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Quick Time: Satisfying two-track combinations
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, presented by PFC Brakes, appears throughout the regular season every Wednesday at DirtonDirt.com:
Frontstretch: Drivers of the Week
National: His points lead appearing shaky after a DNF on Sept. 13 at Belle-Clair Speedway, Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., rebounded the next night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 to solidify his likelihood of a third World of Outlaws Late Model Series crown.
Regional: Winning his seventh race in 10 starts, Ray Cook of Brasstown, N.C., picked up $2,000 for Dixie Speedway’s Fall Championship on Sept. 14 in Woodstock, Ga. He was third the previous night in SRRS action at Smoky Mountain Speedway and has finished worse than fourth in a single start since April.
Weekly: Steve Kester of Holland, Ohio, broke through for his first victory at competitive Oakshade Raceway on Sept. 14, edging Ryan Missler in a side-by-side duel to the checkers in Wauseon, Ohio.
Crate: Eddie Hambrick of Beckley, W.Va., notched three more victories on Sept. 14-15 (two at his hometown track, one in Princeton, W.Va.) to maintain his lead in weekly Fastrak Racing Series points.
Turn 1: Two-track combos
There’s strength in numbers, right? And that works with dirt tracks, too. While some of the top tracks for Dirt Late Model racing over the years stand alone, plenty of others have a companion track within 100 miles that shares competitors and fans to enhance the excitement of racing in the region. Here are some of my favorite two-track combos in Dirt Late Model racing, including on we’ll enjoy this weekend:
Florence-Brownstown: While a weekend doubleheader is rare between Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, they’ll be in action on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Sept. 20-21 with the Ralph Latham Memorial and Jackson 100. With both tracks racing Saturday nights, weekly drivers had to choose where to run, but the best from each have typically united for the special events for many years.
Hagerstown-Winchester: The nearby tracks on either side of the Maryland-Virginia border are a natural in sharing many of the same drivers and cooperating with Hagerstown-Winchester Shootout events, along with avoiding conflicts on special events. A Dirt Late Model fan could do worse than live between them.
Magnolia-Columbus: Both tracks have and their ups and downs, but Columbus, Miss., fans get the best of both worlds with high-banked action Columbus and the slick-track strategies at Magnolia Motor Speedway.
Batesville-West Plains: The days of weekly Super Late Model racing at the Arkansas and Missouri ovals are long gone, but the glory days of two-track touring weekends with MLRA, MARS and the Rick’s Furniture Super Late Model Series were indeed glorious.
Dixie-Rome: The Swims Family-controlled ovals have left the high perch of years ago when the Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series used the north Georgia tracks as home base, but even these days a Dixie-Rome weekend with a modest purse draws competitors proud to say they’ve grabbed a checkered flag.
Honorable mention: The Illinois tandem of Farmer City-Fairbury, the Stateline-Eriez circuit of western Pennsylvania and New York along with western Kentucky’s Paducah and Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway, which might be revived with 2014’s reopening of KLMS.
Turn 2: Things dirt racing needs more of: ...
• Down-to-the-wire points chases.
• Enthusiastic victory lane celebrations.
• Well-deserved black flags (Has a single one been thrown this season?).
• Efficiently-handled Facebook pages for racetracks.
• Feature starts before 10 p.m.
Backstretch: ... and things dirt racing needs less of:
• Six-car heat races.
• Intermissions.
• Special events with obviously conflicting dates at nearby tracks.
• Programs wrapping up after midnight.
• Overlapping regional series.
Turn 3: Typo of the week
The track that, on its website schedule, announced plans for a “season finally.” Pretty sure it was supposed to be “finale,” but in a sport that tends to wear out its welcome with a long season, that it’s “finally” over isn’t always a bad thing.
Turn 4: Turn back the clock
Five items from this week in Dirt Late Model history:
Sept. 23, 1984: Tom Helfrich of Haubstadt, Ind., captured the National Dirt Racing Association event at Smoky Mountain Raceway in Maryville, Tenn., the last of his four career NDRA victories.
Sept. 22, 1996: Polesitter Tim Hitt regained the lead from Scott Bloomquist on the final lap at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway to earn $21,000 in the eighth annual Pittsburgher 100. Hitt’s victory in the rain-hampered event marked his richest victory and denied Bloomquist his fourth win in the biggest event at PPMS.
Sept. 20, 2003: Charlton McLeod, the first track champion at Sumter (S.C.) Speedway in 1957, died Sept. 20 after many years of declining health. McLeod, who served as technical inspector after his retirement from driving, once drove a car around the Sumter oval 52 consecutive hours for a charitable fund-raiser.
Sept. 22, 2007: Brian Harris, 28, of Davenport, Iowa, suffered a severe concussion and hairline vertebrae fracture in an accident at West Liberty (Iowa) Raceway. Harris was leading the Liberty 100 on the 65th lap when he wrecked while overtaking a lapped car.
Sept. 22, 2011: Terry Henson, a long-time Dirt Late Model racer from North Little Rock, Ark., died after a heart attack. He was 51. A 30-year racer, Henson's No. U2 was a frequent entrant with the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series, MARS DIRTcar Series and Arkansas Motorsports Professionals tour.
Checkered flag: Five fearless weekend predictions
• The winning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series drivers at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway won’t crack the top five in the other weekend race.
• Unlike last year, a home-state driver will crack the top 10 in the World of Outlaws visit to Berlin Raceway in Marne, Mich.
• The top three finishers at Red Cedar Speedway’s 34th annual Punky Manor Challenge of Champions will be drivers who reside within 30 miles of the track
• Brian Harris of Davenport, Iowa, will extend his Deery Brothers Summer Series points lead at Davenport and Independence in capturing his first series title.
• No driver in the top five in NCRA points will crack the top 10 in either MARS-NCRA events Sept. 20-21 at Salina (Okla.) Highbanks Speedway.
(Last week: Three out of four predictions correct; one rained out)
