Record 65 races on '19 Lucas slate
The 2019 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series campaign boasts a record 65 events over 68 race dates, the national tour announced Monday afternoon. | 2019 Lucas Oil schedule
Once again kicking off with a Feb. 1-2 doubleheader at Georgia’s Golden Isles Speedway and concluding Oct. 18-19 with the $100,000-to-win Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park, the Lucas Oil Series is set to visit 37 tracks in 19 states. First-time host tracks are 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (April 5), Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway (Sept. 20) and Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Ohio (Oct. 4), while returning to the series after extended absences are Farley (Iowa) Speedway (previous race in 2008), North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth (’09) and 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa (’11).
A total of 28 races are set to pay $12,000-to-win and 13 carry $10,000 top prizes, including four preliminary features (two each night) at the expanded Aug. 22-24 Dirt Million at Mansfield (Ohio) Motor Speedway. The three-day Mansfield blockbuster is topped by the tour’s richest winner’s payoff, which promoter Cody Sommer hopes will exceed the $202,940 paid to this year’s victor Earl Pearson Jr.
Joining the DTWC and Dirt Million as marquee big-money events on the ’19 slate are the May 23-25 Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. ($30,000-to-win); the July 19-20 Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb. ($53,000); the Aug. 9-10 North-South 100 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky. ($50,000); the Aug. 15-17 Topless 100 at Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway ($40,000); the Sept. 1 Hillbilly 100 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. ($30,000); the Sept. 12-14 Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway ($40,000); and the Oct. 5 Pittsburgher 100 at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial ($20,000).
Notable changes for ’19 include the Sept. 21 Jackson 100 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway ($15,000-to-win) and the Pittsburgher 100 becoming one-day events; the Clash at the Mag at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss., shifting to May 30-June 1 and offering three full racing programs paying $5,000-, $5,000- and $15,000-to-win; the June 15 Big Daddy 75 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., paying $15,000-to-win; and Georgia's traditional fall twinbill at Dixie and Rome speedways shifts slightly later to Oct. 12-13.
The season-opening events at Golden Isles start the tour’s nine-race Georgia-Florida Speedweeks stretch, which also includes six nights at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla. (Feb. 4-9) and a Feb. 10 stop at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.
Correction: Fixes name for Smoky Mountain event.