Story By: JORDAN DELUCIA / DIRTCAR – BARBERVILLE, FL – In one of the most dramatic points battles seen in Modified racing over the last several years, Lucas Lee sealed his second career Speedweeks points title by 26 points over 2020 champion Tyler Nicely and rising UMP Modified star Drake Troutman.
Saturday’s rainout was the final nail in the coffin for Lee’s two closest competitors. The three swapped points positions multiple times over the 12-race/15-day stretch, keeping the storylines fresh as they chased the $2,000 grand prize through three different tracks in three weeks.
Lee’s run to back-to-back Speedweeks titles began with a win on January 29 at North Florida Speedway in Lake City – a track he finished runner-up at on three separate occasions over the track’s four previous Winternationals events held. Then it was off to East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, where another two Feature wins greeted him, including the $5,000 Winternationals finale on Saturday night.
A fourth victory came in the opening night of DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia on Monday – four days before recording his best career finish in the Gator Championship Feature on Friday – a runner-up result for the Tennessean.
“My car was good the whole time,” Lee said. “I wanted to win all the finales, and we were close last night. Didn’t need lapped traffic.”
“All-in-all, I’m just here to race.”
Armed with two Elite Chassis, built by seven-time DIRTcar Nationals champion Nick Hoffman, Lee stayed out of trouble and put up three top-fives and four top-10s in five Feature starts to carry him past Troutman in the standings at road’s end.
“It is cool,” Lee said. “It just shows the equipment that we’ve got. If we wouldn’t have had that one mess-up there [on Tuesday night], I think we probably got us a Gator Championship or two.
“It’s probably one of the best times I’ve ever had here.”
