National notebook
Notes: Busy Troutman eager to make most of chance
Pennsylvania racer Drake Troutman. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
At the end of the 2024 season, all Drake Troutman was looking for was a chance. The former modified standout had what he needed to get up and down the road with his own No. 7 Late Model team, but he was still in search of an opportunity to become a legitimate contender on the national stage. Then came the call from G.R. Smith.
“Last year, I ran my own deal strictly off sponsorship and I couldn’t continue to do that anymore,” said the 19-year-old Hyndman, Pa., driver. “That was one of those deals where we just tried to get through last year to turn some heads and hopefully get a ride. I’m really fortunate that G.R. reached out to me and gave me this awesome opportunity.
“I don’t really have an option but to make it a long-term relationship. Now that we’re in this deal together, I feel like I’m a really loyal person and I like to have things long-term. I don’t like to be hopping around. Me and G.R. have been clicking really good together, he’s been awesome to work with and he’s given me everything I need to go out and compete on a national level.”
It’s already been a busy season for Team 22 Inc. and Troutman, who has made 25 feature starts at the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout and Georgia-Florida Speedweeks with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series among other events. Among Speedweeks highlights was at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., where he notched a runner-up finish in the WoO Speedweeks finale after struggling at the half-mile track.
“We sucked so bad all week, every year I go down there, I don’t know what I need to do to be better,” Troutman said. “I was pretty frustrated. We just kind of threw the kitchen sink at it the last night and it all worked out.”
Busy last weekend with three races, including a sixth-place finish in Schaeffer's Spring Nationals action at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway, Troutman heads toward a busy spring including the WoO-sanctioned Tennessee Tipoff on March 14-15 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., followed by WoO action March 21-22 action at Swainsboro.
Troutman was 20th and 26th in last year’s starts at Smoky Mountain and its shortened 3/8-mile layout.
“That was a pretty fun racetrack, too,” Troutman said. “It’s all about going to these places and building notebooks. That’s going to be a newer challenge for us this year, we haven’t really raced at a whole lot of the Outlaw tracks. But in the long run it makes us better, and we’re excited.” — Spence Smithback
MISSISSIPPI CRATE TOUR RETURNS: The MS Crate Late Racing Series has announced a tentative second-year schedule of $2,000-to-win races starting with a May 3 event at Pine Ridge Speedway in Guntown, Miss. The Ronnie Roberts-directed circuit has two races apiece at Pine Ridge, Hattiesburg Speedway, Jackson Motor Speedway and Greenville Speedway with one race apiece at Whynot Motorsports Park and Pike County Speedway. The tour, which pays $5,000 to the champion, plans to add a few more races.
LONGTIME INDIANA RACER DIES: Butch Sager, who competed in the Late Model division from the 1970s into the 1990s at tracks including Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., died Feb. 27 at Good Samaritan Hospital in his Vincennes, Ind., hometown. He was 78. The driver of the No. 54 was a longtime competitor at Tri-State, a six-time winner at Chandler (Ind.) Motor Speedway, and former starter of such events as Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway’s USA 50, Kentucky Classic at Barren County Speedway in Glasgow, Ky., and the National 100 at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City. Paul B. "Butch” Sager owned and operated Butch's Janitor Service for 58 years. He’s survived by two daughters, three grandchildren and a great grandchild. He was preceded by his wife Linda. Find a complete obituary at duseterbergfredrick.com.
NEW 602 CRATE LATE MODEL TOUR: The Elite Racing Series for 602 Crate Late Models has events scheduled at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway, Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va., and Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway so far with likely a seven-race slate, promoter Trevor Thompson told the Outside Groove in announcing the new circuit. Thompson, who previously founded the Red Clay Series while living in Georgia before moving back to his native West Virginia, is a Limited Late Model racer and business development manager for VP Racing Fuels. The tour will carry a $9,000 points fund with drivers required to attend every event to be eligible. The opener is May 17 at Beckley with events paying from $1,200- to $2,000-to-win. Among sponsors are Warrior Race Cars, which will give away a chassis at season’s end in a drawing among drivers finishing second-10th in series points.
GENESEE TAPS RACE DIRECTOR: Five-time track champion and former promoter Jim Johnson has been named race director at The Dirt Track at Genesee, the Batavia, N.Y., track announced. "I want to try and bring back some consistency and make sure the racer gets his due diligence,” Johnson said in a track press release. "I don't feel that was happening. I've worked with one of the best race directors I've ever known, Mike Fisher, and he was on top of things. I learned a lot from him, and I plan to bring that same level of dedication and fairness to the track.” James Gayton is the promoter of the third-mile track that counts RUSH-sanctioned Crate Late Models among its divisions.
HAGERSTOWN MOURNS ZECHMAN: Former Late Model racer and racing family patriarch Don “Zack" Zechman of Westminster, Md., a 2024 inductee into the Auto Racing Club of Hagerstown Hall of Fame, died March 1 at the age of 88. Zechman competed more than 50 years at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway along with other tracks in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. His sons and grandson also competed and the elder Zechman was also an inductee in the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing. He’s survived by his wife of 69 years, Ruth Ann, along with four children, 11 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren. Visitation is 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Friday, March 7, at Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Services in Westminster with a funeral at 11 a.m. Saturday. A graveside service will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery in Westminster. Find a complete obituary at fletcherfuneralhome.net.
ODDS AND ENDS: Reuther Ford has come on board as title sponsor of the Super Late Model division at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. … The Arkansas-based Titan Legends Late Model Series announced a 14-race schedule with Diamond Park Speedway in Nashville, Ark., hosting a series-high three events. The series opens April 12 at Crawford County Speedway in Van Buren, Ark., in an event co-sanctioned with the Sooner Late Model Series. … Bedford (Pa.) Speedway is expanding its terrace bleachers on the hillside above the frontstretch. The track thanked the Bedford School District, Jake Hoover and G&R Excavating and Demolition for completing the project. … Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway is mourning the passing of Teddy Ramsey, the track’s longest-standing sponsor and a longtime supporter of the track. … Dirt Rich TV is now the official streaming sponsor of the Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series, formerly the Steel Block Late Model Series. Select events on the 6-year-old tour’s 20-race schedule will be available on live streaming.
