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Quick Time: Five drivers whose stock is on rise
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com managing editor
Take a quick lap around the proverbial dirt track with managing editor Todd Turner for a roundup of Dirt Late Model racing through the latest weekend of action along with some other quirks of racing (and the occasional ax-grinding). Quick Time appears throughout the regular season every Wednesday at DirtonDirt.com:
Frontstretch: On the rise
Five drivers whose stock is on the rise so far in 2013:
Bobby Pierce: The 16-year-old's steady progress continues as the Oakwood, Ill., driver proves he belongs in battling wheel-to-wheel with the sport's best drivers. After setting fast time and finishing fifth at Brownstown — where his father Bob had more than a few good runs back in the day — the second-generation standout is preparing for more national touring events.
Steve Casebolt: The former Dream winner’s racing career appeared in doubt this time last season, but the connection with Tennessee-based D&R Motorsports has helped continue a resurgence that began with some solid performances in the second half of 2012. The 35-year-old Richmond, Ind., driver’s schedule leans more Southern than Midwestern, but he’s thriving so far.
Eric Wells: The 24-year-old from Hazard, Ky., jumped from the Lucas Oil Series to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and got the jump in the tour’s Rookie of the Year chase with up-front runs at Volusia Speedway Park. He’ll face new-track challenges while battling WoO rookie contenders Morgan Bagley and Dillon Wood.
Scott James: Success at Speedweeks spurred Sanford Goddard’s Warrior Race Cars house car team to tackle a full-time World of Outlaws run with the 42-year-old driver from Lawrenceburg, Ind., putting him back on a national tour for the first time in several seasons. Along with Tim McCreadie, James gives Warrior a 1-2 punch with the Outlaws.
Doug Drown: The 30-year-old Wooster, Ohio, driver's back-and-forth battle with Don O’Neal showed what he can do with the Weekley Racing team he joined last mid-season. The team will pick its spots in 2013 to battle national tour and tough regional events.
Turn 1: Gimmicky, but fun
West Virginia’s I-77 Raceway Park has scheduled an Australian Pursuit race for May 4, a 10-car race where any driver overtaken by another must retire from the race. Sounds like a nice change of pace. The Aussies have it going on with this clever format, but let’s kick around five other ideas for the occasional gimmick during the regular season:
Multi-division dash: If a track runs four divisions, put last week’s winner from each division on the track with a staggered start. Slowest division starts between turns three and four, next slowest on the backstretch, next slowest between turns one and two, and finally — presumably Late Models — at the start-finish line. From a standing start, run a two- or three-lap race (depending on track size) and see which divisions can make up the stagger.
Wrong way: For a lower division, split a 10-lap race into two segments. The first five laps are run counter-clockwise as usual before a midway caution is thrown. The second five-lap segment is run with competitors going around the track the opposite direction.
Two ovals: For tracks with a larger outer oval and a smaller oval inside that share the frontstretch, have a 10-lap race on the larger oval with one exception: every competitor must make one lap on the inside oval.
Leaders transfer: Plan a special 10-car dash with a healthy payday. To decide who will make the dash, have all the division’s entries (up to 30 cars) run a 10-lap “heat” race. At the conclusion of each lap, whoever is leading pulls off the track — and transfers to the dash. That continues for 10 laps until the dash lineup is set.
Tire-changing test: Have a “pit stop” night for every division where teams must make a green-flag pit stop and change one tire during a feature race. Preferably use the infield pits so fans can watch the crew members in action.
Turn 2: It’s not for sale
Winless in 2012, David Schmauss came to East Bay Raceway Park last Saturday with “for sale” signs on either side of his No. 105 Late Model. Then the Tampa, Fla., dirt racer proceeded to grab a feature victory at the third-mile oval in Gibsonton, Fla., after taking the lead from Jack Nosbisch Jr. on the ninth lap.
In victory lane, Schmauss thanked his supporters and fans for believing in him, then took his car off the market by removing the for sale signs. “If they want to buy it,” he said, “they have to wait another year.”
Backstretch: Spin city
Spin isn’t just saved for the Sunday morning news programs and political wonks. Plenty of racing folks try to put a little spin on things, too:
• In tallying victory totals, some casually include any time a car takes a checkered flag. Victories should only include feature wins. Heats and consolations should be counted separately.
• In touting a driver’s finish in a race, using the word “top” in front of a number that’s more than half the field — for instance, a top-15 finish in a 24-car race — isn't much to brag about.
• We sometimes get out of hand in describing racing as “four- and five-wide” action, even when looking at a photo or video that shows otherwise. Three-wide is plenty good, and we’d honestly be thrilled with two-wide at plenty of races.
Turn 3: Tweet of the week
Billy Moyer Jr. (@team21jr) before heading to Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway last week: “Never thought I'd leave snow on the ground in Arkansas and head north to race.”
Turn 4: Turn back the clock
Five items from this week in Dirt Late Model history:
March 31, 1985: Launching his first title-winning season on the B.J. Parker-founded series, Ronnie Johnson of Chattanooga, Tenn., grabbed a Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series victory at Spencer Speedway in Verona, Miss., outrunning Clint Smith, Gene Chupp, Billy Moyer and Jerry Inmon.
March 30, 1996: Driving for GVS Racing, Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., captured his first-ever Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series victory at Lone Star Speedway in Kilgore, Texas. Moyer earned $10,000 in outrunning Ronnie Johnson, Freddy Smith, Bill Frye and Terry Phillips.
March 31, 2001: Jimmy Mars of Elk Mound, Wis., earned $15,000 at Texas Motor Speedway for capturing the Albertson’s Spring Challenge his first career UDTRA victory. In a race shortened to 50 from 75 laps because of rough track conditions, Mars outran Bill Frye, Marshall Green, Terry English and Edwin Wells.
March 28, 2004: Rebounding from a winless 2003, Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., earned $5,000 at Challenger Raceway near Indiana, Pa., for his second victory of the weekend for Bill Bland Motorsports. He won two nights earlier at Ohio’s Skyline Speedway. At Challenger, Shaver outran Davey Johnson, Bob Close, Todd Andrews and John Mason.
March 30, 2008: Chad Pratt of Bath, Ill., the 2007 Late Model champion at Macomb (Ill.) Raceway, died in a single-vehicle accident near his hometown. He was 34.
Checkered flag: Five fearless weekend predictions
• Two or fewer drivers will be among the top five in NDRL features at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.
• A non-Carolina driver will capture the Carolina Crown’s $30,000 winner’s purse in Lancaster, S.C.
• The winner of La Salle (Ill.) Speedway’s Thaw Brawl will tie or surpass his richest victory.
• A single driver will sweep the opening Three State Flyers weekend at Winchester and Hagerstown.
• A Hoosier (person from Indiana, not a tire, necessarily) will capture Florence Speedway’s Spring 50.
(Last week: Three out of five predictions correct)
