Fast Talk presented by Castrol Oil
Fast Talk: Big winners and our crystal ball
Our roundtable gathers to wrap up another wet weekend that produced only a handful of winners, while looking ahead to what's coming up next in the weekly feature presented by Castrol Motor Oil and Fluids (edited for clarity and length):
On a weekend when Mother Nature seemed the primary victor, laud another winner.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt.com managing editor: I’ll note Crate Late Model standout Jamie Burford, the Louisiana driver who ventured to far west Texas for victories at Lubbock and Amarillo in races co-sanctioned by the Southern Touring Late Model Series and Complete Well Testing Sooner Late Model Series. He picked up a $4,500 weekend sweep and finished it off by overcoming a last-minute radiator swap in Saturday’s finale at Route 66 Motor Speedway.
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt.com senior writer and editor: Before the start of Saturday’s Dairyland Showdown finale at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Mike Marlar spoke to me about the “boom or bust” nature of his 2022 season — he had, after all, gone from finishing third in Thursday’s opener to not qualifying on Friday. He then continued the trend in Saturday’s 75-lapper, winning the $50,000 World of Outlaws prize in the biggest of booms. Marlar conceded that his victory was slightly bittersweet because he felt terrible about benefitting from the heartbreak of Tyler Bruening, who was headed toward his first-ever WoO win until tangling with a lapped car with seven laps to go, but the Tennessee driver was certainly still a worthy winner — his third victory worth $20,000 or more this year — of an event that appeared to be a success for track owner Bob Timm.
Robert Holman, DirtonDirt.com weekend editor: I’ll take Jonathan Davenport here. Superman was super fast all three nights at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. If not for the deck height infraction on Thursday, which took away his heat win and made him come through a consolation race, he may have been able to grab both of the $10,000 World of Outlaws feature wins, rather than just Friday’s. After starting the season with 15 straight races without a win, Davenport has won four if his last eight and he had 15 top-five finishes on the year. I think all is well in the Double L Motorsports camp.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt.com staff reporter: Jonathan Davenport didn’t cap another six-figure week at the office like last weekend, but the Georgian certainly showed first-rate speed that could’ve contrived more than one $10,000 win during the Dairyland Showdown. On Thursday, the deck height violation that disallowed a heat win took Superman out of contention (he parked it early and finished 20th in the feature). Thursday’s probable result came to be Friday in victory lane, and on Saturday, Davenport ran second in the $50,000 finale until a leaky tire did him in. Chris Madden had been atop my ballot since the end of March, but Davenport amended that after this week.
Mike Ruefer, DirtonDirt.com contributing photographer: Well I’m tired of Mother Nature and her driver the Rain Man dominating the dirt track scene but I have one for you I’d like to talk about and that’s Cory Hedgecock. He’s a southeast regional talent and doing quite well for himself early this year. Four wins in 11 Super Late Model features according to my records and I find that impressive. In a sport that’s primarily a Longhorn and Rocket Chassis world, he’s motoring a Black Diamond to be a star in his area. I guess you don’t always have to follow the herd to win.
Offer your thoughts on a dirt-covered North Wilkesboro Speedway, which will host the Valvoline Iron-Man Southern Series and the Steel Block Bandits Dirt Late Model Challenge on separate weekends in October.
Kovac: I’m certainly interested in seeing a defunct track — especially a famous one like North Wilkesboro — come back to life. It will definitely be neat to see dirt on the place too. But the track’s size puts it outside the wheelhouse of most Late Model teams, so for the event to be a success it will require Late Model racers to put aside how hard the speedway might be on equipment and go racing for reasons of nostalgia and novelty. Also notable is that XR Events is promoting the races but not posting the mega-dollar purses of its other Super Late Model events (the Iron-Man features will pay $5,000 and $10,000 to win), indicating that this one will be more of a traditional affair dependent on grandstand and pit turnouts rather than streaming revenue.
Holman: I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t like big racetracks. Well, this is a big one for sure. I know the corners are not banked as high Bristol, so hopefully it won’t be has hard on equipment. But with the length, they will still be carrying a ton of speed and any little mishap could destroy a car. Hopefully it won’t be a points race for either of those two series, because I know as a car owner I’d hate to be forced to go there. Tracks that big are just too demanding for regional racers and weekend warriors in my opinion. I do suspect, however, that curiosity alone will make it a streaming success, which is what it comes down to I suppose.
McFadden: As I’ve previously said, I understand the concern that the .625-mile racing surface is too large. But reality is it’s a one-time event at perhaps the most historic short-track on the planet, so why not race on the North Wilkesboro dirt before the repave in 2023? In a realistic sense, the racing product might be a conglomerate of Bedford (Pa.) Fairgrounds Speedway — a big half-mile that has a downhill frontstretch and uphill backstretch like North Wilkesboro — and the 5/8-mile West Virginia Motor Speedway. Now, 16 Super Late Models only showed for the WVMS $10,000-to-win 2022 opener a few weeks ago — granted, an event run on a Sunday. All I’m trying to say is I hope a decent field of cars participates despite the track leaning to be excessively hard on equipment.
Ruefer: It will be interesting to see how it unfolds for sure. The part that will intrigue dirt racers and their fans is the opportunity to race at the historic venue before the new asphalt rebirth and bringing the track to its previous glory. My take is that most dirt races on asphalt tracks are more of a novelty than anything. In this case though the asphalt will be removed and for a short time it will be a real dirt track. I think this is good and could provide a real dirt track experience. Maybe it will be so good they just keep it that way? Nah.
Turner: I’m lukewarm on the North Wilkesboro revival, but with a steady mix of Super Late Models, Limited Late Models and Crate Late Models during the October action, surely they’ll be some drama and excitement stirred up at a track that stokes NASCAR nostalgia. That is a part of the country with relatively few significant Dirt Late Model events, so perhaps it’ll give a chance for some regional drivers to shine.
With attendance waning at many weekly tracks, if you were a promoter trying to find a happy medium, which two Late Model divisions would you run each week among Super Late Models, Limited Late Models, Crate Late Models (604s) and 602 Late Models?
Holman: I think two divisions is plenty. If I were a promoter I would probably try to host four or five Super Late Model special events throughout the season. I would then have two weekly Late Model divisions in which all three of the remaining Late Model engine packages could compete. Either the 604 Late Models could run with the Limited Late Models or the 602 Late Models could run with the 604 Late Models. Why I feel there is no need to exclude anyone who wants to race, I’m also not going to create a division for just three or four cars weekly. Give breaks — spoilers and weight — to the cars deemed at a disadvantage and offer financial incentives to the three highest finishing drivers who raced up. If the 604s and 602s were running together, offer a $100 bonus for the highest finishing 602, then $75 and then $50.
Turner: I’d borrow a page from Joe Kosiski’s playbook for Malvern Bank and Hoker Trucking events that blends multiple engine combinations and do whatever is possible to have a single division, particularly if there is a significant Super Late Model presence. A 20-car feature in one division, even if some struggle to keep up (that happens anyway, right?) is far preferable to four divisions of virtually identical cars with four or five apiece. Dividing divisions (doh!) is a scourge on the sport.
Ruefer: Okay guys I’m going to show my age here and say there should just be one Late Model class. That’s the way it used to be and now we have this motor mayhem that plagues us today. The problem is from the grandstand the cars all look the same. Since Supers are only weekly cars now in all but about two states we’re left with the rest to choose from. In an effort to keep Late Models weekly I think you pick the package that best fits the majority but have rules that allow shop-built and Crate (engines) to compete together. In my mind Late Models should still be Late Models.
Kovac: If my racetrack is in an area with a sufficient number of Super Late Model teams to fuel weekly action for the division, then I’ll support the Supers with a single Crate Late Model class. But if I can’t produce a strong Super Late Model class, I’ll have just a single Late Model division as my headliner. It’ll be some sort of conglomeration of Limiteds, Steel Blocks and Crates in hopes of creating one robust full-fender class. I’m not rolling out multiple, identically-appearing Late Model divisions unless I have Super Late Models at the top of the card.
McFadden: An initiative like this is region-dependent, so if an area supplies enough Super Late Model teams for a worthwhile points fund, then that’s my headliner in a perfect world. Additionally, I'll rotate Limited Late Models and Crate Late Models on the undercard; maybe even promote the Limiteds as the headliner for select Super bye weeks. That leads me to say, I’ll absolutely work with neighboring racetracks and not lallygag with a schedule release, nor schedule big races on top of other big races within a particular region. I think it’s blasphemous when neighboring promoters and racetracks serving the same regional teams don’t communicate. Supers as the main draw, a healthy mix of Limiteds and Crates, with an early schedule release in December in advance for the year ahead. That’s the gist of how I’d promote a racetrack.
What is your outlook for the upcoming Illinois Speedweek?
Ruefer: I’m so excited that I can hardly stand it. I have a pocket full of quarters from all the rain outs in the mideast and ready to go. The Land of Lincoln has some of the best Bull Rings and shoes, so it will good. Not only will the events be packed but everyone around the country will be glued in. I’m going out on a limb and betting a few pennies, that Illinois drivers win 3 out of 4 races. With each night, the short drive from Spoon River to Lincoln to Farmer City will build up to another grand finale at Fairbury. Any one of these could be the race of year.
McFadden: Low-key wish this was the only Super Late Model spectacle of the week, because a speedweeks consisting of prominent Illinois bullrings with the potential of garnering every top team in the business would be something to behold. The XRSS event at Charlotte impedes that potential, but the turnout should still be dandy. Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce owned the Land of Lincoln last year; those two having combined to win nine of 16 features across Spoon River, Lincoln, Farmer City and Fairbury in 2021. Tyler Erb’s been running well of late, too (two wins, seven podium runs and 10 top-10s the last 12 starts) and I’m sure he’s looking forward to building upon that strong start to the year.
Turner: I love it. It reminds me of the original DIRTcar Summer Nationals four-race stretches in and around Bloomington, Ill., where back-to-back-to-back-to-back nights of action was seen as a feature, not a bug. (Promoters who fear not having enough fans because a nearby track is running a night earlier or a night later should be focused on building mutual momentum and excitement, not trying to have their own big show.) While the tracks certainly hold things in common, the styles of racing are just different enough at each that it’ll take a supremely gifted driver and balanced car to sweep all four.
Kovac: Four straight nights of lucrative Super Late Model racing on racy Illinois bullrings located within an hour-and-a-half radius of each other? That’s a dream scenario — and considering how many special events that area has already lost to wet and cold weather this spring, fans and racers alike should be frothing from the mouth to see a string of big shows. In a sense, the early-season cancellations in the Midwest have created a situation similar to 2020 when the shutdown for the pandemic built up demand for racing and everyone flocked back to the tracks when action finally resumed.
Holman: There are so many people in the Midwest who are just bursting at the seams ready to race because of all the rain they’ve had, I expect all four nights to be pretty raucous. There are a lot of great drivers throughout that region that I suspect it’ll be tough for an outsider to find his way to victory lane. I said tough, but not impossible. It’s a great stretch of racing at really good tracks and pretty cool to bounce to a different facility for four nights in a row and race for that kind of money. I’m looking forward to getting on road Tuesday afternoon so we can get it started.
Give a quick preview of the XRSS tour’s four-race Colossal 100 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
McFadden: I’ll be in Charlotte this week, so hoping for a strong draw of teams with fans to match considering three $25,000-to-win features accentuated by the $50,000 main event on Saturday. All the teams with half-mile speed to start the year are expected to participate, such as WoO Bristol winner Ricky Weiss, Chris Madden, Dale McDowell, Chris Ferguson, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Overton, Mike Marlar and even Kyle Strickler and Scott Bloomquist. Jonathan Davenport, winner of last year’s World Finals, is expected to join Saturday’s finale from the first half of Illinois Speedweeks. But the weather forecast doesn't look all that conducive for an undertaking of that nature. Hopefully Mother Nature lightens up for the Colossal 100’s return.
Holman: From the list of drivers that the XR Super Series Facebook page says is expected, it should be a really good weekend. Jonathan Davenport is reportedly going to run Wednesday and Thursday in Illinois and then Saturday at Charlotte, so that’s interesting. Toss in Overton, Madden, Ferguson, Ricky Weiss and Bloomquist and obviously it’s looking a lot like a Bristol reunion. Davenport has won the last two WoO World Finals at Charlotte and we don’t really have much else to base a prediction on. Overton, Madden, Jimmy Owens and Tim McCreadie won World Finals before Davenport, so it will not be a surprise to me if the big winner is one of those five drivers.
Kovac: Four straight nights of racing at a single track in the spring — or any time or place outside of Speedweeks in Florida — isn’t my cup of tea. The big money posted (three $25,000-to-win shows leading into Saturday’s $50,000-to-win Colossal finale) is certainly attractive, though, for teams, who can just park in one spot for four days. It will be interesting to see the turnout of cars (how many regional racers will be able to race so many nights?) and the grandstand crowd (will enough fans attend to give the event an atmosphere commiserate to its payoff?).
Turner: I suspect Charlotte’s usual suspects will be visiting victory lane in a return of a major event that really never quite found its footing in its original incarnation so many years ago. The huge purses are an attraction, no doubt, but it does strike me that the Colossal’s return in some ways puts it in competition with the season-ending World Finals, which is also going through a rebirth of sorts with bigger purses and a shuffled format. Lots of eyes will be on Charlotte now and then, for sure.
Ruefer: Building off the big participation that XRSS had at All-Tech Raceway last month I have a notion that this race should build off that success. Probably early in the week the crowds won’t be that big but I think the weekend turnout should be good. I like what XRSS is doing by bringing back the Colossal name to the scene. It was popular back in the day and prestigious; It can be again. Overall what XRSS is doing right now reminds me of the NDRA many years ago. NDRA had a super star appeal with high profile events. I doubt if the status quo at the time liked it but it helped elevate dirt late model prestige.
