DirtonDirt.com Dispatches
Dispatches: Controversy amid Dotson's EAMS win
Ethan Dotson at EAMS. (facebook.com/xrsuperseries)
Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing on the first weekend in October including the season-ending Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series doubleheader and the XR Super Series-sanctioned National 100:
Eventful victory
Ethan Dotson continued his breakout autumn Saturday with a $15,000 victory in the 50-lap opener of the XR Super Series-sanctioned National 100 weekend at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City, Ala.
But the triumph — his fourth over the past month with the ASD Motorsports team — was accompanied by controversy and extracurricular activity.
Before the 25-year-old driver from Bakersfield, Calif., assumed command for good with a pass of Eatonton, Ga.’s Garrett Smith on a lap-10 restart, his initial attempt to overtake Smith didn’t go well. Dotson dived to the inside of Smith entering turn one on lap six and pushed up the track directly into Smith’s path, crunching bodywork on both cars.
While Smith remained the leader as Dotson slipped high and fell to third, Smith’s car sustained significant damage to its nose. After a caution flag flew on lap 10, Smith, 21, showed displeasure with Dotson during the slowdown, lost the top spot on the restart and retired from the race two circuits later.
Dotson went on to win his first-ever XRSS feature by 4.652 seconds over Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, and accepted blame for the incident with Smith.
“I hate what happened with Garrett down there,” Dotson said. “I mean, I was to his door and trying to clear him on a slider and I hit that slime down there (on the inside of turn one) and just stopped and we got together. It was my fault. I apologize. S--- happens.”
Smith didn’t cordially accept Dotson’s mea culpa.
“To sum it up, Ethan drove over his head and attempted a completely unnecessary slide job on lap six and knocked my nose off,” Smith told DirtonDirt.com. “Never in a million years would he have cleared me. My front tires were rubbing the nose of my car (from the contact), which I couldn’t steer after that. Which put me out of the race.”
The enmity of the tangle seemingly boiled over to the pit area when Dotson and his team returned to their hauler after victory lane ceremonies and found a hole smashed in the glass window in their trailer’s back sliding door and their pit box overturned. Several officers from the local sheriff’s department were called to the track to investigate the vandalism; Smith and his crew were questioned and reportedly had one of their ATVs impounded, but no charges were filed and Smith’s team loaded up, left the track and was not expected back to compete in Sunday’s $30,000-to-win National 100 finale.
Smith didn't comment when asked about his team’s involvement in the postrace situation. ASD Motorsports crew member Tyler Breashears, meanwhile, posted a Facebook video on Sunday afternoon stating that the damage to the team’s pit box was repaired but the shattered trailer door glass remained.
Dotson relished his latest success amidst the eventful outing.
“I mean, it’s super cool,” Dotson said. “We put soft tires on it tonight and it worked out for us. Man, I had a phenomenal race car.”
Dotson thanked his ASD teammate John Henderson for “letting me driver his race car” and also gave special recognition to Longhorn Chassis staffer Tommy Grecco, who has helped Dotson for several months.
“Tommy Grecco — that guy helps me hard in my head,” Dotson said. “Whenever I get down on myself, he brings me up.” — Staff reports
What a feeling
Brandon Overton’s voice quivered just a little bit as he spoke about his $20,000 victory in Saturday night’s 50-lap Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series Championship Weekend finale at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn.
The 33-year-old star from Evans, Ga., couldn’t help himself. This triumph was a long time coming.
“You all know I’m emotional,” Overton said during his post-race interview in front of the crowd. “I feel like we haven’t won in forever. My crew guys, they bust their butt week in and week out, and man, they deserve to win all the time.”
The checkered flags have been non-existent, though, throughout the second half of the 2024 season for Overton, who has struggled to find his usual footing as a prolific winner. He started the campaign in promising fashion with eight victories by June 28, but then he fell into a four-month win drought that had him and his David Wells-owned team scratching their heads in frustration.
Overton’s consistency remained sufficient to keep him on top of the Hunt the Front points standings — a series title that he clinched before starting Saturday’s main event — but he couldn’t reach victory lane. The dry spell made his return to the spotlight at I-75 so much more special.
“I just wanted to keep riding around (in the lead). It’s been a while," Overton said. “I know we've been struggling a little bit. People kinda, I guess, they lose confidence in you or whatever. And I just thought I’d remind them every now and then, you know, I can still drive these damn things.”
Overton was the class of the field, a fact that Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., confirmed after he was overtaken for the lead by Overton on a lap-17 restart and went on to cross the finish line 0.920 of a second behind the victor in the runner-up spot.
“We just didn’t have the best car,” McDowell said. “(Overton) give us a gift last night, because he was gonna win last night too.”
Indeed, Overton appeared primed to capture Friday’s 50-lapper when he grabbed the lead on lap 31, but a flat tire on the 40th circuit dashed his hopes and left him with an eighth-place finish. He had no such misfortune on Saturday as he advanced from the fifth starting spot to gain command from the 58-year-old McDowell and never looked back.
“It was fun to drive tonight,” Overton said. “I got to race with my buddy Dale. Me and Shane (McDowell, Dale’s younger brother and car owner) and all them (on the team) are good friends. I seen (Shane) on that (lap-17) restart, he was telling Dale, ‘Just move up a little bit getting into one,’ and I said, ’S—, I gotta get him now because he’ll get right in my way and then hold me up a little bit.’ I hope I cleared him good enough over there.
“My (Infinity by Wells) car was awesome. Man, I ain’t had one that felt like that in a long time.”
Overton’s victory was his first since a $5,000 Volunteer 50 semifeature win on June 28 at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. His last full-field triumph came in June 15’s Mountain Moonshine Classic at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., his richest win of the season at $50,000 and also his lone Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series score of 2024.
The Hunt the Front points title, meanwhile, came in his first full-time run on the regional tour that debuted last year. He won three features en route to claiming the $50,000 crown by 92 points over Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga.
Overton’s championship was the fifth of his Dirt Late Model career, all coming on regional circuits. He previously won the Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals in 2017 and the Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals in 2017, ’19 and ’20. — Series reports
High praise from a vet
As Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., spoke about his third-place finish in Saturday night’s 50-lap Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series feature at I-75 Raceway, he made an unprompted shift to mention a fellow Volunteer State driver.
“I wanna to give a shout out to Kaede,” Marlar said, referring to Kaede Loudy, a 20-year-old racer from Rogersville, Tenn.
A burgeoning racer whose modest Super Late Model team includes just a single MasterSbilt Race Car, Loudy turned heads — none more than the 46-year-old Marlar’s — with a fourth-place finish in Friday’s 50-lap Championship Weekend opener and a fifth-place run in Saturday’s finale. He added a group fast-time honor and heat race on Saturday to his impressive results.
Marlar made it clear that he’s been noticing the talent exhibited by Loudy, who has gained attention with some solid outings this season in high-profile events at tracks like Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, and Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn.
“He didn’t get on the podium here, but that kid is doing unbelievable,” pronounced Marlar, a former World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series champion and three-time Knoxville Nationals winner. “I run the wheels off of him there (for position in the feature) and barely got by him late in the race, and he literally was over there borrowing used tires from me today.”
Marlar gave Loudy a strong personal recommendation.
“If there’s somebody out there who’s looking for a good young, up-and-coming kid to get behind,” Marlar said, “I believe that kid’s gonna be all right.” — Series reports
