LAVONIA, Ga. — The Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series is back in action this weekend with a doubleheader at Lavonia Speedway.
The stars of the Southeast Super Late Model racing scene will converge on the familiar red dirt surface for two separate 40-lap, $5,000-to-win shows Feb. 25-26.
Lavonia has been a stop on the Xtreme circuit in each of its first two seasons, spawning two different winners – Zack Mitchell won in 2019 and Michael Brown took the checkers in 2020. This weekend’s events will be the first two-day stretch of action at the same track in series history. It will add a unique element not yet seen on the tour, giving teams the opportunity to improve on their performance from the first night on the same track.
Stock 8s and 602 chargers join the super late model program on Friday, while modified streets and 602 late models will support on Saturday.
Current series points leader Ross Bailes takes an eight-point lead into the weekend, aiming for his second career regional super late model championship and first with the Xtreme Series.
He’s been strong at Lavonia over the past 12 months, winning two of his last three starts at the three-eighths mile. He conquered former Xtreme Series winner Brown in a 40-lap, Carolina Clash-sanctioned event at the track last April, then came back in July and scored another win against several of the same Southeast Super Late Model regulars he’ll face again this weekend.
Super late model rookie Carson Ferguson continues his chase for the championship after a couple of weeks out of the driver’s seat.
Ferguson took a Derek Dent-owned, crate-engine late model to victory lane at Golden Isles Speedway in late January to kick off his Georgia-Florida Speedweeks run, followed by an appearance at All-Tech Raceway in the Paylor Motorsports No. 93 super late Mmodel the following weekend. He again showed strength against a national-level field, qualifying for two of three features he attempted that weekend.
The last time the Xtreme stars visited Lavonia, Brown claimed his first career win with the series. He’s projected to defend the trophy this weekend against many of the same names he beat that day.
His first outing of the year did not go as expected – dropping out after two laps of the Winter Freeze event at Screven Motor Speedway, but the McLeod Racing No. 2,4-D team does have two top-five finishes in two Xtreme starts thus far and is poised to back them up at Lavonia.
Keyword: Xtreme DIRTcar Heads To Lavonia