Parity in our sport seems to be at an unprecedented level. Or is it?

I don’t think we’ve ever seen a stretch in Dirt Late Model racing’s history where so many drivers had a legitimate chance to win a big race, even a crown jewel event, but somehow, on most nights the cream seems to rise to the top.

Right now, that’s Chandler, Ariz.’s Ricky Thornton Jr. and Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill. Thornton has nearly 20 victories this season, including a $100,000 triumph in Tuesday’s XR Super MORE

Dirt racing fans are a passionate lot. Following July 8’s NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 finale at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., a race that ended in a photo finish — sort of — between Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., and Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., social media was once again at a fever pitch as the Dirt Late Model crowd weighed in on the result.

Though it appeared to the naked eye that O’Neal, who took the lead from Chris Madden on the 36th lap, beat Pierce to the MORE