National notebook
Notes: New Yorker giving fenders another shot
Demetrios Drellos (Nick Graziano)
Demetrios Drellos plans to venture south to Volusia Speedway Park four weeks earlier than usual this year. Drellos, the big-block modified star from Queensbury, N.Y., will climb back behind the wheel of his 604 Crate Late Model during Jan. 19-21’s DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals in Barberville, Fla.
It’ll mark the 26-year-old's second appearance in his No. 111 Late Model after making his debut in the division during December's Battle in Barberville at Volusia, the half-mile D-shaped dirt track near Daytona.
“It’s such a different experience,” he said. “Just the way you race is totally different with dirty air and where you need to position your car around people when you race and how you have to make runs. It’s a totally different style of racing. Some people have mastered it. Obviously, I haven’t come close to getting used to it. But it is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get back in it.”
Drellos was fastest in opening night practice during the Battle in Barberville, but a poor qualifying run but him behind when it came to race night. He managed a seventh-place finish in the 30-lap feature.
With that experience under his belt, Drellos said he and his team should be able to come back with a more aggressive approach in the Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout weekend capped by a $10,000-to-win feature.
“There will be a ton of cars down there,” Drellos said. “A lot of heavy hitters in that 604 class, a lot of guys coming to run it. You know, I think we’re just going to go down there with the mindset that if we can make the shows, that’ll be good for us. We’re definitely going to race. We’re not driving 20 hours not to race. I’ll bend some sheetmetal if we have to. We’re going to do what we need to do to race.”
The New Yorker has been racing big-blocks for six years with a Super DIRTcar Series victory under his belt. However, he’s yet to pick up a win at Volusia. With plans to run with the Super DIRTcar Series again during the 52nd annual DIRTcar Nationals on Feb. 15-18, Drellos said while his modified and Late Model are vastly different, running Sunshine Nationals will still help him prepare to chase a Big Gator championship.
“I think we’ll have a better idea of what the track is going to do,” he said. “We only run the big block at Volusia five times a year, so if I get to hit the track four more times than everyone else, I feel that will help me. I don’t care if it’s in a golf cart. It’s like home track experience a little bit.
“I’ll understand what the track is going to do throughout the night a little bit. That’s the big thing with Volusia. The more times you see it and what’s going to happen with that racetrack, if you can have better notes, I don’t care what it is, if you’re just watching the race, you’ll be better. I’m sure it’ll help me when I bring the modified back.”
The key thing he learned in his first Crate Late Model experience was the differing aerodynamics that, when you get close to other competitors, can make it "like your front tires are on ice,” Drellos said. He's eager to take what he learned into Sunshine Nationals for another round of Late Model racing at Volusia.
“We’ll come prepared a little bit better,” he said. “See where we were lacking when we came down in the early night track. We figured out, ‘OK, this is what we messed up on, we’ll make some adjustments to that.’ We’ll talk to a lot of people about getting the right tire stagger for there. Volusia is a different animal, compared to any track. The only people that go good at Volusia are people that live near there and go there on a consistent basis. It’s a totally different ball game for everyone.” — Nick Graziano
SMOKY MOUNTAIN RECONFIGURATION: With its season opener less than two months away, Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., this week posted overhead photos on its Facebook page of the track’s reconfiguration to a 3/8-mile oval from its previous 4/10-mile layout. The images show how turns three and four have been drawn in to give the circuit a rounder shape. The Roger Sellers-owned track has elected not to replace the walls in turn three and four but add a slope outside the track, which is 65 feet wide all the way around. The track thanked Dereck Blair Excavating and GEO Services for working on the program that moved about 5,000 cubic yards of fresh clay. The World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series visit March 4-5 for Tennessee Tipoff events paying $10,000- and $15,000-to-win.
CROWN JEWEL CUP: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series announced that 16 races will be part of the Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup, a miniseries within the national tour that pays a $15,000 bonus to the driver with the most points among the 16 races paying $30,000-to-win or more. Drivers finishing second through fifth in the Crown Jewel Cup standings will earn $6,000, $4,000, $3,000, and $2,000 from a total points fund of $30,000. Drivers must maintain perfect attendance be eligible for the bonuses.
NORTHWEST TOUR REVIVAL: Willamette Speedway owner Cory Penfold’s Moxie Media & Promotions is reviving the former I-5 Tour for Late Models with the Coors Light I-5 Silver Bullet Series set to kick off with eight $2,000-to-win races among four racetracks in 2023. The November-announced series, which originally ran from 2001-11 with Rob Mayea, Trevor Glaser and Jeremy Shank among champions, is scheduled to run at Lebanon, Ore.’s Willamette (May 28 and Sept. 17), the newly dirt-covered Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Ore. (June 2 and Sept. 1), White City’s Southern Oregon Speedway (June 24 and Aug. 26) and Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. (July 8 and Sept. 9). The planned points fund pays $5,000 to the champion.
ULMS WEST VIRGINIA BOUND: The Zimmer's United Late Model Series this week announced it will sanction the Topless 50 weekend at Washington’s Ohio Valley Speedway and Middlebourne's Tyler County Speedway. The May 5-6 action with a pair of $5,000-to-win race programs marks the Chris Zuver-owned tour’s first visit to the Ohio Valley oval and a return to Tyler County for the first time since 2019. Among expected ULMS regulars for 2023: Tyler Emory, Dave Stamm, R.J. Dallape, Dylan Cecce, Logan Zarin, Braeden Dillinger and Del Rougeux.
TEXAS TOURS COMBINE: Officials from the north Texas-based American Crate Late Model Series (ACLMS) and the All Star Crate Late Model Series, which runs at tracks across South Texas, have announced a plan to build Late Model racing statewide in 2023 through a collaboration. Dustin Daniel took over the former DFW Local Late Model tour from Mark Shipman starting in early 2022; while Owen Pittman, promoter at South Texas Race Ranch and Texana Raceway Park, created the All Star Crate Late Model Series late last year. “I'm super excited about the opportunities to grow Late Model racing across Texas by working with Dustin Daniel and his ACLMS group,” Pittman said. “He's done an excellent job building that series since he took the helm. I felt like we could propose a southern region to help him grow statewide.” Daniel expects to announce a schedule of 20-24 races including an April 1 event at Paige’s Cotton Bowl Speedway.
UCRA GOES ON WITHOUT FOUNDER: Despite autumn's passing of United Championship Racing Alliance founder Marvin Ford, the Crate Late Model tour sponsored by Red Line Synthetic Oil plans to continue in 2023 with events paying $2,000- to $5,000-to-win at tracks in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. The tour will increase the champion’s payout to $7,500 (up from $5,000) with $1,000 to the highest finishing rookie (postseason awards are based on a driver competing in 80 percent of series events). The tour opens Feb. 24-25 at Fort Payne (Ala.) Motor Speedway with the $3,023-to-win Bama Brawl. Kenny Kizzar is the reigning UCRA champion. — Steve Hixson
LATE MODELS AT RICE LAKE: Rice Lake (Wis.) Speedway promoters Dave Adams and Mitch Hansen have scheduled three visits for WISSOTA Late Models in 2023, matching the number of events for the full-fendered class in 2022. The Trackside Collectibles 40 is scheduled for May 13 with the Swant-Graber 40 set for May 27 during the Memorial Day weekend. After a one-year absence from the Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series, Rice Lake has a tour event set for Aug. 12. The track’s complete schedule is expected in February. — Ed Reichert
ODDS AND ENDS: Joe Kosiski’s Malvern Bank and Hoker Trucking tours have upgraded 2023 purses with $3,000-to-win events paying $500-to-start (up from $400). The tours’ $5,000-to-win purses will pay $500-to-start (or tracks can opt for a $3,000-to-win and $700-to-start purse). … The Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series has landed Cagle Racing Automotive as the tour’s title sponsor. … Waylon Schultz won the Outerwears Crew Chief of the Year honors on the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association last season in helping Chad Simpson to his third MLRA title. … European Metal Recycling has a new title sponsor agreement with I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn., which will be known as I-94 EMR Speedway in 2023. The track ended its three-year title sponsorship with Sure Step in 2022. … Chase and Shelby Alves have taken over promotions at Interstate Speedway in Jefferson, S.D. (formerly Raceway Park) with plans to host Repairable Vehicles.com Tri-State Series events in 2023, among other events. Steve Kiraly was the former promoter of the Tom and Carol Reed-owned track, according to the OutsideGroove.com. … Trevor Gundaker of St. Charles, Mo., will pilot the Millard Family Racing ride in 2023 with team owner Reid Millard joining him at select events. The 20-year-old Gundaker drove Millard’s car to an MLRA victory last October in a guest appearance.
