Dirt Empire Magazine - Issue 8 - 2022 by dirtempiremagazine

Issue 08

2022

Eibach

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Issue 08 • Volume 02 2022 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

COVER PHOTO CONTRIBUTOR: TYLER CARPENTER BY JOSH JAMES AYRTON GENNETTEN BY DAVID CAMPBELL

FOR SUBMISSION INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT SENIOR EDITOR JUSTIN ZOCH: ZOCH24@HOTMAIL.COM

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, Ron Sloan, 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 © 2022 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 and International subscribers add $76 annually.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Brinn Inc.

CONTENTS

Photo: Josh James

Issue 08 - 2022

7 8 10 12 13 14 16 18 20 22 20 28 30 32 34 40 44 50 60 62 64 66 70 72 76 78 80 81

PAGE 34

Tyler Carpenter speaks with our own Ashley Zimmerman, discussing his recent victory at the Dome and his new NASCAR ride.

Fore Word – Adam Cornell From the Editor – Justin Zoch News and Notes In Memorium Moving Pics Skull Candy Lighter Side of Dirt Graphic Language Action Capture Review In Pictures – Wild West Shootout Bobby Pierce On the Road with Reaper The Duffy Boys Action Capture Tyler Carpenter Business of Racing – Casey Shuman Ayrton Gennetten Review in Pictures – Chili Bowl Short Track Stars – Jake Hobscheidt Guest Mic Drop – Kelly Carlton Engine Builder Spotlight – Mullins Engines Shooter at Large – Quentin Young Dirt Chronicles Yesterday’s Dirt New Products The Race Fan’s Bookshelf Advertiser’s Index Pit Stop

FEATURES 22 REVIEW IN PICTURES WILD WEST SHOOTOUT

The event shifted states this year and took place at Vado, New Mexico’s beautiful new racetrack but still brought the same action to the Southwest and cooked up four different winners in six events.

28 ON THE ROAD WITH REAPER

We kick off a new series for the 2022 season as we will follow Iowa’s Ryan Gustin throughout his campaign with the World of Outlaws Late Model series with an introduction to his career, his team and his family.

34 TYLER CARPENTER: A DREAM, A DOME AND A TRUCK

We check in with Tyler Carpenter following his huge win at the Dome in St. Louis that not only padded his pockets but also guarantees him a ride in a NASCAR Truck at this summer’s tour stop at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa.

40 BUSINESS OF RACING – CASEY SHUMAN

A chat with Casey Shuman, who leads the World of Outlaws Late Models, to chat with him about rules changes for 2022 and 2023 and also to get the skinny on the newly announced Xtreme Sprint Car and Midget series.

44 AYRTON GENNETTEN GETS GOING

We check in with Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year Ayrton Gennetten as he gets ready for what could be a massive national breakout season coming on the heels of his best season in a 410 sprint car yet.

50 REVIEW IN PICTURES – CHILI BOWL

It was another giant week of racing in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we had some of the finest photographers in the business capturing all of the action surrounding Tanner Thorson’s first win, including Patrick Grant’s top five cars from the nearly 400 entered.

THE OFFICIAL MARKETPLACE OF DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

RUSH Racing Series

CHASING PAPER I ORIGINALLY PENNED a Fore Word article for this issue about how we can grow the sport we love by each of us inviting one of our non-racing friends out to a race this year and converting them over to being one of our racing friends. It was a great article. But I think I’ll save it for another time. A far more pressing issue at the moment, above and beyond growing the fan base, is the dramatic threat to the dirt track world in the form of price increases and economic inflation in general. I’m not going to dip into the politics of this growing problem because when I created Dirt Empire Magazine I made a solemn commitment to make it 100% about racing in each and every issue. Politics were not going to be in the pages here. You’ve got plenty of other places in this world to find a political commentary on the economic situation we’re all facing. No need to sully these pages with politics. All of that said, we have some realities to face this year in terms of rising costs of racing and life in general. You’ve probably seen first hand that prices are going up with manufacturers and inventory can be simply unavailable for perhaps months into the future due to raw material shortages. It makes planning for this season difficult for many drivers and teams. We heard rumblings of major price increases and raw material shortages at the PRI show back in December. We hoped that perhaps things would improve,

fore WORD

a To

eliss

to: M Pho y usle

but alas, the shortage continues, and the squeeze from pricing increases tightens on the industry more and more. This will imperil the grassroots drivers first, who have no margin to absorb major pricing increase. But no doubt, everyone will feel the squeeze. We have felt it here at Dirt Empire. The cost to print an issue has gone up a dramatic 30% since last summer. Were it not for the enormous support of our advertisers, this would be a back-breaker. So, when you contemplate the ads in this and other issues of Dirt Empire, consider making a purchase from those advertisers and let them know that you are glad they support this publication with their ads. We purposefully built this publication to run as lean as possible. No big office space, no expensive office assistants, heck, we brought the coffee maker from home. We all wear multiple hats and manage far more duties than a single job description. In order to make our dreams come true with this publication, we knew it would require hard work and sacrifice. That was something we were willing to undertake. That’s not too unlike many of the drivers and teams we cover in each issue. It’s all worth it. We get to cover the greatest sport in the world and interact with some of the best people in the world while we’re doing it. But these times, they are a-troubling. Our print provider, along with sending through a major price increase, informed us that there is limited paper supply all across the country. We checked with other print providers to verify, and indeed, paper is extremely difficult to come by. You simply cannot shut down production of paper mills for a year or so and expect the supplies to remain the same. Add to it, some of the suppliers who manufactured commercial paper (that is, paper produced specifically for printing purposes) decided to cease production of said commercial paper and switch over to producing toilet tissue and paper towels. Granted some of our competitors have compared our publication to toilet tissue, but we checked, we can’t actually print on it.

By Adam Cornell Add to the problem the fact that much of the commercial paper used in the United States comes from Canada. In February there was a major shutdown of trucking in Canada, as well as blockades of some of the border crossings. That means paper has not been able to flow into the US as freely as it has over the last several decades. This is all troubling news for a company that relies on paper and printing to produce its primary product. But all is not lost. As long as our print provider can still gain access to paper, we’ll keep printing. This could mean that for a time we’ll have to switch up the paper we use or find some other practical solution. I am confident we’ll find a way to make it work. We have faced adversity before, and we will strive to overcome once again. Let’s not borrow tomorrow’s trouble, though. Right now, we have this issue of Dirt Empire Magazine, and in my humble opinion, it is awesome. The photos we got from the Chili Bowl are incredible, and I am very proud of the selection of stories we have in this issue as well. We are already fast at work on Issue 9 and we’re working with print providers across the country to make sure we secure the paper we need for production. What an interesting world we live in at the moment. At least the racing season has already started with speed weeks in Florida and Georgia. Pretty soon the rest of the country will be revving the engines and hitting the track. It definitely makes it all worthwhile. Let’s go racing!

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

from the EDITOR

By Justin Zoch THERE IS AN OLD ADAGE that the easiest thing to change on a race car is the driver. It’s getting even easier these days as it takes a few bolts to remove the seat and a little razor blading to scrub the signature decal and you’ve got a brand new race team. Now, the key to firing your driver, much like firing your head coach in the National Football League, is having a plan in place for who will take over the seat and make your team better. Without that, the devil you know may not be worth firing. But, what if you didn’t have to worry about finding another driver? What if you could just go without one? Well, this might be as far off as you may want it to be. There was an article that popped up on some website – not Hoseheads. com – that published the headline “Self-Driving Race Cars Make History in Indianapolis” and I clicked out of sheer curiosity. Turns out, they were talking about the Brickyard, not some Tesla convention with a few gearheads. Teams of engineers from around the world had self-driving cars programmed off algorithms to run timed sessions with the fastest average speed being named the winner. Turns out, the spectacle paid $1 million bucks to a team from a university in Munich. Unless the website Tech Explore is some satirical send up of The Onion that I’ve never heard of, this actually happened. The robots are coming for our race cars. And why not, they’ve already come for our baseball umpires. Can you imagine if this became the future of our sport? “Hey, Mr. McCreadie, we really appreciate all that you’ve done

REPLACE THE DRIVER ENTIRELY? for our team over the past few years but we’re going in a different direction. We’re hiring – no one. Well, actually, we’re hiring a team of 10 engineers to sit safely in an office building and they’re going to drive the car from now on. We can even take the seat out to save weight and won’t need any safety equipment either. Cheers!” Just imagine this world. Instead of one driver’s ego, you’ve got multiple driver egos to compete against. What would victory lane look like? How would you ever explain to someone like AJ Foyt or Tony Stewart that they had just lost to literally no one? To me, the idea of driverless cars reduces our sport to the same level as R/C car racing. Maybe even more so because there at least there is the possibility of human error in the heat of the moment. Do you know the big racechanging moment in the autonomous race at Indy happened to be? Not some guy going all in and getting his wheels too far below the line in turn one and losing it. No. One of the engineers accidentally programmed the car to run five laps instead of six laps. For real. That happened. I hate the march of technology but I’m not blind to it entirely. I know that race car engineers have toiled endlessly over the past 130 or so years to make cars faster and simultaneously safer because the end goal has always been to see the mix of man versus machine pushing the limits of other humans and their machines. Not machine versus machine. It doesn’t work for me. That’s like putting CGI up against Jack Nicholson. I’ve got “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” every time.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

To me, electric cars and environmental issues pose a greater threat to our beloved sport than taking the driver, and thus the humanity, out of it but it’s an amazing thing to not just ponder but to witness. One long-time Indy fan, quoted in the article, was said to be ecstatic about the spectacle and that it got her blood pumping. And, believe it or not, her name wasn’t even Siri or Alexa. Perhaps the only way out of this box is more technology. What if we could use that fancy hologram technology that brought Sinatra and Prince alive and we could actually watch Jan Opperman take on Tommy Hinnershitz? Get back to me when that’s a thing.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Summit Racing Equipment

news

NOTES

RUSH RACING SERIES ANNOUNCE NEW SPONSORSHIPS FOR ‘22 RUSH Racing Series Directors Vicki Emig and Mike Leone are pleased to welcome Hovis Auto & Truck Supply as the Series’ branding sponsor along with Born2Run Lubricants as the presenting sponsor for the upcoming 2022 season and beyond. Hovis and Born2Run replace Pace Performance and Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC after an impressive 11-year partnership with the Series. The Hovis and Born2Run logos will adorn not only the RUSH Racing Series logo, but also the Series logos of the RUSH Late Models, RUSH Sprint Cars, RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, RUSH Pro Mods, RUSH Stock Cars, and RUSH Karting Series. Hovis Auto & Truck Supply began its marketing partnership with RUSH in 2019 by presenting the $10,000 to-win “Bill Emig Memorial” for the RUSH Late Model Touring Series at Lernerville Speedway in addition to the presenting sponsor of the Weekly, Touring, and Futures Cup Championships for the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. That partnership continued through 2021 and expanded by bringing their Born2Run Lubricants into the fold as the “Official Oil” of RUSH and the co-presenting sponsor with Flynn’s Tire of the RUSH Late Model Touring Series. Moving into 2022, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply and Born2Run Lubricants have stepped up to become RUSH’s most prestigious marketing partners; Hovis and Born2Run will now become synonymous with every facet of the RUSH Racing Series. “Hovis has had a long-term

Photo: Jim Balentine

relationship with Vicki dating back many years to her time at Mercer Raceway Park,” explained Hovis Auto & Truck Supply owner Cliff Hovis. “With each opportunity she has been a strong business partner of ours, so when the opportunity arose for us to get more involved with the RUSH Racing Series, we were glad to support her once again. RUSH is one of the premier dirt track racing series in this part of the country and we are proud to be affiliated with them at this level.” Hovis Auto Wrecking, Inc. opened as a family business in 1952. By 1969 their business had grown to include new parts sales and Hovis Auto & Truck Supply was formed. Hovis has grown to 17 locations throughout western Pennsylvania and expanded their business to include heavy duty truck parts and paint, body and equipment sales.For more than 50 years, Hovis Auto & Truck Supply has based their success on four key ingredients: their dedicated professionals, large inventories, quality name brand parts, and competitive prices. Meanwhile, Born2Run Lubricants offers a wide variety of premium quality lubrication products at an exceptional value and are exclusively packaged by Hovis. “First off we cannot express how appreciative we are to Sweeney Chevrolet

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Buick GMC and Pace Performance,” acknowledged Emig. “While one door closed, another one opened,” continued Emig. “My relationship with Hovis goes back many, many years. During my 11year tenure as owner/promoter of Mercer Raceway Park, Hovis was one of, if not, the largest marketing partners at the speedway. Hovis presented several major events at Mercer including the ‘Bill Emig Memorial’, which at the time featured triple Big-Block Modified features. It was fitting when we got to work together again all these years later with RUSH it once again was in conjunction with the ‘Bill Emig Memorial’ and Modified racing. To now have Hovis and Born2Run move to the forefront of RUSH and all of our individual Series means so much to Mike and I, and we cannot be more excited to bring them along as we promote and grow Chevrolet Performance crate engine racing on a daily basis in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.” For more information on Hovis Auto & Truck Supply along with their Born2Run Lubricants, check out their newly redesigned website at www.hovisauto. com or call 724-748-9618. Also, “like” their Facebook page at www.facebook. com/HovisAutoSupply.

WORLD OF OUTLAWS TO IMPLEMENT FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM IN 2023 The World of Outlaws made a lot of news when they announced that an on-board fire suppression system will become mandatory with the sprint car series starting with the 2023 series. According to the press release, “by the first event of 2023, fire suppression systems will be required for all World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competitors. Sprint Car Safety Council members are in the process of working with SFI and manufacturers to develop a set of specifications which is anticipated to be completed by May 2022. It is anticipated that the specifications will include required number of nozzle(s) and their location, minimum 5lb system, bottle construction, type of mounting hardware, etc. It is recommended that anyone considering a sprint car fire suppression system should wait until the SFI specifications are released

Photo: Paul Arch

before making a purchase. If you intend to install a system before the SFI specification is completed, be aware you may be required to update it when the SFI specification is mandatory in 2023.” The release continued with further details. “Series officials have already begun conducting cockpit nozzle tests, while the SFI will begin their research & development on January 26. As previously stated, a specification is expected to be finalized by late spring or early summer. The fire suppression systems will then be mandatory at the 2023 World of Outlaws season opener.” “We’ve had preliminary discussions about this for the last few years, so this has been the goal to get here for some time,” Devitt added. “I brought it up again at Knoxville last year and presented the rule to drivers and teams, and everyone was well receptive of it. We

just have to go through the process of refining what exactly the rule will be. The two SFI standards right now don’t fit into a Sprint Car, so we’re creating a new 17.3 specification. It’ll take a bit of time, so that’s why we’re holding off until 2023.” Titled the “Single Seat Open Wheel Front Engine On-Board Fire Suppression System,” the SFI has already drafted the 17.3 specification with finalization on the rule coming once research and development are complete. Due to the open cockpit nature of a Sprint Car, the SFI 17.3 specification is expected to be tougher to pass than other fire suppression specifications. Further updates on this system and any other rules bulletin will be announced once finalized. Drivers and teams can view the current World of Outlaws rulebook online.

GRAND ANNUAL SPRINTCAR CLASSIC RETURNS; MCHUGH WINS FIRST After taking a one year hiatus, Australia’s biggest Sprint Car event was back on the track in mid-January and after three nights of racing, Lachlan McHugh stood tallest and grabbed his first ever title. With travel restrictions still in place, the number of American invaders was limited to just Carson Macedo but there was still a huge field of Australian’s finest. McHugh, who is just 23 years old, scored the win by besting defending race winner James McFadden in a greenwhite-checker finale that gave McHugh the $30,000 win. McFadden held on for second and $15,000 while 2017 winner Corey McCullagh received $10,00 for finishing in the third spot.

Photo: Donna Rosenstengel DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

in memorium

Photo: Tom Reel

ALL STAR LEGEND HUNTLEY PASSES SUDDENLY

One of the All Star Circuit of Champions’ all-time great racers, Kevin Huntley, passed away suddenly at his home in Bloomington, Indiana, on January 8. He was just 56. Known forever as The Pup, Huntley was a popular hard charging racer that had 44 career series victories and was a two-time champion. His rivalry with fellow gasser Frankie Kerr defined the era for the All Stars, as was evidenced when they tied for the 1993 title. Huntley started racing around his Bloomington home in 1984 and raced regularly for nearly 25 years. He kept at it in recent years when the Racesaver Sprints started racing at his hometown track. He retired again in victory lane following one final score in 2015. Off the racetrack, he founded Kevin Huntley Excavating with his wife Lisa and grew and built their business together and lately had also started Green Earth, a recycling and composting company. The couple were parents to daughter Elizabeth. In the last decade, he channeled his adrenaline cravings into aviation and became a licensed pilot.

Photo: Paul Arch

AL UNSER, FOUR-TIME INDY WINNER, PASSES

While the entire racing world was gathered in Indianapolis for the PRI trade show, news broke that one of the biggest stars in the history of the city passed away on December 10. Al Unser, one of only four drivers to ever win the Indianapolis 500 four times in his career, was a legendary racer and a massive part of the one of the greatest family racing legacies in American history. Although his Indy resume gave him headlines and confirmed his legendary status, readers of Dirt Empire will also remember Big Al as a two-time USAC champion, including when it was a mix of road courses, pavement and dirt in 1970, and as the 1973 USAC Silver Crown Series titlist. Unser was especially proficient at the Hoosier 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which he won four straight times from 19701973. He was inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in 2013.

CJ RAYBURN, AGED 80, PASSES

If you’re in the inaugural class of any Hall of Fame, it means you’re one of the most important people in the history of that genre. When the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame was looking at the true titans for their first class in 2001, CJ

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Rayburn was on the list. Rayburn passed on January 1 at the age of 80. A tinkerer and master mechanic, Carl J. Rayburn started out building engines but soon turned his attention to building better race cars for the rapidly emerging and evolving world of late models. He was a tireless worker that had a reputation for helping anyone in need, whether they asked for his hand or not. As it said in his obituary, “He always looked out for the little guys, those who raced simply for the love of the sport. Everyone who knew him had a story. He was often described as eccentric and known for his racing innovations. He always had a bed to spare and a meal to share. He gave opportunities to many, a home, jobs, sponsorship, the use of his car, truck, bed, meal, motorhome, house or shop.” Rayburn’s race cars won countless features and his design was perhaps best on display when it conquered Eldora’s World 100 on 13 different occasions.

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 KYLE LARSON - RECORD BREAKING RUN AT GOLDEN ISLES SPEEDWAY

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 $30,000 #28 TYLER CARPENTER AT THE GATEWAY DIRT NATIONALS 2021 SUPER LATE MODEL - IN-CAR CAM

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

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

SKULL CANDY

the lighter side of

DIRT IF YOU CATCH a great brain bucket out there, capture a photo, send it to Dirt Empire Magazine at zoch24@ hotmail.com with a quick quip about why you love it.

Man of Steel. If you’re going to put a cartoon of a race car driver ripping open his shirt to reveal he’s actually Superman, you had better have the resume to back it up. No problem here as Jonathan Davenport has more than enough on his to earn this sweet helmet. Photo: Josh James

Remember the Titans! At first glance, this has to be the lid of some hot shot late model racer from the Volunteer State, right? Nope. That’s Pennsylvania 358 sprint car legend Dale Hammaker’s racing helmet from the past few seasons. Photo: David Giles

Old School – Emick Style. When Skylar Gee went All Star racing, he did so in style with a logo throwback on his old school helmet to the early days of Bert Emick’s All Star Tour. The series, now owned by Tony Stewart, does well to remember its roots to this day. Photo: Paul Arch

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

White Knuckle Clothing

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

the lighter side of

DIRT CHILI BOWL HOW IT STARTED.

HOW IT’S GOING. Photo: David Campbell

Photographer extrordinaire, David Campbell, receiving some well deserved attention after taking some beauty shots. They must have seen David in the last issue of Dirt Empire when he was featured in our “Shooter at Large” section.

Photo: Brendon Bauman

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Bernheisel Race Components

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

the lighter side of

DIRT

ASIDE FROM SPONSORSHIPS, racers use their cars to convey everything from politics to jokes and to express their personalities. Here are some of our favorites from the last couple of months.

Want a helmet decal? Send us a self-addressed stamped envelope with a decal request to: Dirt Empire Magazine PO Box 919 Brunswick, GA 31521

Sounds like a plan! Greg Mitchell had this oft quoted inspirational saying plastered on to his midget at USAC’s visit to the 4 Crown. Anyone who is running a Midget is taking this advice on living life to the max to the fullest extent! Photo: Paul Arch

While not technically graphics, the Shark Racing crew had found a fun way to put their stamp uniquely on their All Pro Cylinder Heads for Jacob Allen. Photo: Paul Arch

From the beginning! I think everyone that’s ever raced a car of any sort has probably had these sentiments at least one disastrous night at the track. This Oklahomabased racer seems to have the right attitude for when things take a turn! Photo: David Campbell

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Here I come to fill the field!!! Couldn’t resist taking a shot at Minnesota’s Brandon Halverson Underdog Motorsports crew and their own brand of self-deprecating humor with this cool logo on their wing dish. Photo: Paul Arch

Don’t get bit! The one they call the Highside Hustler – Jason Feger – came with an aggressive message on his late model for the UMP Late Models at Eldora. Photo: Paul Arch

Gotta Keep the Kids Straight! The message on the front wing cap of Ohio veteran 410 driver John Ivy’s car comes by way of the car owners. They own an amusement ride business and tongue in cheek put the warning label there for the benefit of the younger generation. Photo: Rick Sherer

Priorities! Someone in his life clearly wants Rob Bland to get his priorities in order and stop spending all that money on his limited modified at Oklahoma’s Lawton Speedway. Photo: Ashley Allinson

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

action

Photo: Patrick Grant

CAPTURE Jake Swanson (black 21) won his first USAC National Sprint feature in a prelim at the Oval Nationals over the 9 of Kevin Thomas Jr. Don’t cry for KTJ, though, as he won the $10,000 finale two days later. Here is Swanson in a true photo finish at Perris Auto Speedway in Perris, California. Pure awesomeness. This guy gets it.

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Dominator

Photos: Tyler Rinkin

review in PICTURES

Friday night feature winner Tyler Erb blasting in the Land of Enchantment.

WILD WEST SHOOTOUT THE SHOOTOUT MOVES TO NEW MEXICO No Bull. Brandon Sheppard, Garrett Alberson, Tyler Erb and Mike Marlar all wrangled their way to a victory and got to share the spotlight with this fine specimen.

WILD WEST SHOOTOUT VADO SPEEDWAY PARK, VADO, NEW MEXICO TOP THREE FINISHERS January 8 January 9 January 12 January 14 January 15 January 16

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1. Brandon Sheppard 1. Brandon Sheppard 1. Garrett Alberson 1. Tyler Erb 1. Mike Marlar 1. Mike Marlar

2. Bobby Pierce 2. Tyler Erb 2. Mike Marlar 2. Earl Pearson Jr. 2. Garrett Alberson 2. Earl Pearson Jr.

3. Mike Marlar 3. Garrett Alberson 3. Tyler Erb 3. Bobby Pierce 3. Earl Pearson Jr. 3.Jake Timm

Postcard perfect as Brandon Sheppard sweeps the first two shows at Vado Raceway Park.

Photos: Tyler Rinkin

Mike Marlar got better and better throughout the Shootout and, by week’s end, he swept the final two shows. Photo: Tyler Rinkin DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Going well - Brandon Sheppard leads Tyler Erb.

Photo: Mike Ruefer.

Going not so well - Brandon Sheppard follows a tow truck.

Photo: Mike Ruefer.

A couple of Midwesterners looking for early season laps out west as Missouri’s Mason Oberkamper races Minnesota’s Jake Timm.

Photo: Mike Ruefer.

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Garrett Alberson had himself a week as he returned to race in his home state of New Mexico and put one on the invaders in the Roberts Motorsports 58. He had two other podiums to go with his Wednesday night score.

Photo: Tyler Rinkin

The starting front row of the finale was Mike Marlar on the outside in the 157 and Minnesota’s Jake Timm on the pole in the 49. Marlar got the win while Earl Pearson Jr. was the only other racer to get by Timm before the checkers. DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

SHOOTOUT IN VADO FOR ’23 BUT BACK TO ARIZONA IN ’24?

Mike Marlar with a $25,000 smile. Photo: Tyler Rinkin.

Brandon Sheppard in victory lane. Photo: Mike Ruefer.

For the second-straight year Rodney Sanders Racing won the Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified Championship presented by Rancho Milagro. He also won four events to claim the Rio Grande Waste Services Four-Or-More $10,000 Bonus. Photo: Tyler Rinkin.

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The 17th running of the mega miniseries will see over $70,000 added to the week’s super late model purses. The six-race swing, which is set for January 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, and 15, 2023, will now see five $10,000-to-win features in addition to the $25,000-to-win Rio Grande Waste Services 50 presented by Shaw Trucking. “We’ve truly got some great marketing partners with the Wild West Shootout, and their support is allowing us to expand our purses for the 2023 edition,” said event promoter, Chris Kearns. “We are very excited to offer over $240,000 in Super Late Model purse money throughout the miniseries.” Additionally, details are now available for the 2023 Wild West Shootout’s location. “Jonah Trussel has been a long-time supporter of the Wild West Shootout, and he was a great host for the miniseries, while it was at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway. Now he’s working on building a new track in the greater Phoenix area,” Kearns continued. “Right now, it looks like the new facility will be ready for 2024. After a week of amazing racing and talking with Royal Jones from Vado Speedway Park, he has graciously agreed to allow us to have the event back at his place in 2023.” Details are currently developing for Trussel’s new facility, which will serve as the future home of the Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. As new information becomes available, Trussel and Wild West Shootout officials will release the details accordingly.

Bobby Pierce (32) and Garret Alberson (58) duke it out. Alberson had one victory and two additional top-three finishes for his Wild West Shootout 2022 campaign.

Photo: Mike Ruefer.

Tyler Erb capped his Wild West Shootout 2022 performance with a victory, second place and third place finishes.

Photo: Mike Ruefer.

Rusty Schlenk in the number 1 CJ Rayburn Race Cars car.

Photo: Mike Ruefer. DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

on the

ROAD

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

with reaper

WORLD OF OUTLAW LATE MODEL DRIVER

RYAN GUSTIN By Cyndi Stiffler

Dirt Empire is hitting the asphalt with driver Ryan Gustin as our contributing writer, Cyndi Stiffler, tracks what it’s really like spending a racing season in the World of Outlaw Late Model Series as she tags along with Gustin and his team. IN THE WORLD of racing whether you’re a fan, driver, media personnel, or track worker, there is a silent awe and respect one feels when a driver makes it so to speak, and can make a living traveling from track to track. Some drivers set out to achieve that status from day one, others become successful and find themselves with a willing sponsor to compete on the road, and some just have the right last name. Regardless of how these elite acquired the job of professionally racing, their lives become a glass house and everyone assumes that what they are seeing and witnessing is the ultimate life that anyone that loves racing would dream

Photo: Cyndi Stiffler

of. Now, while that may be partially true, the reality is that it is very much a job, and with any job in life, your performance reviews determine how long you keep that job. While being a professional racecar driver is every race fan’s dream come true job, there are so many things as fans looking in that one does not realize that goes into living this life on the road. This year we thought we would give race fans a peak in of what that life is all about, and we are following World of Outlaws driver from Marshalltown, Iowa, Ryan Gustin, on the road as he pursues a championship title. He will share the weekly ins and outs and highs and lows

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Photo: Jacy Norgaard

of a season on the road racing for a championship. The Reaper, as Ryan is fondly called by his friends and fans, is a third generation driver on both sides of his family and got his start at the young age of just three-years-old racing karts at the Winter Dome in Des Moines, Iowa. Considering the family-racing legacy Gustin comes from, this is really not that surprising. Gustine’s mother Judy was a Defrance, and that name is synonymous with the word racing itself. Judy Defrance Gustin raced stock cars and even won the Boone IMCA Nationals the year before Ryan was born. Ryan’s birth retired her driving career, but not the family

tradition. Ryan’s father Rick continued to race stock cars and modifieds, for much of Gustins younger life. Ryan has two older bothers, Richie, and Jimmy and a younger sister Jenae, which are well known in the IMCA circuits and all are still racing collectively in Sportmods, modifieds, and late models divisions. When Gustin was eight years old, the family moved into a new neighborhood where Ryan met his now lifelong friend and crew chief, Brett Ladehoff. The Ladehoff family took Ryan with them on the weekends to the Go Kart tracks and that’s where he started winning races. By the time he was twelve, Gustins dad acquired him a Dirt Works Modified and they ran at Algoona, Webster, and Mason City in the USRA BMod division where he picked up 7 wins that year right out of the box. By the time Gustin turned sixteen he was running modifieds full time with the United States Modified Touring Series. He got his first USMTS Main event win August of 2008 at the age of 17-yearsold , and three years later he won back to back USMTS championships in 2011 and 2012. His career highlights include: • First USMTS main event win at Highway 3 Raceway in Allison, Iowa, on Aug. 28, 2008. • Two-time USMTS National Champion (2011, 2012) • 2012 World Modified Dirt Track Championship winner • Two-time King of America winner (2013, 2017) • 2018 Summit USRA Nationals winner • Two-time Cedar Lake Speedway Masters Champion (2017, 2019) • 101-career USMTS main event wins (3rd all-time) • MLRA Fall Nationals winner (2019) Gustin’s journey to dirt late models started in 2006 when he ran 8-10 MARS and MLRA races for owner Ed Gressel at Lakeside Speedway. He later ran a second car for Jason Hughs , before going out on his own in 2018. He called Dave Stiene of Tri Star Engines to supply his engine, and ultimately that relationship turned into Gustins biggest career opportunity. In 2019 Ryan was offered the chance to pilot the Rocket Chassis, Clement powered owned late model for Steine, and in 2021 they took that partnership on the road as Gustin contended for Rookie of the Year honors with the Morton Building World of

Photo: Jacy Norgaard

Outlaws Late Models. The team came up short in winning that title as they battled a year of hard luck, but still garnered a 6th place overall finish in the WoO points with 9 top 5’s and 21 top 10’s. This young team plans to take what they learned their rookie season and head back out on road with the Outlaws again, and contend for the championship in 2022 which starts in Florida at Volusia County Speedway, January 20th. This venture would not be possible if it was not for the dedication of Brett Ladehoff and Noah Bushman. The duo makes up Gustins road team as they work together on the car and chase wins and championships together. Gustin’s biggest support is no doubt his wife Kendra and their children Bradyn (9) and Ivey (6). This many times becomes one of the harder parts of being on the road, as work and school many times do not allow his family to travel with him. Bradyn was old enough

to join the team on a summer road trip last year but most of the time, unless the races are local to Marshalltown, it’s hard for his family to make many of the road trips. A commitment to pursue a national championship is comprised of support from so many, owners, sponsors, crew, family, and of course the support of fans as well. You can follow Gustin’ journey at www.ryangustin.com also on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Make sure and grab every copy of Dirt Empire this year as well, and follow his journey on the road racing for 2022 season. Sponsored by: Tri Star Engines & Transmissions, Ramirez Motorsports, VP Heartland, Mahle, Quality Freight Rate, Swift Springs, Fast Shafts, Performance Bodies, ML Performance, Penske Racing Shocks, Rocket Chassis, Ace Race Wraps, Nitroquest Media.

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e3 Lithium Battery

short track

Independence, Iowa

THE DUFFY BOYS By Doug Kennedy

“HE’S ALWAYS THERE for me and will tell me when I don’t do well and when I do, but in the end, we’re brothers and he will always be there for me,” Logan Duffy said of his younger brother Landon. “He does a lot of things for me. He makes sure everything is ready. He will clean the mud from the car, get my uniform and helmet ready and any other things that need to be done.” “It’s fun to work with him because we are so close,” said Landon of his older brother. “We don’t have to talk to each other because we know what each other is thinking. He’s easy to work with because he will ask for my input. It’s fun to be on a race team, but when it’s your brother and how close we are that’s even better.” Mind you, this is two teenage boys talking about each other. When they are on the racing circuit, Logan serves as the crew chief on the car even though younger brother Landon wants to lay claim to that title as well. “No, I’m the crew chief,” Logan emphatically said. The brothers have been together since Logan, six at the time, and Landon, four, worked together when Logan first raced a kart. Besides providing financial support for the team, Logan’s father, Jim, does the gear work on the car while Gene Budzine works on the motors and Scotty Fitzpatrick does setup and shock work. When it comes to the financial breakdown of operating the race team, Logan is in charge of paying for anything involved with the car for DBR Racing. Jim and Lisa (Logan’s mom) take care of

the fueling for the truck and some other ancillary costs. A strong racing lineage stems from Logan’s grandfather, Gary Crawford, who had quite an impressive racing career. “We raced nearly every night of the week,” said the 73-year-old Crawford. “We went everywhere where there were special events, like 100-lap features. I would pick up a copy of the Hawkeye Racing News and see what tracks had a good event that we could go race.” With better than 300 feature wins to his credit, Gary retired from racing when Logan was born back in 2004. That prevented Logan from having the opportunity to see his grandad race. The boy’s father Jim never raced but was heavily involved with his cousin, Darin, and his race team. Besides racing, farming and operating the equipment is what Logan enjoys doing. That usually happens more in the spring and the fall. The farm, which is 16,000 acres, is used to raise corn and soybeans. Three hundred acres of that land is where the Duffy family lives and where the race cars are housed. His grandfather, Gary, bought the farm in 1972 and leased it to Burco Farms for a number of years. In 2019, Gary decided to retire, selling off all his equipment and trucks. Burco Farms took over the everyday operation of the farm so now Gary and his two grandsons work for them. “The kids would get off the school bus and race over to the house to see what they could do on the farm for the day,” Gary said of his two grandsons. “They

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Photo: Black Hat Photography

STARS

grew up and worked all the time.” Once he turned 13, Gary decided it was time to move from a kart to a full blown dirt late model. To get him used to the car, Crawford would take his grandson to their home track of Independence and run some hot laps. “I was going to put him into a late model and see what he could do,” Gary said. “I wanted to start him off from the top and not go through all the other divisions. I would take my pickup truck while Logan was in the late model. At first I would be leading him around but then he was able to pass me and lead the way.” At the time, he was too young to race the late model and he was also a little small as well. “We had to put blocks under the seat so he could reach the pedals,” Gary said. “I made him a false floor so he could rest his feet on the floor.” “The two boys do everything on the car,” said Gary. “They can both take a motor out and put it back in again with the headers and everything else and get it right. It gives me great pride to see them do these things. They’re not afraid to do anything on the car. They put on the body and the nose. They stay out of trouble because they are so busy working on the car.” There are also some buildings on the farm that serve as garages for the race cars. The main or lower shop is where Logan keeps his race car and equipment and the upper shop houses race cars for 34-year-old Travis Smock. “We race against each other,” said Logan of

better prior to the race. “It was almost like a win for me,” Logan said. Logan will soon start his fourth season in the IMCA Series. His first win came at Marshalltown Speedway in Iowa and his second followed a week later at Independence Speedway, Logan’s home track. “That win was very special for me since I won in front of my family and friends.” In 2021, Logan led early in national points and finished fifth overall while winning the Iowa state point

championship. He also won the track title at his favorite track in Dubuque. “It just seems like the track is really good and you can race either the top or the bottom, or anywhere else on the track. My grand pap also liked to race at Dubuque as well.” As far as Logan’s skills as a driver, Gary said, “He (Logan) adapts really well. He’s way ahead of the curve. He has a good feeling when he’s in the lead and he very rarely tears up the car. He just has a lot of natural talent.”

Photo: Black Hat Photography

Smock. “I’ve known him for as long as I can remember. I don’t think I would be racing if it wasn’t for him and his family because they were there when I grew up and I developed a fondness for racing. When we race, we build off of each other. If one of us is not running well, the other will help out and vice-versa. It’s definitely a two-way street.” This past June, Travis and Logan finished one-two at Independence, a race that made Logan feel good since he worked with Travis on making the car

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Dyers Top Rods

action

CAPTURE

Photo: Josh James

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Arkansas teenager Landon Crawley sprays the cushion into the bleachers at the Dome in St. Louis. The second-generation star is the son of ASCS champion Tim Crawley. DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

a main FEATURE

LATE MODEL

TYLER CARPENTER A DREAM, A DOME AND A TRUCK

By Ashley Zimmerman

AS FAR AS FAIRY TALES GO in the world of all that is speed on dirt, the one we all fall asleep dreaming of is the grassroots driver who works in the darkness of night by himself in the shop season after season praying that when they put it all together and enter a race against the big dogs, he’s the one who gets to see victory lane for a celebration. It’s the story our kids parrot back to us as they make claims of being a race car

driver when they grow up, it’s how all the movies go, and it’s how we pray we make it go every Saturday night we strap in or watch our favorite driver at our hometown track. We weave our dreams into fairy tales not because the path is easy, not because it’s a guarantee; we tell those tales because they rarely become reality. With roots deeply embedded in the world of grassroots racing, Tyler

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Carpenter faced off against the names of headlines and name brand sponsors to simply dominate the 2021 Gateway Dirt Nationals, not only allowing him the prestige of going back to back at the $30k race, but in a last minute surprise twist to winning the title, secured the West Virginia native a ride with Niece Motorsports at the NASCAR Truck race at Knoxville Raceway. While hard to pin down with the onslaught of well-deserved

where my passion is at. I’m going to try to stick with that, I don’t mind bouncing around a little bit and trying other stuff, but deep down, I’m going to stick with late models. DE: When your father raced, it was often that he was looked at as the underdog and in that sense; the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. How do you look at the people who overlook the competition that you bring to the race track? TC: The biggest thing is that we’ve just always kind of raced in our backyard. For years, we’ve slowly progressed and I think people tend to forget where we came from and the battles that it’s taken to get where we’re at now. I think that’s why some of ‘em see us as an underdog. I don’t really know how to explain it, but people always have a lot of doubt in us, or think we do things for attention. The bottom line is, it’s been a

long tough road to get where we’re at and there’s no looking back, we’re going to keep going until we can’t anymore. I think that’s why I’m so hard on myself and trying to succeed.

Photos: Josh James

press, he carved out some time for us to pick his brain. Dirt Empire: You come from a racing family, with your dad having also raced late models. Is it safe to say that late models and dirt track racing is where it will always be for you? Tyler Carpenter: Yeah, you know, they will always be in my blood. I don’t really see myself doing anything other than that. Late models and dirt racing is

DE: When it comes to racing at the Dome in St. Louis, you seem to have that place figured out and what it takes to win. What do you think makes you go so well there? TC: The biggest thing, and the thing that I say in every interview, is that it’s an equalizer for a lot of guys. Guys that don’t have all the advanced technology or engineers behind them, or maybe just can’t afford it, you can be that guy and go out there and succeed. You don’t have to have it all put together like you do when it comes to running a big 3/8s or half-mile track, it allows a good hard racer, the hard worker with a lot of dedication to go out there and run well. DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Carpenter posed with the Niece Motorsports truck after taking a few moments to let the fact that he’ll be driving that ride at Knoxville later this year sink in.

DE: The announcement at Gateway Dirt Nationals of the winner of the final night getting a NASCAR truck ride for the Knoxville Raceway dirt race in 2022 was a surprise for everyone, including drivers. Prior to this, had NASCAR ever been on the radar for you? TC: I mean, I thought about it, I’m not going to lie, you know, especially as a kid growing up. NASCAR has always been the top of the chart, where you can say you succeeded. I’ve never really imagined myself doing it; it’s always been a dream of mine somewhere down the line. But as I’ve grown up, I’ve gotten away from it, I put 100% focus in dirt racing and just tried to make the best out of what was there and see how far I could actually take it. DE: Do you anticipate adapting to a truck will be difficult for you or do you think your dirt experience will be an advantage for you? TC: It’s kind of hard for me to speak for

Photos: Josh James

You don’t have to have the top of the line stuff at Gateway to run well. You just have to have something that’s going to hold together. The biggest thing is that it’s an equalizer, not only for me, but for a lot of the drivers, it gives them a shot at the spotlight of the Dome. It makes the driver stand out more than just the car.

that because I’ve never experienced anything like that. But, at the end of the day, it’s just a race car; it’s a matter of finding your limits with everything. I feel realistically I feel pretty comfortable going into it, not having a clue like this, and I’ll tell you why, because it’s on dirt, and a lot of those guys dirt just isn’t their thing. I feel like it’s going to create a bit of an equalizer for me, in a sense, because I’ll be on a dirt surface of which I’m very used to. I understand it’s in a totally different kind of car, but those guys are used to asphalt for the most part. The biggest thing with me is just finding my limits with the truck with how hard you can and cannot run it. DE: Obviously winning at the Gateway Dirt Nationals garnered you an

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opportunity for something in 2022 that you weren’t planning on, has the attention from the entire weekend brought about any other surprises for 2022? TC: Yeah and no, I’ve had some opportunities with a couple of guys reaching out to me to run the Tulsa Shootout, and as stupid as it sounds, I had to turn it down. I’m so busy here at the shop with people trying to get ready for Speedweeks of their own. I also have five kids, so I have to kind of weigh out what is feasible and what isn’t to an extent. I’ve had some offers that I haven’t had in the past, and I feel like I’m going to have a little bit more help this year, especially with my motor program and that will me to succeed on the dirt side. But, as of right now, the NASCAR

“[The Dome] is an equalizer for a lot of guys. Guys that don’t have all the advanced technology or engineers behind them, or maybe just can’t afford it, you can be that guy and go out there and succeed.” - Tyler Carpenter

Photo: Josh James

Wehrs Machine & Racing Products

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ride is the biggest thing and I’m really looking forward to it. Whether or not I say I stopped caring about running NASCAR, at the end of the day, it’s a huge deal and I’m excited for it, just to see how I can do. DE: While I know the talk has surrounded the excitement and success of Gateway Dirt Nationals, looking back over the season how would you classify it went? TC: I’ve had some pretty good runs. I’ve won some $5,000 to win races and I think a $7,500 to win race, I’ve won quite a few good races. But it was 2021, and it’s been a struggle just like 2020. The biggest thing was just motor issues, one thing after another whether it was self-inflicted or just some freak deal. The last few years have been tough, so to go out there at Gateway Dirt Nationals and accomplish that, I was pretty ecstatic. DE: You touched for a moment on balance, between the chassis shop, having a large family, and racing, just how do you balance all of it? TC: To be honest, I don’t, I just do what I can. I pretty well live at the shop, but make time for my wife and the kids - it’s tough. I take the business side, well we all do, take it very serious. If we’re going to build these cars and have customers, I want them to succeed as well as us. So, nine times out of ten, I’ll work from eight or nine in the morning to eight or nine at night on customer stuff and have just a few hours left to work on my car, my stuff is always last. On race day I try to put a lot of time in it but I kind of put myself last, make sure everyone else is done right before me, which makes it tough and sucks in a sense. But, at the end of the day, we have to keep them happy as well.

miserable, whether or not they want to admit it. For anyone who races for series points, it’s tough because there’s a lot on the line; you have to go to those races and perform. I kind of enjoy the fact that I can pick and choose where I want to run and what’s feasible or more realistic for my team, my family, and I. I’d be a fool to say I never wanted to do it, but at the end of the day, do I really want to? DE: Over the course of your career, not just during Gateway, the press you’ve received has not always been positive; you have had your fair share of negative attention. What do you think should be the focus when people hear your name? TC: At the end of the day, I’m good hearted, I work hard and have earned everything I’ve gotten, I own about 99% of my stuff. I’m a family man, and I run my own business, we do our own thing. I’m just trying to be me at the end of the day, and I think that’s what fans want to see. I think we just need to keep racing where it needs to be, I understand we have to keep things clean, but we have to keep the excitement and the emotion going, too. That’s my main focus - to not lose track of who I am or where I came from, while putting on a show for the fans on and off the track. I stick to my roots. You see guys that win these big money races, and they might not even crack a smile, but you get a good hard working guy that dedicates his whole life to it, just trying to succeed and maybe

DE: Would you ever think about running a national series or do you enjoy the blend of the chassis shop and regional racing? TC: In one sense, I would love to just live on the road and go racing. But in another sense, I think those guys get pretty

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win a race, you put that guy in a spot to win a big money race and you see his excitement and emotions. People forget that racing is bigger than some of us think to an extent, racing got to where it’s at because at the end of the day it was realistic, it wasn’t a scripted show, it was raw emotion, so that’s what I try to do, while still staying true to who I am. DE: For many drivers, an opportunity to race a truck in NASCAR is something you’d see listed on their bucket list, what would we see on your bucket list? TC: I’d like to run a sprint car at least once, just to experience the feeling and rush you would get out of a sprint car. I think the speed, the weight, would just make it very intense, and I’d like to experience it just once. I’ve had a couple of opportunities back at the house, but it just wasn’t the right time. So, somewhere along the line, I may try to attempt to run at a sprint car show, rather it’s just that race or to test it out. I’d just like to be able to say I tried that. DE: Aside from looking forward to the truck race on your 2022 schedule, is there anything else you’re excited about? TC: I’m kind of a fly by night type of guy but the biggest thing would be the Flo Racing series. They have a lot of big races coming this year and I may try to attempt some of those. The Flo Racing series has a lot of big paying races that

Carpenter at Skyline Speedway in Ohio in victory lane for the Harvest 50 with wife Iesha and his five children. Photo: Zach Yost

a guy could hit, and not have to tour all over the place, but could bounce around and run for a big amount of money throughout the whole season. So, I may dab around and try to get to some of those bigger races. DE: Let’s talk about where you came from, you are uniquely set apart from other drivers making the headlines right now, you aren’t on a national series, you don’t have name brand so and so as a sponsor to pay your way, or all the latest and greatest; what would you say to all of those drivers looking at you right now realizing that they could be in your shoes one day? TC: The biggest thing is, if you want to race, and you want to see yourself as more of a backyard racer, don’t worry about the opinions of how people see you or what they think of your lifestyle. The bottom line is, whether they are talking good or bad about you, they’re worried about you [as competition], you’re in their head and they care about what you’re doing or they wouldn’t even acknowledge it. Leave all of that to them, go as hard as you can at what you love no matter if it’s racing or what it might be, set high expectations and go for it. It will be what it will be, you know, but let the good Lord make the choice.

TYLER CARPENTER I just want to be a part of the drivers people talk about all of the time; I want to be on top of the dirt world or even racing as whole. I don’t care how people see me or what they think about me or how I did it. It just doesn’t matter to me, but if I can make it on my own, or with a little help, I’m going to go until I can’t go anymore. I know the struggles I’ve had to go through, times where I went to the races having to choose either a jug of fuel or a tire, worrying about if I don’t make the race, if I even have gas to make it home. I don’t talk about that stuff much but I don’t forget where I came from, how hard it was. I changed and built motors in my dad’s backyard when I first started, I hauled in junk metal to just try to get my motors back together. ~ Tyler Carpenter

Running an enduro car in 2016 at Hilltop Speedway.

Photo: Zach Yost

Photo: Ron Sloan DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

the business of

Photos: Paul Arch

DIRT By Ashley Zimmerman

Casey Shuman, back in his racing days, running a non-wing sprint car at the Ultimate Challenge in Iowa.

WORLD RACING GROUP EXPANDS CA S E Y S HUMAN ON THE NEW SER IE S AND L AT E MODEL RULES ONE MIGHT AS well label it a tradition that exciting off season racing news will be released during the three days of PRI and last year the tradition survived. Between the unification of the late model rules and the creation of a new midget racing series by World Racing Group, both sides of the dirt track racing community were buzzing. Be it speculation, opinion, surprise, or excitement, there was much to be said on all ends of the spectrum. Casey Shuman, director of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series uniquely found himself right in the midst of it all from the round table discussion leading to the unification of the late model rules to the midget racer turned man behind the Xtreme Outlaw Midget series. Never one to turn down knocking out two birds with one stone, Dirt Empire managed to squeeze a few moments of the highly sought after Shuman post PRI announcements to talk about the fresh ideas coming to life for the 2022 race season.

Dirt Empire: Let’s start with talking about the creation of the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Sprint Car Series, you were kind of the brain behind the project and getting this off the ground. What made you want to push for this to become a real deal? CS: I mean, it’s my background; midgets, sprint cars, that’s everything I’ve done pretty much my entire life. It’s always something I’ve wanted to be a part of. My wife and I owned the WAR sprint car series for a few years, so there’s a lot of history and background as far as that type of racing goes. We’ve talked about it the last couple of years, and it finally was able to come about. Obviously, with DIRTvision onboard we’re able to bring a whole different type of racing to the subscribers so that was appealing as well. It was the right time to do it. DE: Obviously, you won’t be going at this endeavor all on your own. Who will be assisting you?

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CS: With the schedule being only 10 or 12 races, I don’t know that it’s going to warrant a full blown team. I plan to be at all of them, there might be one I don’t get to be at. But that one will be in conjunction with the World of Outlaws sprint cars, so Mike [Hess] will probably take the lead on that particular event. But, a lot of it is going to be my late model crew. There’s a few of them that have expressed an interest in doing it, as well as a few of the sprint car guys. I think currently we’re going to try and utilize a lot of the staff that we have now. DE: Obviously the creation of another midget series brings about the discussion of how this potentially affects USAC. Do you believe it will have any impact on the series? CS: I don’t know that I think that it affects them, if it does, I think it probably helps. We’re definitely going to try and stay away from weekends that they are racing on specifically. If we’re going to

DE: From the background of having been a driver, how would you have felt about a series like this back then? CS: There has been some stuff like this before, when I first started; my dad had a deal called the Non-Wing World Championship. It was comprised of eight or ten races, a few in the Midwest and a few out west in California, it was a pretty cool deal because it brought together all of the best in USAC and SCRA. That’s kind of where the idea came from to begin with. There for a while, ASCS had a deal called the Sprint Bandits, which was another 10-12 race deal kind of throughout the Midwest. Those two types of deals kind of built the idea; they were both deals that I really liked being a

part of. A lot of people can’t commit to do 50-55 races from coast to coast, but a fifteen race deal, it’s a little easier to commit and concentrate on those. DE: Now that there’s been some time for people to talk it over and ask questions, what do you anticipate car count to look like? CS: Overall, especially for the first week in Volusia, there’s a lot of interest, it seems like a lot of teams are pretty excited about it. I would be happy if we were right around the 30 car mark for most of the races. I think that would be successful if we were right around 30. DE: Switching gears, let’s talk about another major moment you were involved in during PRI, the unification of the late model rules. What do you feel like is the most impactful rule change? CS: We truly only changed one major rule, with the body skew. That’s something there wasn’t really a rule about and we all came together on it. The other stuff was more just unifying that we were checking the same thing every night across the board, whether you run with us, Lucas Oil, or Southern All Stars, or whatever. That was a big deal. There are so many things to check

and look at as far as tech goes, there may be certain things we focus on as the World of Outlaws, but there might be something entirely different that the Lucas Oil or somebody else would focus on. Just getting together and saying, these are the main eight or nine things we need to look at, and this is how we’re going to measure and where we’re going to measure it, is the biggest the thing. I don’t think that’s a major game changer, but just the fact that we’re all together and trying thing, everyone knows what to expect now. It’s not like you will go to one race and they check this, and they say this is illegal but they check it a different way, and if you go to another race they say it’s legal there. I feel like we’ve all talked about this at one time, but never really been in one spot together. It was really an impromptu thing, it wasn’t planned. There were probably 75% of us all kind of standing around in a circle at our booth and started talking about it. We just thought; well let’s call other people around here. It was cool how it turned out. It just happened, but I think it needed to. It was something we’ve all been trying to talk about and get a goal toward. Overall it’s a really positive thing. DE: With things being so straight across the board now, do you think

There has been a lot of talk about unifying tire rules in the late model world in the future but the earliest that will occur will be 2023.

Photo: Josh James

do a midget race that weekend, then we’re going to make sure they’re not doing a midget race that weekend. We’re definitely not trying to compete directly with them, we’re just really trying to enhance and get more eyes on sprint cars, not divide anyone up. We just want to enhance things a little bit and pick up on what they’ve being doing. I really feel overall it’ll help, it can really only help, it’s only going to grow purses, grow exposure of non-wing racing and midgets, and I think that’s all positive.

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Photo: Paul Arch

this alleviates some costs or stress of money when trying to run multiple series? CS: I think so. For some teams, not saying everyone, but there are certain teams that will build a specific car to run with the Outlaws, or Lucas specially, or for just their local show type deals where there might not be a lot of tech at all. You could see the writing on the wall where it was going to end up where guys would build stuff to race certain tracks. You know, one of the things we came together on was the droop rule. It’s measuring deck height, a different way to measure deck height, and now we’re all on the same page there. There were guys building cars specifically for drop rule races, and then a car for other stuff. I really think it’s just going to get everyone a lot closer, in a small box, and that’s gotta help the competition. DE: Aside from the tire rule that goes into effect in 2023, could we expect to see any other changes come or the unification to ever be revised or adjusted? CS: Talking with some of the other officials here in the last couple of days, I think there may be a few tweaks to some of the stuff we’ve talked about. But I think it’s a good start to the path of where we need to be. I would imagine at some point here in the middle of the

year we’ll probably do some tweaks and announce them with enough time for the guys to get ‘em right for 2023. It’s a good start; I just see some small tweaks from here. DE: Personally, how overdue do you think this was? CS: I mean, me still being somewhat new to the late models, this will be my fourth year, and I mean, you could see it was progressively getting worse as far as how far teams were willing to push the gray area of some of the stuff that we just didn’t have rules on. You know for instance, that body skew, there wasn’t really a rule about it you, you could see from the first year I started guys were starting to move the cars a little and it seemed like every year they would just get a little further and a little further. It was almost like they were trying to wait and see, are they going to look at this? It got toward the end of this year that it got pretty extreme as far as how far guys were going with it. It’s something that we definitely needed to get pulled back in; we needed to get everyone back a little closer to being on the same page. I don’t blame them, especially when there isn’t a rule against it. I think a lot of these guys forget that I’ve raced. If we catch you doing something, I’m not going to be mad at you, I understand, but you have to put it back because that is the

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As a long-time racer, WAR Series owner and a son of National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Ron Shuman, who helmed the SCRA Sprint Car Series, Casey is wellpositioned to see all sides of issues affecting World of Outlaws events.

rule. They are going to go as far as we let them, and some of the discussions we had were about setting a rule and giving a tolerance of maybe an inch. There’s no reason to give them the tolerance, they’re going to go all the way out, and probably a little more. I know it’ll upset a few guys; you’re never going to make anyone happy. I think the important part is that all of these series got together and unified in saying this is what we’re going to do. DE: One last question in regards to the tire program that will be in place in 2023. How do you think this will impact costs or complaints of having to keep so many different types tires on hand? With the sprint car world being much different than the late models when it comes to the tire game, do you think being somewhat of an outsider you were more easily able to identify that this needed to be changed? CS: To a point, I think guys are going to use x amount of tires per night regardless, but I do think, the teams right now that have 70 or 80 wheels at their disposal, who a lot of times will run a weekend, go back home, switch out wheels and tires, and go to a different place because it’s a completely different tire rule, I think it will definitely save them some money. But when it comes down to

Photo: Paul Arch

it, a top team is going to put on as many tires a night as we allow them. I think it is just going to make everyone’s job much easier, not only between the teams, but the racetrack, and the series. When I first started, and they showed me the list of tire rules for a year, I didn’t understand what they were doing. Sprint cars, you could go run the same tire basically coast to coast, right? If you have a nonwing, or wing, it’s all the same. So to hear you have to have certain tires for certain dirt or certain areas, I thought was kind of silly. It will definitely simplify a lot for everyone, they made things much more complex and difficult, the tire rules were the number one thing I thought we had to get rid of. I’ve been kind of pushing for this since I started. I think everyone just assumed this is how it’s been, and this is how we do things. Coming from the sprint car side, it just doesn’t need to be this hard; you don’t have to make it this difficult. I think once I got everyone to understand that it doesn’t have to be this way, and I thought we could change it if we really try, it’s taken three years, but I think we’re finally where everyone will be on board, and Hoosiers on board to do it, too.

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RacingJunk.com

a main FEATURE

SPRINTS

Photo: Mike

AYRTON GENNETTEN

THIRD GENERATION STAR GETS GOING By Ashley Zimmerman Photo: Mike Campbell

WHILE AYRTON GENNETTEN’S sprint car career is still very fresh in the eyes of race fans, the Gennetten name has been written in the history books of dirt track racing for two generations prior to the 22-year-old Missouri native breaking on to the scene. In 2021, Gennetten shocked race fans with his ability to quickly adapt to the challenging track that is the historical Knoxville Raceway, proving that while genetics aren’t a guarantee of talent, sprint car racing is without a doubt in the Gennetten blood. The latter portion of the race season offered Gennetten a host of challenges, along with showing fans his ability to adapt also came in the form of working with his new crew chief Chad Morgan, showcasing their chemistry as Gennetten not only started the pole with the World of Outlaws at the Devil’s Bowl, but also leading twenty three of the thirty laps against the best in the world. If the 2021 season proved anything, it’s without

argument the sprint car world is destined to see more of Ayrton Gennetten in headlines and it will surely not lack in excitement. With the new season just weeks away, Dirt Empire tracked down the Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year for a conversation about the year in review, and what may be to come. Dirt Empire: For many race fans, the Gennetten name is quite new to them but your family roots run very deep in the world of racing. Who in the family has raced and what did they race? Ayrton Gennetten: My grandpa started racing, and he started off in demolition derbies, then he started racing supermodifieds at the Olympic stadium and around the Kansas City area before racing midgets and sprint cars. My dad, Steve, raced 360s and midgets through the Midwest; he raced a lot at Sedalia Speedway and Knoxville Raceway.

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Photo: John Lee

DE: Coming from a racing family such as that, did you know at a young age that you wanted to become a race car driver? Was it always sprint cars for you? AG: When I was younger, being third generation, you’re always excited to race. You watch your dad race when you’re growing up, and then you finally get to get your shot. It was always sprint cars for me. It was something my dad did, my grandpa did, there’s a lot of history in our family doing it. I wanted to be a sprint car driver my whole life, I was drawn to the big tires, loud motors, and high speeds. DE: What part of your family history in racing do you feel inspires you the most? AG: What inspires me the most is my dad and grandpa’s legacy. My grandpa

: Mike Campbell

Photo: David Campbell

DE: Who would you say you go to when you’re struggling or looking for some mentorship? AG: Typically I try to go to someone I’m close friends with, so sometimes I’ll go to Scott Bonar, or my dad. Now with the hiring of Chad Morgan, I kind of rely on him a lot too. DE: Speaking of Scott Bonar, race fans have not only seen you race your own car, but also the #50 of Scott Bonar. How does jumping into different cars challenge you as a driver? AG: It just allows me to work in a different manner. So, Scott and I obviously we set our stuff up different and then once I hired Chad, he also sets his cars up different from Scott. You get to learn how to drive cars differently,

but you know when you have a good crew chief like Scott, my dad, or Chad, you never really have to worry about it being too different. It’s just more of you getting a different feel and learning to understand the different feel, which helps you become a better driver.

Ayrton and his father Steve.

DE: How did you end up getting the opportunity to drive the #50 car? What do you feel that you’ve gotten to learn by racing in that car and for Scott? AG: It’s actually kind of a funny story. The first time I ever met Scott would have been at the fall haul at 34 Raceway back in 2018. It was after the first night, the second night we got rained out and went over to his shop at Midland Performance. My dad, Scott, and our crew guy Steve Daniels are all really good friends, so they were all hanging out and drinking. I was giving Scott crap that night about when are you going to let me drive, and just kept going on about it. He told me that night, well you know, you can’t drive for me if you have a girlfriend. So, that week I broke up with my girlfriend and started focusing on that. Before I raced the next day, I told him, I’ll make you a deal, if I win this race, I get to drive for DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Gennetten Family Photo Collection X3

has won over 400 races, and my dad has won a lot of races and championships. He won at Knoxville and Sedalia, places that are pretty special in sprint car racing. It’s cool to say my dad’s one of those guys, so just the family history that’s been built between them that really makes me want to strive to be the best.

DE: Coming into the 2021 race season, what were some of the goals you had set for yourself and the team? Now that the season has come to a close, how far were you from meeting those goals and what ones were you able to achieve? AG: My biggest goal was to try and get ten wins and win some 410 races. I also set a goal to try and win a Knoxville, Outlaws or an All Star race, just to get one of those three would have been nice. I wanted to get a win for Scott, to be able to say I’d won for Scott. It was cool to achieve my goal with Scott. As far as all my other goals, we didn’t get any of the other ones done. We ended up with nine wins, and ran second at Knoxville a few times, had two All Star podiums, and then led 23 laps at Devil’s Bowl. We were super close to meeting all of our goals. We had our first 410 win, too. But, it was really cool to get the first win for someone else in a sprint car and drive for Scott, someone who I value and is a close friend.

DE: Despite all of the struggles during the week of the Knoxville Nationals, you did however, leave as the Rookie of the Year. What does that mean to you? Does it mean even more having overcome all of those issues to earn it? AG: Obviously our main goal was to be Rookie of the Year and run in a respectable spot, like run in the top ten of the B main, and potentially make the feature was kind of our goal. When everything went down the way it did, we really shouldn’t have been in the C main where we had to race that hard to get into the B main and then also race that hard to get the Rookie of the Year. We weren’t really wanting to be in that position, we were trying to just kind of have that sealed up on Saturday, but with everything that happened to us, you get to the end of

Racing at Devil’s Bowl, where Gennetten led 23 laps against the Outlaws before fading to fourth.

Photo: David Campbell

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Photo: John Lee

you all next season, if I lose, you can have our motor. My dad said no, which was a good thing, because I didn’t win that night. But, I was hoping that it would just let Scott see that I really wanted to drive for him someday. It’s been fun driving for him, I’ve learned a lot, it’s easy driving for him, he does a really good job and it makes it easy to drive.

the night and you’re kind of like, man, we did all of this and we still got something out of it. So, it felt good to be able to at least have something to show for all the hard work and all the struggles we went through. We came out with something that was still good, still gave us something that we can hold our head up high about. DE: The 2021 race season really allowed you the opportunities to experience a lot of new racetracks from small grassroots places like East Moline Speedway to crown jewels like Eldora. What were some of the most challenging tracks and where were some places you enjoyed running at? AG: I really enjoyed racing really at every track. It was really cool to run East Moline. I had told Scott I’m not really good on short tracks too often. I was kind of nervous going there with him, but we ended up winning there. Then I went to Eldora and I was excited, but I was also really nervous, it’s a tough place to get around. It was exciting, we ran good

there with the Outlaws and the All Stars. We kind of struggled at the start of the season, we went down south with the World of Outlaws, and we raced at the Mag, the Rev, and the Cotton Bowl, and we just kind of struggled there, but you know it’s part of it. Hopefully this year when we go down there we can come in a little bit strong and have a better run.

race with say the Outlaws and how to maneuver, or things like that. Chad has done a really good job, and he’s helped me a lot, he’s even helped me learn how to approach sponsors and be more in touch with them. He does a really good job at basically anything from helping us clean up the shop to getting us more professional.

them doing what they thought was best. I just kind of stepped back and just let Chad take over the reins. It’s been really nice and easy. My communication with him isn’t always the best, I still have a lot to learn on that aspect, and it’s hopefully something I can start getting better with, it will just benefit me longer down the road.

DE: At the end of the July, you were able to add Chad Morgan (long time crew chief for Brian Brown) to the team as your crew chief. How has Chad been able to impact your growth and abilities as a driver? AG: Adding Chad was a big relief for my dad. It helped my dad a lot, to just be able to focus more on his work and allowed us to race more. Without Chad, we wouldn’t have been racing as much and we wouldn’t have been able to travel as much as we have at the end of the season. You know, Chad’s really smart and he knows how to set up a race car. He’s really good at giving me tips on how to drive, for someone who has never drove before, Chad does a really, really good job at explaining how stuff goes down and it’s really sped up the learning process of learning how to

DE: You’ve lead us right into our next question, how hard was it for you to adapt to having Chad on the team and learning to communicate with him? Was it a harder or smoother transition than you anticipated? AG: It really wasn’t super hard to adapt to having Chad, it made it a lot easier on me. I didn’t have to do as much throughout the night at the races, before Chad, my dad and I had to make decisions and do a lot of stuff together. It allows me to be able to focus more on driving now, which is a big plus. I think it went smooth as it did because I had drove for Scott [Bonar] a few times in July, and that kind of helped me understand a little bit the transition of having to drive with Chad being our crew chief. It made it to where I was used to someone else calling the shots, and

DE: Looking back over your career thus far, what would you say have been the most rewarding moments and what have been some of the hardest? AG: Some of the most rewarding moments have been winning my first 410 race with my dad, winning the Tulsa Shootout with my dad, getting my first win with Chad, and winning the Sedalia [MO] State Fair race after having a tough Knoxville Nationals. The hardest would be running second at Knoxville twice after leading over half the race, along with the Outlaws race at Devil’s Bowl on Halloween, where I was leading with little to no laps left to go and losing the lead. DE: There is something that makes you very unique on social media, and that is your engagement and

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T&D Machine Products

FOURTEEN FUN FACTS ABOUT AYRTON GENNETTEN 1.

Photo: John Lee

interaction with your fans, especially on platforms like Facebook and in sprint car fan groups, where you can be seen taking the time to explain to fans different racing situations, answering their questions about different set ups, or things behind the scenes; which is not something that is common with all drivers. What is your driving force or motivation behind this? AG: You know, not a lot of fans have driven before, so it kind of helps them get an understanding of what drivers are thinking. It’s nice to be interactive with fans, not only will that allow them to know more about racing, it also helps them understand a bit of why people do things the way we do. But, it also helps both ways, it lets them know that I’m someone they can talk to if they have questions; it lets them know someone is open to having a conversation about their questions. It allows the fans to be more involved, which is really what makes dirt track racing so unique, is you get to be around the drivers. Allowing fans to be more involved only helps the sport to grow, and it lets them feel a part of it. It also gets us in some conversations, where maybe we can learn something, too. DE: Looking toward 2022, is there anything on the schedule that you’re super hyped about or looking forward to going back to?

AG: Things I’m excited for next season, is the Kings Royal for sure, I’ve never been to that. I’m excited that Granite City is going to have a World of Outlaws race, we’ve been there twice and won there twice with MOWA, so hopefully we can have a little bit of luck on our side and have a good run at that. But, overall I’m just excited to grow as a team, and hopefully bring on some new sponsors to be able to race more and travel. DE: What are some of your plans to be able to improve for 2022? AG: I’ve been working out a lot more. I’m trying to get my body and mind in better shape. We’re building a few new cars, being able to be with Chad and adapt a bit more to each other in the off season is hopefully going to help us for next year. DE: Throughout this interview, we’ve talked a lot about wins and losses, as well as your goals. But what we haven’t touched on through all of it, is what does success mean for you as a driver? It’s easy to see that through interviews with other drivers, everyone has their own version of what exactly that is for them. What equates to success for Ayrton Gennetten? AG: I think success is hard to measure. Like you said, everyone has their own version of it. I’d like to say this year was a successful season for us, we were able to get our first 410 win, win five 410

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6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Favorite thing to do with a sprint car besides race? I really like doing the tire work, it’s just something I enjoy. Least favorite thing? Fix them after I wreck. That’s when you can look at everything and see all the money you just tore up. What social media app do you find yourself on the most? Scrolling through Facebook or Tik Tok. If it wasn’t racing, what would it be? I had a backup plan in case I didn’t race; it would have been working at our family business building boat docks. But, I’d really want to do something around CNC machining; it’s just something that’s fascinated me. I think it’d be a really cool career path if I didn’t make it racing. You’re very open on social media about your love for gambling, what’s your favorite? Blackjack Soda or Pop? Soda Manual or automatic? 9/10 manual Call or text? Depends on the person, most of the time call me. Sleep in your own bed or on the road? I like being on the road and in hotels. Podcast or Playlist? Playlist. Twitter account to follow? Domini Scelzi Favorite Music? 80s Rock Snack? Payday or a donut stick Favorite place to stop on the road? Love’s Travel Center to get a gas station hot dog.

races, win some 360 races, being able to win for Scott was really cool. I’d say, even if I didn’t win, I still had a successful season. You can’t always judge it off of wins or top fives, you judge it off of how you ran in places you didn’t think you would run good at, or you didn’t miss a race all season, you didn’t have any DNS, your success can vary a lot off of just little things. Everyone has different goals and a different version of success, but as long as you have a strong season, that’s all that matters.

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PPlus Global Logistics

Photo: Mike Howard

review in PICTURES

FIRST TIME WINNERS are fun. It is a rare experience when one of the Crown Jewel races in any discipline is scored by a new winner and the emotion and the enthusiasm is unmatched. No matter how dramatic a finish or special an accomplishment, the excitement never matches the first time a racer fulfills his dream. Tanner Thorson joined the elite club of Chili Bowl winners with a lap 37 pass of race long leader Christopher Bell and it is getting harder and harder for new winners to emerge as drivers like Bell, Kyle Larson and Rico Abreu are all at the height of their powers with very powerful race teams. Thorson, meanwhile, came in with the Reinbold/Underwood team and gave them their first Chili Bowl victory, too.

Photo: David Campbell

2022 CHILI BOWL THORSON TASTES FIRST CHILI SUCCESS

The lights have never been brighter and the field and the crowds (online and in the building) have never been bigger and Thorson put it all together to complete a life-changing week in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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Tanner Thorson has come with a lot of powerful teams and fast race cars but he put it all together with Reinbold/Underwood to get his first taste of Chili Bowl glory.

Photo: Patrick Grant

Photo: David Campbell

The Race of Champions kicked the week off in fine fashion as Justin Grant wheeled his NOS Energy Drink midget to a win over Kyle Larson’s Flo Racing 01 on Monday night.

Carson Sousa stopped the action for fence repairs after a big tumble in turn one of the Chili Bowl.

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If you’re a big-time fan (or a regular reader of this magazine), you’ve known Buddy Kofoid for years. If you’re a casual Chili Bowl fan, you know him now. Kofoid outraced Kyle Larson to win his preliminary night feature and ran fourth in the finale. Photo: David Campbell

Photo: David Campbell

The buzz never really left Tulsa, even during 2021’s COVID tainted version, but it was definitely back this year in a big way every night.

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Photo: David Campbell

In what could be a cautionary tale for racers from other disciplines, former NASCAR champion Chase Elliott took a high-flyer that our David Campbell rated as his hardest crash of the Bowl on page 58. Use your smart phone to check out a fan-recorded view of the flip.

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Much like Chase Elliott on the previous page, Indy Car racer Santino Ferruci took his own wild flight into turn three after getting over a wheel.

Photo: Mike Howard

For most people, Christopher Bell’s Chili Bowl would have been a dream. He ran third in the Race of Champions, won his seventh straight prelim and ran second in the finale. For Bell and his lofty standards, it was the third straight year he left without a Driller trophy after winning three straight.

Photo: Mike Howard

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36TH ANNUAL CHILI BOWL MIDGET NATIONALS 55-LAP FEATURE FINISH Driver 1. 19T-Tanner Thorson[2] 2. 71W-Christopher Bell[1] 3. 97-Rico Abreu[3] 4. 67-Michael Kofoid[5] 5. 98-Tanner Carrick[6] 6. 01-Kyle Larson[7] 7. 55V-CJ Leary[16] 8. 5T-Kevin Thomas Jr[8] 9. 47S-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[10] 10. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[13] 11. 7C-Tyler Courtney[9] 12. 52-Blake Hahn[14] 13. 17W-Shane Golobic[18] 14. 89-Chris Windom[17] 15. 97W-Zeb Wise[11] 16. 2J-Justin Grant[4] 17. 47Z-Corey Day[20] 18. 71K-Kaylee Bryson[12] 19. 29-Tim Buckwalter[21] 20. 8J-Jonathan Beason[24] 21. 27W-Colby Copeland[15] 22. 81X-Dillon Welch[22] 23. 87-Chase Johnson[19] 24. 21H-Brady Bacon[23]

For the fifth time in six years, it was a NOS explosion courtesy of Justin Grant in victory lane on Friday night.

Photo: Ashley Allinson

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A couple of Show-Me State residents get together in heat race action on Monday night as Danny Frye Jr. (5F) tangles with Xavier Doney.

Photo: Ashley Allinson DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

my top

FIVE BEST OF THE BOWL

TOP FIVE CARS AT THE CHILI BOWL

By Patrick Grant

ONCE AGAIN IT’S TIME to attempt pinpointing the top 5 best looking cars at the 2022 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals. When I first started doing this years ago, the task was much easier with car counts under 300 and many teams not putting as much emphasis on fashion over function. The times have changed since I photographed my last Chili Bowl in 2017 with just under 400 entries and car owners really putting in an effort to grab your attention, making this job very tough.

I have been to a lot of Chili Bowls and I don’t recall a Hawaiian entry, but I am old and I will leave it to the historians to correct me! The 8S owned and driven by Kala Kellinoi is a perfect example of stepping outside the box when it comes to fielding a gorgeous ride. If you’re going to travel 3,833 miles to race, why not turn some heads? The sparkle green carbon fiber is over the top. Mix in the matching driver’s suit, gloves, helmet and a seat painted to match really shows Kala’s attention to detail, not to mention the lei at the top of the cage to top it off. Well done!

Jim Neuman always fields some of the best looking cars and the 28 driven by Ace McCarthy is no exception. The classic candy apple red grabs your eye with a nice mix of contrasting white and black which really sets off this color combination. Throw in the matching driver’s seat, shock covers, chrome and polished aluminum and this car stands apart from the crowd.

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Jim Neuman goes back to back with the 3N driven by Jake Neuman. Once again I got pulled in by the classic candy apple red (I’m showing my age), but this is a color that never gets old on race cars, especially with the bright yellow “accent” down the side and even on the valve cover. A chrome header accented wheel covers and red shock covers show that no stone was left unturned in the design of this scheme.

I could have picked any of the three Alex Bowman entries for the #4 slot, but I like this shot of Jake Swanson powering into turn one. I will be honest, early in the week, I wasn’t sure what to think about this scheme. But it grew on me big time! The design is fresh and clean with a great use of their sponsor’s corporate colors. Add in the gray chassis and the car just grabs your attention.

Anyone who has been around open wheel racing for any time at all knows that Rudeen Racing always fields beautiful cars in their trademark blue metallic. The design isn’t too busy, and when the car is on the track, your eyes (and my camera) gravitate to it. Though Rudeen Racing brought three of these gorgeous cars, the car pictured is Chili Bowl rookie Kevin Rudeen as he hit the track during Monday practice.

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THE CHILI BOWL

Photo: David Campbell

IMPRESSIONS FROM BY DAVID CAMPBELL

WE ASKED DAVID CAMPBELL to give us a few answers to questions we had for someone who basically lived inside the Expo Center for an entire week. He answered ours and provided a few of his own viewpoints, impressions and general “Davisms” from the 36th Chili Bowl. BEST RACE OF THE CHILI BOWL? I really had to think about this one but I’m going to have to go with the Race of Champions on Monday. It felt like a Saturday main type of ending. If you haven’t seen it, check out FloRacing and watch it. WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE CHILI BOWL? The best part is seeing the crowd back and they completely showed up also! That might have been the best Monday night crowd ever in the Tulsa Expo. DRIVER WHO SURPRISED YOU THE MOST? This is a no-brainer. Oklahoma native Kaylee Bryson showed the world she’s here and has a ton of talent. We all know she’s the first female to ever make the final 24 but if you didn’t see how, then you missed out. This young lady

came out and was in full send mode on the biggest stage on her preliminary night and then came Saturday. Kaylee decided to seal her name into history, with a massive crowd on their feet cheering, with a dominating run in the B starting 10th and ran through a talented field to win it and make the show. It’s a “I was there when…” moment for everyone in the building for sure. DRIVER MOST LIKELY TO WIN HIS FIRST CHILI BOWL NEXT? I’m going with Michael “Buddy” Kofoid. If you’re living under a rock as a sprint car/midget fan and you don’t know that name, well, better get used to it. The kid goes out Tuesday and goes 4th to 1st in the heat, 6th to 2nd in the Qualifier and then wins his prelim night, 5th in the pole shuffle on Saturday and finished 4th after a strong beginning of the A-main. He’s a wheeler and not afraid to keep his foot in the throttle. HARDEST CRASH? With 67 being the official flip count, there were some hard tumbles but I have to go with Chase Elliott’s attempt to touch the

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roof of the building. It was a Hang Time Spectacle. BEST INTERVIEW? Tanner Thorson had the best interview after winning his first Driller. Great raw emotion with a sincere apology to his fiancé. A must watch interview. BEST NEW DRIVER NICKNAME? “Monopoly Man” for Kyle Jones. His mustache was in top form and he had a really good run around the game board picking up property wins in his heat and qualifier on Tuesday with a C to B transfer on Saturday before a motor started go sour on the team. Unfortunately for Kyle, but there wasn’t a get out of B-main jail free card in this deck at the Chili Bowl. ANY FINAL THOUGHTS? 2022 will be known as the Welcome Back to the Chili Bowl. The crowds were fantastic including the turn two partiers, vendors were great, awesome podcasts going on - like the most listened to podcast in the pits - Passing Points Podcast. Overall, the Bowl of Chili was great and I can’t wait for another serving in 2023! I APPROVE THIS COLUMN!

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short track

STARS Plattsmouth, Nebraska

JAKE HOBSCHEIDT B O R N By Lee Ackerman

SOMETIMES A PERSON’S destiny is predetermined for them based on their surroundings and that holds true for Jake Hobscheidt. First, consider that Jake’s dad Jason was a pretty good late model and grand national driver that raced for years at Sunset and I-80 Speedway. Then consider his mother Sandy’s side of the family. Her maiden name was Kosiski. Her dad and brothers Joe and Steve have all been inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame. Are you getting the picture? So, it didn’t take long before young Jake was behind the wheel of a race car. In 2006, at the age of five, Jake started racing go-karts. It was a career that lasted seven years with Jake winning 65+ races and the Junior 2 track championship at the age of nine. At 12, Jake started running B-mods (SportMods) part-time. Part-time because at the age of 12 you are too young to race full-bodied cars at many tracks. So, he raced non-sanctioned events at I-80 Speedway and USRA events at Lakeside Speedway & Valley Speedway (both in the Kansas City area). In 2014, he was starting to post heat race wins in the USRA. In 2015, because Jake had turned 14, he could start racing in NASCAR sanctioned events and so raced in the B-mod division at both Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska and I-80 Speedway between

T O

R A C E

Omaha and Lincoln. It was a successful year as he was named the Rookie of the Year in the B-mod division at Junction, finishing third in points and second in Bragging Rights points (a Grand Nationaltype division). He also finished ninth in B-mod points at I-80 Speedway. One of his most impressive runs being his charge from ninth to second in the B-mod feature of the Charlie Clark Memorial race at I-80. In 2016, Jake won the SportMod feature at I-80 Speedway’s Silver Dollar Nationals. He also won the prestigious UNOH Achievement Award from NASCAR. Moving up to the modified division in 2017, Jake captured the Rookie of the Year Award at I-80 Speedway. In 2018, he continued to improve and won the Dirt Dominator Championship at nearby Eagle Raceway. In 2019, Jake was the runner-up at I-80 Speedway in the modified division to long-time rival and friend Ryan Jenkins. Jake was getting close. The 2020 season was a breakout year for Jake. He won five races in a row at I-80 Speedway and that propelled him to the track championship in the modified division. He won nine races that year including a $5,000 to win special event, the Bill Bowers Memorial at Antioch Speedway in California. “My good friend Sean Wilson had just had surgery on his elbow and couldn’t drive in the Bill Bowers Memorial.” says

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Hobscheidt. “So, he asked if I would like to come out and race it. It was a no brainer for me because it was my old car that I had been racing and I felt pretty confident going out there.” If 2020 was the year Jake started to shine, 2021 was the one that caught people’s attention even though it really didn’t start out all that well. “2021 was our best season, yet it started out as one of the worst.” says Hobscheidt. “We started the season with the car I won a bunch of races with the year before and it was horrible. We had a brand-new car on order and a brand-new car in my shop that needed to be assembled for Sean Wilson.” “We ended up building Sean’s car from the ground up in a day and half. I won seven straight features with it before our new car got here,” continued Hobscheidt. “I need to thank Sean for allowing me to drive his car the first quarter of the season and gaining the momentum we need for the remainder of the season.” And momentum Jake had. He was on a roll and when the dust settled on his 2021 racing season, he had posted 21 wins in five different states. Not only did they include his second straight Modified class championship at I-80 Speedway that included seven wins and 16 top fives. They also included a number of very impressive special event wins. In May, he added a win and the overall championship in the prestigious Charlie

Photo: Todd Boyd

and we were starting a new business and we decided to put him in a B-mod when he was 14.” says Jason. “He was a quick learner. His accomplishments have be so gratifying that I have no desire to race anymore.” “Jake was kind of tentative and careful and then 3 or 4 years ago Ricky Thornton, Jr. told him ‘You need to get out of the box and get a little morepushy’. Jake is still a clean racer, but he is more likely to take chances and he usually makes it work,” continued Jason. “Jake is also hands on and makes all the decisions on the car set-up and learns from his mistakes.”

When asked what race he would like to win the most, Hobscheidt responded, “I would like to win the Duel in the Desert at Las Vegas. We ran well in qualifying races this year and won a qualifying feature - our 21st win of the season - but we were a little tight in the big race but still finished 14th.” As you can see Jake Hobscheidt has already accomplished a lot in his young career and believes he’s just getting started. He has proven he has the talent. He has the desire. He has the support and racing is certainly in his genes.

Photo: Todd Boyd

Clark Memorial at I-80 Speedway. Later he posted a $5,000 to win in the Iron Man Cup at the Park Jefferson Speedway in South Dakota. Crossing into Western Iowa he won the Swanson Memorial at the Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa. Then he took a trip to Oregon where he won the Charles Snyder Memorial at the Medford Speedway worth $7,000. Finally, he finished up in early October by winning the Fall Nationals at the RPM Speedway in Hays, Kansas for another $5,000. Jake has a lot of help with his #01 GRT Chassis that is owned by his parents Jason and Sandra Hobscheidt. Crew support is provided by dad Jason, Shane Armendariz, Tony Fritz, Phillip Brown and Pat Ellis. So, what does Jake do when he is not racing? He is a truck driver and trailer mechanic at N&W Transfer, the family business. For the near future, Jake wants to continue racing modifieds. He still has a lot more prestigious races that he would like to win. Down the road, he would love to travel with the USMTS Series. So, when you are brought up around racing, you kind of get hooked and with Jake’s family background how could you not get hooked? One of Jake’s disappointments in that area is that he never got to see his grandfather Bob race. “I really wish I could have seen him race.” says Hobscheidt. “I remember and old timers race at I-80 Speedway years ago. He was supposed to race a hornet (compact) but the car wouldn’t run. I was so mad. But I also loved growing up and watching my dad and my uncles (the Kosiskis) race and my dad telling me stories about racing.” Ironically, there are a number of individuals close to the situation that see a lot of Bob Kosiski when they watch Jake race. Shane Armendariz is Jake’s crew chief, just as he was with Jake’s dad Jason. Armendariz has been around the Kosiski Family since going to work for Kosiski Racing Products back in 1993. “Jake is very attentive and pays great attention to detail. He wants to understand how different adjustments make the car drive differently so that he can adjust his driving style accordingly.” says Armendariz. “He is very methodical on the racetrack and does not try to force the issue unless he has to do it.” His father Jason has obviously enjoyed Jake’s success and remembers when they decided to move Jake from go-karts to big cars. “Jake was racing go-karts

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guest

MIC DROP

By Kelley Carlton

IS IT THE BEGINNING OF THE END? GENERALLY SPEAKING, I am a glass half full kind of guy. I follow the example of my good friend Dave Dusick in finding the positive of every situation. Well, most of the time anyway. I would be lying to myself and to you if I didn’t say that I am truly worried that we could look back a few years from now and say that 2022 was the beginning of the end of dirt late model racing. While most racers are sitting back and licking their chops over the huge purses that have been announced for the new season, I am in a dark place about where this could lead us. I am absolutely ecstatic that racers will be getting a lot more money thrown their way. What I am not happy about is what it does to local and regional tracks and racers in the wake of the big money events. My concern is what becomes of the regional $4,000-$5,000 to win shows? Have these big money shows now diluted these events and made them seem lesser in the eyes of fans who may think that in order for a race to be good it has to pay $20,000 or more to win. Having worked at the regional level for over 20 years now I can tell you with great honesty that most racetracks are not making a lot of money on these events. There are some exceptions but for the most part racetracks do these

regional events with a minimal profit margin. Some even use them as loss leaders to try to draw in new fans to their facilities. But if our fanbase starts to slip away in favor of only the big money shows, we are headed for disaster. If you don’t believe it just take a look at what has happened to weekly Super Late Model racing around the country. There are very few tracks left that can run them weekly. Most tracks just cannot afford the purses that are needed to keep those late models coming back each week. So, the racers start to travel around in search of those purses. It is very cyclical in nature and I am afraid that is where we are headed with regional late model racing also. The other aspect that concerns me is the sustainability of these purses for the racetracks. Obviously, there are some venues in the country that can maintain at this level. But I know that there are many more that cannot. And without the influx of real corporate sponsorship even some of those stronger venues may find themselves in a bind at times. I know what the profit margins are on a national tour event for many tracks when they were doing 2021 level purses. Will they get that many additional fans in the gate to cover the

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increases? Will the ticket prices have to go up to make it work? My belief is it will be the latter. Then fans are likely to become even more selective about races they attend. If those tracks start losing money on these shows, they will stop having them. Less events available means less racers get a piece of the pie and aren’t able to race as often or even at all. It would be one huge trickledown effect. It does mean that a regional promoter like me is going to have to work even harder to get people in the gates. It also means that our sport needs to bring in new sponsors to help keep the wheels turning. It means that tracks have to promote like they have never done before and think outside of the box to keep people coming through the gates. It also means that fans have to do their part if they want to continue to have this sport readily available to them. They have to support their local tracks. Don’t fall into the mindset that only big money events are worthy of attending. And, for goodness sake, bring someone new with you. This is going to take every one of us at every aspect of the sport to maintain. Is it the begging of the end? I definitely hope not and I am going to do my part to try to make sure it isn’t. I challenge you all to do the same.

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Jones Racing Products

engine builder

SPOTLIGHT By

Tyler Carpenter dominated the Dome and punched his ticket to a NASCAR Truck ride with his Mullins Race Engine under the hood.

MULLINS ENGINES

CHAMPIONSHIP BUILDS CHAD MULLINS GOT his start in engine building by attending UTI in Glendale Heights, IL, graduating in 1995. He had worked on engines and performed machine work while still in high school, but in the spring of 1995 upon graduation, Chad helped to expand Mullins Auto Parts & Salvage by adding Mullins Machine Shop. By the end of 1998, Chad was building racing engines and his brother, Brent, was racing UMP modifieds. This afforded Chad the opportunity to grow his knowledge base and experience with racing engines actively used in

competition. The first-hand experience helped bolster his knowledge with fine tuning the engine combinations, gearing and different setups for different cars and drivers. With this race-track earned expertise now in his tool box, chad was able to craft his engines and setups for different drivers and their styles. He had quickly come to realize that one setup does not fit all. Working with each driver, Chad was able to utilize different cubic inch, cylinder head and cam combinations so as to suit each individual driver and track configuration. Mullins Race Engines has continued

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to grow and grow. There was an initial expansion around 2005, when a new dyno facility was added. Later CNC router machines were added to expand their building capabilities. In 2022 more expansion plans are being completed as over twice the floor space is getting added. The expansion will include additional dyno facilities and more room to facilitate the growing LS program. “We pretty much won just about everything in the modified world that we could,” Mullins said. “We set out to be the flagship engine builder for the modified world. That was one of our goals

with my brother’s racing program, and we did it. For a while we were just doing machining for other late model engine builders. Then we decided to take on the challenge of building our Gen 1 LS late model engine.” This was no small task. Creating an LS racing engine program from scratch meant building all new inventory, as the modified engine program was a different animal than what Mullins would undertake with the LS program. The success of the Gen 1 LS led Mullins to start an even larger challenge of their reengineered Gen 2 LS power plant. “We had to engineer so much of this program from nothing. We ended up crating up the engine and shipping it up to Jones Racing Products to have them help us with the pulley and belt setup.

MULLINS GEN 1 LS Late Model utilizes Jones components: 1020-LS-DLM

This was during their busiest time, yet they still came through for us. I’d get calls from them on Sunday when they were in the shop working on this project for us. We wouldn’t have gotten this project done without Jones’ knowledge. They really went the extra mile for us.” The Gen 1 LS engine was a success, partly because of its performance, partly because of its accessible price. “We were able to produce a new engine that the Saturday night driver could afford,” Mullins said. “It basically came in at the same price they had been paying for a well-used engine from another team. This project was a serious endeavor for us. We really feel like we’re a pioneer in the LS program and we think it’s good for racing. With the success we were having in late models, we started

getting calls from the Northeast mod guys. That was unexpected, but we were able to deliver an engine that excels in that field as well. We’re proving that we’re innovators not followers.” With the new facility expansion nearing completion and the Gen 2 LS coming together, Mullins will continue to innovate and be a top name for engine builders in the modified, late model and Northeast mod scene for years to come. Mullins Race Engines is located in Mount Olive, Illinois, has ten employees and produces over 250 engines annually. For more information you can visit: mullinsraceengines.com or visit them on facebook: facebook.com/ mullinsraceengines

MULLINS GEN 1 LS Northeast Mod utilizes Jones components: 2483-LS-ALL DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

shooter at

LARGE

QUENTIN YOUNG Brent Marks displays perfect placement on the cushion.

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.

Alex Yankowski leads the field into turn 1 during heat race action for the 2021 running of the Short Track Super Series ‘Richie Evans Remembered 61’ at the Utica-Rome Speedway.

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Bobby Pierce bounces off the wall trying to run down race leader Kyle Larson late in the 2021 running of the ‘Prairie Dirt Classic’ at the Fairbury American Legion Speedway.

GET TO KNOW QUENTIN YOUNG Age: 23 Year Started Shooting: 2018 First Publication to Print Your Work: Dirt Track Digest Favorite Track to Shoot: Brewerton Speedway Favorite Division to Shoot: Big Block Modifieds Remaining Bucket List Races: Knoxville Nationals and Chili Bowl Favorite Thing About Racing Photography: Being able to be involved in a different side of racing than just being a fan and being able to capture those special moments that occur. Outside of race cars, what do you like to photograph: Animals and a little bit of nature stuff. Camera Equipment: Canon 5D Mk IV, Canon R5, 500 f4, 300 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8 Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/ QuentinYoungPhotography Website: https://quentinyoungphoto.com/ DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Larry Wight powers into turn 3 during the 2021 ‘Massive Malta Weekend’ event for the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

Jac Haudenshchild drops the right rear over the edge of the back straightaway during his final appearance at the Wayne County Speedway with the All Star Circuit of Champions.

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shooter at

LARGE

Billy Decker’s car sits on jacks as the team prepares for the Super DIRTcar Series event at the Orange County Fair Speedway

Garet Williamson launches off the top of the race track during heat race action the All Star Circuit of Champions Ohio Speedweek stop at the Waynesfield Raceway Park. He landed back on all four wheels and continued with only a flat left rear tire.

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dirt

CHRONICLES

WEST COAST FLYERS

By: Bob Mays

Billy Cantrell rides the Pop Miller Ace through turn four at Ascot Park in 1963. Cantrell and Miller were both veterans of the dirt wars on the west coast. Billy’s career goes back to the 1940s. (Bob Mays collection)

Bob East glides the Bob Coulter Deuce in turn three at El Centro in 1976. When was the last time you saw a guard rail made of straw? It was a regular thing at the California Mid-Winter Fair. (Bob Mays collection)

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Richard Griffin slides the Ron Chaffin 50 into turn three at Eagle Raceway. Griffin piloted the Bruce Bromme-wrenched “Little Red Sucker,” to five SCRA titles in six years, from 1998 through 2003. (Bob Mays photo)

“The Ripper,” Rip Williams learned his technique at Ascot and applies it here at the Perris Auto Speedway in 2012, guiding the John Jory Tre. Williams’ three sons have followed their father into the sprint car wars. (Bob Mays photo) DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

Bob’s first win at Fairmont in 1968.

yesterday’s

DIRT By Chad Meyer Photo: Shryock Collection

A LONG LOOK AT HALL OF FAMER

BOB SHRYOCK THE LATE BOB SHRYOCK’S path to becoming a late model racing legend from the modest Iowa town of Estherville wasn’t linear. Shryock started racing at the age of 21 but quickly met a detour. During that first season he was involved in a serious accident that destroyed his first car. It took him three more years before he had the money to race again. When 1968 rolled around, Shryock didn’t have to go far for a car to build, he literally transitioned the family car, a 1957 Ford, pictured above, into his next race car. Shryock’s first full year racing was successful, earning his first career feature win at the Fairmont Raceway in Minnesota on June 21. Shryock was a winner six times at Fairmont throughout 1969 and 1970, but it wasn’t just Fairmont Raceway where he collected trophies. He was a regular at the Jackson Speedway in Minnesota, earning the Sportsman class point’s championship each of those two years. In 1973, Shryock started his campaign traveling to Florida in February, representing Iowa well in the Winter Nationals, finishing sixth on the first night out of 65 cars. On the third night he scored a tenth-place finish just behind Ed Sanger, Stan Stover, Red Dralle and Don Hester. That season also launched two things Shryock became known for - being a

dominating competitor and the start of his rivalry with Denny Hovinga. At the Kossuth County Speedway season opener in Algona, Denny Hovinga posted wins in the heat, trophy dash and main event. Shryock again played second fiddle to Hovinga in the annual “Race Days” feature at Algona, in front of a packed grandstand that witnessed 38 Super Stocks battle. By the time July of ‘73 rolled around, Shryock turned the tables. During the annual Midwest Super Stock Car Championships, he held off the challenges of chief rival Hovinga and Dan Rurup to become the seventh different winner of the event. It was Shryock’s first big win. He kept the momentum going into August as the crowd at the Kossuth County Fair Championship race witnessed Shryock nipping Denny Hovinga at the checkered flag. It would not be the last side-by-side battle between Shryock and Hovinga. In Alta, Shryock was crowned the season point champ at the conclusion of ’73. Shryock then captured the first of an incredible five wins in the Black Hills Nationals at Rapid City, SD. Over the threeday event, Shryock pocketed $2070. Early in Shryock’s career, he understood the value of a good pit crew and constantly praised his own. In a 1975 interview he said “If I win tonight, there will be some celebrations. But if

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something goes wrong with the car, they will head right back to Estherville and start tearing the car apart yet tonight.” In the same interview he was asked about being nervous. He pointed to a couple packs of cigarettes on his dashboard. “I’ll smoke both of those before the night is over,” said Shryock. “But once the flag is dropped, I won’t be nervous anymore.” One might conclude that the ‘74 and ’75 seasons weren’t that big for Shryock. He won races, including the second feature during the Ole Brua Memorial at Cresco in ’74, but it seemed that Dave Bjorge stopped his progress in Minnesota and Denny Hovinga was getting the better of him in his home state. Still, he was crowned the point champ at Alta and earned his first Viking Invitational at Alexandria, MN in ’74. Any thoughts of Shryock not being dominant again were erased at the end of ’75. He defended his Viking Invitational title, winning over Bjorge. In September Shryock became the first driver to repeat as champion of the Black Hills Nationals. In 1976 he campaigned two ’76 Camaro late models, his own #83 and a #3 owned by Cleghorn, Iowa’s Roger “Duke” Duccommun at Fairmont, Webster City and Alta. By August 20th, Shryock won his 20th feature of the season. It was also his fourth in a row at Webster City. It was an incredible week,

Shryock in turns three and four at the Buena Vista Raceway located in Alta, Iowa.

Photo: Meyer Collection

to work on it and we’ll be ready for the winning the first three mains at Fairmont coming season.” a bounty was placed on the #3. Shryock They got the ’77 Camaro in November never finished worse than second all year and built it from the ground up, including at Fairmont. Ted Zeiman beat him twice the 454 cubic-inch engine. According and Dave Bjorge once, the only drivers to the interview, they raced three nights collecting bounties. at Lake City, FL and three more nights Shryock dominated Mid-Season at Ocala. “Then, when we get through Championships at Fairmont and racing Friday night, we go for the big thrill Webster City. He also won the season and watch the Daytona 500,” Shryock championship races at Fairmont and said. “But make sure the people know Alta, before collecting season point titles we’re just goin’ to watch!” In the same article, he previewed the season by explaining how he gets the fans involved at the track, especially Alta. “I like to irritate the crowd, I really do. In a nice way, not a dirty way,” he said. “If that’s what it takes to get the people there, then that’s what we do. We’re looking for one of the best years ever for car attendance at the races.” What a season it was for Shryock in ’77. In Florida, he finished 8th, 4th and 3rd at Ocala. Back home in mid-April, Joe Kosiski and he won the Twin 50s in the Spring Invitational at Sunset Speedway at Omaha. Memorial Day weekend Shryock had Bob Shryock shares victory lane with clean sweeps at Fairmont, his son Kelly. Kelly earned his 500th Webster City and Alta. It career win in 2021. was on after that. After Photo: Shryock Collection

the night before at Fairmont he finished second in the make-up and regular features. Early Sunday, Shryock won his heat race at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and finished fourth out of sixty cars in the feature behind Stan Stover, Curt Hansen, and Ed Sanger. The team hurried to Alta and won the feature that night. At season’s end, he was the point champion at Webster City and Alta. At Fairmont, he did something he had tried to do for a long time; he finally had a point title there. In an interview with the Estherville Daily News, he said “I have been trying to win the point championship at the Fairmont racetrack for eight years and finally won it.” Even though Bob Weber won the championship feature, Shryock’s third place finish sewed up his title. In September, he beat Dennis Sherrill from Sioux City to earn his third Black Hills Nationals crown. Grinning ear-to-ear, he shouted to the large crowd around his winning car, “Hey, I really like this track!” He finished the 40-lap affair with a straightaway lead. A young Willy Kraft finished sixth in Shryock’s back-up car, only the fourth time Kraft had driven a late model. A week later he passed Dave Bjorge and Bob Kosiski to win the 50-lap Fall Futurity at Webster City. Shryock was ready early for 1977. “We’re going to Florida to vacation, to race and to see if there’s anything wrong with the car,” Shryock said in a February 14th interview. “Then, if we find something wrong, we’ve got six weeks

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interview on KICD Radio in Spencer. “He and his wife were absolutely incredible hosts, and he was such a tremendous interview. Articulate and knowledgeable and with so many great stories. He was a “racing prophet,” as he told me that day that late model racing was heading for deep trouble if something wasn’t done to

curtail spending. He told me that it had gotten to the point where he could race three nights a week, win every night, and still lose money at it.” It was a crazy time in the Midwest as the ’82 season started. Outlaw late models, late models and limited late models rules sprang up but did little to

Shyrock shakes hands following another victory in Alta, Iowa.

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Photo: Shryock Collection

Shryock’s first “big” career win was the Midwest Super Stock Car Championship held at the Kossuth County Speedway in Algona, Iowa.

Photo: Meyer Collection

at those two tracks plus Webster City. By Alta’s season championship race, Shryock was the winner of 32 main events. His success continued into the fall, posting a clean sweep of the late model fall special at Hartford, South Dakota, and winning one-half of the Twin 50s at the North Central State Classic at Des Moines. Curt Hansen won the other feature. The 1978 campaign was nearly as successful, grabbing the season opener at Eldon, Iowa. Between that and winning the Black Hills Nationals at Rapid City, SD for the fourth time, Shryock amassed multiple weekly wins at Hartford, SD, the Alta Race Days special and Alta, Webster City and Fairmont mid-season championships. He also claimed night one of the Fairmont All-Star 12,000 and the Alta Labor Day special over Bob Hill. Year-end accolades included three point titles at Alta, Webster City and Fairmont. Shryock was voted Iowa Racing Yearbook Driver of the Year. Another trip to start the season in Florida began Shryock’s 1979 campaign. He won the season opener at Alta but a hot Denny Hovinga and Bob Hill thwarted his win total at Fairmont. By mid-July though, he earned four wins in a row at St. Cloud, MN and several wins at Grove Creek, MN. His perseverance on the season paid off with a win at the Sioux Empire Fair in Sioux Falls and a thirdplace finish in the Black Hills Nationals after earning the point titles at Fairmont and Alta. The early 1980s brought rapid change though. Shryock’s name doesn’t show nearly as much in the win column during this period. The cost to compete in the late model division was skyrocketing. Car counts were rapidly dropping. In 1980, he finally won at Alta on June 8th before winning the mid-season championships at Webster City and Fairmont. He then finished second in points on the North Dakota Late Model Tour. In 1981, drivers like Jerry Holtkamp, Dave Bjorge and Dick Schiltz were dominating. Shryock squeezed out the fair race win at Alta, the last night they raced late models. A bright spot in ’81 was earning the Black Hills Nationals crown for an unprecedented fifth time, the only driver to win it more than once. Tom Lathen, then track announcer at Alta recalls a great memory of sitting in Shryock’s living room in Estherville, Iowa, with he and his wife conducting an

Photo: Lee Johnson/Meyer Collection

In 1983, Shryock was the inaugural American Outlaw Stock Car Association champion. Here he is at speed at I-70 Speedway near Odessa, Missouri, during the NDRA Invitational.

Kelly ultimately has lived the dream of IMCA modified to wins at both Webster his dad, compiling an incredible resume City and Mason City, IA. of his own. He has the most United Prior to the ’85 season, Shryock States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) switched jobs so he could work four 10wins in its history with 182, plus nine hour days so he had more time to race. national championships. In July 2021, It was at that new job where Bob passed Kelly notched his 500th career win. He away in a construction accident while races and wins in IMCA Modifieds and saving the life of a co-worker on August has become a force in IMCA’s Stock Car 19, 1985. He was just 41 years old. division. Three days before his tragic passing, The late Bob Shryock is a Kossuth Bob stood in victory lane at Fairmont County Racing Hall of Fame in Algona, IA Raceway, celebrating Kelly’s first ever win and Iowa Racing Hall of Fame inductee. in the IMCA modified feature. The next In 2021, Shryock was rightfully inducted night, at the Hamilton County Speedway into the National Late Model Hall of in Webster City, Bob Shryock won in his Fame located at Florence Speedway in final late model feature race over Bob Walton, Kentucky. Hill. The following Monday, Bob was gone. I can still remember exactly where I was when I heard the terrible news. Kelly told me several times he would have been content being crew chief for his dad and not driving himself. They had ideas of going racing fulltime. “With the Smith Trucking deal, we really felt like he got what he needed in order to be competitive with anyone again. It’s hard not to think Shryock before his last race at Webster City, Iowa. about what might have been.” Photo: Meyer Collection

contain costs or build car counts. On the second night of the late model nationals at Knoxville, Iowa, Shryock finished third in the limited late model feature behind Larry Moore and Kevin Gundaker. ’82 was lean for Shryock. The opener at Fairmont had less than 10 cars in every division. He did, though win the Fairmont fair race and finished second in the All-Star Invitational at Fairmont and the Black Hills Nationals. His son Kelly remembers that “It was a tough time racing in the early 80s. You have to remember he had five mouths to feed and racing got really expensive. It was hard to compete and the results suffered.” Shryock was able to secure sponsorship going into 1983 that allowed him to compete in the Outlaw Late Model division. He won the inaugural American Outlaw Stock Car Association (AOSCA) point title over Joe Kosiski and Willy Kraft, earning wins at Harlan plus an outlaw win at Fairmont. He started winning multiple outlaw late model events at Webster City, including a second place run at the NDRA qualifier win there. He went on to win the NDRA point championship at Webster City, but it was getting tough to keep the finances together to keep racing. In fact, he didn’t race in 1985 until after mid-season when Shryock began a successful association with Keith Smith, driving the Smith Trucking late model out of Round Lake, MN. In their five nights of racing together that year, they accumulated two feature wins, two seconds and a third-place finish. Bob had also driven his son Kelly’s

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

new & featured PRODUCTS PRO 20 CARBON TOP AIR HELMET

EDITION Although we’re now solidly into the new season, we didn’t want to move on without thanking everyone who came by the Dirt Empire booth at the Performance Racing Industry trade show to subscribe, to a grab a copy or to just chat or pitch a story. We had a great show and reached so many new readers with our presence at the PRI show. While we were there, we also found a few new products, and a few old ones, that were featured in the hall.

PRI FIRST IMPRESSIONS

By Ashley Zimmerman HAVING GROWN UP around racing, it may be surprising to some that my trip to PRI in December 2021 was not just my first experience as a member of the media but my first ever experience at the show, period. I’ve always been an all-in or not-at-all person so of course I went to my first PRI participating in everything I could! I genuinely went into the weekend with zero expectations and even a bit of anxiety. The better part of my Thursday was spent in confusion staring at the PRI app on my phone and praying I could navigate to where I intended but also manage to find my way back to the Dirt Empire booth once I left. To be entirely honest, I didn’t get as much time to wander around the convention center and explore the exhibits at PRI, though it wasn’t for a lack of curiosity, but because of the number of attendees that stopped by the booth to talk about how much they enjoyed the magazine or to sign up for a subscription or just to talk about racing was a line that just never quit!

THE RACEQUIP PRO20 CARBON TOP AIR Helmet is a Snell SA2020 rated full face auto racing helmet that incorporates contemporary styling with advanced composite production techniques. The shell is built using pre-preg Carbon Fiber and Kevlar(R) materials placed into pressurized steel molds to achieve the best combination of light weight and strength. These helmets are also sometimes called forced air, blower, or pumper helmets because they have a provision on the helmet to attach a fresh air hose. The unique manifold design gives this helmet a super low profile that will fit in any car and utilizes an inlet barb that works with standard 1.250” round hose. The forced air is channeled from the manifold all the way to the forehead area where it blows downward across the faceshield though molded vents above the eyebrows. The forced air cools your face and airways and also keeps the faceshield fog free. Reinforced M6 threaded HANS/ HNR inserts are mated to the Carbon Fiber shell along with an expanded polystyrene (EPS) liner. HANS or other Head and Neck Restraint

CONTINUED ON PAGE 81

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

device anchor posts (not included) can be easily attached to the outside of the helmet using the installed M6 threaded inserts. The distortion free 3mm polycarbonate faceshield features a red anodized aluminum pivot kit, hand ratcheting TearOff posts, and a silicone eyeport gasket to seal out dust and dirt. A wide eyeport provides good peripheral vision and allows the use of personal eyewear. The fire retardant clear coat produces a deep gloss finish to highlight the tight weave of the Carbon Fiber. The Snell SA rating means that the interior, clear coat, and kevlar chin strap are all fire retardant, so the RaceQuip PRO20 CARBON TOP AIR Helmet is suitable for use in all forms of motorsports. The comfort fit blended Nomex® interior helps keep your scalp cool. All these features are wrapped in a stylish aero design lightweight Carbon composite shell with a medium sized chin spoiler. The result is the outstanding value delivered by the RaceQuip PRO20 CARBON Top Air helmet. Available in sizes Small – 2XL Racer Net $599.95 http://racequip.com 813-642-6644

DOMINATOR RACING PRODUCTS

The folks from Dominator were at the PRI again this year showing off a bevy of new products but the PRI trade show is also a great place to showcase old favorites on display for new customers. This was the case with their very popular late model nose kit – the Dominator. Contact Dominator for more information on the Dominator nose kit and other products. Dominator Race Products 419-923-6970 www.dominatorraceproducts.com

WITH DIMINISHING AVAILABILITY of OEM chassis available for Street Stock racecars, Bernheisel Race Components has developed a Street Stock Metric Chassis built 100% to specs, but utilizing modern tube steel racing chassis construction. This chassis has proven to be stronger than an original recovered chassis, with all of the same attachment locations so that all stock components will fit perfectly. • Safer and stronger • Includes Jack Bolt Nuts and Spring Buckets. • All stock components guaranteed to fit properly. • Available with or without upper control arm mounts. • Available in full perimeter or offset (shown). • Checking gauges available for tracks/series. Call for more details 717.865.3119 1 Bordnersville Rd. Jonestown, PA 17038 www.bernheiselracecars.com

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

the race fan’s

BOOKSHELF

By Justin Zoch 5•10•32 BY JOE VERDEGAN IF YOU’RE A FAN of dirt track racing, Wisconsin-based author Joe Verdegan has certainly published plenty of works worthy of your attention during his career covering motorsports and his latest labor of love introduces three of the finest racers from his homebase of Northeast Wisconsin to a national audience. 5-10-32: McBride, Parker, Anvelink was recently released and covers the entire careers of M.J. McBride, Pete Parker and Terry Anvelink, who were a talented of late model drivers with three distinct personalities. Throughout a 20-year period from 1980 through the turn of the century, they were dominant at tracks like Shawano Speedway to the tune of 18 combined track titles in that period while scoring hundreds of feature wins. Verdegan relies heavily on interviews with the trio but also uses extensive interviews and opinions from their contemporaries and family members. It’s not only an excellent look at a prominent racing scene and how it evolved over the decades but Verdegan also delves deeply into the driver’s lives off the racetrack with their families and photos and anecdotes, including a classic shot of McBride in his band The Ravens before he turned from guitars to race cars. McBride passed away back in 2001 while Parker and Anvelink have since retired from the sport but are still heavily involved with their families. Of the trio, Parker is the only member to have thus far been enshrined in the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

EXCERPT FROM 5•10•32

The following passage comes from Chapter 23: Terry Anvelink – In His Own Words and helps to describe the intensity of the on track relationship the trio had during their prime. “We developed a pretty good rivalry with M.J. (McBride) over the years. M.J. always had those big sponsors and a huge pit crew and was sort of like the mayor of Shawano. We won the 1984 track championship with our Howe car and M.J. won five straight titles after that. M.J. was always an aggressive driver who was never afraid to drop the plow on you once-in-a-while. One time, M.J. and I mixed it up at little bit on the track. It was a heat race. We got into the pits, but we talked it over and cooled down. But over in the grandstands, we heard this ruckus. M.J.’s dad, Charlie McBride, and some other M.J. fans got into a fight with a couple of my friends. You could hear all of this yelling and the fight broke out, and the cops had to come in and break it up. I turned to M.J. and said ‘Is this really happening?’ We both just shook our heads. We did get along off the track and we’d often have some beers after the races were done. For some reason myself, Pete [Parker] and M.J. all seemed to be on our A game during the ‘80s and ‘90s, and truthfully, off the track we were all the best of friends but when we’d race, it was all out. Neither of us seemed to give an inch on the track.”

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 04 - 2021

5•10•32 is 160 pages and soft cover featuring lots of archival color and black and white photos. The cost is $25 and is available with all of Verdegan’s other titles at www.joeverdegan.com.

PRI FIRST IMPRESSIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 78 Getting to see the emotion in response pieces we’ve published and the excitement of what was to come from the magazine was the motivation I lacked to get excited for 2022. The atmosphere inside of dirt track racing has always been on the top of my list for reasons why I fell in love with this sport, and getting to spend time engaging with readers at PRI was nothing short of defining the feelings behind that atmosphere. Being able to finally put names to faces from social media or getting to shake the hands of the people I’ve interviewed over the last two years is something that I’ve looked forward to and getting to attend PRI allowed me to check many people off of those lists. I was able to finally meet drivers like Thomas Meseraull, Kyle Steffens, Jackie Rumley and legends like Flea Ruzic who, through their time and successes in racing, have allowed me the opportunity to write

some truly special pieces. The racetrack has always felt like home for me, and friendships like these remind me that in finding my home, I also found my people. Experiencing the three days of PRI with race fans and subscribers was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had to date. It may have taken me the week to recover from all of the walking, I may have still had to ask for directions leaving the convention center on Saturday but I’m already preparing for what PRI 2022 has in store on December 8-10. After all, who wouldn’t want to go back and do it all again when you’re with this kind of company?

RacingJunk.com

Flea Ruzic and Ashley in the Dirt Empire booth.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

support these

FOLKS

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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 Ashley Allinson – imerald@gmail.com Black Hat Photography – djwebs1969@aol.com Bob Mays – catsracin@yahoo.com Brendon Bauman – brendonbauman30@gmail.com Chad Meyer – cmeyer@newcoop.com David Campbell – www.seemymind.com David Giles – davidgilesphoto@gmail.com Jacy Norgaard – jacy@jacynorgaardphotography.com John Lee - highfly-n@comcast.net Josh James – joshjamesphotos@gmail.com Mike Campbell – mikecampbellphotos@gmail.com Mike Howard – acer19@cox.net Mike Ruefer – mikerueferphotos@gmail.com Patrick Grant – patrickgrant1313@gmail.com Paul Arch - peanumber10@comcast.net Quentin Young – quentinyoungphoto@yahoo.com Rick Sherer – ricksherer@outlook.com Ron Sloan – facebook.com/RonSloanPhotography/ Todd Boyd – latemodel1967@gmail.com Tyler Rinkin – rinkty01@luther.edu Zach Yost – zyost11@yahoo.com

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

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DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 08 - 2022

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Dirt Empire Magazine - Issue 8 - 2022

Articles inside

REVIEW IN PICTURES – CHILI BOWL

REVIEW IN PICTURES WILD WEST SHOOTOUT

AYRTON GENNETTEN GETS GOING

TYLER CARPENTER A DREAM, A DOME AND A TRUCK

BUSINESS OF RACING – CASEY SHUMAN