BARBERVILLE, Fla. — For the first time since 2021, Michael Page is a feature winner at Volusia Speedway Park.
The Douglasville, Ga., driver took the grind from 20th starting spot to leave the DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals finale with a $10,000 reward on Saturday night with the Crate Racin’ USA 604 Late Models.
Hayden Cardwell took the 34-car field to the initial start by maintaining the lead in the first three laps before Friday winners Pearson Williams and Trynt Lloyd made contact and spun into the back stretch guardrail. Williams rolled over once after the contact, but the two drivers were OK.
On the restart, Justin Williams took his chance for the lead by taking the No. 7w Longhorn Chassis to the cushion while Cardwell kept his Late Model to the bottom of the track. They stayed even for two laps around the track until Williams was clear of the Tennessee native on Lap 6.
Behind the two drivers, Page had a near-scare after a fuel pressure issue forced him to visit the work area before the racing began. When the green flag waved, Page gained 10 spots by taking every hole that his Late Model was able to fit through on the opening circuit.
Page kept the charge by shifting to sixth on the Lap-3 restart, then worked up to the top five on Lap 11. When the caution waved again on Lap 15, Page drove around the cushion to move into the podium over Cardwell. He used the momentum to reach the bottom of Logan Bradford for the runner-up spot.
When the final caution flew on Lap 24, it erased a 1.7-second lead by Williams and offered a final chance for Page to strike. He did just that as the “Peach State” racer threw a slide job into Turn 1, shifted to the top, and outran William through Turns 3-4 through the middle for the Feature’s lead.
Page never relinquished the position as he crossed the finish line to complete a mountainous climb for a significant payday.
“Man, this is good,” Page said. “I just can’t qualify, man. Every time I come here, I have to come from the back. When it’s wide open, I feel like I have no motor. Then, when it slicks off, I have more motor. I don’t really understand it, but don’t give up. Like I told (the crew), we’re here to have fun, win or lose. We’re here to win, we come to win. I knew it from the first lap, I was like ‘Holy shit, this thing is rolling.’”
Williams finishing in second place earned him the overall title after the 30-lap battle for his first surfboard trophy in his second visit to Volusia.
“To come down here and get a win and the second place, we couldn’t ask for any better,” Williams said. “We coulda went with a little different tire and been a little bit better, I started to lose the right front towards the end. But, all in all, it was a good weekend for us and our team.
“It’s kind of unbelievable, really. I work on my cars in a little small shop, and I got a full-time job, so to be able to come in here and do that means the world.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 18X-Michael Page[20]; 2. 7W-Justin Williams[2]; 3. 17C-Hayden Cardwell[1]; 4. T99-Mario Gresham[14]; 5. 5-Wil Herrington[23]; 6. 09-Ross Bailes[5]; 7. 18IH-Clay Harris[25]; 8. 67-Logan Bradford[4]; 9. 99-Kyle Hardy[8]; 10. 46-Deisel Jones[10]; 11. 2S-Layton Sullivan[22]; 12. C02-Daulton Wilson[9]; 13. 611-Koulten Herbert[29]; 14. 18BY-Austin Yarbrough[15]; 15. 15-Marty Massey[30]; 16. 24-Austin Bloodworth[19]; 17. 515-Bubba Roling[7]; 18. 15M-Mason Massey[26]; 19. 56-Christian Schneider[28]; 20. 7N-Corey Neil Jr[16]; 21. 12C-Chase Giddens[34]; 22. 17-Austin Storm[33]; 23. 85-Corey North[24]; 24. 22S-Jeremy Steele[13]; 25. 23V-Matt Henderson[17]; 26. 97T-Ty Giles[6]; 27. 16S-Sam Seawright[21]; 28. G4-Trent Ivey[11]; 29. 44P-Kole Platt[31]; 30. 121-Pearson Williams[3]; 31. 2L-Trynt Lloyd[12]; 32. 8W-Bubba Whitener[18]; 33. 7A-Corey Almond[27]; 34. 31S-Tim Swartz[32]
