Dirt Empire Magazine - Issue 7 - 2021 by dirtempiremagazine

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Issue 07 • Volume 01 2021 Advertising Info: email: dirtempiremagazine@gmail.com phone: 912.342.8026 OWNER/PUBLISHER Adam Cornell EDITOR Justin Zoch SUBSCRIPTION COORDINATOR Abigail Cornell WEBSITE COORDINATOR Shaun Cornell WORDS Ashley Allinson, Ashley Zimmerman, Bert Lehman, Bill Blumer Jr., Bob Mays, Brett Swanson, Chad Meyer, Chris Romano, Cyndi Stiffler, Danny Burton, David Sink, Doug Kennedy, Doug Seeger, Elizabeth Madley, Eric Arnold, Gary Costa, Greg Soukup, Jessica Jenkins, Joanne Cram, Joe Duvall, Kelley Carlton, Kevin Oldham, Larry Weeks, Lee Ackerman, Melissa Coker, Mike Spieker, Odell Suttle, Scott Erickson, TJ Buffenbarger, Todd Heintzelman, Vahok Hill PICTURES Adam Mollenkopf, Andy Newsome, Bill Miller, Bill Taylor, Bob Mays, Bob Yurko, Brad Plant, Brandon Anderson, Brendon Bauman, Brian Bouder, Bruce Palla, Buck Monson, Buzz Fisher, Carey Fox, Chad Wells, Chris McDill, Chris Pederson, Conrad Nelson, Dan DeMarco, Danny Howk, David Campbell, David Giles, David Hill, David Pratt, Dennis Krieger, Don Laidlaw, Donna Rosenstengel, Doug Burgess, Doug Vandeventer, Glen Starek, Gordy O’Field, Greg Stanek, Greg Teel, Heath Lawson, Jacy Norgaard, Jason Orth, Jason Spencer, Jason Wells, Jeff Bylsma, Jim Collum Jr., Jim DenHamer, Jim Zimmerline, Jimmy Jones, Joe Orth, Joe Secka, John Dadalt, John Lee, John Rothermel, Jon Holliday, Joseph Swann, Josh James, Ken Kelly, Lee Greenawalt, Leif Tillotson, Mark Funderburk, Mark Sublett, Matt Butcosk, Michael Diers, Michael Moats, Mike Campbell, Mike Damic, Mike Feltenberger, Mike Howard, Mike Musslin, Mike Ruefer, Millie Tanner, Patrick Miller, Paul Arch, Paul Gould, Quentin Young, Rich LaBrier, Richard Barnes, Rick Neff, Rick Sherer, Robert Wing, Rocky Ragusa, Ron Gilson, Ryan Northcote, Scott Swenson, Seth Stone, Steve Walters, Tara Chavez, Terry Page, Tim Aylwin, Tim Hunt, Todd Boyd, Tom Macht, Tony Hammett, Travis Branch, Troy Junkins, Tyler Carr, Tyler Rinkin, Zach Yost, Zakary Kriener

Dirt Empire Magazine is published 8 times annually. Copyright © 2021 Dirt Empire Magazine. Dirt Empire is a registered trademark of Dirt Empire Magazine and cannot be used without prior written authorization. Any unauthorized use of the Dirt Empire Magazine Logo or related icons is strictly prohibited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Dirt Empire Magazine and its writers and editors are not responsible for typos or clerical errors in advertisements or articles. Postmaster: Send all address changes to: Dirt Empire Magazine, PO Box 919 Brunswick, GA 31521 Subscription rate is $36 US annually. Canadian subscribers add $24 annually. International subscribers add $76 annually.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Jones Racing Products

CONTENTS Issue 07 - 2021

PAGE 80

Exclusively in this issue, check out the phenomenal art of Jamie Nardini. You will be blown away by these brush strokes.

FEATURES 7 Fore Word – Adam Cornell 8 From the Editor – Justin Zoch 10 News and Notes 12 Holey Shirts 14 Lighter Side of Dirt 17 Moving Pics 18 Action Capture 20 Bobby Pierce 28 Ask The Driver – Joseph Joiner 32 Action Capture 34 Short Track Stars – Joel Myers Jr. 36 Jackie Rumley 42 Anthony Macri 46 DMA Midgets 52 Review in Photos – World Finals 66 Where Are They Now? – Larry Moore 68 Shooter at Large – David Campbell 72 Tech – Check Engine 74 The Dirt Chronicles 76 Yesterday’s Dirt 78 Artistic License 84 Beauty of Racing 88 Series Spotlight - RUSH 92 New & Featured Products 94 Backstretch 95 Pit Stop 96 Advertiser’s Index

20 THAT MEDDLING KID

We check in with Bobby Pierce following a dominating season with the UMP DIRTcar late models that saw him clean up during the Summer Nationals, win another championship and make a whole lot of new fans in the process with his catchy Scooby Doo themed race car.

28 ASK THE DRIVER

This was your chance to ask your question to a bona fide YouTube star as we took your questions to Joseph Joiner to hear about his race team and get a look behind the scenes at his famous Hunt The Front videos.

36 MARKETING 101

We get some top-notch tips for assembling sponsor proposals, the dos and don’ts of finding a partner for your race team and some fun stories from college instructor Jackie Rumley about owning a race car driven by Kyle Larson.

42 POSSE’S BRIGHTEST LIGHT

Anthony Macri has expanded his horizons over the last two years but still remains a top notch member of the Pennsylvania Posse and one of the toughest beats when any traveling tour comes calling to the Keystone State.

48 KEEPING WHEELS OPEN IN THE NORTHEAST

A dedicated group of midget racing lovers have been doing all they can to keep the division racing on the dirt in the Northeast with USAC’s DMA. We introduce the cars and the people who are making it happen.

52 REVIEW IN PICTURES – WORLD FINALS

The annual ribbon-tying celebration for the World of Outlaws Sprints, Late Models and Super DIRT Series produced new faces and legends in victory lane and ultimately crowned three titlists during the three day event.

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Salon at Studio B

A YEAR TO REMEMBER WHAT A WHIRLWIND 2021 has been. As 2020 sputtered to an end, and the initial seeds of Dirt Empire Magazine were starting to take root, I entered 2021 with optimism and trepidation. There were so many things that eventually transpired that I could not have predicted back on January 1. Reflecting on the genesis of Dirt Empire, it’s hard to believe how far we have come. We have hit or exceeded every single one of our goals save one – number of issues. We have a nasty bout of Covid-19 back in August and September to thank for that. Otherwise, we have accomplished what we set out to do. I say “we” because there is no way a single individual could achieve what we’ve created. It’s taken dozens of amazing photographers and writers as well as the steady hand of editor Justin Zoch to get each issue across the finish line. Additionally, it has taken the support of all the advertisers who have entrusted us as their marketing partners. Words mean things, and “partners” means that we are working towards the same goal. From an initial glance it may seem that the goal is to simply sell products and make money. That is only one necessary element of the story. The other part is about working together to make sure that the sport we love continues on and on, for the next generation and the one after that and so on.

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The racing industry was built on the shoulders of giants, many of whom are now gone. Carrying on their legacy is important to me. It’s real history. It’s one of the reasons we love to run the historical columns we have in Dirt Empire Magazine. Racing is as much about who raced decades ago as it is who is racing this upcoming weekend. It’s about always seeking to improve and looking back with both pride and humility to see just how far we’ve come. Racing, to me, has always been an allegory for life. Life is full of struggle. Overcoming those struggles leads to a lasting sense of satisfaction. Embracing and enjoying the process is one of the secrets to life that I think takes far too long to learn. I think it is a life lesson that can be seen on display in the dirt track racing community more so than just about any industry. The struggle of just putting a car on the track is difficult, not to mention running well enough for any kind of prize money. And winning? There are drivers that have raced for 30 years and haven’t won yet. Why didn’t they just give up after year two or three? Some have. But those who continue, enjoy the process and hold on to that hope that, maybe one day, they’ll pull into victory lane and all the struggle that came before will have been worth it. As I pull into the final month of 2021 and look towards 2022, I can’t help but feel like I’m steering my vehicle into victory lane. And just like any winning driver, there’s no way I got here on my own. I have so many people to thank. First and foremost, my wife, Belinda. Without her I would not have been able to do any of this. She has stuck by me for twenty years, and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion on this journey of life. Additionally, I must thank all of the contributors to our publication this year; writers and photographers who love the sport as much as I do and spend countless hours creating the stories and images you have been able to enjoy in each issue. I also need to thank our editor, Justin Zoch, who continues to craft this publication with a deft touch and some expert wordsmithing. Well done Justin!

fore WORD

By Adam Cornell My kids have also played a part in making this year a success. They have stepped up when I’ve needed them, whether by taking over managing subscriptions or the website or even helping move boxes of magazines around. (Something every teenager loves to do.) Whenever I have asked, they have stepped up and been an enormous help. I thank our marketing partners who trusted us to create something that would be a solid platform and vehicle for them to get the word out about their products and services. Lastly, I must thank you, our readers. Without you, this magazine does not exist. The thousands of individuals out there who love racing and love the tactile feel of a real magazine in their hands; you have helped create this success. I offer a sincere thank you to all who had a part in the creation of Dirt Empire Magazine, no matter how small. Small contributions combine into great things. In 2022 it is my goal that, together, we can all continue to make Dirt Empire Magazine that little piece of escape from the troubled world, an oasis in a desert of tired, corrupted media. Our focus will continue to solely be on dirt track racing, and that’s it. We will work hard to capture the excitement of racing, while providing insightful articles and helpful tips. We will diligently aspire to continue to make Dirt Empire Magazine the greatest dirt-track racing magazine in the world. Thanks for joining us on this journey. See you next year!

Adam Cornell Owner/Publisher Dirt Empire Magazine

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

from the EDITOR

By Justin Zoch FAVORITES ARE funny things. Some things you’re always expected to have a quick and easy answer for, perhaps even to unlock your bank account, like color or sports team or vacation destination. Sometimes, however, naming a favorite is verboten, like your kids or divorces. Last year, my 20-year string of Chili Bowls attended was snapped because of COVID and I’m not sure I’ll make it back this year or not so I started to think about which one was my favorite of those two decades. It’s hard to figure because each Chili Bowl is such a massive event in and of itself that it can be hard to remember who won on Monday by Friday of each event. After considering some of those awesome Swindell battles, Dan Boorse’s final win, Clauson getting his and the pure joy of watching Rico Abreu celebrate, I landed on 2002 as my favorite Chili Bowl. I wouldn’t have said that at the time though as I left Tulsa incredibly disappointed in the final few circuits. Some background. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with the RacinBoys Broadcasting Network since about 2006 and have spent most of my time in the Expo Center commenting on the action on the track for either a radio or streaming broadcast. While we all have drivers we root for, mostly, when you’re broadcasting you don’t care who wins as long as its close or produces a good story. In 2002, though, I had a guy. Kevin Doty was one of my favorite racers, an aging veteran in the still potent Wilke car, and this was the year that he went up against two titans in their prime – Tony

MY FAVORITE CHILI BOWL Stewart and Cory Kruseman. Stewart was at the height of his popularity and was a nationally recognized name who had been a flashpoint on and off the track in NASCARland in the Joe Gibbs 20 car. Stewart was driving for Keith Kunz but this was before Kunz was reeling off Chili Bowl after Chili Bowl with a 10-car super team. They weren’t underdogs by any stretch but Kunz didn’t have a whole trophy case full of drillers just yet. Kruseman had won the Chili Bowl two years prior and the Bondio 47 he was driving was absolutely the hottest midget in the building. It was the fastest machine mad genius Andy Bondio had ever constructed. The three of them put on an absolute thriller. I was all in on Doty for multiple reasons. He was a true Midget racer, which I always appreciate in Tulsa, he was nearing the end of a legendary career and he was the underdog, even with the Wilkes. The three of them put on an absolute masterpiece that came down to the final few laps. Doty held the line and the lead until Stewart finally squeaked by on the bottom. I watched the replay recently and I still get that angry, despondent feeling back. I wanted Doty to win so bad and he got so close. I was gutted and pissed. I think I, and probably everyone else in the building, knew that Stewart was going to win another Chili Bowl (he did in 2007) and win a NASCAR title (he did that year) but that Doty was never going to win another Chili Bowl. Stewart went on to become a legend, Kruseman came back to win his final Chili Bowl in 2004 and Kevin Doty died on a Tuesday in 2005 after a horrible accident at Angell Park Speedway

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

that Sunday night. Looking back, it was not only a terrific race but was one of last times when I allowed myself to become fully invested in the outcome of a car race. Even though it wasn’t what I wanted, I can’t think of any time I had more fun watching a race and truly believing I was going to be there when Kevin Doty beat Tony Stewart to win the Chili Bowl. If you are interested in seeing that 2002 Chili Bowl race, go to YouTube and do a keyword search for 2002 Chili Bowl. Several users have uploaded the old ESPN 2 broadcast. It is well worth the search.

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DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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NOTES

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news

PURSLEY SERIOUSLY INJURED IN ARIZONA TEENAGE PHENOM Daison Pursley sustained a very serious injury while racing his Keith Kunz Motorsports Midget at Arizona Speedway in mid-November as part of the USAC west coast season-ending swing. Pursley was declared awake and alert at the scene of the accident before being transported to a local hospital where it was deemed he had a very serious spinal injury. Pursley will have a long road to recovery and his family can use well wishes and financial support during this extremely difficult time. Connect via Twitter or Facebook to see how you can help the family.

Daison Pursley was victorious in USAC action earlier this year at Red Dirt raceway in his home state of Oklahoma.

Photo: Mike Howard

PAVEMENT STAR STEALS STOCK CAR WIN YOU SAY they’re having a $10,000-towin stock car race on dirt? Put me down for the asphalt modified star! While he might not seem like a favorite to score the big show at Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey, Jimmy Blewett played spoiler and did exactly that by jumping into a crew member’s street stock and putting it on the local racers and escaping with the huge payday for winning the 100-lapper. Blewett is a star on NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour for pavement modifieds. Photo: David Pratt

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

BLACKMER BUYS THUNDERBIRD, NOW OWNS 3 MI TRACKS Mike Blackmer recently added to his empire of Michigan-based racetracks with the purchase of Thunderbird Raceway in Muskegon, Michigan. Blackmer is already the owner of Merritt Speedway and Tri-City Raceway in Auburn. The track will continue to operate on Saturday nights and will welcome the Allstar Performance Challenge Series. According to the release, “we do not have any major changes planned to the racing format at Thunderbird Raceway. Expect the same divisions every week, possibly with increased payouts and larger events!”

LEGENDS ASSEMBLE! THIS WAS A BIG YEAR for anniversary races with the 60th edition of the Knoxville Nationals and the 50th edition of the World 100 at Eldora and it is always on these decade interval celebrations when the history and lineage of the events gets magnified. This year, 10 former Knoxville Nationals champions and 12 former World 100 winners each gathered on the stage during the events for a very special photograph session. Cheers to the victors and arguably the greatest dirt track talent ever assembled on a stage. As photographer Paul Arch, who shot both ceremonies said, “I’m glad I got to see them all in their prime.”

Knoxville Nationals Champions include from left to right Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Ron Shuman, Bobby Allen, Brad Sweet, Danny Lasoski, Kraig Kinser, David Gravel, Donny Schatz and Tim Shaffer.

Photos: Paul Arch

The dozen World 100 former winners include in the back row from left to right include Scott Bloomquist, John Blankenship, Jonathan Davenport, Tim McCreadie, Steve Francis, Donnie Moran, Charlie Swartz and Shane Clanton. The front row features Dale McDowell, Bobby Pierce, Brandon Overton and Jimmy Owens.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

HOLEY SHIRTS

the lighter side of

DIRT VINTAGE T-SHIRTS WITH holes, or new designs that are wholly awesome! We don’t care, if it’s a cool looking racing tee, we love ‘em!

Ashley Zimmerman sent in this cool, classic World of Outlaws design that showcases the early 1980s style of sprint car and sense of fashion perfectly.

This Knoxville Nationals edition from Sammy Swindell’s first win features lots of autographs photographer David Campbell collected as a young boy but clearly Ron Shuman, the 1979 winner, had the best marker as his has stood the test of time.

HOLEY SHIRTS If you have a favorite vintage t-shirt or a new design that grabs your eye, send it to Dirt Empire Magazine at zoch24@hotmail.com with a quick quip about why you love it.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Here’s one straight from the end of the last century sent in by Chris Romano displaying the bold designs of 90s dirt track wear and highlighting one of the greatest tracks from that era – the big half mile at Manzanita in Phoenix, Arizona.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

the lighter side of

A MESSAGE OF INSPIRATION…

DIRT Photos: David Campbell

Two of the most controversial racers of our generation share a good laugh at an All Star race at Red Dirt Speedway where Danny Dietrich (left) shares a laugh with series owner Tony Stewart in front of a message someone beautifully carved with a shovel in the dirt!

...AND OF FRUSTRATION. Meanwhile, these two racers – who shall remain nameless – are clearly engaged in a different kind of discussion at an ASCS show at Creek County in Oklahoma. “Hey, buddy! You’re number one!”

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Wild West Shootout

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

moving

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE continues to strive to make the magazine reading experience as alive and exciting as a night at the races. Utilize your smart phone or tablet with the QR codes below to jump right to the videos. Who would have thought you could watch a video in a magazine? We’re kind of awesome like that, but couldn’t do it without the hardwork of the videographers.

PICS

WHO IS DIRT DOBBER VIDEO? Located in Tallahassee Florida, John Horne is the owner and operator DirtDobber Video, a professional video and promotion service geared towards the Motorsports Industry. Like his Facebook page and be sure to subscribe to his channel on YouTube. Facebook: @DirtDobberVideo • YouTube: Dirt Dobber Video SOUNDS OF THE DIRT-SIN CITY

POINT YOUR SMART CAMERA PHONE AT THE QR CODE ABOVE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO! Here’s one straight from the end of the last century sent in by Chris Romano displaying the bold colors of 90s dirt track wear and highlighting one of the greatest tracks from SPEEDWAY CAR CAMS that era – the big half mile at Manzanita in For nearly ten years, Michael Elliot has been placing cameras into the cars for amazing Phoenix, Arizona.

POV shots of what the drivers experience. We’re pretty big fans. Use the provided YouTube links or the QR codes to access the videos. WINNER #8A AUSTIN HOLCOMBE - CRATE OPEN WHEEL 10-29-21 THE DIRT TRACK AT CHARLOTTE - IN-CAR CAMERA

POINT YOUR SMART CAMERA PHONE AT THE QR CODE ABOVE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

action

CAPTURE

Brad Sweet pulled off the Pat Riley - a three-peat - with his third consecutive World of Outlaws title. If you were on the tour, you saw lots of this tail tank in 2021 and ate plenty of these mud crumbles.

Photo: David Campbell 18

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Pitt Stop Motorsports

Photo: Paul Arch

a main FEATURE

LATE MODEL

BOBBY PIERCE THAT MEDDLING KID: DIRTcar Champ Just Keeps Winning By Ashley Zimmerman

glad we had a chance to dig inside the mind of the talented rising star of DIRTcar. Dirt Empire: As we are nearing the very last races of the 2021 race season, would you summarize this season as successful? Considering the extensive list of wins you’ve amassed, do you feel that you’ve left any unfinished business on the table? Bobby Pierce: Yeah, I feel like it’s been a very successful year. Last year, with COVID and everything, I feel like I didn’t really get to race all that much, and this year with being almost up to 100 races, and having twenty wins, is really important. It was something that I felt like I needed to get back to doing it, it’s been a couple of years since I’ve won a championship. Winning my first World of Outlaws race this year, along with winning the one right after that, they were both really big races to win, so that was really cool. We’ve been pretty

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Photo: Jeff Bylsma

THE CONSISTENT COMPETITIVE growth and resumé of wins that belongs to Illinois’ Bobby Pierce would have any race face unknowingly assuming this already storied career belonged to a season veteran in the world of late model racing all the while belonging to the young twenty four year old driver. The 2021 race season could arguably be called one of the most successful seasons to date for Pierce. If it is a predictor of what is to come, all eyes will be on Pierce for years to come as he continues to sign his name to the pages that fill the dirt track racing history books. Having been crowned the DIRTcar Late Model National Champion, after claiming the DIRTcar summer national championship in nothing less than spectacular Pierce fashion, it was by hot request Dirt Empire Magazine snagged some of the little downtime offered prior to the racing action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Duel in the Desert. Shortly after this chat, Pierce went out and scored the $100,000 win in Vegas and we were

Bobby Pierce doubled his payday to $100,000 by winning the Double Down Triple Crown for attending all three XR races Bristol, Texas & Las Vegas.

Photos: Terry Page Photo: Jeff Bylsma

consistent, and up front a lot of the times that we’ve raced. I feel like we’ve gotten better this year too, compared to previous years, with just learning the car more. I feel like we really had a good year with not just the wins, but just all around improving ourselves. DE: With thirteen wins during the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, this season ranks as your most wins during the Summer Nationals. What do you feel were contributing factors to have such consistent success? BP: Definitely the experience of growing up in Illinois and racing a lot of these tracks. But, we also went to some places that I’ve never been to before and ran really well. We went to Beaver Dam in Wisconsin. That was one of them we had never been to and we won, beating Brandon Sheppard and other competition. I think the more you race, as long as you can do it, and not get wore out, the more you race the better you get. It’s just like anything you do, if you do it a lot, the repetition is going to be there, it just feels like home. If you don’t do it very often, you’ll get rusty. When I was running the Summer Nationals, by the time it was over, if I took a few days off and got back behind the wheel, it was like man, this feels like forever. Just racing every day, that goes a long way. Also learning, learning everything there is that you need to know, like what you need to do to the race car through the night, all of that just goes a long way when you’re racing the competition. A huge thanks to people like my dad,

obviously I run his car, Advanced Shocks, and Vic Hill Engines; I went to them this year and it seems like it’s made my program a lot better. The engines run really smooth but they also had a lot of power, too, so I had a lot of success with it. Just racing as much as you do during the Summer Nationals, that’s really key. DE: What do you think contributes to your overall ability to stay so consistently competitive? Do you feel you do anything different than most teams? BP: I mean, yeah I guess so. Some teams, you know, the driver races for a team, and you don’t really know how much time they are in the shop, whereas, I’m in the shop a lot. I do have my dad

and at least one or two crew guys all the time. But, I’m always out there, too, with them, I’m kind of detailed about certain things that I know about the race car, and I like it done my way with those certain things. I haven’t quite yet mastered messing with shocks all that much, but someday when I do, I’ll probably get kind of detailed with that, too. But, I think that helps, obviously you know what you like, you’ve been doing it for so long and you want it done a certain way, instead of just having some people do whatever, there it is, you hop in it and drive it, and for whatever reason it isn’t really quite how you like it. DE: Throughout your late model career, you’ve visited victory lane on

Photo: Paul Arch

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

we always seem to run pretty close to the front on the final night. Another one I want to win that I didn’t go to this year is Knoxville. All the really big Crown Jewels that I have yet to win, of course I’ve won quite a few of them already, but those other ones I’d really like to get. DE: Is there a race or achievement that stays number one on your bucket list at all times? BP: “The Dream. I’ve won the World 100, so I want to get The Dream, too. It has an awesome payout. DE: Is there a moment in time during your racing career that you would do

differently if given the chance? BP: You know, people ask me if I would do NASCAR. It would take a big big big check to do that, and the money would have to keep coming, there’s so much money involved to do that. But with dirt, I think they’re heading in the right direction, the fan base with dirt late model racing and sprint cars seems to be growing with all of the pay per view stuff we have going on. I’m pretty satisfied with where I’m at, as long as I can continue to make a living doing it. I say every year, as long as I keep getting better, I’m perfectly content being where I’m at trying to win as many races as I can.

Photo: Ryan Roberts

many occasions and on some very large stages, what would you say remains on your list to cross off? BP: There are a few big races that I really want to win, some that I’ve came pretty close to knocking off my list, and something just happens, whether I’ve finished second or I was leading and something happened. The Prairie Dirt Classic, I’ve been close to winning that many times, this year I was second to Kyle Larson. I was catching him towards the end of the race, and he moved back up to the top of the track, and that was it. Cedar Lake Speedway, the USA Nationals, that’s another one that I’ve been really close to winning, or at least

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

DE: Would it be safe to say you prefer racing on dirt over asphalt then? BP: Oh yeah, for sure. That’s what I grew up racing and what I grew up watching. I was always a fan before I started. As a little kid, I loved watching it. I never really got into watching asphalt as much or really being even being around it. To me dirt was where it was at, I think when you

have a great dirt race track, that’s the best racing there is. DE: There was a period of time where you were given the opportunity to race in the NASCAR Truck Series; is there anything you feel you learned that made you better as a late model driver? BP: For sure. Being in a truck is the fastest I’ve ever went in a race car. My

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Photo: Mike Musslin

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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“As a little kid, I never really got into watching asphalt as much or really being even being around it. To me, dirt was where it was at.” ~ Bobby Pierce

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

first race in the truck on asphalt was at Martinsville, then Phoenix, and it was a pretty noticeable difference just the speed I was carrying. Asphalt really isn’t my cup of tea, I didn’t have much experience with being pretty new, and it was pretty shocking in the moment, but when you go fast like that, and then get into something that you’re comfortable racing, even though it’s not as fast even though your reflexes might have to be even quicker on a dirt track possible, it makes you better when you get back into something that feels like home, your own office. Anytime you can expand your versatility and drive different things, when you get back driving something you’re used to driving, typically I think it makes you better. When I raced my last truck race on asphalt, it was at Kansas, and I was really fast at the end of the race, I was a lap down I believe, it’s been so long ago, but I was the second fastest truck at the end of the race. I had to race at Fairbury in the late model the next day, I won the race, it was I think $10,000 to win, and to me everything felt just so much slower, like things around me were

move slower, and it was easier to drive the car, it kind of helped me. DE: We’ve touched on this some discussing NASCAR, but is your long term goal to stay in late model racing? Is this where you would like to remain? BP: Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing the sport grow more. I think everyone in America knows what NASCAR is, but how many people know what late model racing is? It’s a lot lower number. I think it’d be cool to see that, but either way, I’m pretty glad with where I’m at. You know, we’re racing for a lot of money, just about every other weekend, sometimes every weekend depending on how far you want to travel. As long as the sponsors stay in the sport, and the fans stay, it’s a good deal. DE: What driver or drivers do you feel have impacted your driving style the most? BP: Well, when I was younger, I started racing when I was eight years old, just before I started, my earliest memories

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on going to the track were more so modifieds. My dad built chassis for modifieds and late models then. Back in the day, heck, we had just about every single modified out there it seemed like. So, there were a lot of guys that I really watched, guys like Danny Schwartz, Jeff Leka, Chad Kinder, I forget some of the guys, but a lot of them were local modified wheel men, and they had different driving styles. Danny Schwartz, he was physically pretty crazy, kind of whatever to win, checkers or wreckers kind of thing. Jeff Leka, he actually sponsors me now, with Leka Tree Services, he was kind of smoother on the bottom most of the time. Watching those guys and cheering for them, they were my idols as a little kid. Then as I started to race and my dad was getting more into building late models, Jason Feger had his car; he was one of the first ones at the time. I didn’t really know how big of a name he was then, but he had a lot of success with it, that’s when he started to get more well known, his nickname was the High Side Hustler back then, he was

Bernheisel Lazer Chassis

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Confetti? Check. Checkered flag? Check. Huge Smile? Check. Pierce certainly enjoyed racing his late model at Iowa’s Boone Speedway.

always up the fence, and now that’s kind of what I’m doing. DE: In September, at Eldora, there was an incident with a crew member whose actions caused your disqualification from the Thursday portion of the World 100, but since there were two World 100s this year, the immediate next night was the start of another World 100. How did you mentally cope with this incident to be able to focus on such a high stakes race starting all over the next night? BP: That was tough for sure. The only thing that really helped me out was that I knew I had another shot at it, another World 100 to go. So, the next day was a fresh start, and luckily it was, or I would have been done for the whole weekend. It was just a bad deal. Probably the worst thing out of it all was that I didn’t even get to race at all, I didn’t get to start the heat race, and even have a shot at making the race. I don’t know if I would have, I think I had a bad invert in the heat race, so that was the other thing. I was like well, at least I’m not front of the heat. But, you know, I had to fire a crew guy, too, and beyond just the penalty, I

lost good help. Unfortunately, he made some bad decisions, that’s life though, that’s all it takes is one bad decision. DE: Going into the off season, what momentum do you look to build on for next year? What do you look to improve upon? BP: Right now we’re building a new car. Once I get done racing here in Las Vegas, I’ll probably have my mind set on that. We still have the Dome to race, that’s in December, and we’ll be getting ready for New Mexico after that in January. We’ll have to see, I’m not sure if I’ll go to Florida or not, I might race a couple. Just try to keep improving. Definitely one thing I want to do in the off season, and I say off season, but we don’t get much of one, I’d like to learn more of some of the things I don’t have a great understanding on, try to improve my knowledge. Maybe go testing, but we race so much, that’s kind of when we test things. For next year, hopefully I can knock off some of these Crown Jewels that I’m interested in, or try to knock off as many wins as possible and stay consistent. That’s the key, you know, [being consistent] if I finished second every race, I would be down with finishing second every single

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race, because that means you’re fast and you’re running up front. When you have those bad nights, that’s what you don’t want, you don’t want to be getting lapped or running in last place. I don’t like to finish anywhere but first, I’m kind of a sore loser, but as long as you’re running up front, that’s what you want, the wins will come. DE: On paper the 2021 race season looks incredible for you, but what lesson would you say this race season has taught you? BP: Keep the right guys around you, finding good help is hard. Think positive during adversity.

DE: Looking at your career as a whole, is this what you imagined it was going to be? BP: No, not at all. Sometimes I think of everything that racing has brought into my life and done for me, things that I’ve gotten to experience; it’s been pretty crazy when I think back to all the stuff I’ve been able to do. I’ve met some incredible people as fans, sponsors, and friends. I know I’ve got plenty of stories. DE: Of all the wins, what has been the most sentimental for you? BP: It has got to be the World 100 for how important it was for me, but to my family also. There’s such a rich history

with the event. But, my dad, that’s one even the wanted to win so badly. Everyone does if you’re a late model driver. That was definitely my biggest win and most prestigious. Once you win the World 100, you always have that title. DE: Fitting for our last question of the interview, let’s talk about the end for a moment. If and when you decide to retire from racing, what would you like to be known for the most? What do you hope people say about Bobby Pierce as a driver? BP: I was a hard, intense racer, and hopefully one of the best.

Pierce in his famous Scooby Doo paint scheme that probably earned him as many fans in their fifties as fans under age 10.

Photo: Zach Yost DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

ask the

DRIVER:

Photos: Jacy Norgaard

DRIVER

JOSEPH JOINER HUNTING THE FRONT

By Ashley Zimmerman Dirt Empire is taking questions provided by YOU and will seek out your favorite drivers to get you the answers to your long awaited questions! All you have to do to submit your question is just Like Dirt Empire on any social media and include #DEasks with your question. Then watch for the next issue to see if your question is featured!

WITH THE GROWTH of racing across social media platforms, live streaming and YouTube, race fans have the ability to tap into racing around the world with just the click of a mouse, whether it’s live as the race is happening or raw behind the scenes footage from race teams; dirt track racing is thriving in an era where grassroots race teams can find themselves as well known or sought after as teams spending their time following a series around the United States. Joseph Joiner, through the management of his brother Jonathan, is capitalizing through the reach of a YouTube channel Hunt The Front to share their racing success to

nearly 100,000 follows through their blog style recaps each week. It’s through this unique racing point of view that Joseph Joiner and family have been able to chase racing dreams in the late model world and shared the exciting moments of their 2021 race season success with their fans near and far. Fans have garnered the opportunity to enjoy the ups and downs as Joiner has debuted at Eldora, tackled Bristol on dirt, share in the celebration of big wins like the Super Bee for $50,000, and the realities that no race team is invincible against. With an expansive point of view offered by Joiner and Hunt The Front, it came as no surprise when the requests came in to feature Joseph in our segment #DEAsks, where we sat down to quiz this late model driver on all the things fans just HAVE to know. Dirt Empire: You have a substantial social media following and platform built with Hunt The Front to showcase the entire team, how

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did this decision to begin such an inclusive platform begin? Joseph Joiner: Well, that wasn’t really my decision; that was my brother Jonathan and whoever else that all kind of came up with that idea. I’m just the guy that kind of gets to reap the rewards of getting to drive the race car because of it. I’m not really sure where exactly that really originated. I know Jonathan, it was mainly him there with the videos and stuff, and now I just get to find myself in the seat. DE: While I am sure it was your goal for the platform to grow and reach fans that you might not potentially be able to meet during your time at the racetrack, did you expect it to grow to the size it has? How time consuming is it to maintain fan engagement at this size? JJ: Of course not, you know there’s no way you could expect that. We’re just going to keep riding the wave and hopefully it’ll take us a long way, we’ll just see.

DE: What does a race day schedule look like for you versus a day away from the track? JJ: I don’t even know what a day away from the race track or race shop is like. Honestly, I don’t even know how to not be working every day. I don’t know, if I’m not at the race shop or the racetrack working on something, I feel like I need to be doing that. I don’t think about much else.

could always be better, and I feel like we’re doing as good as what we were expected to do. There’s still a lot of room for improvement and we’ll get there, but we’re doing okay. DE: Having to make social media content along with preparing for racing, when these last minute changes occur, how do you balance ensuring both receive focus? JJ: It just kind of goes together, the social media and the racing. If we’re not racing, we don’t have any content or if we’re not working, we don’t have any content. We

have to race and work on race cars, and that’s where the content and everything comes from anyway. So, it all just flows that way because of the racing and the work it takes, there’s plenty to do all of the time, so there’s always news to report. DE: The 2021 race season required an ability to roll with the punches and last minute changes between supply chain issues and COVID-19 creating a shortage in tires and difficulty finding replacement parts. Along with rising costs, how did you

Photo: Zach Yost

DE: How would you summarize this race season in comparison to seasons of the past? What do you believe you did different as a driver or as a race team to make the outcome so different? JJ: I feel like this year we wanted to make ourselves a threat to win when we to a race basically anywhere we went, we wanted to be a contender. I feel like, we’ve done a pretty good job of being a contender at races, mainly at most any races we go to, I think we’ve done a good job at that. Of course, we

Photo: Zach Yost

DE: The Hunt The Front team is largely composed of your family, does this make balancing family life and your racing career a bit easier or more complicated? JJ: Well, the thing about it is there’s not really a thing such as family time anymore. It’s basically, if we’re together, we’re racing, so there’s really no weekends off where we just do nothing. We’re always busy racing and trying to make the best of family time while we’re at the racetrack. I mean, it’s working out, but it is a little bit different than what it used to be.

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e3 Lithium Battery

adjust to anticipate these issues or try to prevent them from affecting your team? JJ: It’s definitely present, mainly with tires and not being able to get new tires, you can definitely feel it. Right now, we have a motor that is just sitting there waiting for pistons before it can be put together, it stinks that there are so many things you just can’t get, and things that just aren’t readily available in the process. When you can get something, it’s almost doubled in price on a lot of things. It’s definitely different times we’re living in. We’re thankful for the YouTube channel and the fan base that we’ve built that allows us to continue to do these things with the rising costs and the availability of things.

Photo: Ryan Roberts

that hasn’t been there that you really need to go and experience it in person for yourself. We did well there, though, and I think we have a lot to build on. DE: How does winning a large race like the Super Bee 100 and the $50,000 impact you as a driver? JJ: I think that’s a really big deal, the Super Bee thing. It was a lot more of a lower key race, which just paid a lot of money. There wasn’t a whole lot of national competition there but there were a couple of really good national cars and a lot of regional cars there with drivers that were really good and did a

DE: How did you feel about running Eldora for the first time? Reviewing how you felt going in, what is your post-race opinion of the things you anticipated experiencing or thought you should be concerned about? JJ: I felt like we wanted to go there and look like we belonged there. I feel like we did that. Things could have been a lot better, but we went up there and did what we needed to do. We got in there and made the races. I wish we could erase the last night and finished it off and I wish we could have made all the races. But, with the motor issue we had, we decided to load up before the last night, but it was still a good time, nonetheless. I enjoy running at races like that if nothing else, and I advise anyone

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good job. It made it really tough on us. We had to be good, you know. We went there and did what we had to do, that’s a race that we knew going to that we needed to be a contender, and we put ourselves in that position all weekend to capitalize on everything we had. DE: If there was one lasting impression as a driver that you wanted to leave on the dirt track racing community, what would it be? JJ: Just someone that goes to the track and tries hard, races hard, and does all that he can.

Photo: Mike Ruefer

Joiner running hard at Fairbury American Legion Speedway this summer.

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Jones Racing Products

action

CAPTURE

Photo: Kirsten Snyder

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It’s a Frostbuster throwback! Mike Mahaney gets some early season air at Selinsgrove Speedway last March and busts some recently thawed mud clods. DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Photo: Paul Trevino

short track

STARS Sebastopol, California

JOEL MYERS JR.

CA TEENAGE TALENT KEEPS COMING By Alex Nieten

young driver. He first hopped in a race car when he was only four years old. “At first, I kind of sucked,” Myers Jr. said with a laugh. “My first year I had a couple accidents where I hit the wall head on and it kind of scared me so I would do a lap and pull off.” After moving beyond those troubles, it didn’t take long for him to ascend through the karting ranks and turn plenty of heads. While his age was still single digits, he claimed dozens of victories, sometimes consecutively. “I turned six, and it was like flipping a light switch. We won a lot and traveled a lot and did a lot better,” Myers Jr. reflected. “I think it was my first year of having a new kart, and I don’t know quite what happened, but we ended up doing really well. That year, I went on to win about sixty races in a row and got two championships. That kind of set it all off and just went on from there.” Like some other stars before him, acing California’s karting scene has led to impressive results behind the wheel of a sprint car. The fifteen-year old has battled local legend Andy Forsberg all season long in search of the Placerville points title. In only his second start with the Northern Auto Racing Club’s prestigious King of the West series, Myers Jr. snagged a podium. He very

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well may have earned his first win with the series at Petaluma in only his fifth start but contact with a lapped car while leading with only a dozen laps left ended that bid. Sprint cars don’t have much in common with karts aside from a similar weight-to-horsepower ratio. So, Myers Jr. being the latest in the growing line of teens battling for wins against veterans twice their age begs a key question.

Photo: Joe Shivak

IN THE OPEN-WHEEL world, California might currently be best known for its knack of producing talented racers before they’re even old enough to get a driver’s license. Kids barely old enough to walk begin by getting behind the wheel of karts to hone their skills. Before you know it, their parents are picking them up from their first days of high school and heading to the track so they can climb aboard a 900-horsepower sprint car. It often doesn’t take long before these teens are visiting victory lane, and fifteen-year old Joel Myers Jr. is currently on track to carry the torch of the developing west coast trend. Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet are a pair of well-known names to have taken the path of rapid progression in California. The duo cut their teeth in the Golden State before ultimately parlaying their talents into opportunities with a variety of series across the map. A uniting detail of their careers is tearing through the outlaw kart ranks of California. The two accomplished drivers mastered the agile machines en route to many victories, and Myers Jr. jumpstarted his career by doing the same. The success in karts didn’t come immediately for Myers Jr. The Sebastopol native faced an early learning curve and had to conquer the natural fears of a

than 70 World of Outlaws victories along with three titles. Myers Jr. is firmly aware of the trend and hopes to follow it. “I definitely hope to be able to try a midget by the end of this year or next year. I feel like midgets are what takes you now onto the World of Outlaws or NASCAR. Its kind of the road you have to take… Hopefully I can end up in NASCAR or running with the Outlaws.” While he has a way to go, Myers Jr. has certainly laid a strong foundation for the heights he hopes to reach. The teen continues to display remarkable ability behind the wheel at the demanding bullrings of the west coast, and it is only a matter of time before eyes across the country begin to take notice. Once he grabs that first win, don’t be surprised if the dam breaks leading to many other trips to victory lane and eventually trips out east to broaden his racing. California’s valleys and fields may be best known for yielding some of the nation’s best fruits and vegetables. However, Myers Jr. is the latest in an annually growing crop of gassers that might prove the land is even more fertile for producing some of the country’s greatest young sprint car talent.

Photo: Joe Shivak

What exactly is so unique about the California racing scene that allows kids to translate their talents so quickly to sprint cars? Myers Jr. points to the plentiful opportunities with karts out west allowing kids to get such an early start at racing along with California’s leniency regarding age. “I feel like if you go anywhere back east, there really isn’t much kart racing. It’s all kind of west coast stuff,” Myers Jr. explained. “Also, now you’ve got all of these young kids getting in them (sprint cars) because now the age rule has turned to fourteen. Back east, you’ve got to be older because its all 410 racing. California has kind of lightened up on that age rule more with 360 racing, so it helps younger kids get in it faster.” In addition to offering a chance to start making laps at such a young age, the elements of kart racing may offer another benefit to future sprint racers despite the two machines being vastly different. The outlaw kart tracks are often short and narrow and require sharp instincts and a quick reaction time. Those same qualities are necessary for bullring racing in a sprint car. Myers Jr. has found his experience in karts helped him adapt to racing at one of the trickiest tracks in the country, Placerville. As mentioned earlier, Myers Jr. was at the top of the El Dorado County quartermile’s standings for much of the year. “Placerville is definitely a different track for sure,” Myers Jr. said. “Placerville kind of races like Red Bluff outlaw karts and other go karts with how small and technical it is, how it races. It’s tight, and everyone is kind of aggressive toward each other, so I can kind of compare it to an outlaw kart track and take what I know with having to be careful around people and stuff like that.” Moving forward in 2022, Myers Jr. hopes to build off already impressive performance and improve on his tenth place finish in the NARC/KWS standings. Looking even farther down the road, Myers Jr. has some lofty goals and is eyeing a path aligning with that of Larson and Sweet. Thanks to their talents, both Californians landed midget rides with some of the top teams in the country. Racing on the USAC National Tour helped pave the way for even more opportunities. Larson has become arguably the top driver on the NASCAR circuit while Sweet has amassed more

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Brinn Inc.

the business of

DIRT

MARKETING 101: CLASS IS IN SESSION THIS MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT RACING MARKETING ARTICLE YOU WILL EVER READ!

THERE’S A LOT TO LEARN FROM JACKIE RUMLEY JUST ONE SHORT YEAR AGO, a single post about the history of the Rumley 6 late model and one very talented dirt track driver named Kyle Larson brought Jackie Rumley to the forefront of social media. One could even say she may have gone viral for a moment. While the last year has seemingly created a whole new chapter in the book of Jackie Rumley, the chapters before have been full of memories inside the world of racing. While growing up in southern Ontario, her family was involved at the local racetracks and fielded race cars before developing the Ontario Dirt Late Model Series while Jackie was a teenager. She took those early life lessons to heart when she moved stateside to North Carolina to continue to pursue a career in motorsports. She met her husband, Kevin Rumley, through a mutual friend and has been fully entrenched in the family racing business ever since and is integral to the team’s successes. While her summer was historic on the track, Jackie Rumley spends the school year teaching college students

and even continuing education students about motorsports at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Given that the off season is pivotal for race teams to not only build and prepare cars for next year, it is also monumental in obtaining the sponsors who make the upcoming season possible, who better to speak with at this time than the woman who teaches about the world of motorsports marketing? Dirt Empire Magazine stole a few moments with Jackie to not only talk about her life in racing but pick her brain about some of the most important factors in marketing a race team. Dirt Empire: Your day job involves motorsports marketing, specifically teaching. What first started your interest in motorsports marketing? Jackie Rumley: Throughout childhood, when we would do career planning in school, I would say I wanted to work with animals. I think it started as a zookeeper, and eventually landed on being a veterinarian technician. It went so far as I

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Kyle Larson Photo: Dan Demarco Jackie Rumley Photo provided by Jackie Rumley

By Ashley Zimmerman

already knew what college I would go to, and I got a job in high school working at a vet clinic. I’m glad I got that job though; it taught me real quick I didn’t want to be a vet tech after all. The only other thing I knew was racing so I guess you could say working in racing was my backup plan. Marketing just came naturally to me, probably from my involvement in my parent’s series growing up. This was also when NASCAR was at their peak, early 2000s, so there were lots of opportunities for work on the marketing and hospitality side of the sport. When I first moved to North Carolina, drivers and teams from back home would have me make them sponsorship proposals; which was a welcoming project since I was unable to legally work in the US while on my student visa. Also, while in college I did numerous internships and volunteer opportunities locally to gain experience and to network since I couldn’t work. In 2008, I was the marketing intern at Concord Speedway and helped with a lot of their special events, like with sponsors or themed

nights, and coordinated victory lane every night. That internship is what lead me to my first post-college job at Racing Electronics, as the company owner used to race at that track in a Legends car. DE: Eventually this interest brought you to the world of teaching. What made you decide you wanted to begin teaching? JR: Teaching was never on my radar. My grandmother, mom, and sister have always been involved in education, which might be why I never really had any interest in it. However, in late 2014, the Program Chair of the Motorsports program that I was a graduate of suddenly passed away. Richmond Gage’s passing was a huge blow to the program, as he was the one who created it, and basically was a mentor to every student who came through his doors. I started thinking about how the program could continue without him, and that if I could help in any way to continue the program for him I would. As we all know, motorsports is a special niche, so without a ‘motorsports’ person running the program would it have a chance at surviving? At the time I was considering going back to school to get a master’s degree, so once learning that in order to work at the college they require one it was a no-brainer to get started. Turns out I made the right decision, as they hired me in 2019 as an instructor, which was over a year before I even finished my MBA. Hopefully one day I will get the Program Chair position, but for now I’m happy with teaching (and having my summers off to go racing!). I think Richmond would be proud, he was always very supportive. DE: You offer something very unique and beneficial to grassroots race teams, or those getting started into motorsports. During the spring/winter semester, you teach a continuing education course open to students and nonstudents that encompasses creating sponsorship decks and obtaining sponsors – tell us about this class and the benefits of taking a course like this? JR: This Motorsports Marketing course is my baby. I was the first person at my college to do a course like this, where it has both curriculum and continuing education students in the same course. I pitched this to the school as I knew a lot of people would be interested in

A good deck is key, at least if you’re just starting out and not known. It shows that you are professional. taking the course but would be turned off by the process of having to apply at the college. By doing it this way, anyone from anywhere can take the course by a simple sign up on the college website. The difference is the continuing education students receive a Certificate of Completion at the end, versus actual college credit. The other benefit is the cost of the course is locked into the NC student rate, instead of having to pay an out-of-state tuition fee (which is over $800). Some employers might even be willing to pay for this course too, as a lot of companies set aside funds for continuing education. DE: While the sponsorship class is part of our focus today, you do teach an entire curriculum involving racing. What is an overview of the classes you teach for anyone looking into the motorsports marketing side of things as a student? What can they expect to learn or experience in these classes? JR: Motorsports Marketing is only one of the courses I teach - there are six more! The motorsports program actually offers four different versions, an Associate of Applied Science, two Diplomas (one in Management and one in Marketing), and a Certificate. The unique aspect to the program is that it puts equal concentration on both the business and technical sides of motorsports. DE: Currently, we are in the offseason and it’s a fact that race teams are planning budgets and working to securing sponsors for the next race season, let’s talk about one of the key items needed when it comes to marketing a race team. How important is a good proposal when you are trying to obtain sponsors big and small? JR: A good deck is key, at least if you’re just starting out and not known. It not only shows that you are professional - even if you don’t race professionally but it also shows you took the time and

effort into finding a sponsor. A good deck is something that gains attention from a prospective sponsor and makes them want to reach out to talk more about the potential sponsorship. A deck is short and concise, and is meant to get a potential sponsor interested, not necessarily sell them on the deal right away. The goal of the deck is to have them reach out for more information. DE: For those unfamiliar with the term deck, can you give a short description of what a deck is and the role it plays in obtaining a sponsor?

SEVEN MOTORSPORTS COURSES OFFERED AT ROWAN-CABARRUS

•

Introduction to Motorsports – motorsports history, sanctioning bodies, basically an overview of the sport in general

•

Organizational Mobility – business structures and management, event planning, budgeting, team logistics

•

Motorsports Marketing – sponsorships, hospitality, branding, social media

•

Safety/Environment – OSHA basics, racecar and track safety, environmental concerns

•

Chassis/Handling Fundamentals – chassis design, setups

•

Fabrication Fundamentals – fabrication tools and machines, types of metals and materials, they even build something

•

Engine/Drivetrain – basics of how engines work

Photo: Heath Lawson

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JR: This is something I’m even guilty of confusing at times. As most, I use the term deck and proposal interchangeably a lot but they are actually different documents. Using a driver as an example, a deck is usually a PDF document that presents information in a graphically pleasing manner. A sponsorship proposal on the other hand usually comes after the deck and is a more fine-tuned version of the information in the deck but is almost like a contract, where it’s written out what the sponsorship will contain and the goals associated. The proposal can also include minimum requirements from the driver, as well as the agreed upon sponsorship amount. DE: Many grassroots teams are unable or do not have the funding to pay for someone to create them a deck professionally. Is it possible for small teams to create their own decks and still obtain sponsors? JR: Absolutely they can! The graphics can be a little difficult to do by themselves, but there are lots of YouTube tutorials and free or cheap online graphics platforms that can assist (such as Canva, Adobe Spark, or Crello). The hard part is putting together the information that will be included in the deck. Then the next step would be gathering as many photos as possible and then using some sort of graphics platform to put them all together. It requires a little work and effort but could have great results.

DE: What would you say are the top five most critical pieces that need to be included in a deck? JR: To keep it simple, I’ll use a driver deck for example. Of course, you would want a small introduction to the driver (think short bio), information about the type of car/class and where it races, more statistics the better like general motorsports demographics, track demographics, streaming/TV numbers, what that driver has to offer to the sponsor, and finally how to contact to discuss the partnership further. The last point sounds like common sense but I think a lot of people assume their contact information is in the initial email so including their contact information on the deck isn’t necessary - forgetting that sometimes attachments can get separated from emails. DE: What would you say are three things you should not do when reaching out to potential sponsors? JR: I think I could probably list at least 15 pretty quickly. First of all, just asking for money before knowing anything about the company or their needs is a big no-no and will definitely turn them off from any future conversations. Another thing is making it all about you. While I know a lot of people are proud of their accomplishments, talking about yourself the whole time isn’t what a potential sponsor is looking for. While the accomplishments might be impressive, the potential sponsor wants to know how

SPONSORSHIP DOs & DON’Ts 1. Try to recruit partners, not sponsors. 2. Calculate and promote value of what you can offer a partner 3. Personalize your proposals for each sponsor – quality vs. quantity of proposals.

1. Don’t just ask for money. 2. Don’t make your proposal just about you and your accomplishments. 3. Don’t overpromise what you can deliver.

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sponsoring you would fit into their overall marketing plan and goals and how you would help them achieve those goals. Finally, don’t over promise what you can do for them. Selling a potential sponsor on a lot of promises that you might not be able to keep will surely create tension as the partnership goes on when they realize they might not be getting all that they paid for and were promised; which probably means they would not consider being a sponsor again the next time. DE: As a previous student of your continuing education course, one of the things you speak in-depth on is your value in regards to a potential sponsor. How often do you think this key factor is overlooked by race teams and how overall does it affect the outcome of obtaining a sponsorship? JR: It’s definitely one of the biggest overlooked factors. Like I’ve said previously, I think people resort to talking about themselves and their accomplishments, instead of actually putting a number value on what their potential partnership might provide. However, calculating that value can be tedious and daunting. Not to mention, there is no industry-specific way to calculate value. The best bet when calculating the value is to be transparent to the potential sponsorship about how that number value was calculated and why you think it’s a fair valuation. The outcome could turn out a few different ways, if you undervalue your value then you are undervaluing your sponsorship amount, then of course you could have the opposite issue and overvalue your sponsorship amount, which could lead to the sponsor deciding to not sponsor you because it’s out of budget. There is a fine line with finding the actual valuation and a lot of factors contribute to that number. Honestly, I think a lot of the time there are zero calculations put into place and they just ask others what they get for sponsorship, so they just use that as how much they think they should ask for. DE: What do you feel are the two most overlooked contributing factors to figuring your value to a potential sponsor? JR: I don’t know that this is overlooked, but finding actual data is the most difficult part. In order to do some value calculations you need real numbers, like how many people come to the

races, how many people see your car on TV/Streaming, how many people are engaging with social media, etc., in order to calculate a true valuation. If one can’t find or obtain that information, it makes it incredibly difficult to come up with an accurate number. Luckily, series and tracks often can help drivers/teams get some of that information, as they’ve been keeping track of it in recent years. The other overlooked factor is to make sure intangible assets are also put into the calculation, such as awareness of the driver or series they compete in, fan loyalty, and differentiation of this particular driver to the next. DE: If you’re a team just starting out and waiting to grow in the right direction for brands to notice you, how big of a role does social media play and how can you utilize this to grow? JR: Social media plays a huge role! Obviously, race car drivers are drivers and not social media experts under most circumstances but the fact that social media is a free tool and to not all take advantage of it is crazy in my mind. Gaining a following doesn’t happen overnight - well, unless you go viral - but is something that grows over time. The

key to social media is putting out content that people are interested in; just posting race results or racing plans probably isn’t going to cut it. Giving an inside look at the team, race day, or preparation would be a good starting point to stand out. Posting “looking for sponsorship” isn’t probably the best content to post because again this goes back to it helping the driver versus the driver helping the brand.

DE: If you’re someone who would rather pay to have a deck created, what can someone expect to spend and where might they go to find one of these individuals? JR: The pricing varies depending on who is doing it and the level of expertise that person/company has. It also depends on if that person must do a lot of research in order to make the deck, such as demographic information,

Jackie onstage with the Rumley team and Kyle Larson at Port Royal.

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Leindecker Racing Engines

stats, etc. A lot of graphics people who make wraps might be willing to make them and then you can go upwards to marketing companies. I’d say one must be prepared to pay at least $500 and up. While off school for the summer this year, I worked with Molly Helmuth of 9D Creative located in Mooresville; she would be a good option for someone looking to outsource the job. DE: Any underrated but important tips or tricks to marketing your race team or obtaining sponsors? JR: Exploit what makes them different. That could be anything from an odd color the car always is, a personality trait from the driver that makes them more personable, a big social media following, or a close charitable cause they are involved with. The other tip is trying to make the conversations and deck very specific to the sponsor you’re trying to reach. It’s a little more work but, in my opinion, sometimes quality outweighs quantity. Reach out to maybe ten companies with a company specific deck, versus 50 companies with a generic deck. I would hope that the extra effort in those ten decks would create a good impression with the potential sponsor, instead of a generic deck that they know was sent to many other companies. One thing to never forget is never use photos that aren’t yours, and especially ones that have a watermark through them. Reach out to track photographers and ask them if they have bulk pricing for multiple photos, most will help you out give you a good price for bulk. A prospective sponsor would definitely notice watermarked (stolen) photos. Another thing I teach in the motorsports marketing course is to try to refer to sponsors as “partners”, it sounds better and makes them feel a part of the team instead of just a way to fund the team. DE: When should race teams begin looking or reaching out for sponsorship for the 2022 race season and why is this crucial? JR: It’s already cutting it close to be looking for 2022 sponsorship. I tell my students earlier the better at approaching companies. This is for a few reasons; the biggest is that companies set their budgets 3-5 months before the end of year. The other reason is because businesses take a long time to make decisions. Even if someone reached out

RUMLEY ON NASCAR ROOTS AND KYLE LARSON Dirt Empire: Did you enjoy NASCAR as a youngster and what has it been like getting to experience victory lane with Kyle Larson during his championship season? Growing up in dirt track racing, did you ever imagine you would get to experience the things that you have? Jackie Rumley: It’s funny looking back on my progress, or journey, of being a race fan. Growing up all I knew was my local dirt track, a little about regional touring sprint cars, and NASCAR. My bedroom when I was a teenager was red and all Dale Jr themed (which to admit now is a little embarrassing). When I first moved to North Carolina, I would get star-struck, go to autograph sessions, etc. Eventually that shock dwindled, the more involved in the sport I got. Plus, when you’re trying to make a name for yourself career wise you can’t be unprofessional and go all “fan girl” on someone. As far as Kyle, it’s been a very cool experience as one might guess. People asked me last year going into Port Royal what we were expecting, and really, we didn’t have any expectations – just was enjoying the moment and the experience. Obviously, he surpassed even his own expectations I think by winning so quickly. He’s been driving the car a little over a year now and I’d say it’s just normal now. He’s humble and genuine and just loves to race. I think we all click well, the longer we all know each other the more comfortable we get too. It’s been fun! We’re all already looking forward to 2022. So yeah, I guess it’s safe to say I don’t think I’d imagine this was my reality while growing up. to a company in September for a following year sponsorship, it might take a couple months to get to the right person or get a decision made, and by that point the budget could already be set. DE: For those interested in signing up for your continuing education course on motorsports sponsorship, where can they find all of the information and when do they need to be signed up by? JR: Throughout November and

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December I start posting about it on my socials. They can also go to the RowanCabarrus Motorsports page (http://rccc. edu/motorsports) and more information will be posted about it then. Although, the easiest option would be to email me directly to send more information (jacqueline.rumley@rccc.edu).

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ANTHONY MACRI

THE PA POSSE’S BRIGHTEST LIGHT

Photo: Paul Arch

a main FEATURE

SPRINTS

By Doug Kennedy

AT 22 YEARS OF AGE, Sprint Car driver Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, has been making tremendous waves over the past two seasons and is one of the brightest stars to emerge from the state of Pennsylvania in several seasons. Macri used the strangeness of the 2020 COVID season to get some laps nationally while waiting for Pennsylvania to open up and all of that experience helped him to nine wins that season and put him on the map with national audiences and put travelers on their heels when they came calling on his home tracks. In 2021, Macri continued to grow on the track and in reputation nationally and garnered 11 feature wins this season and continued to travel outside the Keystone State to gain valuable experiences at another Knoxville Nationals and his first Trophy Cup, which was his introduction to Golden State fans at Tulare Thunderbowl. Macri’s first ever sprint car win came at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown,

Pennsylvania, on June 3, 2017. Macri battled Glenndon Forsythe throughout the race for the win. “Honestly, it felt unreal. I never thought our first 410 win would come in my very first year of competing,” Macri said. “I was pretty proud about it.” Last year, he reached another apex when he won the Keith Kauffman Classic on June 24th at Port Royal and beat the red hot Kyle Larson in the process. Macri started on the pole and never lost the lead, pocketing $6,000 for the win. “I felt like it was the turning point for us,” Macri related. “At the time, we weren’t really struggling, but we weren’t as good as we wanted to be. It gave us confidence to keep going and we are feeling better about the tracks we go to now. It felt unreal to beat somebody like him (Larson). It gives me the feeling that I have the potential to be a good driver.” “When I was a youngster, I would go to the racetrack and actually fell in love with racing,” Macri said. To help support his desire, Macri’s father, Nick, bought

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his twelve year old boy, a micro sprint. Anthony won five races in that car. By 2016, Nick moved his son up to a 410 sprint and he has been there ever since. He loves the tracks in his home state, including Port Royal Speedway. “It’s an awesome facility. You can tell they put their heart and soul into the facility. The track people will thank you for coming. I think the racing surface is the best in Pennsylvania. It’s slick and always allows the racers to put on a good show,” said Macri. He also enjoys Friday nights at Williams Grove Speedway. “It’s a track with a strong tradition and a really nice facility. The racing surface is more of a slicker side and me being a fan of the slicker track, well that suits me just fine.” With all that being said, Macri says he also enjoys the smaller tracks like Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania and Hesston Speedway in Hesston, Pennsylvania. His dad, however, is partial to one particular track in Pennsylvania. “I like

A shot from time trials late in the 2020 season, a year which proved to be a true breakout for Macri.

Photo: John Rothermel

The Posse member went hunting All Stars in West Virginia and landed a big one at WVMS last summer.

Photo: Zach Yost

Port Royal a lot,” said Anthony’s dad, Nick. “I like the setting with a small town flavor.” Nick is 100 percent behind his son’s racing career and the team is completely funded by him, although they have a growing list of sponsors that includes Macri Concrete, Valley Supply, C&D Rigging, J&J Fabrication and Randy Shearer Heating and Plumbing. His crew on any given weekend race night includes his crew chief, Jim Shuttlesworth, who came on board last year. Besides his dad, his mom, Melinda, provides moral support. “She makes most of the races, but when she is there, she does worry a little bit,” Macri said of his mom. Macri considers himself to be somewhat of a loner which goes back to his days spent at Northern High School. “I kind of stay to myself,” Macri said. “I consider myself to be somewhat average on the track but I do feel like I can run with the best guys in Pennsylvania week in and week out. This year I have

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more confidence and I also have a lot of respect from my competitors.” As far as the other drivers, Macri said, “All the drivers are pretty open to helping me. I will usually turn to Lance Dewease when I have a question. Prior to that, Macri relied a lot on the late Greg Hodnett, a driver who was sponsored by Anthony’s dad for a couple of seasons. Other drivers who Nick sponsored included Cris Eash for five years, Dick Leach for a year and Todd Shaffer for a year. “He (Hodnett) was probably my biggest influence,” Macri said. “He was one of those drivers who took me under his wing. He would drop anything to help me if I had a question. He really took the time to explain things to me the best way possible and helped me with my learning curve.” “Greg told me that it takes five to ten years to learn how to really drive a Sprint Car and if I didn’t have the patience to do that then I should get out of it,” said Nick Macri.

Greg’s crew chief when he died was Ryan Hand, who now works for Macri Concrete. “He brings a welcome knowledge to the team and particularly for Anthony,” Nick said. “He’s been a great help for the team.” As for Macri Motorsports, Anthony said, “I feel like we have the equipment and the financial backing to go on the road with a traveling series. I think I would like to do one year of the All-Stars to get a taste of what its like to be on the road, but ultimately, I would like to do the World of Outlaws Series. I want to run with the Outlaws because you have the best of the best.” “That is our ultimate goal,” said Nick. “We’re building the team to do that [down the road].” As mentioned earlier, the team is funded by sponsors and Macri Concrete, a company that Nick has owned for nearly 30 years. He does commercial concrete work for various places within the region, but never travels out of state.

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Photo: John Rothermel

Macri literally burns rubber at Central Pennsylvania’s final 410 race of the year, where he ran 6th at BAPS Motor Speedway.

He currently is working on a five million dollar job with the Harrisburg Federal Courthouse. Other jobs he has done include the Giant Center, the ice rink for the Hershey Bears. His business runs from State College to the East Coast of Pennsylvania but avoiding Philadelphia. One of his main clients is Mascaro Construction based out of Pittsburgh. “It pays the bills,” Anthony said. As far as Anthony’s work is concerned, he said, “Racing is my full-time job. I work on my cars during the week.” One of the highlights of Macri’s career came last summer when he won four straight features at Port Royal. That streak began on June 15th and culminated on July 2nd. Those wins included the $5,000 win on June 13th, the Valley Supply Night $5,000 win on June 20th, the $6000 win at the fifth annual Keith Kauffman Classic on June 24th and the $7,000 win for Round Six of the 30th annual and 2nd annual Greg Hodnett Classic Pennsylvania

Speedweek on July 4th. There was also a 360 win thrown in there as well. “Things were just clicking for us,” Anthony said of his Port Royal streak.

Photo: Zach Yost

Although it may seem he has burst on to the scene recently, his success should not come as a surprise to anyone. At the end of the 2019 season, Macri got his first ever win at Port Royal and had a podium finish in a World of Outlaws race. When he’s not racing, Macri enjoys skiing during the off season. “I can get down the hill pretty well,” Macri said. During the summer, he likes to relax at home or have dinner with friends. As for the future of Sprint Car racing, Macri feels that it’s moving in the right direction. “I don’t really look at the big picture of racing. I just kind of stick to our own deal.” Macri had a breakout 2020 and followed that up with an even better 2021. He built on success with wins as far away as West Virginia, a 360 win in New Jersey, an A-main start at the Knoxville Nationals, an All Star win at Bedford and he put the caps on a spectacular season with a win at the 41st edition of the Jack Gunn Memorial at Selinsgrove. It’s been a steady build in consistent runs and speed and Macri is building something special in his family racer and ready for a massive breakout national one day very soon as he continues to be one of the best the Posse has to offer.

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Kinsler

MIDGETS

a main FEATURE

USAC’S DMA MIDGETS KEEPING WHEELS OPEN IN THE NORTHEAST

Words and Photos By John Dadalt WHEN WHIP CITY SPEEDWAY in Westfield, Massachusetts, closed at the end of the 2010 racing season, a group of midget racers were without a place to race. At that time Stanley “Skip” Matczak got together with Ray Miller and Denny Zimmerman to devise a plan to keep midget racing on dirt alive in New England. Thinking of the advice that National Speed Sport News publisher Chris Economaki gave him about trying to find a race track that was not leased but run by the owner, Matczak called Butch Elms at Bear Ridge Speedway with a proposition that the midgets could race there. Elms agreed initially and scheduled five races but that was expanded to eight before the first season (2011) ended. Matczak also reached out to his contacts at USAC from his years as co-owner of a Silver Crown car and secured a sanction. Thus, the USAC Dirt Midget Association was born. The DMA race every other week at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford,

Vermont, along with two yearly visits to Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York. The week off between races gives the teams time to regroup and repair between events. One unique aspect of the club is that there is no payout at the end of the night. Each team is issued

three season passes good for entry each week. The USAC sanction gives the club recognition and provides the members with an excellent insurance package. The DMA champion is honored at USAC’s banquet in Indianapolis each year. The series has several members of the

Will Hull uses every inch of the temporary track at Loudon, New Hampshire, to try to track down Seth Carlson, who held him off for the win.

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PPlus Global Logistics

New England Antique Racers (NEAR) Hall of Fame in its ranks. Skip Matczak has been involved in racing since the late 1950s. Towing supermodifieds all over the northeast for decades, his car won three straight track championships and an Oswego Classic with Doug Didero at Oswego Speedway. After viewing a midget race at Whip City, Matczak got the itch to go racing again and is one of the driving forces of the DMA. His Seals-It Racing Team have won the past three championships in the series with Will Hull in 2019 and Seth Carlson in 2020 and 2021. Hull is a Vermont native who excels on a fast, heavy track. Carlson is an alumnus of Whip City Speedway, winning the 270cc mini-sprint championship there in 2010 before turning his attention to pavement midgets with NEMA. Winning in both NEMA Lites and NEMA, Carlson made the switch to dirt racing with Matczak in 2017. Ray Miller made his name racing asphalt modifieds at Stafford Springs and Thompson Speedways against the likes of Richie Evans and Geoff Bodine but when Miller was a child, his father co-owned the Lataille/Miller midget in the post World War II midget boom. Like Matczak, Miller also got the itch to get into racing again after attending a race at Whip City Speedway. Miller came out of retirement and raced several

Miller Racing teammates Justin Phillips (left) and Joe Krawiec discuss the set up

years with the DMA and said “it was a lot of fun racing on the dirt”. Now he and his friend Zettie Shookus own several midgets that race with the DMA. The group operate as one big family. Justin Sheridan elaborated. “I’m very fortunate to be able to race for Ray Miller and Zettie Shookus. They treat our whole team like family and it’s just a great group of people to be around.” Two-time series champion Joe Krawiec also mentioned the team concept after an early season victory. “I have some amazing teammates and we bounced some ideas off each other, made a few adjustments to the car and it all came together in the end.”

Josh Sunn (76), Joe Krawiec (1b) and Jeff Horn (A1) in a tight race.

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Another NEAR Hall of Fame member is 2021 inductee Jeff Horn, 76 years young, still fast and a series regular in 2021. 1971 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Denny Zimmerman even wheeled a midget for Matczak in 2011 and 2012 at Bear Ridge. While the Hall of Famers get the most attention, the club has dedicated members from throughout New England. Among them are Wayne Koehler who tows 440 miles round trip with his wife Patricia from Jewett, New York to Bear Ridge Speedway. Manny Dias is also a “long hauler” with a round trip of over 400 miles. With eleven or twelve races a year at

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Bear Ridge Speedway, it’s hard to classify the DMA as a touring group but with many of the racers traveling from CT, MA and NY states the miles add up and wear people down. One of the major obstacles going forward for the DMA is keeping enough cars on the track, especially in an area where midget racing on dirt is a relative new comer. Prior to the DMA appearing at Bear Ridge, the last midget race on dirt in Vermont was a USAC/ ARDC/NEMA tri-sanctioned race at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in 1984. Like a lot of series, COVID-19 took its toll on the DMA. In 2019, the DMA raced at a new dirt track, constructed on the grounds of New Hampshire Motor Speedway and held on a Friday night before the tracks big NASCAR Cup weekend. Several thousand spectators were treated to a great race as Carlson and Hull came from tenth row starting spots to finish first and second. The club had two races scheduled for 2020 at New Hampshire but both were unfortunately canceled due to the pandemic. Unable to secure new clay for the track in 2021, the speedway and the DMA are optimistic about a return in 2022. But the club is optimistic going forward. Making a point to emphasize the low cost and family like atmosphere of the group, they are hopeful of attracting a diverse and competitive field to solidify dirt track midget racing in the Northeast for years to come.

SO, JUST WHAT EXACTLY IS A DMA MIDGET? THE USAC DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION (DMA) midgets are similar to USAC National Midgets in appearance but the rules are designed to keep both entry into the division and costs at a minimum. Chassis rules are based on the USAC National Midget rule book with some exceptions. The DMA has a minimum weight of 1175 pounds with the driver and fuel, oil and water. Neither titanium or carbon fiber are permitted. Only non-adjustable shock absorbers with a maximum MSR of $225 are allowed with exception of the left rear shock which may be a single adjustable shock with a maximum MSR of $350. Only standard type midget car bodies, tail tanks and hoods are permitted. Spike and Stealth are the most prevalent chassis in the series but both Triple X and Beast are also found. As for the powerplants, GM Ecotec, Quad Four and Ford Focus engines are the approved engines. Engines must be a production vehicle engine and must not make more than 180 horsepower in stock form. No more than 2.4 liters. A competitive engine can be purchased for as little as $1,500. Tire costs are also kept down. A spec Hoosier right rear can be used for 6-8 races.

Will Hull (3) outside of Seth Carlson (4). The Seals-It Racing teammates have been champions the past three years. Hull in 2019, Carlson in 2020-2021.

1971 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Denny Zimmerman gets set to go racing with the DMA.

Josh Sunn (76) gets wheels up with Will Hull (3) at Bear Ridge Speedway, the home track of the DMA Midgets.

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Close Racing Supply

review in PICTURES

Brett Hearn notched the final modified feature for his 920th career win.

2021 WORLD FINALS CHARLOTTE CROWNS TRIO OF CHAMPIONS THE WORLD FINALS continue to be a bucket list destination for race fans of all stripes but particularly for those fans that enjoy any and all types of motorsports. As the culmination and crowning celebration for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the Super DIRTcar Series. Brandon Sheppard scored his record-tying fourth title in the last five years to tie Josh Richards for the most titles with the series, something that was not lost on Sheppard. “It’s pretty amazing,” Sheppard said, before taking a pause to almost comprehend the achievement. “That part of it hasn’t set in for me yet - to be able to tie Josh with four championships is huge for me because I look up to Josh as a driver. I always have. His dad [Mark Richards,

owner of Rocket1 Racing] giving me this opportunity back in 2012 when Josh was doing other things, I never thought we’d be to this point. Not this soon.” Sheppard ran second and third while Jonathan Davenport swept the late model feature events. Brad Sweet wrapped up his third consecutive World of Outlaws title and joined Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz as the only two drivers to ever pull off the three-peat. “Once you’re on top of the mountain, you definitely don’t want to get off of it. It’s nice to get three in a row. Sometimes I have to pinch myself. And it all seems like it has happened so quick because you’re working so hard all the time, it’s hard to take a breath and realize you’re in the moment,” said Sweet, who ran eighth and ninth in the

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final features while David Gravel and Brent Marks were victorious. In the Super DIRTcar Series, Matt Sheppard accomplished a goal three years in the making – besting Brett Hearn for most career championships. Sheppard waited since 2018 to return to the top and break the mark with eight titles. “It’s definitely huge. If you can beat any one of Brett Hearn’s records, I feel like you’re doing something pretty good. He’s obviously the best that’s ever done this.” Sheppard ran second to Hearn in the finale, which was the highlight of the weekend and Hearn’s 450th series win, while teenager Alex Yankowski won the other Super DIRTcar A-main.

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

It’s Sweet in a Sheppard sandwich for the titles. All three are former titlist but have never all been on the stage together at season’s end.

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Photo: Zach Yost

Lots of cars - even more fire!

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard Photo: Zach Yost

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“Waiting for Weiss” sounds like a piece of literary fiction from the 1950s, but it was non-fiction during the time trials in Charlotte, with Ricky Weiss on the track. Everyone must wait in line for their turn to shine.

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Bloomquist time trials.

Dominator Race Products

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Photo: Zach Yost Photo: Zach Yost

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Photo: Zach Yost

Brandon Shepppard (1) dueling with Jonathan Davenport (49) and Tim McCreadie (39) and then posing with the champion’s trophy in the very same dirt.

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JJ Motorsports

Tyler Erb (1T), Chris Ferguson (01) and Dennis Erb Jr. (28) circle around The Dirt Track during the three division spectacle.

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Other fans became the spectacle.

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard

It was unusually cold for the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, but fans braced for the colder temperatures and filled in the stands to see the spectacle.

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

It wasn’t all sunsets and fireworks - there was plenty of wet weather early in the three day show.

Wehrs Machine & Racing Products

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the beauty of

DIRT Photo: Jacy Norgaard

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World Peace. Showing the rest of the world how to get along. Have you ever seen such harmony between the classes? If sprint cars, late models and modifieds can live in peace on one track, can’t we all? Jacy Norgaard captured this display of unity at the World Finals at America’s Home for Racing, The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. It’s like We Are the World and Imagine rolled into one, with dirt and racing fuel and epic car wraps. We’re not crying, you’re crying. Seriously. It’s the dirt in our eyes left over from Charlotte. WE ARE NOT CRYING! DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

where are they

LARRY MOORE

Photo: Tony Hammett

NOW

By Lee Ackerman

the River Runner 75 and finally off to the quarter-mile high banks of Beckley, West Virginia to win his second USA 100 in four years capping off a week in which he won $45,000. His distinguished career is captured in Dave Argabright’s wonderful book on Moore called “On Top of the World.”

DE: What was the scariest moment of your career? LM: I can’t say I really had a scariest moment. I was very fortunate. I did have a fire in my car one time, but the fire system put it out quickly, so I really never had a chance to get scared. I also had a wild ride at Winchester.

Dirt Empire: You had a long, varied and distinguished career. What was your proudest moment? Larry Moore: Probably when I won the World 100 for the third time, and maybe just as importantly when I won the race the first time.

DE: Who was the toughest competitor you ever faced? LM: Several. I remember early on Floyd Gilbert was a very tough competitor. I remember one time we were racing and the red flag came out. Floyd was running an inner tube in his tire and it was

Waiting for the sky to clear at a late 1980s show at WVMS.

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Photo: Tony Hammett

A MEMBER OF the inaugural class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in Florence, Kentucky, Larry Moore was one of the most versatile drivers in American racing. A veteran of the USAC Sprint, Stock and Silver Crown wars, he also ran ARCA and ASA pavement races as well as USAC Late Models and had a storied career in dirt late model racing. Moore is best remembered as the first three-time winner of the prestigious World 100 as well as being a mainstay in the nation’s first attempt at a national dirt late model series, the National Dirt Racing Association (NDRA). Moore won the 1980 NDRA National Championship and was the second winningest driver in NDRA history with 18 NDRA feature wins. Moore for many years built his own engines, which were known to be durable and they were. The old saying among the competition was when Moore has the hood up he is not working on the engine he is working on the suspension and he was damn good at that as well. His versatility can be shown by a week in 1983 where he first won a 300 lap NDRA dirt late model marathon at the big half-mile in Concord, North Carolina, then went to Riverside Speedway in Traveler’s Rest South Carolina and won

coming out and he goes to the pits gets a sledgehammer and pounds on it until he gets it back in the tire. Then he goes on and wins the race. Ralph Latham was a very good driver as well. Then A. J. Foyt and Jeff Purvis certainly are on the list, as well.

Loaded up and ready to head out of a rainout at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Dickie Murphy’s car.

DE: Any regrets about your career? Any races you wish you could have won that you didn’t? LM: You know I never had a lot of regrets about my career, I guess if there was one race I raced in that I would have liked to have won it would be the Dream at Eldora. DE: So, what has Larry Moore been up to since retiring as a driver? LM: Well, I retired as a driver, but I am still involved in racing, I have done and still do consulting in racing with various teams such as Tim Steele and Justin Allgaier. We had 18-inch spoiler and now its an 8-inch spoiler, so that has changed but we tried “anti-squat” back in the day and found out the car pushed so we are still trying solve the same problems. That’s what they are trying to do today is make an 18-inch spoiler out an 8 inch spoiler. What I’ve tried to do since retiring from driving is to teach many of the lessons I learned through all my years of racing to others. Many things have changed about the race cars but being totally prepared when you hit the track hasn’t. DE: Do you still follow racing? LM: I still am active in the consulting part of racing and stay up with all the changes, but since we moved back to

Photo: Tony Hammett

Ohio a couple of years ago, I have only been to a couple of races. I went back to Winchester (Indiana) and I went to the Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth. DE: Tell us a little bit about your book “On Top of the World.”? LM: Well, Dave Argabright and I teamed up to write a book about my life and my racing career. I thought there might be some value I could pass on to today’s generation. DE: Looking at racing today, what advice would you give young racers just starting out? LM: One piece of advice I would give them is that they are going to have to make a lot of decisions and it sure would not hurt to have people around you that

have experience in making those kind of decisions and that have made them in the past. DE: Any hobbies outside of racing? LM: Other than racing I love to fish. But golf is really what I enjoy, I can’t wait for it to warm up every year so I can play golf. DE: What’s the most important key to success? LM: I think one of the things Kaye and I have realized over the years is the importance of family. We moved back to the Dayton area a couple of years ago to be around our families.

Moore pilots a stunning race car around the picturesque I-79 Speedway in West Virginia.

Photo: Tony Hammett DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

shooter at

LARGE

MAYBE YOU’VE NOTICED, but we here at Dirt Empire Magazine love us some racing pictures. This is our opportunity to honor the great photographers of our sport who are on the road throughout the season shooting race cars and drivers and chronicalling history. They are our shooters at large. Lone gunslingers who have choosen to wield a camera as their weapon. Ride on, shooters. Ride on.

DAVID CAMPBELL

Campbell loves to shoot Red Dirt Raceway, regardless of the time of day, as shown in this twilight shot of Wyatt Burks.

You can almost feel Jeremy Jonas peeling the dirt off the top side at Southern Oklahoma Speedway in this shot.

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Campbell shot the Monday evening series at Texas Motor Speedway featuring non-wing sprint cars like Dalton Stevens in the 99.

Its karting time at Red Dirt Raceway in Oklahoma.

GET TO KNOW DAVID CAMPBELL Age: 44 Year Started Shooting: Started shooting motorsports in 2014 First Publication to Print Your Work: Rodeo - a rodeo magazine which featured some photography I took for a college rodeo event. Favorite Track to Shoot: Red Dirt Raceway #HoldMyBeer Favorite Division to Shoot: OCRS simply because I know a lot of these families since I was a kid growing up at the State Fair Speedway in OKC. Remaining Bucket List Races: Knoxville Nationals, Indiana Sprint Week, Kings Royal Favorite Thing About Racing Photography: Everything really but mainly meeting and talking to drivers and that feeling after you know you caught a special shot. Outside of race cars, what do you like to photograph: Rodeos and wildlife; it’s one of the reasons I live in the middle of nowhere by Lake Texoma. Camera Equipment: Canon 5D Mark IV, trusty Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L IS II, Canon EF 24-70 2.8 L II Social Media: FB:DPCseemymind Insta:DPC_media Website: www.seemymind.com DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Dateline 2019. The world may have reached perfection for just a few seconds in Lawton, Oklahoma.

The term pure stock isn’t just a description of the parts on the car - it’s also a euphemism for this type of pure racing beauty that Campbell captured of Colby Kasinger at Red Dirt Raceway.

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shooter at

LARGE

Quickly now - hop on just one wheel and hold on!

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

check

ENGINE

Words: Vahok Hill Photos: Paul Arch

ONE AFFORDABLE ENGINE TO RUN THEM ALL OVER THE YEARS, I have met some very smart people in the racing world and it is time we started to exploit these smart folks and develop an improved engine package. The open engine’ time, I fear, has passed. Even Formula 1 has engine rules. How much horsepower (HP) is required? I know this is a silly question, as any racer, will always want more power but the fact of the matter is the majority of the cars (in the higher divisions) on the track today can spin their tires at will. It may be that we have reached a tipping point of available grip versus power available at any given time. Many are saying that crate engines are the salvation of the support classes that prop up the highest levels of dirt racing. It has been said that crate engines should be used across the board. While this is interesting thinking; the racers still want to tinker with the engines and that is part of the allure of racing. It is common to hear of anywhere from $40,000-$60,000 or more being spent on some sprint car or late model engines. Plus, we need to factor the cost of refreshing these engines on a regular interval. Why do engines cost that much? That could be a long and convoluted conversation and I am sure that the engine builders could validate the costs and I would be on their side of

the argument. There is a good deal of work and expensive hardware that goes into building a top line racing engine. We are very lucky, as a sport, that there are a good number of very clever engine builders out there delivering some major HP to their customers. The problem is not the value for the money but the cost of that value. We need to remember that high HP engines are not just expensive from an engine perspective; there is the cost of accelerated tire wear (no pun intended) and drive train wear that adds even more cost to maintaining a racing program. We’re looking for a long term solution and I do not believe most racers are interested in electric race cars so I will not even entertain that conversation. I do believe that electric race cars will effectively kill racing as we now know it but this is a discussion for another time and place. What if we could develop an engine formula that would allow the same set of rules to govern both the late model and sprint car worlds? A singular engine formula for both divisions it is not as outlandish as it may sound. A common formula could be more cost effective, give the racers a reasonable amount of power, durability and lower the cost per lap for engines to the racer. Racing may even be closer and promote a more

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

entertaining show for the fans. What would we need accomplish to develop the idea of a common engine? First, we must develop a standard size for the engine, i.e., cubic inches. While on the surface this sounds like an easy pen stroke decision, it will be a bit more complex than that. Next, would be the elimination of carburetors and continuous flow fuel injection and a change to electronic fuel injection. Before you start warming the tar and gathering the feathers, hear me out. Electronic fuel injection has some very positive advantages. One of the biggest positives is the ability to control PRM. RPM is the killer of all things mechanical in the engine. If we could lower RPM, the cost to run the engine would decrease as the RPM related issues would be highly diminished. It is just a hard fact -RPM kills parts. We, as a corporate group need to step out of the 1930s and enter modern times, we need to face the fact that we are working with fueling systems that are in comparison to electronic fuel injection, sticks and stones from a technological perspective, and by some thoughts a controlled leak, granted a very well controlled leak but a leak just the same. There is a better option. There are those who say that just let the racer do what they want and the costs will settle out. How is that working

for you? The problem, there is or will be one or two racers/team owners that have deeper pockets than the rest of the racers/team owners and money is not really an obstacle when it comes to their racing program. Therein lays the rub. This type of owner or racer will spend whatever it takes to get to the front. Is it fair, no? But life is not fair either. We cannot legislate “fair” into any endeavor in life. The solution is to develop a methodology that does not reward you to try spending your way to the front. The reality is that eventually the guys with the money will figure out a way to spend the money, whether it helps or not. So, let’s think about the whole package. The current thinking is that if we let the racers loose with their imaginations/ creativity and let them run rampant, we can appeal to those who want to tinker with engines and just see what they can get. What that gets you is ultra-light weight rotating and static components, ultra-high lift cams, exotic (read very expensive) materials where steel and aluminum were the norm, roller or ball bearings where plain bearing used to be, 5 axis machined ports, a basic redesign of the blocks to withstand elevated HP outputs. The list goes on and on. The engines develop a higher level of power so the cars are faster but is the racing any better? Plus, we are not saving the racer any dollars. Ultra-high HP engines have short fuses, especially if the rules allow methods to increase mechanical grip, which would include wings and or special bodies that have been tweaked in wind tunnels. Call around and see how much wind tunnel time costs or what it costs to have an aerodynamicist as a fulltime part of your team or just what it costs to rent one for a week or two. Are crate engines a viable option? Yes and no. There are issues. Given time and money, ways will be and have been found to cheat or improve performance beyond the original design. The problem with crate engines, they are just asking to be tampered with and ways found to get past the special seals and hardware sealing the engines. Again, false economy. Simply stated, get more air into the engine and you can push more fuel into the engine and you can make HP. It is an oversimplification but the basic premise is sound. If we can limit the air into the engine, we can limit power. I am not suggesting that we all start just running restrictor plates and think we

have saved money. What I am suggesting is that we approach this from a systemic perspective. I am not suggesting that we outlaw all of the current engines but develop a framework that would even out the playing field. What could we do to minimize the racers need or desire to attempt to adjust the engine and spend more money and also be easily inspected post-race? This engine would utilize electronic fuel injection, we lose the carburetor and the mechanical fuel injection and as an added bonus and we enter the modern age of computerized fuel and ignition management. The

electronic fuel injection is fairly easy to inspect with the correct tools. Develop a reasonable +/- specification on the throttle body size. Develop a set of go/ no-go inspection tools. This helps control just how much air gets into the engine. That gives us a brute force way to control air flow. What about cams? The cam should be open, just define the max lift at the valve. Let’s give the tuners some place to play and limit the lift at the valve to 0.600. I do not care about lobe centers or duration or lift rates. Just deal with lift at the valve. Give the cam manufacturers and racers a place to play. This will allow the racers to tinker with the cam and related valve train. But the lift would be the constant, no more than 0.600 lift intake or exhaust. The heads should be controlled to a point; no titanium components anywhere on or in the engine. The exhaust system is some place we should allow the racers to play. As we are trying to control air flow on the intake side, we also need work to control airflow on the exhaust side. The headers should be sized to compliment the intention to limit airflow. The header tube size or

the collector size should be tuned for this package. If there was a common specification for the headers, it should lower the cost of manufacture on the headers as the manufacturers could stabilize the design of the headers. As we control the intake and exhaust flow, the need to spend big money on special manifolds and head porting becomes a moot point. I am sure we could spend some big dollars on developing special heads that would complement the totality of the engine package that too could be controlled by not allowing special manifolds and porting. This would give the racer some room to adjust and still make the post-race inspection process very simple. The process would be to check the inlet at the throttle body, check valve lift at the valve, and check the header diameters and collectors. The computer will control the RPM, fuel curves and record the Max RPM attained on the last time the engine was run. We could even move computers between cars to make sure that there is no funny business going on with the computers. By the way, there are some very simple checks that can be accomplished to see if the computer has been tampered with or hacked. This is accomplished with the Trophy Trucks (as seen in the Baja events) and it takes very little time. It checks for the stock fuel curve, ignition, and it even records the highest RPM the engine was turning. Given time as the racers develop more knowledge about the engine, the power levels would escalate but we should still be able to keep the costs reasonable with some good enforceable rules. It really is just that simple.

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dirt

CHRONICLES

INGENIOUS CREATURES

By: Bob Mays

When Jim Ferrick showed up at Langhorne for a midget race in the late 1940s, he took one look at the track known as the “Big Left Turn” and realized he had some work to do. Not having anywhere close to the right gears for the circular mile track, he did the only thing he could do – took the tires and wheels off somebody’s’ trailer to try to keep the RPMs to a reasonable level. We’re thinking he was only somewhat successful. (Frank Smith photo)

The 1960s era supermodifieds spawned some weird cars and the Amarillo Speed Bowl kind of led the pack of weird. R.V. Funderburk obviously had some 1950s big-fin body panels left over when he was piecing this gem together. It was pretty fast too! (Leroy Byers photo)

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Designer/builder Jim Schuman was convinced that if ALL the car’s weight was between the axles, said car would accelerate quicker, turn sharper and stop faster than a regular sprinter. He wasn’t all wrong. Schuman hired full-time jet pilot/part-time race driver Ed Bowes to steer the thing and they won some races! (Bob Mays photo)

Carmen Manzardo snuck this 550-cubic inch monster onto the Marion County Fairgrounds in 1984 and almost beat Steve Kinser in a Knoxville Nationals heat race, becoming a legend in the process. Ask anyone who was there that night, Carmen rocked the place like few before or since! (Bob Mays photo) DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

yesterday’s

DIRT Words: Lee Ackerman Photos: Paul Arch

“Electrifying” Elvin Felty in the Zemco #1 (yes - that Zemco #1!) car in 1985.

SUPER DIRT WEEK 1980s STYLE

THE SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES is a Big Block Modified touring series that primarily races on dirt ovals in the Northeastern United States and Canada with selected races in Florida and other states. The series was founded by Glenn Donnelly in 1972 as a series of qualifier races for the inaugural Super Dirt Week to be held at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. Super Dirt Week was held at the legendary New York State Fairgrounds from the inaugural event in 1972 through the 2015 race, which ended one of the finest racing traditions in America. With the coming demise of the mile long track,

the event was moved in 2016 to the Oswego Speedway, home of the asphalt supermodifieds with dirt being put down over the asphalt. Over the years, Super Dirt Week has provided race fans with many great events and left countless memories. Let’s look back at two races from the era when the series was at its finest 1985 and 1986. So, join as we return to the Moody Mile at the New York State Fairgrounds.

1985

The 1985 Schaefer 200 was held on October 13. The 200 being 200

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kilometers (201.25) or 125 miles. 127 cars took time for the event with World of Outlaws Sprint Car ace Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tennessee, setting a new track record for modifieds after having had only 20 laps of practice behind the wheel of the Billy Taylor prepared Troyer Mudd Buss. The car was originally built for NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine, who canceled because of a NASCAR commitment. Second fast qualifier was Watertown, New York’s “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie. McCreadie, who finished 11th in 1984 was a low-budget, low-profile racer who usually drove a car that was put together

Brett Hearn drove his number 20 car to his first victory at Syracuse in 1985 after nearly a decade of trying to bag one. with more or less with what him and the crew could scrape together. But in 1985, he came with a new Kneisel chassis with Hutter for power. McCreadie also came with a strategy borrowed from former teammate Merv Treichler who won the 1982 race by pitting last and coming out with not only fuel but a new set of tires which up to that point had not been the preferred strategy at Syracuse. McCreadie had never been comfortable racing at the Moody Mile and had stated most of the drivers were not except Swindell. “It’s a thrill when you go fast here. You have accomplished something if you do.” stated McCreadie. “If you win it, it’s a real thrill. For me to win it would be a real relief.” At the drop of the green, Swindell led the field for the first seven laps, but a tricky transmission and a cut tire sent him pit side surrendering the lead to McCreadie. Later Swindell had to pit again for a new left rear tire, but his day went from bad to worse when he was involved in worst wreck of the day on lap 41 which sent Swindell, Buzzie Reutimann and Johnny Birosh hard into the turn four wall and out of the race. Reutimann got the worst of the deal as medics had to cut the veteran (winner of the first two Super Dirt events in 1972 & 1973) from his totally destroyed race car. Reutimann suffered a broken leg, broken

back, broken neck and various other injuries. McCreadie, who planned to pit later in the race stayed out and assumed the lead. It was to prove a fatal strategy, as strategy had changed from 1982 when Treichler used the strategy to take home the win. Brett Hearn started way back in 31st worked his way through the field and pitted on lap 41 after the big wreck taking on fuel and two tires. When McCreadie finally pitted on lap 66, Hearn took the point of the race and never gave it up despite repeated challenges from 1979 and 1984 race winner Jack Johnson. Johnson, who came to Syracuse with thesame set-up that worked the year before, challenged Hearn throughout the second half of the race and during the last twenty laps of the event came charging at Hearn coming off turn four but to no avail. What probably made the late race battle between the two drivers (who have become legends in the sport) so exciting was that Hearn’s car started sputtering during the last 15 laps of the event, most likely a fuel pick-up problem. He did run out of gas on the cool down lap and coasted into victory lane. The top ten at the checkers were: Brett Hearn, Jack Johnson, Bob McCreadie, Carl Collis, Tom Wilson, Kenny Tremont,

Jr., Jimmy Horton, Glenn Fitzcharles and Charlie Rudolph. Other notable finishers were World of Outlaw King Steve Kinser, who started 29th and dropped out after 57 laps with engine problems and NASCAR ace Bobby Allison, who started 52nd and made it only 15 laps before retiring with front end issues. Time of the race one hour 43 minutes .57 seconds. 12 cautions for 51 laps. For Brett Hearn, who first raced the Schaefer 200 in 1978 and had been close to winning on a couple of occasions, he had finally conquered the Moody Mile. He had been lucky and in the right place at the right time. Early in the race he had been able to weave his way through a bad wreck in turn two. “I saw an opening on the outside, slowed for it and was lucky nobody was right behind me. I went for the opening and made it through,” said Hearn. “I was probably very lucky. He had also survived the later stages of the race with an engine with issues. For Jack Johnson, “The cautions were killing me,” commented Johnson. There were 12 cautions. “I needed four or five laps to get my tires hot after a caution. The other issue was that he came to Syracuse with the same set-up he had ran the previous year. “We set back on our laurels from last year,” Johnson continued. “When you come to Syracuse you have to come with a new set-up.

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The Tobias Brain Trust. Ronnie, Rich and Scott break it down prior at the 1985 edition.

As for McCreadie, he took the blame for missing an opportunity to win at Syracuse. “My crew wanted me to pit, it was up to me and I screwed it up,” he stated after the race. “Passing is a premium at Syracuse and a driver running a half second slower can hold you up forever. On a short track, you give him the right rear, Here, what are you gonna do? Give him the right rear at 140 MPH?”

1986

The 1986 Super Dirt Week finale at Syracuse (the Miller American 200) was a story of redemption for Bob McCreadie, after his later than most pit stop had cost him the race the previous year. McCreadie and the crew knew they had to make changes to get redemption. He

and the rest of the drivers also had to deal with a rough racetrack. Typically, Syracuse is stone hard, smooth and very fast. But after two weeks of rain that left the track unusually rough along with a morning rain on Thursday (time trial day), which saw times a second off the previous year’s record times, drivers were forced to make wholesale changes in preparation for Sunday’s Miller American 200. McCreadie and his team worked non-stop from Wednesday through Sunday making wholesale changes to his number nine mount. Many other teams worked around the clock as well hoping to hit the set-up for a track that was uncharacteristically not Syracuse. “My crew worked around the clock for three nights this week.” said McCreadie.

The World of Outlaws Sprint Cars salute the Syracuse faithful in 1984.

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“It’s unbelievable the dedication they gave me.” In order to regain his pride from his previous year’s failure his team something totally opposite their usual conservative style, they bet the farm on Syracuse. “We spent every nickel we made all spring and summer on this car.” commented McCreadie. Come Sunday, the racetrack had returned to somewhat the normal conditions you expect of the Moody Mile and was better suited for McCreadie’s set-up. Having learned from last year’s mistakes, this time McCreadie was one of the first to pit and that strategy allowed him to take command of the race well before the halfway mark and drive to a payday of over $66,000. “It was a hard lesson to learn.” Said McCreadie referring to last year’s disappointment “I have a tape of the race and I must have played it and replayed it a million times over the winter. It was a tough getting through the past year, eating that lesson.” For New Jersey’s Billy Pauch, who set fast time for the event and comfortably led the first 42 circuits before ending up second to McCreadie, the effort preparing for Syracuse was significantly less than McCreadies. The 85’ Troyer that he ran set in a hayloft of a barn until a month before the race. The DeBlasio brothers, who own the car got the motor freshened. The team did make some changes and they were right on target. A unique nose piece combined with a strong motor and a good driver earned they a solid second at Syracuse. Finishing behind McCreadie and Pauch were Jack Johnson, Rick Jeffrey, Charlie Rudolph, C. D. Coville, Danny Johnson, Ken Johnson (who qualified second), Kevin Collins and Alan Johnson. So McCreadie had conquered Syracuse and gotten the monkey off his back. A McCreadie crew member for 15 years, Mike Hayslett said, “We have won 210 races in the United States and Canada, but I guess you ain’t nothin’ unless you win Syracuse.” The barefoot one and his crew had climbed the mountain and conquered Syracuse. Ironically, 1986 was to be the last race at the 200-kilometer distance. Starting in 1987 the race was lengthened to 300 kilometers or 188 laps.

The King even took his shot at the Moody Mile in the 1980s with the modifieds. Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell and other sprint stars were regular visitors.

In celebration of 50 awesome years of NAPA Super Dirt Week, DIRTcar has put together videos of the 50 Greatest Drivers in Super Dirt Week history. We’re kind of partial to “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie, as he hails from Watertown, NY, the birth place of Dirt Empire Magazine. Link below with your smart phone to jump to the play list. Or go to YouTube and do a keyword search: Super Dirt Week 50 Greatest NAPA Super Dirt Week 2022 tickets will be on sale soon! Use the QR codes below to visit the playlist or order tickets to NAPA Super Dirt Week 2022, Racing’s Biggest Party.

50 Greatest Super Dirt Week Drivers

NAPA Super Dirt Week 2022 Tickets DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

artistic

LICENSE

By Adam Cornell

THERE ARE SIMPLY not enough pages in one issue of Dirt Empire Magazine to hold all of the amazing artwork produced by the 26-year-old Western Australian artist, Jamie Nardini. When we came across his artwork online, there were hours of productivity lost as we could not help but be entranced by his depictions of the sport we love. Despite the twelvehour difference in time zones from our headquarters in Brunswick, Georgia, we caught up with Jamie to find out a little more about the man behind the images we love so much.

JAMIE NARDINI

DIRT EMPIRE: Let’s get this out of the way for our readers, where in the world do you live? Jamie Nardini: I live in a small town called Narrogin in Western Australia. It’s just a few hours southeast of Perth. DE: What got you interested in art? JN: I always had an interest in art and drawing as a kid, but it was only an occasional interest. In my teens I was looking for something I could put my time into and really pursue so I explored a bunch of things like graphic design, 3d modelling, web design et cetera. With drawing, though, I always had the most fun and it was what I always seemed to go back to. So, around 2015 I started putting all my time into that, drawing every day and taking my artwork it more seriously. DE: When did you get the idea to start creating race car artwork?

JN: It’s just the thing I have the most fun doing, we always went to the speedways locally as kids; Narrogin, Collie, Bunbury, and Perth Motorplex. I love making art and I love the speedway and racing so it was only natural that they combined into one I suppose.

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DE: What medium do you prefer? (pencil, oil paints, digital? If digital, what software do you prefer to use? What input device? Wacom tablet? Ipad? etc.) JN: Right now I prefer digital, my pieces this year have mostly been drawn/ painted on an iPad Pro with [software program] Procreate and an Apple

pencil. With a little bit of fine tuning in Photoshop at the end. I find drawing directly on the screen and using the Procreate app to be really intuitive. I used to paint with a Wacom Intuos tablet connected to the computer, but I find it harder to get nice brush strokes with that setup as you can’t directly see your hand when you’re painting. I am also into acrylic and other traditional mediums which I want to get into more in the future. I have mostly been having fun drawing digitally lately. Working in a digital environment allows for the ability to make changes easier and it is more convenient to just grab the iPad than having to worry about getting the paints out and cleaning brushes. DE: Are your images available for sale? If so, where can we find them? JN: I don’t have anything for sale at the moment, but I may in the future. DE: Have any of the subjects of your work (drivers) approached you to purchase your artwork? If so, what was that like?

JN: A surreal moment was when Ryan Young (Indocil art) approached me and wanted to use a sketch I had done of Brad Sweet’s car to place on Brad’s helmet for the 2017 season. I have done work/commissions for James McFadden and a lot of other people and events such as program covers for the Grand Annual Sprint car classic in Warrnambool and Front Row challenge in Oskaloosa. There have been moments and experiences I wouldn’t have even imagined coming true, back when I was growing up as a kid, but I think as you get older you realize more and more that everyone is human (haha.) DE: What are your artistic influences? Other artists? JN: It’s always changing because we can see the work of pretty much every artist in the world at a click of a button and I am constantly discovering new ones. I think by looking at a huge variety of artists and really studying what makes their work appealing and unique, you

begin to realize how much of what they do is really just them doing what comes most naturally or what they love the most. You could try and have influence from other people’s work, but your personality or style eventually shows through anyway. Learning the fundamentals plays a huge part in getting what you want across to the audience and art is much more fun when you learn and can apply what makes something work in the real world in terms of how light and color works. Also you start to look at the world differently and notice random things like how the light is casting over a tree or something like that, which you can apply in your work even though it isn’t the same subject. I look at a bunch of art and photography, mostly different genres and subjects so I can see how I can twist what they do and apply it to what I do, a lot of it happens subconsciously probably. DE: Who is your favorite driver? What is your favorite kind of racing?

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JN: I don’t really have a favorite driver. There are a lot of drivers locally and overseas I hope do well but mostly I just like to see a good race which is very likely in dirt racing. My favorite racing is for sure winged 410 sprint cars and then anything else on dirt, also NASCAR and other forms of asphalt racing. DE: Have you traveled to the US to see a race in person? JN: Yes, my brother and I traveled to the US in 2016 and 2018. We got to see a lot of the country and many dirt and NASCAR tracks. My favorite track was probably Eldora for dirt and Bristol for NASCAR but they were all amazing and awesome to see in person and the atmosphere was awesome. It was also cool and surreal to explore a country where things are similar in some ways but different in others. DE: What are your goals with your artwork? JN: I never really had or have goals with my artwork. It was always more about having fun and pushing myself with each piece and learning as much as I could through the process and studying. I just really enjoy making art, it doesn’t really even come down to the subject at times. Enjoying the process you can really get into a present or flow state sometimes where time flies by and your hand feels like it’s moving by itself. There are struggles and sometimes pieces don’t work out or you feel uninspired but you just have to push through. I’m very lucky to have found something I love doing and am able to do every day. I hope everyone, if they haven’t yet, can find something that gives them the same joy I get when making art. Though Jamie Nardini’s published work is not currently for sale, he is available for commissions. You can find him online: Facebook: @jamienardiniart Instagram: @jamienardini Twitter: @jamienardini

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the beauty of

DIRT Art: Jamie Nardini

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

Brandon Sheppard has never looked so good. The energy and fluidity captured by artist Jamie Nardini encapsulates the emotion and imagination conjured up by a night at the races. When we dream of racing, it will now look like a Nardini painting.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021 Photo: Dave Pratt

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

series

BIG CASH FOR 2022

Photo: Jim Balentine

SPOTLIGHT

RUSH SERIES CONTINUES TO GROW

By Justin Zoch

IT’S GONNA BE GREAT. The 2022 season for Pace Performance RUSH Late Models Touring Series is shaping up to already be the richest one in the history of the series. It has been a work in progress throughout the 2021 season and RUSH is thrilled to announce a $15,000 championship prize as well as a $51,400 point fund for the traveling series. This is a dramatic rise in the point fund of over 25 percent. Additionally, as they continue to work through the 2022 schedule, RUSH has announced that all Touring Series events will now pay a minimum of $3,000-towin. The just completed season saw

excellent racing and Series Director Mike Leone felt that the competition was never better. “The 2021 season produced some of the best racing in Touring Series history. Linden, Virginia’s Kyle Hardy conquered the $12,000 championship in his first season of RUSH racing. The quality of competition was never better. Besides Hardy, veteran RUSH racers Jeremy Wonderling, Joe Martin, and John Waters picked up wins in addition to super late model standouts Chub Frank, Michael Norris, and Mark Whitener. Leone has plenty of impressive stats on the series, too. “Over the past three years, the Touring Series has

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

averaged 38 cars per event. A record 194 different drivers from 12 different states competed in at least one Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Tour event in 2021,” said Leone. “Our RUSH Late Model Touring Series events have always produced great racing but this year it was simply incredible,” acknowledged Series Director Vicki Emig. “The competition has definitely went to the next level and our car counts continue to be very strong which has translated into tremendous RUSH Late Model Touring Series events! With that said and after discussions with our RUSH-sanctioned speedway

RUSH Late Model stars Joe Martin (10s) and Kyle Hardy (99) battle side-by-side in the $10,000 to-win “Bill Emig Memorial” at Lernerville on June 26. (Rick Neff photo)

RUSH 2022 PAYOUTS 2022 RUSH Late Model Touring Series Minimum Feature Purse: 1. $3,000 2. $1,500 3. $800 4. $650 5. $600 6. $500 7. $475 8. $450 9. $425 10. $400 11. $325 12. $300 13. $275 14. $270 15. $265 16. $260 17. $255 18-24. $250.

Photo: Rick Neff partners, we are excited to offer the richest Touring Series Championship and schedule of events in RUSH Series history!” As Leone pointed out, this was the first time that there has been a dramatic increase in the point fund. “After the COVID-19 pandemic was a setback in 2020, the RUSH Touring Series doubled the pre-COVID point fund with all spots getting a boost in 2021. Now with the promoters stepping up to a pay a minimum $3,000 to-win purse (see breakdown below), RUSH has once again increased all 10 guaranteed points paying positions. RUSH will once again offer $1,000 to drivers that finish 11-15 in points with 75% attendance and $500

to drivers that finish 16-20 in points with 75% attendance. This increase will put the 2022 Touring Series point fund at a record $51,400! “ “To be able to nearly triple the overall ‘Touring’ Championship is amazing but none of this would be possible without the strong support of our corporate marketing partners, speedways, and racers- we can’t thank everyone enough,” expressed Emig. “This is just the beginning of the exciting news for 2022, as we look forward to releasing more news in the very near future on some of our signature RUSH Late Model Touring events!” The series has already released a few early dates for the 2022 calendar

Jeremy Wonderling is always on the gas as seen here at Lernerville. Wonderling’s bid for 4 straight RUSH Late Model Tour Championships came up shy finishing 3rd in points with 3 wins (Zack Anthony photo).

2022 RUSH Late Model Touring Series Point Fund ($51,400): 1. $15,000 2. $7,500 3. $5,000 4. $4,000 5. $3,000 6. $2,500 7. $2,000 8. $1,800 9. $1,600 10. $1,500. Will pay $1,000 to Tour members in positions 11-15 in points that compete in 75% of the total Tour events, and $500 to Tour members in positions 16-20 in points that compete in 75% of the total Tour events.

RUSH 2022 SPONSORS RUSH Racing Series is brought to you by Pace Performance together with Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC along with the support of Hoosier Tire, Bilstein Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Bazell Race Fuels, Insinger Performance, MSD Performance, Holley Performance Products, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, Born2Run Lubricants, Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service, FK Rod Ends, Schoenfeld Headers, Jones Racing Products, TBM Brakes, Performance Bodies & Parts, Racing Electronics, Dirt Defender, Wrisco Industries, Frankland Racing Supply, Landrum Performance Spring, Ontime Body & Graphic, Zarin Truck & Automotive, Sherwood Wheels, Alternative Power Sources, Precise Racing Products, Stop-Fyre, Lincoln Electric, Velocita-USA, Waterstone Mortgage Hermitage, CrateInsider.com, and Wedge Motorsports.

Photo: Zack Anthony DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

POINT YOUR SMART CAMERA PHONE AT THE QR CODE ABOVE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!

Photo: Travis Trushell

year. The 2022 Flynn’s Tire/Born2Run Lubricants Touring Series schedule is expected to get underway April 13-16 for the “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek. Signature events such as the “Bill Emig Memorial” (June 23-25 at Lernerville Speedway), “Jook George Steel City Classic” (August 6 at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway), and “Bill Hendren Memorial” (September 30-October 1 at Pittsburgh) have already been confirmed. Meanwhile, not to be left out, the 40-position National Weekly Series Championship, “Track Pack” that offers a $2,500 point fund to each weeklysanctioned speedway’s top six member racers, and the “Futures Cup” will all return in 2022. This together with the record breaking Touring Series point fund will boost the 2022 RUSH Late Model championship cash point funds alone to over $115,000.

Kyle Hardy in victory lane at Winchester on April 17 after sweeping the “Battle of the Bay” Speedweek. Hardy ended the season with eight RUSH Tour victories and the $12,000 championship. (Travis Trushell photo)

RUSH LATE MODEL TOUR, RUSH SPRINTS & RUSH MODS HIGHLIGHT VIDEO FROM DOG HOLLOW & PPMS

RUSH LATE MODEL “STEEL CITY STAMPEDE” FEATURE AT LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY ON 10/16/21

Video provided by Lernerville TV.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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2022 SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR CALENDAR

Long-time photographer and Dirt Empire Magazine contributor Ron Gilson is back with his annual Sprint Car Calendar and the full color edition once again features the cars and drivers from the ASCS Southwest Series, both of the winged and non-winged variety. It is a full color 11X14 calendar and is available online at www. gilsonphoto.com.

SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT FRAGOLA 6000 SERIES HOSES

INTERCOMP WIRELESS LOAD STICK Intercomp is proud to introduce the RFX® Wireless Suspension Load Stick, the first wireless load stick in the racing industry. This effective setup tool is enhanced with RFX® Wireless Weighing Technology, eliminating the cabled indicator currently utilized by most load sticks on the market. Without a cable to mind, our Load Stick allows racers to concentrate on obtaining the correct measurement and less about breaking an indicator cable and rendering the tool useless. Individual load sticks are also available without an indicator, allowing single- or dual-load stick system to be expanded later. Load sticks mounted on all four corners of a racecar help provide a picture of the racecar’s load distribution in different chassis attitudes. This allows racers to determine the exact spring rates needed to get the car into the dynamic ride heights needed to carry maximum speed and momentum through a turn. The two-load stick system allows a racer to collect dynamic load data at left-side, right-side, or opposing corners of the car. These can be critical measurementsthat can mean the difference between a fast or slow car in dirt and paved oval racing.

Each Intercomp load stick has an industrialstrength 3,000 lb (1,300 kg) capacity load cell andcan span shock mounting points 15-25.25 inches (381-641 mm) apart, utilizing three interchangeable bodies. Load Stick bodies are machined from tough, hex-shaped Billet Aluminum making it easier to extend and retract using hand tools. High-quality spherical rod ends with ultra low-friction PTFE inserts provide for a long service life without the need to maintain the joints with grease. RFX® Wireless Suspension Load Sticks can be purchased from our worldwide network of authorized distributors, individually or in sets of two and four, and include an RFX® Wireless indicator. A single load stick and indicator (Part # 174000) allow for use at one corner of the car, similar to competing systems. The two(Part #174001) and four-piece (Part #174002) systems allow for more complex attitude adjustment. Single Load Sticks without an indicator (Part # 174003) are also available. Intercomp 800-328-3336 www.IntercompRacing.com

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

PTFE hose is not as flexible as rubber or stainless braided rubber hose and requires hose ends like Fragola’s Real Street PTFE Hose Ends to create a good seal. They feature a miniature “olive” that retains the hose inside of the fitting for a tight seal. You can reuse the fittings over and over by replacing the olives with new ones. The Real Street hose ends also have a double-swivel design that allows you to clock them for a clean installation. Fragola 6000 Series PTFE hose and Real Street hose ends are available in -4, -6, -8, -10, and -12 AN sizes. You can also get the clear- or black-covered 6000 Series hose assemblies with factory-installed -4 AN fittings. Summit Racing Equipment www.summitracing.com 1-800-230-3030

DOMINATOR RACE PRODUCTS

Dominator has been busy crafting new products for the 2022 racing season and they are ready to release several of them out to racers getting their rides ready over the brief offseason. First, they have a brand new Modified Radiator Shroud. It is 19.5” wide x 19” tall x 4” deep and will help you to “keep your cool while you Dominate!” Another new Dominator exclusive that will help you save time and money in your shop is the Hem-Pro Bending Set. This handy device will allow you to craft 180 degree hems on your car with ease and precision. And finally, the DOM-2300. Their latest Late Model Nose kit. Dominator Race Products 419-923-6970 https://www.dominatorraceproducts.com/

• • • • • • • •

•

RS 305 INJECTION MANIFOLD Specifically designed for the Race Saver Sprint Series, we focused on providing an all-inclusive advanced package for the 305 racer. It is light weight with precision size and shape castings specifically for the 305 using a 2 ¼ throttle bore size and complimenting runner volume, then CNC machined the runners for identical runner volumes. Special transverse throttle shafts, ride on bearings and outboard bushings surfaces for long wear and super smooth movement. The jackshaft is integral and keeps the left and right banks synchronized, even during thermal expansion. Using all high quality bearing and rod end components ensures long life and consistent throttle synchronization. Our “HP” series nozzle lines swivel for a perfect fit even when tightened. This package truly is meant with the racer in mind for durability and best performance.

• •

Aluminum Castings – Precision cast for light weight 100% CNC -- The complete runner is ported, for shape, equal volume, and air flow. Super Tops -- Billet ramtube adapters that contour from throttle bore to ramtube with single pinch clamp bolt. Ramtubes -- Kinsler tapered 180 degree bell, 2 3/16” ID, aluminum. Transverse -- Throttle shafts, contoured, with Kinsler bearing/bushing architecture. Throttle Plates – high quality aircraft grade aluminum with taper surface for improved air flow O-rings – Seals ramtube to adapter and adapter to manifold to keep dirt out of engine Jack-Shaft Linkage – High quality bearings and heims with adjustable hex link bars with stainless steel 3/8” cross bar, mounted in bearing pedestals. Barrel Valve – CNC contoured spool with a developed curve, spool and block are micro honed and lapped for a precision fit. Mounted on bracket for no contact with hot valley plate. HP Hoses -- Teflon core, with stainless steel braid, and abrasion resistant black PVC cover. Stainless steel hose ends, 65o bent tube swivels at nozzle. Nozzles -- Kinsler precision flowed and matched with-in 1% distribution. Targeted 5 1/2” diffuser tip. Air passageway for nozzles -- internal, nozzle receives filtered air from inside the throttle bore. Valley Plate -- Billet aluminum modular design. For Dart or GM blocks.

Kinsler Fuel Injection 1834 Thunderbird St Troy, MI 48084 248-362-6932 www.kinsler.com

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

the back

STRETCH

Photo: Paul Arch

Posted at English Creek Speedway, Knoxville, Iowa. Okay, number 5 is debatable. We have some very convincing YouTube videos on UFOs that show at least some race officials are from another planet. Even so, point taken. Don’t be a knuckle-head at the karting track. Have fun and hug your kid.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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Allstar Racing Products.............................................. 2 ARGO Manufacturing, Inc.......................................... 94 Barnes Systems Inc............................................ 91, 95 Bernheisel Lazer Chassis.......................................... 25 Braswell................................................................... 95 Brinn Inc.................................................................. 35 Close Racing Supply.................................................. 51 Dominator Race Products......................................... 57 Dyers Top Rods......................................................... 91 e3 Lithium Battery.................................................... 29 Eibach..................................................................... 100 HoseHeads................................................................ 95 JJ Motorsports........................................................ 59 Jones Racing Products......................................... 4, 31 Kinsler...................................................................... 45 Leindecker Racing Engines....................................... 39 Longacre Racing......................................................... 3 Pitt Stop Motorsports.............................................. 19 PPlus Global Logistics......................................... 47, 95 PRI Show.................................................................. 97 Right Foot Performance Products............................. 95 Salon at Studio B - Marshside.................................... 6 Summit Racing Equipment........................................... 9 T&D Machine Products............................................. 23 Wehrs Machine & Racing Products........................... 63 Wild West Shootout.................................................. 15 Winters.................................................................... 99

CORRECTION - WE HIT THE INFIELD TIRE... In the previous issue, (Issue 6 - Volume 1 -2021) in the article “That’s A Wrap,” we erroneously listed the location of the attack where 13 US soldiers lost their lives as Kuwait rather than Kabul, Afghanistan. We apologize for this error and meant no disrepect to those who lost their lives.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 07 - 2021

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Dirt Empire Magazine is proud to have assembled a crack staff of freelance photographers and writers who blend their passion for the sport with their talent and artistry to make these pages pop. If you see an image that you’d like to own or need a great image for your shop, drop them a line and support them.

PHOTOGRAPHERS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE Bob Mays - catsracin@yahoo.com Dan Demarco - deacon39@me.com David Campbell – www.seemymind.com David Pratt – dspphotoz@aol.com Heath Lawson - heathlawson48@gmail.com Jacy Norgaard - jacy@jacynorgaardphotography.com Jeff Bylsma - randrplumbing@mtcnet.net Joe Shivak - josephshivak@gmail.com John Dadalt - johnd19@cox.net John Rothermel - jcizzybu@ptd.net Kirsten Snyder - snyderwebdesign07@gmail.com Michael Boggs - michaelboggsphotography@gmail.com Mike Howard - acer19@cox.net Mike Musslin – dirtnut777@gmail.com Mike Ruefer - mikerueferphotos@gmail.com Paul Arch - peanumber10@comcast.net Paul Trevino - ptrev4@aol.com Ryan Roberts - jryanroberts@ymail.com Tony Hammett - tony.hammett@charter.net Zach Yost - zyost11@yahoo.com

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KEEPING WHEELS OPEN IN THE NORTHEAST

POSSE’S BRIGHTEST LIGHT

ASK THE DRIVER

THAT MEDDLING KID