Starting earlier in the season than the usual Winter Nationals, in February prior to the Daytona 500, the Volusia Speedway Park dirt track kicked off Thursday night with the World of Outlaw Late Model series.
Florida racer Kyle Bronson (#40) of Brandon dominated the 40 lapper, despite loosing the lead with under 10 laps remaining.
Louisiana's Cade Dillard made it interesting, but couldn't hold back "the Killer" and his resurgence back to the front.
Defending WoOLM champion Brandon Shepard of Illinois was never in contention for the win, but finished a solid 9th.
Chickamauga's Dale McDowell ran in the Top 5 early but bowed out to finish 22nd overall. Tennessean's Scott Bloomquist finished 17th, while Jimmy Owens was 27th out of the 38 entrants.
Reported earlier in the week, Georgian Shane Clanton is recovering from COVID-19 and will miss the first few weeks of competition.
Another Georgian Michael Page of Douglasville won the night's 604/Crate Late Model $1,500 to win race. Bronson also ran the Crate race finishing 4th among the 55 entrants.
Friday both divisions see action before Saturday's finale in Daytona. Also Friday night races pick back up in the desert with the Arizona Speedway Wild West Shootout, where Blairsville's Jonathan Davenport is going for bonus winnings this weekend.
Live broadcast from Arizona is available for subscribers on Floracing.com, while WoOLM series coverage from Daytona is available for subscribers on DirtVision.com.