Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Montanan aims for victory to honor dad
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
Ty Hample (beckhphoto.com)
After taking off the 2023 season, Ty Hample has turned in a solid comeback campaign in the Dirt Late Model division. The 27-year-old racer from Billings, Mont., clicked off two victories in 15 starts, collected track championships at his hometown Big Sky Speedway and Belgrade, Mont.'s Gallatin Speedway, and finished atop Montana's points for WISSOTA Late Models.
Yet the biggest moment in Hample's season remains. Months ago the third-generation racer circled the Sept 20-21 weekend on his calendar. That's the date of the Kelly Hample Memorial, Big Sky's special weekend that will honor Ty's father, who died March 30 after a lengthy battle with metastatic throat cancer.
"In the grand scheme, that's the only race I've cared about this year, in a sense. I've drove really conservative and not put myself in a position to mess the car up to try and go out for the big picture and go win his memorial race," Hample said. "I've told (friends and family), until the race is over, do not really expect to talk to me. I'm gonna be kind of just secluded and focused and trying to make myself and the car is good as it can be so I can go out and win it. And then whatever happens, happens. But all I wanna do is win that for him."
Hample knows he hasn't matched his father's success — Kelly Hample racked up more than 150 multidivision victories and 25 track championships over a 40-year career — but winning his father's memorial race would mean everything for the driver atop DirtonDirt.com's Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends.
"My feet are bigger than his, but my shoes still aren't nearly the size of his," Hample said. "I have a lot more shoes-filling to do to try and keep up with what he did because he was a master at it, as far as I'm concerned."
Hample comes by racing honestly with his grandfather Ted Hample Sr. competing in his No. 29 car before Kelly Hample's career began in his No. 36 cars in the early 1980s. The youngest Hample was first drawn to motocross, but decided to put that rough-and-tumble motorsport behind him and join his dad in Late Models as he entered his 20s.
A few years later, Ty Hample notched his first Late Model victory, winning in 2020 at Big Sky Speedway by outrunning his father, who finished fourth. But Hample is certain he didn't catch any breaks from dad.
"He would never let me win," Hample said. "He was determined to win every race he raced and if I'm gonna get a win, I have to earn it."
Not long after his first victory, Hample remembers running second behind his father at Sheridan (Wyo.) Speedway and feeling the pressure of chasing a legend.
"I was in fourth, and finally got to second in one pass and then I got right behind him," said Hample, who runs the family's excavation business along with a trucking company. "He was a straightaway out on me and I got to him in about two laps and then it's like I forgot how to drive a car because I was scared to bump him or anything to get past him. He just had that aura around him. I don't want to bump into him and make him mad."
Running behind someone you look up to, "you can get nervous just being behind them and kind of forget about what you're doing because it's like, 'Oh man, I respect this guy so much and I don't wanna run into him,' especially like it's my dad working with them every day," Hample said. "I'm gonna get rock dumped down my pants on Monday morning when I'm in the trench putting pipe in the ground just because I ran into him Saturday night at the track, just to be a little spiteful. That's kind of the way he was. I had to earn it. He'd just let you know in subliminal ways if he wasn't happy about something."
Sadly, that 2020 season would be Kelly Hample's last in a race car when he was diagnosed with stage-4 cancer following his final title-winning season at Big Sky. Ty Hample continued racing the next two seasons, winning two races apiece in 2021-22 before parking his race car in 2023 with his dad's health continuing to deteriorate.
Sidelined in part because of his father's failing health, Ty Hample and his girlfriend were also building a house. Additionally Hample didn't have a functioning engine for his Late Model.
"I know if I would have asked, he would have said to use his engine," Hample said of his father. "But I wasn't gonna ask him because unless he specifically told me, I just, I wasn't gonna ask, because that was his kind of last — I'm sorry, I'm getting emotional thinking about it— but him getting back in a race car, that was kind of his last wishes. ... his goal was to get back in the race car and race with me and the cards just didn't fall that way."
The younger Hample lost his motivation to race.
"To be completely honest, until he passed, I hadn't even thought about racing again," he said. "Before he passed, I didn't even wanna look at a car. I'd go in the shop for work and see race cars and I didn't even really wanna touch 'em. But in a way, once he passed away, it just gave me — I guess more clarity is how I would say it — and he wasn't suffering anymore.
"And I know that's what he wanted me to do. So once he passed away it was like, 'OK, I guess it's time to man up and put the chinstrap on and let's go race and do this thing.' He'd be upset if I didn't do it. And that's part of the reason I'm doing it is just because I know he'd be mad if I didn't.
"But yeah, some days it's still hard to even wanna do it. Just missing my best friend in the world, and I still don't feel like it's right that he's gone, but he is. Put your boots on, get to work and go do it."
That's led to his best season driving his No. 29 that carries an additional graphic in the upper-right corner of a tiny No. 36 surrounded by a halo. It signifies he never forgets dad.
"The first win in Great Falls this year, I was in tears when I won," Hample said. "And just in disbelief and I knew I wouldn't get to see him smiling afterwards. But every time I get in the car, I still just think of them, and like I said, I haven't won nearly as much as I even think I should have. I've had a car to do it almost every night."
One more victory — the Kelly Hample Memorial — would cap off the season that's become even more meaningful with the recent death of his aunt Becky, Kelly's sister who had a long bout with breast cancer. She was ever-present at the racetracks, too, as a longtime photographer.
"It's just been a rough year," Hample said.
Calling himself "an addict" to racing, Hample reads about and watches all the Dirt Late Model racing he can. The three far-flung Montana tracks he frequents are a world away from the hotbeds of Dirt Late Model racing in the Midwest and Southeast, but he dreams of someday being able to run at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway or other high-profile tracks in open-competition engine action. His dad would've wanted the same.
"If we had the resources to try and run with the big guys, I have no doubt in my mind he could have done it," Hample said. "But we're just small-time Montana racers trying to shoot for the higher level.
"My ultimate goal is to get a big boy motor and I wanna run (Fairbury's) Prairie Dirt Classic and I'll put his (No.) 36 on for that because he wanted to go to that, but never got the chance to," he said. "I wanna go to Fairbury and get my ass kicked ... but I'll be doing it with a smile on my face."
Weekly highlights
• Leading all 40 laps, Ashley Anderson of Elk Mound, Wis., earned $4,000 on Sept. 7 for capturing the Late Model portion of the Northern Nationals at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis.
• Hometown driver Trever Feathers earned a $3,000 Curt Hershey Memorial victory for Super Late Models on Sept. 7 at Winchester (Va.) Speedway.
• Winning twice Sept. 7 in the season-ending programs at Eagle River (Wis.) Speedway, Jesse Aho of Twin Lakes, Mich., grabbed his 100th and 101st career dirt racing victories. The former modified racer earned $1,500 in the regularly scheduled USRA-sanctioned Limited Late Model feature.
• Notching his ninth victory of the season, Greg Gokey of Buckley, Mich., on Sept. 7 earned a $2,000 Rolling Thunder victory at Thunderbird Raceway in Muskegon, Mich.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning Sept. 7's Super Late Model feature, Kyle Moore of Mansfield, Ohio, notched his first career victory at Highland (Ill.) Speedway.
Weekly news briefs
• Writing that he’s in a “challenging financial position,” the owner of Merritt Speedway in Lake City, Mich., and Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Mich., has pledged to cover outstanding checks that “have not been processed successfully through the bank.” In a post on the Merritt Facebook page, Mike Blackmer said that the season’s attendance at Merritt fell short of expectations and income at Tri-City Motor didn’t cover payouts and wages of employees. “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this situation has caused,” Blackmer wrote earlier this week. “But we want to be transparent about our current challenges. We appreciate your understanding and continued support during this difficult time.” Blackmer added it "may be time to start looking into new hands to place the future of the racetracks,” but said he hasn’t had any serious inquiries.
• Craig Geller of Mendota Heights, Minn., a longtime Late Model team owner of Hall of Fame driver Rick Egersdorf, died Sept. 4 after suffering a stroke. He was 69. Geller Automotive sponsored many of Egersdorf's winning No. 17 Late Models, one of the winningest cars in the history of Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis.
• Plans are under way to reopen the former Lakeside Speedway in Dewey, Okla., a quarter-mile oval in northeastern Oklahoma that hasn’t been in operation since 1981, with Late Models among potential divisions beginning in 2025. Promoting brothers Bill and Robert McMurtrie are partnering with land owner Bob Chaney, who is in the cattle and construction business and has pledged to build the bleachers, concessions stand, restrooms and offices for the track northeast of Bartlesville. Unlike the McMurtries' abandoned attempt in 2012 to open Black Gold Speedway that was derailed by zoning issues, Dewey’s reopening requires no zoning changes and has the blessing of local officials, Chaney said. The track was the site of a June 3, 1979, National Championship Racing Association victory for inaugural NCRA Late Model champion Tom Laster of Muskogee, Okla.
• Jim and Veronica Stutler of Lost Creek, W.Va., are taking over promotions at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., the Tyler County Fair Association announced. The Stutlers, who will promote the track under the Next Generation Racing Association name, plan a meet and greet for drivers and teams at 3 p.m. Sept. 14 at the track pavilion. A meeting for track workers is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Hometown Racing Association led by John Watson promoted the track for 13 years before stepping away at the season's conclusion.
• Penton (Ala.) Raceway this week announced the inaugural Sweet Home Alabama Classic, an Oct. 18-19 weekend with three Late Model-style divisions among eight classes on the card. Limited Late Models ($4,000-to-win), 604 Crate Late Models ($2,500) and 602 Crate Late Models ($2,000) are on the card with practice scheduled for Oct. 17.
• Hollis Speedway in Heflin, Ala., has named D.J. Duke the track's new promoter and race director.
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., has 2,450 points to lead Rusty Schlenk (2,245) and Tyler Erb (2,188).
IMCA (Limiteds): Cory Dumpert of York, Neb., has 794 points to lead Travis Denning (788) and Evan Miller (774).
POWRi (Limiteds): Tucker Cox of Jefferson City, Mo., has 5,960 points to lead Alan Westling (5,540) and Kyle Graves (5,380).
USRA (Limiteds): Cade Nelson of Hermantown, Minn., has 4,258 points to lead Matt Larson (4,236) and Jason McFadden (3,555).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., has 2,246 points to lead Dustin Strand (2,224) and Shane Sabraski (2,209).
American All-Stars (Crates): Brandon Fouts of Kite, Ky., has 600 points to lead A.J. Hicks (580). Steve Stollings and Gunner Johnson have 550 points apiece.
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Bryson Mitchell of Russellvile, Ala., has 694 points to lead Colby Ponds (689) and Josh Parkerson (686).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): David Williamson of Seminary, Miss., has 693 points to lead Chase Holland (680) and Shannon Lee (678).
DIRTcar (Crates): Dakota Ewing of Warrensburg, Ill., has 1,490 points to lead Tommy Elston (1,445) and Chase Osterhoff (1,435).
Fastrak (Crates): Brent Trimble of Morgantown, W.Va., has 634 points to lead Braeden Dillinger (633) and George Casto III (617).
RUSH (Crates): Jeremy Wonderling of Wellsville, N.Y., has 1,344 points to lead Jason Genco (1,330) and Breyton Santee (1,311).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
I-94 EMR Speedway, Fergus Falls, Minn. (Sept. 11-14): A busy WISSOTA 100 weekend celebrates the season with a $10,000 prize up for grabs in the Late Model division.
Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, Wis. (Sept. 12-14): Features every night during the Legendary 100 weekend capped by a $3,000-to-win Late Model finale.
Crystal (Mich.) Motor Speedway (Sept. 13-14): The Great Lakes Nationals caps the track's season with a $4,000-to-win purse for the Super Late Model division.
Freedom Motorsports Park, Delevan, N.Y. (Sept. 13-14): The Fall Classic includes the $2,058-to-win Mike Duclon Memorial on opening night and a $3,558-to-win Super Late Model feature for the finale.
Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (Sept. 13-14): The Hub City National pays $2,500-to-win for the Crate Late Model division with a preliminary night then a dash, consolation and feature for the finale.
U.S. 30 Speedway, Columbus, Neb. (Sept. 13-14): The 28th annual Abe Lincoln Memorial includes IMCA-sanctioned Late Models on the closing night with a $1,515-to-win purse on the line. Six other divisions are in action during the weekend.
Hilltop Speedway, Millersburg, Ohio (Sept. 13-14): The Weekend on the Hill includes a $4,000-to-win Super Late Model feature on opening night. The Burlile Steel Block Late Model Series is in action Saturday.
Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway (Sept. 14): The Mountaineer 50, a tribute to late track regular Elsie Bills, pays $10,000-to-win for the Super Late Model division with Crates among classes on the undercard.
Elkins Raceway, Kerens, W.Va. (Sept. 14): Postponed two weeks by rain, the Topless Fall Festival 50 pays $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 to the top three Super Late Model finishers with weekly divisions also in action.
Mountain Motor Speedway, Isom, Ky. (Sept. 14): Super Late Models chase a $3,000 purse with five divisions on the undercard.
Clinton County Speedway, Mill Hall, Pa. (Sept. 14): The season-ending Keystone 40 pays $1,500-to-win for the Limited Late Model division with three divisions on the undercard.
