BARBERVILLE, Fla. — Danny Dietrich is about to depart his snow-covered dash automobile homeland of Pennsylvania for the nice and cozy climate of Florida to compete with the American Dash Automobile Collection Nationwide Tour at Volusia Speedway Park.
Dietrich, 36, of Gettysburg, Pa., will enter his Weikert’s Livestock Inc, Maxim Chassis No. 48 with a Travis Racing Engine, owned by Chris and Mindy Hiser, for his first ASCS look exterior of the 360 Knoxville Nationals.
He and the Gary Kauffman Racing workforce will compete within the opening nights of the 54th annual Federated Auto Elements DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia, Jan. 30–Feb. 1.
The “PA Posse” standout has been a DIRTcar Nationals entrant yearly since 2017 with the World of Outlaws NOS Vitality Drink Dash Automobile Collection and has loads of laps round Volusia’s quick, half-mile confines in his common 410 dash automobile.
He raced Volusia for the primary time with a 360 engine within the automobile on the ultimate two nights of the 2024 Germfree Southern Dash Automobile Shootout, garnering back-to-back fifth-place finishes.
So, what brings the veteran winged racer again for extra 360 dash automobile competitors at Volusia this yr?
“It simply makes it higher for us to go down there and get some laps in earlier than 410s begin up the week,” Dietrich stated. “We don’t have the race in Georgia like we’ve had in years previous, or the race at Ocala like we now have in years previous, so it’s all the time good to get some laps [at Volusia].
“And it’s in all probability even higher for us, being that we’re not having to depart one observe and go to a different. We are able to simply go to Volusia and camp out for every week or so.”
Whereas Dietrich is keen to get the native 410 dash automobile season began again residence, the motion round Pennsylvania doesn’t start till March. Racing two weekends at Volusia additionally provides he and his workforce the extra advantage of getting forward of their competitors at residence by turning laps and wrenches on the observe earlier than most others.
“I simply take pleasure in going to Volusia and beginning the season off, having the crew again across the observe and within the trailer, and simply getting again into the swing of issues,” Dietrich stated. “Volusia hospitality is excellent, and actually the fan base has grown a lot through the years, simply increasingly more. Yearly, it looks as if there will get to be increasingly more followers strolling by means of the pit space.
“It’s good for the racers and good for the groups to get down there and get gelling earlier than issues actually get kicked off again right here in Pennsylvania.”
Dietrich is well-versed within the high-speed nature of tracks like Volusia. However does he view his weekly expertise on the massive tracks as a bonus over the touring stars of ASCS?
“Under no circumstances… under no circumstances,” Dietrich stated. “We simply don’t have something right here in Pennsylvania like Volusia. Volusia might be about as near Eldora as it’s something, if I needed to give an opinion. It kinda races considerably related so far as the form of it — not saying we stand up on the fence like we do at Eldora or something like that — but it surely undoubtedly has some similarities so far as how spherical it’s, and also you don’t actually drive very straight across the observe.”
DIRTcar Nationals kicks off a brand new period in ASCS Nationwide Tour historical past with the primary, full-length schedule constructed underneath the brand new possession of World Racing Group, which bought the collection final March.
“I feel having ASCS down there’s undoubtedly going to assist the scenario with the 360s, and in Florida as properly,” Dietrich stated. “To have ASCS concerned and taking on Volusia can be actually, actually good for 360s as a complete — possibly even throughout the entire nation. Kinda will get them one other good observe and one other good forefront the place they get the publicity they need to be getting.”
