2/10/2023
Drake Troutman
Drake Troutman snags first career gator trophy at Volusia
Taking part in the annual DIRTcar Nationals on Monday, Drake Troutman was one of 102 Modifieds amassed at Volusia Speedway Park (Barberville, Fla.) for the 52nd running of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.
With the massive field split amongst six groups for prelims, Troutman’s qualifying effort placed him on the front row for his feature. Chasing race-long pacesetter Ethan Dotson to the checkers, Drake continued his top-five streak with a runner-up finish.
On Tuesday, Drake followed up the third-fastest lap in his time trial group with a flag-to-flag victory in his 20-lap prelim, bagging his second win of the season and a $600 paycheck. He soared to his first career gator trophy 4.315-seconds ahead of Matt Crafton with Austin Holcombe, Mike Learman, and Ray Bollinger completing the top-five finishers.
For Wednesday’s preliminary night, Troutman posted a fourth-place finish in his 20-lap preliminary feature, his ninth consecutive top-five run.
Earning the fifth-starting position for Thursday’s preliminary feature that was later moved to Friday by Mother Nature, Drake dropped two spots to finish seventh.
Later Friday, Troutman secured his spot into the $5,000-to-win DIRTcar Nationals finale with a heat race victory. With the main event moved to Friday evening due to expected bad weather in the area for Saturday's program, Drake was challenging for the lead in the 30-lapper when transmission issues brought an unexpected end to his night.
Saturday’s program fell victim to Mother Nature.
Full results from the weekend are available at www.DIRTcar.com.
Article Credit: Chris Anderson image