The first sign that Jamie Lathroum’s Dirt Late Model racing effort had changed forever came the morning of April 19. When he made his customary race-day phone call to his crew chief, Huey Wilcoxon, he got only Wilcoxon’s voicemail and no immediate call back.

That’s strange, Lathroum thought (picture above right with Wilcoxon, left). We always talk the morning of a race about what we’re gonna do.

A few hours later, Lathroum, a 35-year-old from Mechanicsville, Md., who ranks as one of the MORE