Peter Britten Outduels Alex Payne For Second DIRTcar Nationals Victory
Photo by Joe Grabianowski
BARBERVILLE, Fla. — The three-year long fight is over. Peter Britten mastered his way back to Victory Lane at Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals for the second time at Volusia Speedway Park on Friday night.
The Aussie stormed past Alex Payne on Lap 3 and led the final 28 laps to score his fourth career Super DIRTcar Series win and second Gator trophy at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile.”
“I feel like quite often we’re fast down here,” Britten said. “I don’t feel like I’ve got the amount of gators I deserve, and after a while, it starts wearing on you a little bit. After last night, I was pretty bummed starting on the pole, and I don’t think I drove very well. I knew if I was going to do anything tonight, I just had to do better and drive harder.
“This means a lot. It’s hard to get to Victory Lane, whether it’s down here or against any of these guys on the Series. It’s just good for everyone involved to get the reward. Hopefully, everyone’s going to have a smile on their face tonight.”
Payne, the SRI Performance and Stock Car Steel Pole Award winner, grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, gaining an advantage on Britten as they raced down the backstretch. However, that didn’t last long as the “Batman” found momentum on the outside lane.
The two drivers stayed side-by-side on Lap 2 before Britten found a burst of speed down the backstretch to take the lead from Payne as they entered Turns 3 and 4.
Britten pulled away from the No. 70A, leaving Payne to battle with Erick Rudolph for the runner-up position. Payne held off the Ransomville, NY driver’s challenges until the caution came out on Lap 10 for Justin Stone, who broke a driveshaft.
When the race resumed, Payne tried to slide past Britten as they entered Turn 3, but another caution flew on Lap 10 as Matt Sheppard slowed with a shredded left rear flat tire.
Britten’s momentum on the second Lap 10 restart kept him out front, but Payne had another chance at the lead after Lap 19. As the two drivers waged war into Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 20, Payne slid in front of Britten’s nose, narrowly pulling ahead.
That didn’t stop Britten though. He crossed over on the bottom to regain the lead as they exited Turn 2. Payne tried keeping his momentum going on the top in Turns 3 and 4, but Britten slid in front of the 2024 Super DIRTcar Series Rookie of the Year, holding on to the top spot with 10 laps remaining.
From there, Britten cruised to the checkered flag, earning his second Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar NationalsGator and the $5,000 prize.
“I really wanted to push hard in the beginning and try to get around [Alex Payne],” Britten said. “I was able to do that. And then he threw a couple of shots at me, which was entertaining. Luckily, when he did that, I was able to turn it back down on him and clear him again.
“I was definitely stressing the whole time because I was wondering when the next move was coming.”
Payne settled for second, earning his first DIRTcar Nationals podium and third career Series podium. Even though he had chances to pass Britten, the Hopewell, NY driver said he made the wrong lane choice during the first few laps.
“I definitely think we had a car capable of getting it done,” Payne said. “It just didn’t fall into our hands. I’m very happy for Peter, and I think that was a pretty cool show battling for the lead.”
Rudolph crossed the line third, earning his second consecutive DIRTcar Nationals podium and eighth top five in his last nine races at Volusia Speedway Park.
While he battled with Payne early in the race, Rudolph said he struggled with the handling of his racecar toward the end.
“It felt like everyone was struggling to turn a little bit and it just got trickier and trickier to get it to rotate,” Rudolph said. “I kind of ran the same line the whole time and was catching them a little bit running that line, but then they kind of got away from me in lap traffic.
Mat Williamson finished fourth, and Alex Yankowski rounded out the top five.
“Kid Rocket” maintained his DIRTcar Nationals points lead after his third consecutive top five finish. The Covington Township, PA driver holds a 10-point lead over Britten entering the event's final night.
Here are the top five in the DIRTcar Nationals point standings:
1. Alex Yankowski 448
2. Peter Britten -10
3. Mat Williamson -16
4. Alex Payne -17
5. Justin Haers -20
Click here for the full points
Up Next: The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday, Feb 15, for the final night of Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. The Beasts of the Northeast will battle in a 50-lap Feature paying $7,500-to-win and crown the 2025 Big Gator champion. The World of Outlaws Late Models will also join the Beasts of the Northeast on the card.
TICKETS: DIRTcarNationals.com
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every race live on DIRTVision – either at DIRTVision.com or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES (36 entries)
DIRTcar Nationals Night 3 (30 Laps): 1. 21A-Peter Britten[2]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[1]; 3. 25-Erick Rudolph[3]; 4. 88-Mat Williamson[5]; 5. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[8]; 6. 2-Jack Lehner[7]; 7. 12-Darren Smith[4]; 8. 91-Felix Roy[15]; 9. 3-Justin Haers[9]; 10. 4-Anthony Perrego[14]; 11. 99L-Larry Wight[11]; 12. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[17]; 13. 58-Louden Reimert[20]; 14. 5H-Amy Holland[25]; 15. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[12]; 16. 20-Rick Laubach[10]; 17. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[16]; 18. 8-Rich Scagliotta[19]; 19. 7Z-Zach Payne[26]; 20. 30-HJ Bunting[23]; 21. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[18]; 22. 35C-Chris Curtis[21]; 23. 16X-Danny Creeden[22]; 24. 11C-Matt Caprara[24]; 25. (DNF) 9S-Matt Sheppard[6]; 26. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone[13]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 35C-Chris Curtis[1]; 2. 30-HJ Bunting[2]; 3. 51-Ryan Krachun[4]; 4. 5H-Amy Holland[5]; 5. 7Z-Zach Payne[3]; 6. 66-Corbin Millar[6]; 7. 11N-Ricky Newton[8]; 8. 22J-Bubba McPhee[7]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 16X-Danny Creeden[1]; 2. 11C-Matt Caprara[2]; 3. 14-CG Morey[3]; 4. 11T-Jeff Taylor[4]; 5. 48T-Dave Rauscher[6]; 6. 14S-Brian Swarthout[8]; 7. 35B-Francois Bellemare[7]; 8. (DNS) 6-Matt Stangle
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 70A-Alex Payne[2]; 3. 3-Justin Haers[5]; 4. 15X-Justin Stone[3]; 5. 1-Billy Pauch Jr[6]; 6. 35C-Chris Curtis[4]; 7. 7Z-Zach Payne[7]; 8. 5H-Amy Holland[8]; 9. 22J-Bubba McPhee[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9S-Matt Sheppard[1]; 2. 2-Jack Lehner[3]; 3. 20-Rick Laubach[2]; 4. 4-Anthony Perrego[5]; 5. 21M-Bob Mcgannon[7]; 6. 30-HJ Bunting[6]; 7. 51-Ryan Krachun[4]; 8. 66-Corbin Millar[8]; 9. 11N-Ricky Newton[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21A-Peter Britten[1]; 2. 25-Erick Rudolph[2]; 3. 99L-Larry Wight[3]; 4. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 5. 8-Rich Scagliotta[4]; 6. 16X-Danny Creeden[7]; 7. 14-CG Morey[8]; 8. 6-Matt Stangle[6]; 9. 35B-Francois Bellemare[9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[1]; 2. 12-Darren Smith[3]; 3. 98H-Jimmy Phelps[2]; 4. 83X-Tim Sears Jr[4]; 5. 58-Louden Reimert[6]; 6. 11C-Matt Caprara[5]; 7. 11T-Jeff Taylor[7]; 8. 48T-Dave Rauscher[8]; 9. 14S-Brian Swarthout[9]
Group A Qualifying: 1. 88-Mat Williamson, 00:17.227[12]; 2. 9S-Matt Sheppard, 00:17.335[17]; 3. 70A-Alex Payne, 00:17.353[2]; 4. 20-Rick Laubach, 00:17.399[4]; 5. 15X-Justin Stone, 00:17.417[15]; 6. 2-Jack Lehner, 00:17.470[13]; 7. 35C-Chris Curtis, 00:17.510[9]; 8. 51-Ryan Krachun, 00:17.555[1]; 9. 3-Justin Haers, 00:17.571[6]; 10. 4-Anthony Perrego, 00:17.613[5]; 11. 1-Billy Pauch Jr, 00:17.617[18]; 12. 30-HJ Bunting, 00:17.691[3]; 13. 7Z-Zach Payne, 00:17.701[10]; 14. 21M-Bob Mcgannon, 00:17.980[14]; 15. 5H-Amy Holland, 00:18.024[16]; 16. 66-Corbin Millar, 00:18.087[11]; 17. 22J-Bubba McPhee, 00:19.122[7]; 18. 11N-Ricky Newton, 00:19.186[8]
Group B Qualifying: 1. 21A-Peter Britten, 00:17.236[7]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski, 00:17.279[9]; 3. 25-Erick Rudolph, 00:17.304[2]; 4. 98H-Jimmy Phelps, 00:17.313[6]; 5. 99L-Larry Wight, 00:17.405[4]; 6. 12-Darren Smith, 00:17.471[11]; 7. 8-Rich Scagliotta, 00:17.520[14]; 8. 83X-Tim Sears Jr, 00:17.629[5]; 9. 91-Felix Roy, 00:17.662[13]; 10. 11C-Matt Caprara, 00:17.787[3]; 11. 6-Matt Stangle, 00:17.858[17]; 12. 58-Louden Reimert, 00:17.907[16]; 13. 16X-Danny Creeden, 00:17.940[10]; 14. 11T-Jeff Taylor, 00:18.084[18]; 15. 14-CG Morey, 00:18.142[15]; 16. 48T-Dave Rauscher, 00:18.256[12]; 17. 35B-Francois Bellemare, 00:18.363[8]; 18. 14S-Brian Swarthout, 00:18.412[1]
Our Partners
.png)
