Previewing Northern tours for the '13 season
By Joshua Joiner
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
With spring just around the corner (or already here in many places), here's a look at developments on Northern Dirt Late Model tours for the 2013 season. The brief capsules, with information primarily from series officials, directors and publicists, focus on changes for the upcoming season and includes links to the series websites and schedule pages. As usual most series are concerned about fuel costs, the economy and need more sponsorship. With that said, welcome to 2013 (regional series preview home):
American Dirt Racing Association
2012 recap: In the fledgling tour’s first full season, Rod Conley of Wheelersburg, Ohio, topped Doug Drown of Wooster, Ohio, by 14 points in the final series standings.
2013 opener: April 20 at Jackson County Speedway in Jackson, Ohio.
Schedule highlights: The series has yet to release its full schedule, but officials plan 10 to 15 races in tri-state West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.
Rule/format changes: This season’s points chase will be decided by each drivers’ 10 best finishes.
Expected regulars:, The expects a nice mix of regional stars with drivers like Conley, Drown, Eddie Carrier Jr., Donnie and Devin Moran, Tim Dohm and Jackie Boggs frequenting series events.
Key question: Can the series build on its first full season in 2012 with growth in its sophomore season?
Odds and ends: Competitors must compete in a minimum of seven series events to be eligible for points cash and prizes. ... Drown’s runner-up points finish came after he missed the tour’s first race. ... Donnie Moran was the only repeat winner of 2012 with victories at Muskingum County Speedway and West Virginia Motor Speedway. ... The series had a total of eight different winners in nine events.
Harbaugh Amusement Appalachian Mountain Speedweek
2012 recap: After rain washed out two of the race’s first four races, Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., captured back-to-back victories in the six-race miniseries’ final two events on his way to the $5,000 championship. McCreadie’s other two finishes were second and seventh in topping Rick Eckert of York, Pa., and Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., in the final standings.
2013 opener: The first of six consecutive days of racing kicks off May 31 with the tour making its first-ever visit to Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md.
Schedule highlights (complete schedule): All events pay $5,000 to the winner except the $7,000-to-win series finale, which for the second straight year will be the Charlie Grinestaff Memorial at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., on June 5.
Rule/format changes: None announced.
Expected regulars: The miniseries has built a solid core group of drivers including Satterlee, Jason Covert, Jeremy Miller, D.J. Myers, Dan Stone, Coleby Frye and Jamie Lathroum among others.
Key question: With a series event conflicting with a World of Outlaws race for the first time this season, who will take advantage and become the first non-WoO regular to win the series title?
Odds and ends: Martinsburg, W.Va.-based Harbaugh Amusement Machine returns as the tour’s title sponsor for the second consecutive year. ... The series averaged 48 cars per race in 2012. ... The schedule mimics last year’s with the exception of Potomac replacing Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa., as the series opener. ... Hagerstown Speedway’s June 1 event is on the same night as a World of Outlaws event at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y. ... Winchester (Va.) Speedway continues as the only track to host a series event every season with its June 2 date. ... The tour’s June 4 date at Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., will be the track’s first series event after last year’s race was rained out. ... Previous series champions: Josh Richards in 2009, Rick Eckert in 2010 and Austin Hubbard in 2011. ... Richards leads the tour’s all-time victories list with four victories.
NDRL's ULMS Racing Series
2012 recap: Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., went winless on the series but was consistent enough to beat out Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., and Jason Dupont of Cyclone, Pa., for his second series title in three years.
2013 opener: The $3,000-to-win Chiller Thriller at Mercer (Pa.) Raceway Park kicks off the tour’s 13th full season March 30.
Schedule highlights (complete schedule): The tour is set for its busiest season ever with 25 confirmed dates. The series will sanction its highest-paying race ever with the $25,000-to-win 25th annual Pittsburgher Oct. 12 at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa. The 100-lap event, along with the preceding $10,000-to-win Down and Dirty 50 at PPMS on Oct. 11, will be co-sanctioned with the first-year National Dirt Racing League. Other highlights are a pair of $7,500-to-win events at McKean County Raceway plus MCR’s Fall Classic (TBA but likely at least $10,000-to-win) and two other races paying at least $5,000 at PPMS.
Rule/format changes: Series director Chris Zuver is considering switching to passing points to determine feature lineups for series events, whereas the series has previously determined the lineup mostly straight up from heat races, in which starting spots are based on a pill draw.
Expected regulars: Briggs is expected to defend his title while Jason Dupont, Russ King, Greg Oakes are among others who have expressed interest in running the entire series. Gregg Satterlee and Dave Hess will lead a long list of drivers who plan to compete at least part time with the series. The tour could also see a pair of interesting additions with the father-son combo of Robbie and Max Blair potentially running the entire tour for the first time. Max Blair, a Crate standout making the transition to Supers, will compete for the tour’s Rookie of the Year award if the family’s offseason plans come together.
Key question: With just three drivers entering entering every series event last year, will the tour’s growth in 2013 help attract more series regulars?
Odds and ends: The tour was renamed NDRL ULMS Racing Series in being more tightly aligned with the John Kennedy-founded National Dirt Racing League. ... It was previously the Kennedy Motorsports United Late Model Series. ... NDRL has also taken over promotions at McKean County Raceway and Zuver will serve as general manager. ... A 25-race ULMS season would be the busiest season since 21 races in 2010. ... The season-opener will be just the third ULMS event ever held at Mercer and the first since 2007. ... None of the top three finishers in last year’s points chase won a series race. ... The series makes it first-ever visit to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., on July 19 and returns for the Steel City Stampede Oct. 25-26. Lernerville was scheduled to host the series last year, but the event was canceled. ... David Scott of Garland, Pa., and Robbie Blair of Titusville, Pa., are tied atop the tour’s all-time wins list with nine victories apiece. ... Briggs is sixth on the list with five victories but hasn’t won a race since the 2010 season finale. ... Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y., was the only driver to win multiple series events in 2012 with three victories. ... The tour saw six first-time winners in 2012.
Steel Block Bandits
2012 recap: Andy Fries of Mercersburg, Pa., topped two-time defending series champion Walker Arthur of Forest, Va., by 40 points in claiming his first series title on the Limited Late Model tour.
2013 opener: The fifth season begins April 27 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
Schedule highlights (complete schedule): Susquehanna Speedway Park in York Haven, Pa., is slated to host the most series events with three races May 18, June 29 and Aug. 31. The series visits Hesston (Pa.) Speedway for the first time since 2010 with its Sept. 1 date and returns for the series finale as part of the track’s The Ultimate event Oct. 11-12. A July 12-13 Pennsylvania doubleheader will see the tour visit two new tracks in Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run and Hill Valley Speedway in Rockhill Furnace. Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway and Eastside Speedway in Waynesboro, Va., the only tracks the series has visited every season since launching in 2009, make up a pair of doubleheaders May 31-June 1 and Sept. 27-28.
Rule/format changes: The only major change for the series is allowing a Ford crate engine option for the first time. Competitors can run Ford’s D347JR at 2,100 pounds or the D347SR at 2,200 pounds.
Expected regulars: Expected regulars and semi-regulars include Fries, Arthur, Rick Hulson and Rick Singleton among others.
Key question: Has the tour found some stability after half of the tracks it visited in 2012 were new to the schedule?
Odds and ends: The series is expecting a points fund in excess of $10,000. ... Joe Leavell of Waynesboro, Va., won a series-best five races last season, giving him six-career series victories. He leads the tour’s all-time wins with one more victory than Arthur. ... Arthur went winless on the tour last season, ending his streak as the only driver to win a race every season on the series. ... Pittsburgh’s Pa. Motor Speedway isn’t on the tour’s current scheduled after hosting its first ever series event in 2012. ... Series events pay a minimum of $1,500 to win and at least $150 to every starter.
Three State Flyers
2012 recap: Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., won four of tour’s 10 races on his way to dethroning three-time series champion Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa. Satterlee won his first series title by 115 points over Covert, who claimed the series championship in each of its first three seasons.
2013 opener: The tour’s fifth season will kick off with a March 29-30 doubleheader at Winchester (Va.) Speedway and Hagerstown Speedway. Both races pay $3,000 to the winner.
Schedule highlights (complete schedule): The tour plans its busiest season ever in its fifth year of operation with an initial scheduled that includes 23 races at nine tracks. Hesston Speedway hosts the most series events with six races, including the tour’s season-ending doubleheader Oct. 11-12 that includes the $10,000-to-win The Ultimate event. Other series highlights include the $7,000-to-win Big Kahuna on Sept. 27-28 at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex and Bedford Speedway’s $5,055-to-win Labor Day Classic on Sept. 2.
Rule/format changes: Series director Dale Simmons plans to use a time-trial format at tracks that can accommodate transponder scoring.
Expected regulars: Expected regulars include Covert, Jeremy Miller, Gary Stewart and Devin Freise among others. Satterlee is expected to the follow the majority of the schedule, but traveling to more national events may prevent him from chasing another title.
Key question: How will the series adapt to growth as it more than doubles its number of events from 10 in 2012 to at least 23 this season?
Odds and ends: Last year’s 10-race schedule was the lowest number of races contested in a season since the tour’s six-race slate during its inaugural season in ’09. ... Part of last year’s inactivity was due to Simmons recovering from a heart attack. ... The tour’s 2013 schedule doesn’t include any new venues, but the return of Winchester, Hagerstown and Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md., reestablishes the tour’s three-state base. ... Covert is firmly atop the tour’s all-time wins list with 16 victories. Satterlee’s four wins last season moved him into a three-way tie with D.J. Myers of Greencastle, Pa. and Jamie Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., for second on the list. ... Race payouts haven’t been confirmed, but all events are scheduled to pay at least $3,000-to-win and at least $300 to every starter. ... The tour averaged 35 cars per race in 2012, according to Simmons. The lowest car count was 23 and highest 58.
