Nearing the end of the Dirt Late Model racing season, our attention naturally begins to divert towards the various track, regional and national series points titles to see which drivers are in contention to win those titles. The two most visible and discussed points titles are the championship for the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The points battles are discussed in the pits, message boards and covered though the various media outlets and are a focal point for everyone.

H MORE

It seems like the word rookie gets tossed around a lot in the Late Model racing world. So much in fact, that I wonder when a driver officially loses that rookie status.

I noticed that after Eric Cooley’s outstanding run at the Magnolia 100, the driver from Fulton, Miss., was referred to as a Super Late Model rookie. It made me wonder what constitutes a Super Late Model rookie.

I don’t want to take anything away from his accomplishment in Mississippi’s most prestigious event, but it should MORE

As he cruises throughout the Marion County Fairgrounds on that nondescript white golf cart that says “Cappy” on the front fender, Ralph Capitani is probably invisible to most fans at Knoxville Raceway. They might look upon him as just another guy wearing an official’s shirt, doing some unimportant busy work as the race weekend progresses.

But Cappy has never been just another guy. He’s never been unimportant. And he’s a long way from invisible. He’s the man who brought Dirt Late Model MORE

There’s little doubt that the economic downturn has hurt the auto racing industry a bit. While we may not notice it on the surface, it’s happening. Car counts are shrinking, as are track counts.

It’s been pointed out that it takes awhile for the trickle down effect to actually trickle down to auto racing. And for those out there who have tunnel vision, they still may not be fully aware.

But in the South, a number of tracks were closed this season, and many more were shutting down early.

Tocco MORE

Throughout my career in racing, I've tried to pay careful attention to trends and ideas used by promoters and racers that seem to benefit those that are using them. Ten years ago we had a few magazines and newspapers to help spread the word of what was going on in racing. Other than that it was word of mouth, an occasional newspaper ad or a flier at the local auto parts store.

While all of those were fairly good methods they didn’t reach much of the potential audience. How many times “back MORE