Michael Atwell pocketed $10,000 on Saturday night at Showtime Speedway, winning the Florida WinterFest 125 for the second consecutive year.
Atwell was dominant in the 125-lap Super Late Model event, taking the lead for good on lap 48 and finishing ahead of 2021 race winner Steve Dorer by four seconds.
“It was tough this whole weekend,” said Atwell. “With how cold it has been, the track has been slick all weekend. It was a great race.
“We had to start back there and show what the car had, what the team had and all the work we’ve put in this weekend. A great way to start off the year, just like last year.”
For Dorer, it was a hard-fought runner-up finish. The veteran racer battled brake issues throughout the evening but mustered enough speed to finish on the podium.
“About 20 laps in, Jimmy said on the radio the right-front was glowing really bad, and I wasn’t using brakes. About 35 or 40 laps in, I lost the brakes. On that restart when Michael got by me, I had lost the brakes. Dustin [Dunn] got by me, and I was going to accept what I had.
“We got that caution and I got going again, but with about 15 to go I lost brakes again. We’ve got a problem in the right-front caliper somewhere. They’re brand new this weekend and we’ve got a problem we haven’t figured out yet, obviously.”
Dustin Dunn doesn’t get to race often, but he had plenty of speed on Saturday night for a third-place finish.
“It was a handful there at the end. We don’t get to race this much at all. I work in NASCAR up in North Carolina. The car stays down here in Florida with my dad, so the only time I get to see it is when I’m on vacation visiting family.
“We run maybe four races a year. It’s tough to come here and compete with these guys who run 30 races a year, but we do the best we can and have a hell of a good time doing it.”
WINTERFEST 125 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
1. Michael Atwell
2. Steve Dorer
3. Dustin Dunn
4. Bryson Horner
5. Rob Partelo
6. Jordan Richardson
7. Brandon Anderson
8. TJ DeCaire
9. Brad Bowman
10. Colin Allman
11. Kipp McVey
12. Aaron Anderson
13. Michael Goddard
14. Brey Holmes
15. Billy Mowery
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