National notebook
Notes: Young Tennessean ponders more Crate goals
Hayden Cardwell at 411 Motor Speedway. (Brian McLeod/Dirt Scenes)
After participating in most of the Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout Series campaign, Knoxville, Tenn., driver Hayden Cardwell arrived for the final round of the miniseries at his home track, and posted a solid runner-up finish on a racy track surface at 411 Motor Speedway.
It was the first-year anniversary of an appointment as the driver for a Rusty Webb Racing-fielded entry, a matchup that turned successful straight out of the gate when Cardwell drove the team’s car to victory in the ’22 version of the Sweetheart at the Mitch and Tanya McCarter-owned facility in Seymour, Tenn. Cardwell came close to repeating at his own anniversary party, leading 30 of 40 circuits in the $3,023-to-win event before yielding to local favorite Cory Hedgecock, who swiped the point in lapped traffic on the 31st circuit.
“Winning the race last year was a pretty big deal for us, and after Rusty asked me to drive the car in that race, it all just kinda stuck after that,” Cardwell said. “That first outing was actually my first start in a 604 Late Model, and I was basically just wanting to get my name out there.”
Mission accomplished, and done with pretty explosive quickness for a young man who just recently celebrated his 20th birthday. Cardwell’s biggest claim to national fame prior to winning last year’s championship title on the American Crate All-Star Series might have been his success in iRacing-type events on computer screens, where he’d won a $10,000 World of Outlaws title a couple of years ago.
Perhaps less known to the virtual racing crowd, Cardwell had also given hints of his potential with victories in the sportsman division near home in a family-owned machine. It’s where his career actually started in full-bodied race cars.
“I’ve raced cars for about two and a half years now,” Cardwell said. “We got a car in the latter part of the ’20 season, and started racing on a regular basis during the summer of ’21. We raced that sportsman car for a year, and won 15 or 16 races in my home area.”
A career was launched. After last year’s success, Webb and Cardwell are potentially turning their attention to a new challenge and are considering a full-time commitment on the Adam Stewart-managed Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series. Nothing has been decided, but for a career that has blossomed so fast, new challenges might lie ahead.
Cardwell works a full-time job at Maryville, Tenn.-based CDE Electric and his boss is fellow driver Brandon Miller, who wheeled a No. 89 entry in the Sweetheart and drove the team’s second car during the Winter Shootout Series in the Sunshine State. Work schedules aside, it’s a huge commitment to run any touring series these days.
The Webb-Cardwell combo fields a CVR Race Cars entry that carries sponsorship from R&W Properties, Mark Tutor Racing, Fox Shocks, Crate Engine Technology, Harris Speed Shop, Swift Springs, Morgan-McClure Chevrolet, Tennessee Shine Company, Baker’s Wrecker Service, BruceBilt Performance and C&C Steam Cleaning.
“We’re not 100 percent sure we’re going to run the Crate USA deal on a full-time basis, but we’re leaning towards it,” Cardwell said of the tour that opens April 1 in Cochran, Ga. “I’d say 80-85 percent sure at this point, but we know we’ll be at the first race, and we’ll see how that goes for us and make a decision based on how we do in the early events.”
Cardwell credits the Joseph Rush-operated American All-Stars Series circuit with his early development, where he was able to race at different tracks in a slightly different region that was a bit further north than his normal home base. The team’s shop is only five minutes from 411, but Cardwell has visited a surprising number of tracks for a young driver. That number could expand even more based on the decision about competing with Crate Racin’ USA.
“That was good for us last year because I’d say 80 percent of the tracks we raced, I had never even heard of them before we got there,” Cardwell said. “It’s mostly a different region than Crate Racin’ USA, and the tracks and dirt at some of those places are way different, so it helps a driver learn. A lot of their racing is in Kentucky and Virginia, and it was a great experience for me and the crew that works on our race car to go to some of those places. We were able to win a couple races at tracks I’d never seen — Beckley (W.Va.) Speedway and Willard (Ky.) Speedway — and we felt that was a pretty big accomplishment for us.”
Having recently completed a tour to Florida with the Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout Series, Cardwell did his reputation for quick learning no harm in the Sunshine State. He was clearly competitive and a factor in events at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.
“Overall we ran pretty well down there, but in a way it was kinda disappointing,” Cardwell said. “Especially at East Bay on the last two nights, I felt we had a decent shot to win one. We had gone to All-Tech (Raceway) last October and ran sixth in the Powell Family Memorial, so we had high hopes. East Bay is just one of those tricky places where you can’t make many mistakes, and I made enough to keep us from having a better shot at winning.”
He made another one in the recent Sweetheart at 411 that closed the season for the offseason miniseries, but that was only after leading perennial track favorite Cory Hedgecock for the first 30 circuits around the high-banked track. A slip in lapped traffic gave Hedgecock the opportunity he needed to steal the lead en route to the win.
“I went back and watched the video, and I felt like our car was flawless in lapped traffic,” Cardwell said. “We were maybe as good or even slightly better than Cory at times, but it only takes one little mistake when two cars are that close in performance. I committed the error down there in turn one, and he made up about six car lengths on me in one little surge. Then he was able to pass me in the lapped traffic to win the race, but I was glad we didn’t just let him drive away from us afterwards. To me that was a sign that we can run with him. He’s got a lot of laps around that place and he’s very tough to beat there. I felt like we held our own against him.” — Brian McLeod, Crate Racin' USA
IOWA DRIVER JOINS MLRA ROOKIE CHASE: Second-year Late Model driver Johnathan Huston of Columbus Junction, Iowa, has committed to the Rookie of the Year chase on the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association. The 34-year-old Huston, who made six MLRA starts last season, a ninth-place finish at his hometown C.J. Speedway last season on the Missouri-based tour. Huston is anxious to face top-notch competition rather than focusing on weekly Late Model racing. "You’re only going to be as good as the competition you race against," Huston said in a series release, "so we want to be able to gauge ourselves against the best while trying to learn as quick as we can.” Huston pilots an MB Customs Race Car with a Pro Power Racing engine for his No. 42 entry. Before joining the Late Model division midway through the 2022 season, he'd previously competed modified divisions.
FIVE TO RECEIVE TYLER COUNTY HONORS: Four Late Model racers, including 265-race winner Paul Wilmoth Jr. of Clarksburg, W.Va., are among 2023's Bullring of Honor inductees at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., the track recently announced. Wilmoth will be joined by Tye Long of Cambridge, Ohio, Bobby Hill of Greenwood, W.Va., Sam Irvin of Jacksonburg, W.Va., and longtime track grader operator Charlie Kimball as honors on Aug. 12 on Retro Racers Reunion & Bullring Booster Club Night at the track. Wilmoth was a 20-race winner in 2002 and tallied 19 victories in 2008 and he's a four-time winner of the track's Topless 50.
RUSH TOUR SETS SCHEDULE: The RUSH Late Model Series has set a 23-race schedule among 16 tracks in six states with Crate Late Model competitors chasing purses from $3,000- to $20,000-to-win along with a $51,400 points fund. Among highlights on the schedule for the Pennsylvania-based tour is the $20,000-to-win Bill Emig Memorial at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and the season-opening Battle by the Bay Speedweek that takes the tour to Delmar's Delaware International Speedway, Georgetown (Del.) Speedway, Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md., and Winchester (Va.) Speedway. The tour visits three first-time tracks: Marion Center (Pa.) Raceway, Knox (Pa.) Raceway and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Knox Dale, Pa.
FRIES AMONG HAGERSTOWN HONOREES: Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway will honor former Late Model standout Gerry Fries of Mercersburg, Pa., during July 16's Frank Sagi Tribute Race at the historic half-mile track. Hagerstown at the annual event traditionally honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport and Fries will be honored along with former sprint car standout Lynn Paxton of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and multidivision star Hal Browning of Baltimore, Md. Paxton and Browning were also successful in the Late Model division along with Fries, who was tabbed the "Flying Chicken Farmer" by Sagi, Hagerstown's late and legendary announcer. Fries also handled flagging duties at Hagerstown and Winchester (Va.) Speedway for many seasons and now follows his the Late Model career of his son, Andy Fries.
ODDS AND ENDS: Hunt the Front plans to launch its own live streaming platform as an affiliate of Speed Sport TV with events including the first-year Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series among other regional events. Subscribe at huntthefront.tv/subscribe. ... Hibbing (Minn.) Raceway's 2023 schedule includes an independent $5,000-to-win event for WISSOTA Late Models on July 29 sponsored by KME and Kivi Bros. Trucking. ... Midway Speedway in Lebanon, Mo., has instituted a program that gives heat race winners in each division a free pit pass for the track's next event. ... The first-year Southern Thunder Series for 602 Crate Late Models will open its season March 4 at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss.
