Last year saw Tim McCreadie bring the house down at Volusia Speedway Park by maneuvering his way through a stacked field from 27^thto first, winning the 50-lap Big Block Modified Feature and DIRTcar Nationals Championship in high fashion.

McCreadie’s charge and late-race pass on Stewart Friesen earned himself his first DIRTcar Nationals Big Block Modified Gator.

Not only did McCreadie clinch the gator championship in his Big Block Modified in 2018, but also collected a victory in his World of Outlaw late model. This year, however, McCreadie will be putting his sole focus on his late model team, leaving the Big Block Modified gator championship up for grabs.

How long have you been competing at Volusia Speedway Park?

I started racing in 1996 and started going down there in 1998 with the modified.

Everyone goes south to get the gator. What was it like getting your first gator championship?

It was pretty cool, especially after going all those years and to finally get it done. It’s always cool because people from all over come to watch. I like the idea that they turn the week into a championship. It’s neat and really unique for us. It’s hard to go down there and go all four nights and be able to pull it off. It’s a lot of work but it’s worth it. It was amazing.

Will you be doing double-duty again this year with the modified and late model?

I’ll only be running the late model this year. I love doing it but it’s hard to go out and do what we did last year. It’s more or less help. Without a team it’s just Vic and me in the shop. We don’t have enough people and equipment to do that many days in a row down there. It’s especially hard to keep up with two cars. It’s different in New York because everyone’s close by. When you start going cross country it changes. We figured Vic’s son, Kyle, needs most of the focus to make the car fast. So, I figured we’d take a step back and I can help him down there if he needs it. We were lucky we won in both divisions last year. That’s usually hard to do.

I wish we could get it where we’d have two separate teams, I’d definitely be doing it, but the late model is what pays the pills. I’d love to keep doing the modified if it paid the bills but the late models is where it’s at.

What’s your favorite part about DIRTcar Nationals?

I like the whole atmosphere. Mondays are a little more relaxed but come Wednesday a lot of stuff is happening. You have people from other divisions coming down and supporting. It’s fun to win in front of them and to see the people come out like Roger Penske or an Indy car guy. There’s nothing going on in the winter so it’s fun, especially to win in Florida. Volusia is one of my favorite tracks that we go to.

Do you have any tips or suggestions for new drivers going down to compete?

I think you have to understand it’s probably different than where you’re form. If you’re from Delaware it’s probably the same type of track. If you’re from New York or Pennsylvania, the track is different than what you’re used to. Getting up to speed is different there. It’s not easy. You go to enjoy the sun and learn your car. If you have success, enjoy it. If you don’t have success, don’t worry about carrying that into the season. It’s not a points race, this won’t decide your season for you. Don’t take too much or too little out of it.

Do you plan on doing anymore modified races this coming season?

Oh yeah. We have the car we ran last year. It’ll be a pick and choose schedule. If I can get 15 modified races in, I’d be happy but lately I’ve only been able to get eight in the past few years.