Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: More lucrative race, stiffer tire penalties
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: When the World of Outlaws Late Model Series announced Tuesday that Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., had failed a tire test from April 11’s Illini 100 finale at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, the release detailed that the 52-year-old’s financial penalty of $11,771.33 included the loss of prize money and contingencies (he earned $2,700 for finishing ninth in the 60-lap feature), tire testing and shipping costs and, notably, a fine equal to one-third of the winner’s earnings of $25,000. I didn’t recall WoO-DIRTcar tire penalties in previous years including a fine that was a percentage of the race’s first-place payout — for instance, in 2024, Bobby Pierce was docked a flat $2,000 and Devin Moran and Kyle Bronson were fined $1,000 for their tire failures during the DIRTcar Nationals — and WoO Late Model Series director Steve Francis confirmed to me that it’s a new part of the penalty structure for 2026.
No. 2: According to Francis, the alteration in the fine for the tire test was made after a meeting around the time of December’s Performance Racing Industries Trade Show brought together officials from WoO and DIRTcar and the DIRTcar-affiliated MARS Racing Series, Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series and Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series. Francis said the goal was to standardize tire-testing procedures across all WoO and DIRTcar series and events — that includes the DIRTcar Summer Nationals plus the Dream and World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio — and establish fair and uniform penalties. He noted that a fine for a failed tire test equal to one-third of the race’s first-place prize was instituted so that the significance of the penalty would increase with the magnitude of the event. This year’s tire penalties under the WoO-DIRTcar banner, by the way, impose a 12-month probation for a driver’s first offense but include suspensions upon subsequent offenses, including 30 days for a second failure (plus a fine amounting to 50 percent of the winner’s payout) and one year for a third offense (plus a 50 percent of winner’s purse fine).
No. 3: Regarding tire penalties, the current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rulebook specifies slightly different consequences that may be assessed in the case of chemically-altered tires: drivers of course must pay back 100 percent of race earnings for the event and are responsible for lab testing costs, but the fine is set at $10,000 for the driver and $5,000 for the car owner with both liable for indefinite suspension from tour competition.
No. 4: The WoO-sanctioned Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., has struggled to gain momentum since its launch in 2021 thanks to the Midwest’s testy spring weather. Just twice has the entire weekend been completed as scheduled: in ’21 when it was a two-day show with $12,000- and $20,000-to-win events and in ’22 when the expanded three-day affair was spun off with a pair of $10,000-to-win shows leading into the race-record $50,000-to-win finale. In ’23 only the opening-night twin semifeatures were run before the second prelim night and the $50,000 headliner were washed away, while in ’24 a rainout of the opener led to the weekend being restructured into a pair of $25,000-to-win shows (rather than a planned $35,000-to-win finale) and last year the opener was lost to rain again but the next two nights ran as scheduled at the posted purses of $25,000- and $30,000-to-win. This weekend’s sixth annual weekend has another different look — two $10,000-to-win programs leading into a Saturday finale offering a $40,000 top prize — and, thankfully, the weather forecast appears favorable with only Thursday showing even a slight chance of rain, though the air will likely be chilly with afternoon highs only reaching into the 50s on Thursday and Friday and just over 60 on Saturday.
No. 5: Have you seen what Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway management has instituted this season? The track posts weekly reports on its Facebook page detailing everything track officials examine during postrace technical inspection. From items significant to minuscule, the track is being transparent on what the tech team has looked at on all cars. It’s definitely providing a neat public view on tech inspection at a dirt track.
