Kamikaze made 17 of 17 Speedweeks features, with fourteen top 10s and four top 5s, including two 3rds and a 2nd. Ethan Dotson, though technically a rookie, looked like anything but that, even briefly leading the WoO points late in Speedweeks.

Finally, Superman is BACK! JD never left but, in the words of Nick Hoffman he is back "doing Superman-type shit" and "making us all look dumb." Davenport opened Speedweeks with three straight runner-up finishes enroute to picking up 4 dubs and 14 top 5s in 17 Speedweeks features. Beyond the statline, Superman put a stamp on Speedweeks by throwing back his cape, and maybe something else over his shoulder, putting the 49 on the cushion and blowing the doors off Drake Troutman who was cruising in the rubber. I couldn't help but think only JD could execute that maneuver. It could start to feel like 2022 real quick, but with the field this deep I have a hunch we are going to be in for a slugfest every time Lucas or WoO unloads.

🏆 We're talking about points? Yup!
Throughout Speedweeks we had some new faces lead the WoO points, with Cody Overton, Ethan Dotson, and Ryan Gustin all taking a turn. Ultimately, Gustin leaves Volusia as the point leader, with RTJ, Bobby, Hoffman, and Blair in tow. As mentioned earlier, Alberson would be leading had he declared. On the Lucas side, JD leads Devin Moran, RTJ, Brandon Overton, and Daulton Wilson. (I didn't even mention some of these guys! That's how deep we are this year.

👀 Looking AheadThe American Racer Modified Series was set to kick off this weekend from Texas Motor Speedway, but they made the call early to put the show on ice. ARMS will kick off their season Thursday, Feb. 27 from Heart O' Texas, before big brother, USMTS, takes the stage Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.

In the IMCA world, Southern Raceway closes out the Battle at the Beach this Friday and Saturday. Setting the stage for the Clash on the Coast which kicks off next Monday, February 24th from Northwest Florida Speedway.