2021 East Bay WinterNationals Modified Week

Kevin Adams Rides the High Side to Winternationals Victory

Kevin Adams found victory lane on the second night of the Winternationals in Florida!

Jan 21, 2021 by FloRacing Staff

Kevin Adams Rides the High Side to Winternationals Victory

The second night of DIRTcar UMP Modified racing saw the field grow to 49 cars and exciting racing once again took center stage.

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Shane Burrows, a two-time winner in the 2020 Winternationals, set the pace with the fast time of 17.144. Group leaders included Kevin Adams (17.370), Bryan Bernhardt (17.347), Drake Troutman (17.577), LJ Grimm (17.326) and Lucas Lee (17.242).

The six heat races added to the drama of the evening with the top three from each race going into the A main. Adams rolled to the win in the first heat, but the second heat saw Bernhardt break while leading the contest, won by Chris Wilson, which sent the 2020 East Bay track champion Bernhardt to the B main.

The third preliminary saw Drake Troutman back up last night’s feature win with another victory, but there was drama lurking in heat race number Four. At the start, Burrows was battling Devin Dixon for the lead when huge plumes of smoke erupted from the car, ending Burrows night. Travis Varnadore picked up the win. Fast qualifiers dominated the final two races with Grimm and Lee getting the top spots.

B Mains brought six more drivers to the 24-car A Main. The 12-lap last chance races were won by Tyler Nicely and Dave Hess Jr.

Polesitter Wilson took the early lead, only to have the field re-racked for a Jason Jack spin. Wilson was finally able to secure the top spot to complete the first lap, but the lead was short-lived. Adams took the lead on the second lap and the caution flag returned on lap three. The field couldn’t get more than a few green flag laps in as cautions started appearing too frequently. Troutman was able to slip into third during one of the green flag periods as Nicely moved from his 19 th starting spot to eighth.

A caution for Tyler Clem on lap 10 was followed by an issue on the restart that saw Brian Skaggs car head directly into the turn one gate. The next caution of the next lap would be the final yellow as the field kept it green to the checkered flag. Along the way, Adams stayed committed to the top line and Troutman mimicked that attempt. The field hit lapped traffic on lap 23 with most of the cars staying low to allow the leaders to pass. Troutman closed on Adams with two to go and had a run, but Adams found a little extra bite to carry him to victory by a few lengths.

Tim Gay prevailed in the Street Stocks, building up big leads each time the caution would come. Heats were won by Gay and Austin Sanders. Night number three will be Thursday night as drivers keep building points until Friday night in hope of securing a top six spot for the Saturday main event. Racing action starts at 7 p.m.