Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: West Virginian lives out racing dream
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac offers readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: Tyler Carpenter took a night off from competition Friday to play Mr. Nice Guy — by giving a good buddy “the opportunity to live out a dream and wheel my car,” he wrote in a Facebook post. The 36-year-old standout from Parkersburg, W.Va., turned over the seat of his Kryptonite Chassis to his pal Matthew Bosley of Mineral Wells, W.Va., who, using an engine loaned to him for the occasion by Rick Sayers, made his Super Late Model debut at Ohio Valley Speedway in Washington, W.Va. Carpenter commented that he “had an absolute blast watching it from the other side of the fence” and was very proud of Bosley — better known as T-Rex — for laying down “some really solid laps” while staying out of trouble, never bringing out a caution flag and finishing ninth in the 13-car feature field. “For his first time behind the wheel of a Dirt Late Model, I’d say he did one heck of a job,” Carpenter wrote. “Nights like this are what racing is all about — making memories and giving somebody an opportunity they’ll never forget.”
No. 2: Judging by the 42-year-old Bosley’s Facebook posts, he was overjoyed to turn laps in Carpenter’s No. 28 machine. He said it was a “lifelong dream come true” and is “already looking forward to doing it again.” One video Bosley posted offered a look at Carpenter’s car following the feature; he noted that he “did indeed bend the spoiler,” which he thought was fitting because he “couldn’t put it back in the box without at least ’T-Carping’ it one time.”
No. 3: My, oh my, that sure was some back-and-forth between Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, and Matthew Larson of Lake Elmo, Minn., during the first heat race on opening night of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series Hawkeye 100 at Maquoketa (Iowa) Speedway. It began when contact between the two turned Erb’s car hard to the right in turn one and sent him bounding into the air over the track’s wall-less berm before coming to a stop on the grass runoff. “I thought I was going to flip,” Erb said later. Terbo then got physical following the restart with a hip-check of Larson into turn one, but Erb bumped his buddy Justin Duty off turn two and lost momentum, allowing Larson to charge back underneath through turns three and four. Erb proceeded to shove across the track, resulting in contact to Larson’s right front that left Larson with body and suspension damage and Erb showing smoke from right-rear bodywork rubbing his tire. What made the altercation especially notable is that Erb had a memorable get together earlier this season with Larson’s father, Brent Larson, that sent Erb spinning during a WoO Illini 100 preliminary feature at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.
No. 4: I would be remiss if I didn’t note here the interesting entertainment that accompanied the placing of the Choose Cone during caution periods in Wednesday’s FloRacing Night in America feature at Mason City (Iowa) Motor Speedway. The job of running the cone out to the middle of the homestretch was handed to Iowa media maven and occasional FloRacing and DirtonDirt contributor Tyler Rinken, a well-known character who pledged that he’d put on a show if given the responsibility and indeed did just that. On his first cone placing, Rinken pulled out a tube of Horsepower Hydration, ripped it open with his teeth, poured it in a bottle of water and took a swig. The second time he bent over, put his nose on the corner and spun around several times before scurrying back to the infield. And the third placing was the coup de grace: the burly Rinken, a former wrestler and football lineman, thrilled the crowd by jumping in the air and performing a split. I asked Rinken if he had stretched before attempting the split — and if he ripped his khaki pants upon doing it — and he asserted that neither occurred.
No. 5: During an Aug. 11 ESPN2 presentation of the Little League World Series Region final in Warner Robins, Ga., eagle-eyed race fans spotted a Dirt Late Model reference when Layton Burton, a player on the Phenix City (Ala.) 12-and-under Little League All-Star Team, came up to bat. The graphic with his information included this line: “Wants to meet Ricky Thornton Jr. (dirt track racer).” Thornton, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series star, was informed of the kid’s desire and RTJ and his wife, Shae, reached out and were able to connect with Burton’s father. What adds to the story is that Burton’s Alabama team won the Southeast Region championship to advance to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., which happens to be just 90 minutes away from Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, where Thornton will be with the Lucas Oil Series for the Aug. 28-29 Rumble by the River. Burton’s team lost their first game in Williamsport, on Aug. 19, to the Northwest Region champs from Washington and face elimination in tonight’s contest with the West Region champions from California, but, if they’re able to stack wins and make a run at next weekend’s U.S. Championship game (Aug. 29) and Aug. 30’s title match against the International bracket champ, it’s possible Thornton might be in town and able to attend a game to meet Burton (as well as the team’s catcher, Cameron Brooks, also an RTJ fan). “Would be cool for sure,” Thornton wrote in a text.
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