National notebook
Notes: Dumpert’s plans for ‘22? Fourth IMCA title
Cory Dumpert captured his third IMCA crown. (Susan Karmazin)
A season that saw its shares of highs and lows ended with a new high for Cory Dumpert.
Dumpert clinched his third consecutive IMCA Sunoco Late Model national championship with his 17th feature win on the final night of the 2021 campaign. That matches the divisional modern era streaks of three straight by Ray Guss Jr. from 2010-2012 and Justin Kay from 2013-2105.
“It’s cool to be one of only three drivers to do that,” Dumpert said. “Winning another national championship wasn’t something we thought we’d be able to do at the start of the season this year. There was a point when we didn’t even know if we’d be racing at all.”
Dumpert was traveling home from an early-spring event when the trailer hitch came off and while his race car was not damaged, the trailer and many of its other contents had to be replaced.
“We limped along early but some new sponsors stepped up and really made the season happen for us,” he explained. “Things really started to turn around about eight weeks into the season when we got the trailer and all the tools replaced. Until then, we would just show up at the track and pray.”
Dumpert broke on opening night at Off Road Speedway but managed an early-season streak of three consecutive feature wins.
He had eight checkers by the midpoint of the season, then put himself in national title contention with another five wins in his next eight outings.
“This was a stressful year,” stated Dumpert, “but it also turned out to be one of our most satisfying. We never quit.”
Another three-race winning streak, in late August, preceded Dumpert’s runner-up showing at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.
While he had clinched Boone County Raceway and KMJ Performance Nebraska State titles, the overall IMCA points race ultimately came down to the final weekend and Junction Motor Speedway’s Barb Nunnenkamp Memorial.
Dumpert had been a DNF in the Friday show. The stakes could not have been more clear on Saturday.
“There was a lot of pressure. We knew we had to win the last night to win the national championship,” he said. “I started seventh, got up to second and got the lead with eight laps left, then threw a Hail Mary that stuck and won a drag race to the finish. The rest is history.”
He’ll look to make more history in 2022.
“Our new goal for next season is four national championships in a row,” said Dumpert, who has captured 47 features in a three-year career in the division. — Bill Martin
NEW OWNERSHIP AT WILLAMETTE: Former track announcer Cory Penfold and his wife Sandy last week took ownership of Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., from veteran promoting brothers Jimmy and Jerry Schram. The 47-year-old Penfold, who operates Moxie Media & Promotions, is intent on returning to the third-mile oval's glory days in the Late Model division. He plans to increase Late Model feature purses to $1,200-to-win and $200-to-start (with a $300 bonus for tail-starting winners from the dash). "We've got some ideas to get those cars back out of the shops and onto the track and we're going to put those into action and just kind of go with that to see where these guys want to go, what they want to do," Penfold told DirtonDirt.com.
HOHENWALD, TENN., OVAL FOR SALE: Hohenwald's Tennessee National Raceway has been listed for sale by track owner William Hibbitts for $495,000, according to a report in Outside Groove. The 3/8-mile track closed in 2021, unable to continue following the previous June's death of Brad Pinkerton from a stroke. He'd operated the track along with his wife Sarah Dubrava, Hibbitts's daughter, who was unable to find anyone to replace her husband. “We tried to make it in 2021, but it just didn’t happen,” Dubrava said. The 20-acre facility includes 2,000-seat aluminum grandstands and modern office building.
ALLEN RECEIVES LUCAS AWARD: Dallas County Speedway founder Bill Allen was named the fifth recipient of the Forrest Lucas Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions both on and off to the track during Nov. 13's Lucas Oil Speedway banquet in Osage Beach, Mo. The Wheatland, Mo., native has supported area short-track racing more than 60 years as a competitor, track owner and promoter at area dirt and asphalt tracks. Allen built the Urbana, Mo., oval in starting in 1996 and was instrumental in introducing the B-mod division. He joined the Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Fame in 2009.
TRUETIMBER TO SPONSOR SHEPPARD: Four-time World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion Brandon Sheppard's family-owned No. B5 team in 2022 will have sponsorship from Inman, S.C.-based TrueTimber, a camouflage apparel company. “Brandon is extremely dedicated both on the track and in the woods, which makes him a perfect fit for our team," said Rusty Sellars, TrueTimber's CEO. The TrueTimber logo and camo patterns will be featured on the graphics scheme for the Illinois-based team. Sheppard, who also fields the Rocket Chassis house car primarily in WoO competition, said that "having a great partner like TrueTimber to help share that passion along with their involvement in working with great motorsports programs is an incredible opportunity that I’m very grateful for.”
THAW BRAWL MOVES TO DAVENPORT: The MARS Racing Series last month announced its season-opening Thaw Brawl would move to Davenport (Iowa) Speedway from La Salle (Ill.) Speedway. Purses haven't been announced but the event on the Tony Izzo Jr.-promoted series is scheduled for March 25-26.
WISCONSIN'S BUHLER RETIRES: Tim Buhler of Glenbuelah, Wis., who snapped a three-year winless streak May 15 at Plymouth (Wis.) Dirt Track with his 100th career victory, announced his retirement in mid-July after 30 seasons of dirt racing competition. Buhler captured Late Model titles at Wisconsin tracks in Plymouth, Antigo, Seymour and Manitowoc and was WiSSOTA's 1997 Late Model Rookie of the Year.
ODDS AND ENDS: Former I-96 Speedway worker Dustin Hofert died Dec. 3 at the age of 36. The Ionia, Mich., resident worked at the Lake Odessa, Mich., track as a flagger and with track prep. He worked with the Michigan Department of Corrections. ... IMCA modified racer Bill Edler of Howards Grove, Wis., who made his Late Model debut in July in an MB Customs car from Mike Mullen's car owner Ricky Lemmens, plans a full-season Late Model run in 2022. ... Buckshot Speedway near Clanton, Ala., opened in November under owner Billy Wilkins in November. The 3/8-mile oval ran 604 and 602 Crate Late Models in its inaugural event after a free practice session a month earlier. ... Offseason projects at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., include the addition of 190 loads of new dirt and additional grandstands. ... Charlie Jasinski, a 19-time winner and two-time Limited Late Model champion at Sharon Speedway, died Dec. 2 at his home in Poland, Ohio. The 69-year-old operated Charlie's Texaco Service for more than 50 years. ... Among USRA Late Model drivers planning to step up to WISSOTA and/or Cedar Lake-style Late Models in 2022 are Jared Zimpel of Braham, Minn., Jordan Lander of Menomonie, Wis., Max Nelson of Princeton, Minn., and 14-year-old Gavin Tarras of New Richmond, Wis. ... Expected 2022 Late Model newcomers in the upper Midwest and Canada are Matt Tody of Chippewa Falls, Wis. (USRA Late Models from mini mods), Bradley Loveday of Fort Frances, Ontario (Late Models from modifieds) and Kevin Burdick of Proctor, Minn. (Late Models from super stocks). ... Mountain View Raceway in Spring City, Tenn., inducted its first class of Hall of Famers with Dennis Shaver of Decatur, Tenn., and Spring City's Marion Tipton honored at the track's Nov. 14 postseason banquet in Athens, Tenn.
Editor's note: Other information provided by Jonathan Powers and Brian Schmitt.
