National notebook
Notes: No stop in Dumpert's IMCA title quest
Five-time IMCA champ Cory Dumpert. (photofinishphotos.com)
Cory Dumpert vowed last fall that he’d “hit the ground running” when the 2023 IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing point season rolled around.
The Nebraska driver made good on that promise, racing to 15 feature victories, three track titles and a record-extending fifth straight IMCA Sunoco Late Model championship.
“Last year was more for fun. This year we just kept our head down and kept racing. It was more of something I wanted to do,” said Dumpert, the third driver in IMCA’s modern era to win championships in five consecutive seasons. “And now that I have won five straight, the feeling is hard to describe. We’re in uncharted waters.”
Dumpert was quick to find victory lane after switching to a Longhorn Chassis, topping the opening night show at U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb., and collecting another 10 checkers by mid-June.
While he did most of his racing in Nebraska, a visit to Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa, on June 16 provided the second of three feature wins that weekend and a season-highlight victory.
“Boone County Raceway at Albion rained out that night and Denison was the closest track racing,” Dumpert recalled. “We pulled in at intermission, guessed on the gear, won from 16th starting and went home. From the time we got to the track until we left was an hour-and-a-half.”
He’d add another win about every two weeks after that, picking up track championships at Boone County, U.S. 30 and Off Road Speedway to go along with a fifth Nebraska State crown.
“There were some challenges coming out of the box but we thought right away, ‘Holy crap, this car is pretty good.’ I don’t know if we’ve ever won on opening night before,” said Dumpert, who has 80 career IMCA victories. “And there were times around mid-season when things got stressful. We got flats and didn’t win a couple races we could have, and I even lost a transmission backing the car out of the garage. I’ve never had anything like that happen before and we were lucky enough to find another one before we raced that night.”
Runner-up at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s after winning at Boone last year, Dumpert wrapped up his latest national championship with a flurry of top-five finishes.
“Our goal this year was to do everything the right way and we did that,” he said, eyeing Ernie Derr’s all-time mark of seven consecutive IMCA championship seasons. “We’ve got five. We can’t stop now.” — Bill Martin
GOLDEN MOUNTAIN OWNERS PLAN TO REOPEN IN 2024: Deke Waters, who more than three years ago purchased Golden Mountain Raceway Park in Sparta, Tenn., with Pat McMillan, last week announced he plans to reopen the 3/8-mile oval in 2024. Waters, a Cookeville, Tenn., resident who operates Little Caesar’s pizza restaurants, made the announcement on the Southern Dirt Motorsports podcast. He hopes to open the track for practice in May with competition later next spring with Crate Late Models among regular divisions in every-other-week programs. The track, which plans to host Super Late Model specials, operated in 2004-05 before closing shortly after the June 30, 2005, Tennessee Thunder DirtCar Series event won by Randy Weaver.
PENNSYLVANIA CRATE STANDOUT MOVING UP: Michael Duritsky of Masontown, Pa., the 26-year-old who has more than 65 Crate Late Model victories over the past seven seasons, has connected with Tom Crow Racing with plans to run Super Late Models in 2024. “I want to give a big thank you to Tom and Karen Crow for the opportunity to drive their car and for trusting me with their equipment,” Duritsky said in a statement announcing the partnership. “It’s been a dream of mine to drive a Super and to say I’m excited is an understatement.” Duritsky, who had 14 victories in 2022 and in 2023 had triumphs at tracks including Latrobe (Pa.) Speedway, Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Ohio, and Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., plans to run his family-owned Crate Late Model occasionally at lucrative events.
MISSISSIPPI’S PINE RIDGE SPEEDWAY REOPENING: Pine Ridge Speedway in Guntown, Miss., a track that’s been idle since 2006, is slated to reopen in 2024. The track’s new life was first reported by OutsideGroove.com. Charles Moudy of nearby Baldwin, Miss., who has owned and sponsored race cars, took over the track on Oct. 13 and is working on upgrades that include enlarging the quarter-mile oval. Bryan Fortner will promote the track and Matt White will serve as announcer. Divisions haven’t been decided. The track hosted Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series events in 2003, ’05 and ’06 with Mike Boland, Scott Dedwylder and Chris Wall grabbing victories.
FASTRAK ANNOUNCES NEW SPONSORS: The Fastrak Racing Series recently announced new sponsors for victory lane and the Crate Late Model tour’s Rookie of the Year. Victory Fuel will be the title sponsor of victory lane with branding of the Kevin and Jordan Swindell operation. Chew On this Jerky will sponsor the tour’s rookie award starting in 2024 with competitors required to compete in 75 percent of the races to be eligible. The rookie award will pay $1,000.
HOOSIER TIRE MID-ATLANTIC DEALER DIES: Gerald Corle of Roaring Spring, Pa., who worked as a Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic representative for many years at tracks including Bedford (Pa.) Speedway and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, died unexpectedly on Oct. 25. He was 72. Corle was also crew chief and leader of Dave Wilt’s Limited Late Model championship-winning team in the 1980s. A tribute from Precise Racing Products said Corle “has left an indelible mark on the world of dirt track racing for over three decades,” adding that his “profound knowledge, unwavering dedication, and enduring enthusiasm have made him a true pillar of support for the dirt track racing scene in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
ODDS AND ENDS: Longtime Iowa racing sponsor Jeff Hoker revealed the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series will make its debut at Maquoketa (Iowa) Speedway on Aug. 16-17, 2024, in a K Promotions event. … Wayne Tidwell, who operates the Titan Legends Late Model Series along with owning and promoting Diamond Park Speedway in Nashville, Ark., has put the track up for sale, he told OutsideGroove.com. Tidwell, who also operates Centerville (Ark.) Speedway, plans to continue running Diamond Park if he doesn’t sell the track that’s listed for $750,000. … The Carolina-based Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series plans an offshoot tour in 2024 with the Appalachian Outlaw Late Models operating in Tennessee and Kentucky. … Florence Tucker, a longtime employee at I-35 Speedway in Winston, Mo., died Oct. 26 at the age of 69. … John Vass, a longtime dirt racing photographer from Burlington, Iowa, died Oct. 24 at the age of 76. His Dirt Late Model images appeared in several publications including National Dirt Digest and on DirtonDirt.com. … Canadian Late Model racer Kyle Sopaz is mourning the passing of one of his team’s biggest supporters, Tony Parks, who died Sept. 30 at 61 after a battle with cancer. Sopaz called Parks “one of the most influential people in the team's racing career.”
