Dirt Empire Magazine - Vol. 3 - Issue 14 - Feb/Mar 2023

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023

OWNER/PUBLISHER

Adam Cornell

EDITOR

Justin Zoch

SUBSCRIPTION COORDINATOR

Abigail Cornell

WEBSITE COORDINATOR

Shaun Cornell

WORDS

Ashley Allinson, Ashley Zimmerman, Bert Lehman, Bill Blumer Jr., Bob Mays, Brett Swanson, Chad Meyer, Chris Romano, Cyndi Stiffler, Danny Burton, David Sink, Doug Kennedy, Doug Seeger, Elizabeth Madley, Eric Arnold, Gary Costa, Greg Soukup, Jessica Jenkins, Joanne Cram, Joe Duvall, Kelley Carlton, Kevin Oldham, Larry Weeks, Lee Ackerman, Melissa Coker, Mike Spieker, Odell Suttle, Scott Erickson, TJ Buffenbarger, Todd Heintzelman, Vahok Hill

PICTURES

Adam Mollenkopf, Andy Newsome, Bill Miller, Bill Taylor, Bob Mays, Bob Yurko, Brad Plant, Brandon Anderson, Brendon Bauman, Brian Bouder, Bruce Palla, Buck Monson, Buzz Fisher, Carey Fox, Chad Wells, Chris McDill, Chris Pederson, Conrad Nelson, Dan DeMarco, Danny Howk, David Campbell, David Giles, David Hill, David Pratt, Dennis Krieger, Don Laidlaw, Donna Rosenstengel, Doug Burgess, Doug Vandeventer, Glen Starek, Gordy O’Field, Greg Stanek, Greg Teel, Heath Lawson, Jacy Norgaard, Jason Orth, Jason Spencer, Jason Wells, Jeff Bylsma, Jim Collum Jr., Jim DenHamer, Jim Zimmerline, Jimmy Jones, Joe Orth, Joe Secka, John Dadalt, John Lee, John Rothermel, Jon Holliday, Joseph Swann, Josh James, Ken Kelly, Lee Greenawalt, Leif Tillotson, Mark Funderburk, Mark Sublett, Matt Butcosk, Michael Diers, Michael Moats, Mike Campbell, Mike Damic, Mike Feltenberger, Mike Howard, Mike Musslin, Mike Ruefer, Millie Tanner, Patrick Miller, Paul Arch, Paul Gould, Quentin Young, Rich LaBrier, Richard Barnes, Rick Neff, Rick Sherer, Robert Wing, Rocky Ragusa, Ron Gilson, 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

PAGE 32

There’s no place like dome. In December the Gateway Dirt Nationals roared into St. Louis, making for one of the most exciting and emotional events of the year.

6

16 #DEASKS – RYAN UNZICKER

Last issue, we talked to Illinois racer Jason Feger, who just missed out on the MARS title in 2022, and this month we took your questions for the guy who narrowly bested him – Ryan Unzicker, who talks about growing up at Fairbury Speedway, winning in ARCA and what Crown Jewel drives him the most.

22 BUDDY KOFOID - BACK-TO-BACK BUDDY

The latest California sensation to tear up the USAC record book, Buddy Kofoid looks back on another historic USAC Midget season and talks about the wide range of race cars he jumped into in 2022 and what he hopes to accomplish this calendar year.

32 REVIEW IN PICTURES – GATEWAY DIRT NATIONALS

The annual early winter gathering indoors in St. Louis featured one of the most emotional feature finales ever as Tyler Erb honored his late father and plenty of emotionally charged action that we’d expect with large cars on a small track for big money.

50 RACETRACK SPOTLIGHT –

NEW HONCHO

The Knoxville Raceway is one of the most important dirt tracks in the entire world and they recently hired someone into the most important role at the entire facility. We chat with new General Manager Jason Reed, who is well known around the famous fairgrounds but has not had a lot of national recognition prior to his new gig.

Photo: Todd Boyd

fore WORD

By Adam Cornell

AS I EMBARK with the Dirt Empire Magazine team on year three of this publication, I am both excited and anxious. Who isn’t aware of all those number three films that didn’t quite measure up; Godfather III, Matrix Revolutions, Jaws 3D, Jurassic Park III, Superman 3, Terminator 3, Alien 3, Back to the Future III, Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Home Alone 3, D3: The Mighty Ducks, The Bad News Bears go to Japan? (seriously, where were those kids’ parents?!)

Yikes, there’s a bunch of them! To set my mind at ease, I had to deconstruct why the third sequel (second sequel, third film?) is rarely as good.

First off, usually the third film is trying to wrap up what happened in the first two films. Rarely is the conclusion as great as the build up or the middle act. Sometimes it is, but rarely.

Then, there’s Holly-weird itself. It isn’t filled with good storytellers. It’s filled with weirdos who have learned how to take advantage of talented people. When the talented people are finally fed up with dealing with them and decide to jump ship (like by the time a third film rolls around) then the producers figure they can just make a quick buck on the schlock they foist upon the audience and laugh all the way to the bank.

Lastly, sometimes when the original creators are still involved, they have grown bored with the project. They do what they have to in order to produce the third one, but they are just going through the motions at that point.

After understanding this whole dynamic, I felt a lot bolder about entering into year three.

Firstly, we’re not wrapping up anything. Racing has a rich history, and as long as there are people who want to go fast, there will be someone else who thinks they can go faster and they will compete to see who is the fastest. Racing will go on.

Secondly, the great thing about this business is you get to deal with a whole bunch of awesome people. Sure there’s a few oddballs out there, but that makes the whole thing even more fun. I also feel strongly about making Dirt Empire Magazine a haven for the talented people in this industry. Good photographers and writers will always have a home here. I don’t think it’s my imagination or skewed perception when I say the photos and articles keep getting better and better. The creatives that contribute to each issue seem to continue to hone their craft. I’m awed and appreciative to be working with such great creators.

Lastly, I don’t think I could ever get bored with this. Every issue has something new and amazing that we get to enjoy building as much as you hopefully enjoy reading. We will continue to work hard to defy the odds to keep making a great publication. Let me assure you, we are all invigorated to make each issue better than the last. A third installment can sometimes be the best yet. Remember, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King won best picture the year it was released, even though it was the third film in that franchise.*

Something else has happened in the last year to give me motivation. Besides being the only automotive dirt track racing magazine on the rack at Barnes & Noble, Books A Million and Tractor Supply stores, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame has requested archival copies of every issue of Dirt Empire Magazine for the museum. Additionally, they will start to have copies for sale at the museum. That provides me with an impetus to keep pushing harder to make sure we deserve such an honor.

The fact that Dirt Empire Magazine

will be forever enshrined at a hall of fame as part of the printed historical documentation of this sport is a weighty responsibility I don’t take lightly. Digital archives like websites can be fragile enough that with a simple press of a keyboard key it can all be lost forever. Sure we might have backups and backups of backups, but the reality is, history can be winked out of existence either accidentally or purposefully very easily in the digital world. I hope that day never comes, but if it does, print will be our link to the past, letting future generations know that this era of internal combustion engine racing actually occurred and it was kind of awesome. That Dirt Empire Magazine will now forever play a part in chronicalling this historical record is humbling.

As we move into our third year, I couldn’t be happier to have you along for the ride with us. Many of you have been readers from the very beginning. Thank you for helping to make this dream of a truly great magazine dedicated to dirt track racing a reality. Thank you for your trust and commitment.

I think year three is going to be even more fun than years one and two. Shall we find out together?

Let’s go racing!

Photo: Melissa Tousley

*See also: Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Toy Story 3 and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (officially the third film in the series, so there!)

from the EDITOR

MILLION FOR ONE

paymaster Dave Schrader was always flabbergasted when a driver that had a decent Nationals would still take home over $8,000, about what some would make in a season, in four days. I always thought that this is the way it should be done for any large event.

By Justin Zoch

WE’VE ALL GOT our kryptonite, right?

Maybe its public speaking, simple math or driving. I’ve got plenty of things I’m not good at but one that has nagged me for a long time is Fantasy Football. Week one usually goes terrifically but, by October, I’m as good as buried. My brother-in-law has always been my go to for access to a league and years ago and about $2,000 too late, I told him that I wasn’t going to join unless he lowered the entry fee since I had no chance at winning it anyway and maybe we could make it a little less top heavy. So, he did.

Fast forward to year two of the new, more affordable $50 buy-in league –somehow, through the power of prayer and Josh Allen’s general awesomeness, I’m in the title round for the first time ever after two decades of utter futility. Thrilled, I was curious what the prize would be if I managed to achieve this feat. Drumroll - $300 to win, $75 for second and $50 for third. Not that it’s nothing but it used to pay out about four times that much. Now, I’m wondering if that’s what all this sweat has been for? Hmph. Whose stupid idea was this anyway?

For years, I’ve always been a spread it around guy when it comes to purses for large events. The Knoxville Nationals purse was always the most amazing because the top was strong but the way they spread it through every event was incredible. Years ago, when I worked in the press box,

In recent years, the top purse money keeps getting larger and larger and $25,000-$50,000 to win, while not yet commonplace (particularly on the open wheel side) is becoming more and more prevalent and that continues to blow my mind. At least once a week during the season, a race that I’ve never even heard of will reward the winner over $25,000 and this never used to happen. It’s fantastic but there are concerns about using a big winner’s share to garner butts in seats and eyeballs on screens but not caring about the racer in 17th gets for their part.

BUT, just this one time, I’m delighted someone finally had the guts to put out the richest winner’s prize in sprint car history and to essentially put it all at the top. Tony Stewart and the Eldora crew putting on the Eldora Million for sprint cars will be the talker of the summer and will be the most fun race of the year, even if it isn’t the race of the year. Sure, there will be other racers that will make good money on the twin $12,000-to-win prelim features and the King’s Royal is still there for the taking a few days later but I love this all or nothing mentality for just one night. It’s incredible and incredibly fun.

I love Stewart’s quote on what he expects at the race and it perhaps unveils a little bit of the motivation for putting the race on in the first place. “This will showcase the best of the best and you’re going to want to see how this race

unfolds in the final laps, with guys still in the hunt running close together, what they will do to win a million dollars.” It’s all or nothing, high stakes, high reward racing at its finest and Eldora is a place where miracles and the unexpected can happen and on the right night, not everyone, but a big chunk of the entries, has a chance to win.

So, what if that guy who normally runs 17th wins the dang thing? Then what will the spread-it-around crowd say? They’ll say it was the best car race in the history of car races. It could happen. I mean, after all, I’m in the fantasy final. I just wish it paid more to win it!

news NOTES &

KRUSEMAN, SALDANA HEADLINE SPRINT CAR HALL OF FAME CLASS

THE NATIONAL SPRINT CAR Hall of Fame is pleased to announce the names of its thirteen inductees for 2023. Those that will be inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on Saturday, June 3, during the 33rd induction ceremonies in Knoxville, Iowa, includes several drivers, owners, mechanics and media members who have left their mark on the sport forever.

There are four inductees in the driver category, including Cory Kruseman, who was one of best racers on the West Coast and won SCRA and USAC/CRA titles, Indiana Sprint Week championships and won over 123 races in his career, and Joey Saldana, who raced to 74 wins with the All Stars, two Kings Royal and Gold Cup victories and spent 17 seasons with the World of Outlaws. Saldana will join his father, Joe, as an inductee in the Hall of Fame.

Other inductees in the driver’s category include Ken Hamilton, who dominated pavement racing throughout the western United States for much of his career in the “Pink Lady” race car; Chad Kemenah, a six-time All Star Circuit of Champions titlist who dominated the series for well over a decade and a World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year; and Bobby Marshall, an original traveling member of the World of Outlaws that racked up 108 career sprint car victories with the Texas Sprint Association and the NCRA while also winning two Devil’s Bowl Speedway track titles in Texas.

Aside from drivers, several other inductees will be honored for their mechanical contributions to the sport, including Johnny Capels, who raced before becoming a champion mechanic and owner with four USAC titles to his name. He later moved into USAC Management and was Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2002-2010. He’ll

be joined by Paul Hazen, who has been a staple on the Indiana open wheel scene since 1967 and has had nearly every USAC star slide into his car at one point or another. Tommy Sanders will also go in as one of the best mechanics ever as he helped fellow Hall of Famers Bobby Allen, Sammy Swindell, Brad Doty, Doug Wolfgang and Keith Kauffman throughout his year’s as a wrench.

In the media category, Iowan turned Floridian Max Dolder will be inducted for all of his hard work shooting races from the trenches and cataloging history with his lens for nearly his entire life. Ralph Sheheen has been the voice of televised sprint car racing for various networks over the past 30 years and has worked tirelessly to promote a professional image for dirt track racing on air and in print.

As for promoters and officials, Pennsylvania’s Alan Kreitzer is at the forefront of promoting racing in Central Pennsylvania at places like Williams Grove, Silver Spring, Lincoln, Selinsgrove and for founding the Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek. Meanwhile, Johnny Vance was a dedicated owner and former USAC technical chairman that won USAC Sprint Car championships with Steve Butler in 1990 and Tony Elliott in 1998.

The final category is the pre-1970 and Joie Ray will be inducted for his accomplishments over his 17-year career. He was the first black driver to compete in a sanctioned race when he took the MDTRA in Mitchell, Indiana April 6, 1947. His groundbreaking career included racing with not only the MDTRA, but also the IMCA, CSRA and AAA.

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

JOEY SALDANA

CORY KRUSEMAN

DIRT EMPIRE

news NOTES &

HUNT THE FRONT, the Florida-based Dirt Late Model race team and YouTube content creators, announced a new regional Super Late Model series in 2023 with a $50,000 minimum points fund that will pay at least $20,000 to the series champion.

Hunt the Front’s Super Dirt Series presented by Sweet Victory Apparel will launch with an April 7-8 doubleheader weekend at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Florida, and is currently set to include a total of 17 races at 10 tracks across the Southeast before wrapping up with the third annual Hunt the Front Southern Showcase at Deep South Speedway on October 6-7.

Other inaugural season events include an April 28-29 doubleheader at Magnolia Motor Speedway and a pair of

THE ELDORA MILLION RETURNS –FOR SPRINT CARS!

ELDORA SPEEDWAY owner Tony Stewart announced an unsanctioned sprint car race will be held on July 12-13 with a total purse of $1.4 million and a little more than $1 million paid to the winner.

Last year, the speedway resurrected the Eldora Million for late models after a 21-year hiatus. Jonathan Davenport held off a late-race charge from Chris Madden and Tim McCreadie to win the $1,002,022 purse. This year, the prize has one dollar added to the payout in deference to it being held in 2023. “All of us at Eldora are super excited to host the first million-dollar-to-win sprint car race,” said Stewart in a press release. “Back in 2003, Eldora hosted a non-wing race that paid $200,000 to winner Jac Haudenschild, but this will be the first time a sprint car driver will race for a winner’s check worth $1 million. This will showcase the best of the best, and you’re going to want to see how this race unfolds

HUNT THE FRONT STARTS NEW SERIES

big holiday weekends for both Fourth of July and Labor Day. Boyd’s Speedway will host the first two nights of the tour’s Independence Day weekend action June 30-July 1, while Duck River Speedway will host the weekend finale July 2. The tour will return to Boyd’s September. 1-2 for a Labor Day weekend doubleheader.

Senoia Raceway is set to host a pair of series events with dates on May 20 and August 26, while Cochran Motor

Last year, Brent Marks dominated Eldora in July. This year, he could walk out an instant millionaire!

where in the final laps, with guys still in the hunt running close together, what they will do to win a million dollars.”

The 2023 Eldora Million falls between two World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series races also held in Ohio. The Brad Doty Classic will be held at Attica (Ohio) Raceway on July 11 and the Kings Royal is scheduled for July 14-15.

Speedway (June 3), Whynot Motorsports Park (June 24), East Alabama Motor Speedway (August 19) and Talladega Short Track (September 30) are each set to host at least one series race.

Additional details for the series including rules, streaming information, Rookie of the Year details, a driver loyalty program, and more will be released soon, and a series website from MyRacePass is in the works.

CORRECTION

ON THE COVER of Issue 13 we totally messed up (and by we, we mean Adam did this.) It’s one of those wakes-you-up-in-the-middle-of-thenight-in-a-cold-sweat mistakes. We had a great feature on Jason Feger in the issue. But because of A) idiocy, B) distracted graphic design layout, C) alcohol consumption, D) all of the above, we (ahem, he) put “Justin” Feger instead. So, so sorry, Jason! In Adam’s defense, he did get 60% of the first name correct. Fortunately, Jason was a good sport about it. Check out page 36 of this issue for a QR code link to Jason’s YouTube page to see even more reasons for why he’s so awesome!

Photo: Zack Yost

Joseph Joiner is the face of Hunt the Front and will be integral in the new series in 2023.

Photo: Paul Arch

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.

SIDEBOARD ARTISTS

Most winged sprint car racers might be tempted to put all their best stuff on their top wing but these two found the perfect space on the actual car. Glenndon Forsythe created a fun tire monster while Robbie Kendall turned his race car into a freshly poured sudsy beverage. Photos Paul Arch.

These two guys used their race cars to promote their alter egos – Pennsylvania teenager Riley Emig goes as the Peruvian Punisher on his 358 sprint car while Anton Hernandez, a Texas transplant to Indiana, is the Flying Fajita. Photos Paul Arch.

MONIKER MAGIC

Here’s an honest approach from Jason Long at Naugle Auto Speedway on his Outlaw Kart. Certainly a great way to look at an expensive sport!

Remember, in the words of George Costanza, “It’s not a lie if you believe it.” Cody Price is surely going to find Bigfoot some night hauling his sprinter back to Farmerville, Texas.

Photo Paul Arch.

Photographer David Campbell ventured out to Amarillo and found fertile ground for Western mythology like this entry emblazoned with Wyatt Earp’s famous quote in the movie Tombstone. They even perfectly nailed the font.

Photo David Campbell.

Photo Ashley Allinson.

DIRT EMPIRE ASKS

RYAN UNZICKER DRIVER:

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

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

GROWING UP just a stone’s throw from Fairbury American Legion Speedway, Ryan Unzicker was given two things through logistical blessings. First, the opportunity to witness some of the greatest late model drivers compete on a historic racetrack for one of late model racing’s most coveted crown jewels. The second? The dream to one day be the late model driver another young boy gets to watch pull into town chasing down a Crown Jewel and inspire his very own hometown dreams.

While Unzicker hasn’t checked the Prairie Dirt Classic off of his bucket list just yet, he fully subscribes to the theory that racing anything he can get his seat into not only defines being

a race car driver but makes him that much more ready to strike when the opportunity presents itself. Meanwhile, throughout the last season, Unzicker’s fans witnessed and celebrated some of his best laps yet. These included being paired with Unzicker sealing the deal on the MARS series points championship at the very racetrack that inspired him, Fairbury American Legion Speedway, and his unforgettable win on Du Quoin’s mile giving his retiring ARCA car owner Bill Hendren [Hendren Motorsports] the chance to mark the win column just one more time.

For Unzicker, there’s no rest for the wicked between balancing a busy Illinoisbased racing schedule and working at the family business but we grabbed a few precious minutes from Unzicker while en route to the Gateway Dirt Nationals and asked your fan submitted questions for another round of #DEAsks.

Dirt Empire: Most recently you ended your season by racing at the Gateway Dirt Nationals. Aside from the Dome being the only Midwest race during this time, what was it about Gateway that attracted you to wanting to race there?

Ryan Unzicker: For one, the atmosphere. There are so many people there and it brings a lot of attention being an indoor race. People are always asking me where I’m going racing in December and when I tell them, they can’t believe that we’re racing late models inside. It’s a special event with a lot of hype. I know it hasn’t been around that long, but it always feels pretty special considering the circumstances. It really is a cool event,

Photo: Rocky Ragusa

Photo: Josh James

I really do consider it an event, it’s way more than just a race. The track is so small, you really have to be aggressive, giving it 100% all of the time with a whole lot of people around.

DE: What have been some of your most exciting or most memorable Dome experiences?

RU: Probably our biggest moment is when we passed Tyler Carpenter. Tyler and I were throwing sliders back and forth at each other for the lead back in 2019 with about nine laps to go. I ended up flipping during one of the sliders we were exchanging, so it took us out of the race obviously, but we had a really strong car that weekend. We lost the lead to Tyler on that Friday night race, and then that Saturday night we just came up a little short, just circumstances of a rough race track and being up on the wheel for the entire race, putting your 110% in and giving it your all. I would say that has been the very best moment at the Dome for us. The Dome has really been good to us every year. Being from Illinois, which is known for its smaller racetracks, we’re kind of used to that elbows up feeling where you can’t give up any room. That is what the Dome promotes - good action for the fans because it’s a tight racetrack and it’s really just all for one. Once you enter the racetrack, nothing else matters.

DE: In the beginning of 2022, we interviewed Tyler Carpenter about his win at the Gateway Dirt Nationals, and he said that racing at the Dome was a great equalizer for late

models. Would you agree with that statement?

RU: I would agree 100% with that. You don’t need a big motor; you don’t need an aero package; there have been a lot of guys who have proven that. You really don’t need something special. You just have to have your stuff right. I’m a big fan of that type of racing, it makes everyone shine, or it gives everyone an opportunity to. It doesn’t take just a big checkbook.

DE: Talking more about the 2022 season, you also raced a few ARCA races. When the opportunity arose for you to have the chance to race ARCA, was this something you were actively pursuing?

RU: I mean, we’ve always looked at it that maybe there is a chance that we might

be able to drive for someone or have a shot to run a full season. Realistically, I knew that wasn’t going to happen. ARCA is really built around the development drivers and teams, and they come with a lot of funding behind them. The team that I drove for it was just friends and family that came together for forty or fifty years and they built their program around racing those two races each year. That’s basically all they could afford. So, they put all of their eggs in one basket for those two races. I would have loved to continue on and make it something more, but, in the back of my mind, I just knew that wasn’t going to happen.

DE: You won Du Quoin in the ARCA car. It also happened to be the last race for your car owners, who were

Photo: Rocky Ragusa

Photo: Allyson Bane

Unzicker raced his good friend Jason Feger (25) hard for the 2022 MARS title and celebrated the win with his wife Michelle and son Brody at Farmer City, Illinois.

retiring. Do you feel like this added any additional pressure wanting to give them one last final win?

RU: No pressure really, the team never gave me any pressure, really, they just knew the day had come and that was going to be their last race. I knew we had a shot to win, the last three or four years I felt like we were one of the cars to beat any time we went to Springfield or Du Quoin. I was just fortunate to be able to give them the win at Springfield in 2020 and then Du Quoin in 2022. I feel very blessed to be able to accomplish for them what they had been wanting to do for 40 years.

DE: When did you decide you wanted to be involved in racing? Where did the dream start?

RU: I was always interested in racing, growing up as a kid, Fairbury, my home track growing up, was just twenty-five miles from my house. For whatever reason, back in the day, our family business was right along Highway 24, which leads to Fairbury. On Saturdays, I would be playing in the yard at the family business, and I would see the cars, which at the time were on open trailers, so you could actually see the cars, and that always caught my attention. I would get excited and want to go [to the races] and my grandfather would take me, and then my parents later on. I just always wanted to go to Fairbury. One of my first dates, with my now wife, we went to Fairbury

[he laughs]. I took her over there. It’s just always been attractive to me; I’ve just always been a car guy.

DE: The dream now versus the dream then. Has it changed any?

RU: I think it’s always been late models. That’s what we would always watch when we would go to Fairbury. Then that’s what we would watch when we went to the bigger races like the World 100. It was just always dirt late models, that was the cool thing to me.

DE: Obviously you’ve had quite a few opportunities to race just about anything you could imagine. But, what’s left? If someone called you today with an opportunity, what is there that you know you’d say yes to?

RU: I mean, honestly, I’m a racer at heart. I would drive anything that’s got four wheels. Maybe not a sprint car, my wife would probably divorce me if I did.

She’s always said there’s no way you’re getting in a sprint car. Honestly, really, I’d just enjoy driving for somebody. I’ve always driven for myself, other than the ARCA deal, so it’d be kind of nice to have that phone call where somebody wanted to make all the decisions and take the stress off of me that all of that has. It would free up a lot of my nerves for sure.

DE: Let’s talk more about this season and late model racing. In our last issue we interviewed Jason Feger, he talked about racing all summer with you in the MARS series for the championship, and your friendship growing up. Does it make competition and winning a bit more fun when it’s someone you have a lasting relationship with?

RU: For sure, Jason is a great competitor. We started racing pretty close to the same time. Heck, we only live 20 miles from each other, so we’ve helped each

Photos: Ryan Roberts

“I WANT TO WIN THE PRAIRIE DIRT CLASSIC. IT’S WHERE I GREW UP, IT’S MY HOMETOWN, IT’S WHERE MY FANS ARE, IT’S MY HOME TRACK. THAT’S THE ONE I WANT TO WIN.”

other throughout the years. We’ve always had a good standing relationship, we always race hard on the track, and we’ve never come across any problems on the track before. It has been good. The MARS championship this year was fun, it came down to the last race. I think as you get older you look at things differently, that was one series and one moment that was a lot of fun to be a part of.

DE: When you think of the should haves and the could haves of races, which one comes to mind that you really should have probably won?

RU: Well, all racing is could have and should have [he laughs]. I feel like I could have won a hundred more races if I was able to could have and should have. But I’m sure every driver feels the same. But there are two that pop in my mind. I can’t quite remember what year it was, probably around 2005 to 2007, I was racing Jimmy Mars, my current builder, but wasn’t driving one of his cars at the time, but I was passing him for the lead with eight or nine left at the Prairie Dirt Classic in Fairbury. At this point in my career, I didn’t know what the heck I was

doing, I was new to the late model stuff and just trying to figure things out. I found myself having caught him for the lead, I was passing him on the front stretch when my car broke, and took me out of the race. That one right there was pretty hurtful with the magnitude of that race, if I could have won PDC with what I had back then at the time, it would be crazy in mind to look back and have put my name in the record book like that. The second one would have been the few years back in 2019, racing against Tyler Carpenter [at the Dome], that’s another one that stands out a lot to me. That’s a pretty big heart breaker, you know, that kind of money to a small team like mine, that would be amazing. Those would definitely be the two events I would like to have back.

DE: Now obviously every driver wants to win a Crown Jewel race, but is there a race that is simply just special to you and one that you have to check off the bucket list?

RU: I want to win the Prairie Dirt Classic. It’s where I grew up, it’s my hometown, it’s where my fans are, it’s my home track. That’s the one I want to win. Everyone wants to win the World or the Dream, that kind of big Crown Jewel race.

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Josh James

But I think what Fairbury has done with what they have built with the Prairie Dirt Classic, they are right there behind the World 100 in my book. That’s the one I want to win.

DE: With the 2022 race season finally fully in your rear-view mirror, what would you say are some of the top moments of this last season?

RU: We did the first week of the Summer Dirt Nationals, and we came out on top, leading the points after the first week. That was a pretty good accomplishment. Another would be Du Quoin, that moment was crazy emotionally, that was something pretty special, not that many people get to have timing like that. The MARS championship, that was really special going into that final weekend. It was a big weekend race at Fairbury, there was a lot of money on the line, not just the championship, and it’s something that I just felt good about. I felt like Jason [Feger] had a great team and really gave us a run for our money. It was a good challenge. We sealed the deal on Friday night, and that moment itself was pretty special. Our whole team was there, and it really felt like we knew we had it.

DE: As a driver with a great deal of experience across all of motorsports, how would you like to help the next generation of drivers with the knowledge you’ve gained?

RU: For the record, I’ve always loved helping new people. I always want to help the guy who is underfunded and doesn’t know a lot. I always try to give them the time of day if they have questions. I’m always willing to give them advice from what my experience has been, to help

them get faster. I try to help guys be able to get faster without having to spend a lot of money. Money is a huge part of, and a problem of, racing these days. It just costs so much dang money. So, unfortunately, for the younger teams just coming into this, it costs them a lot of money just to get started. So, I love being able to help coach people and be able to show them areas where they don’t have to spend a bunch of money or waste a bunch of money on different items through trial and error. That’s an expensive learning curve and I love helping in that area.

DE: You’ve mentioned a bit the competitiveness of Illinois dirt tracks, being an Illinois driver, we imagine you’ve gotten to race on just about all of them when it comes to late models. Which track would you say has challenged you the most? Which is your favorite?

RU: Let’s start with Farmer City. That’s the one that’s probably pushed me the most to prove myself. I was really never great at Farmer City; I don’t even know if I still am. It’s a very challenging race track. My favorite would be Macon or Fairbury, one of the two. Fairbury is always special, no matter if you’re just going to a local show. Macon is probably my favorite. It’s kind of like a Dome experience, you have to be elbows up. When you’re exiting one corner, you’ve got about two seconds to think about what you’re doing for the next corner. It promotes good racing because you have to make fast decisions. One of the true hidden gems of Illinois that is starting to surface more is Spoon River. They have had some bigger shows, and it’s been a track that we’ve had a lot of success on. I got my first Summer

Nationals win there, as well as a lot of other wins. That track is like a miniEldora, it’s got a lot of good banking, it’s really fast early, and it can get technical and super slick at the end.

DE: We’ve got one last question. Who do you lean on for advice or help? Who helps you get through the season?

RU: I’ve kind of been the type of person to be to myself my whole career. I’ve leaned on Bob Pierce the most. I was in one of his cars for about eight years, and became really good friends with the Pierce family, still am to this day. So, I’ve always leaned on him. Now that I’ve switched over to running Jimmy Mars stuff, it’s Jimmy, Chris Mars, and their team, I’m starting to build that same relationship with Jimmy and asking him a lot of questions. Those two guys right there have probably been my biggest two people I’ve talked to about help with racing. Also, Chris Richards with Action Suspension, I’ve been with him for about ten years. Then there’s also my wife, going up and down the road with me, she’s always telling me what I’m doing wrong [he laughs] but she’s always making sure I’m doing the right thing. This is just like a football team or basketball; you can’t do this all yourself. There are so many things to do now especially with social media and interviews. I rely upon my wife all the time to handle a lot of things. I add more and more to her plate every month, just because of all of the moving parts. You definitely have to have a wife, girlfriend or someone who’s by your side through the whole thing or it can make your life a lot harder.

Photo: Paul Arch

A throwback to an earlier era when Ryan Unzicker towed out to the 2010 World 100 at Eldora Speedway. Two years later, Unzicker made his only A-main appearance at the World 100.

a main FEATURE OPEN WHEEL

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

ON PAPER, the record-breaking statistics, the consistency in starts, and the back-to-back championships would make any fan think Buddy Kofoid has had a lengthy career in midget racing. The timeline tells the truth with Kofoid closing out just his sophomore season in USAC midget racing contention making statistics like his just that much more impressive.

While just reading the list of Kofoid’s 2022 USAC accomplishments could exhaust even the youngest of fan begging for a good bedtime story, Kofoid filled the downtime of his midget racing schedule with the likes of winged sprint car racing, ARCA series races, and pavement late models. Let’s face it, Kofoid would run the tread off of a big wheel if it would bring him crucial experience over his competitors. Adding to his list in 2022, Kofoid stamped his mark in the World of Outlaws history books at Husets Speedway becoming the 148th different driver to win a feature.

For the ones who go to sleep dreaming of their future laps, seasons like Kofoid’s are made for the pages that lull them to slumber. For Kofoid, however, the calendar does not slow as he heads to Australia and preps for the Chili Bowl before getting ready for the full 2023 season.

Shortly after announcing his Southern Hemisphere schedule, we sat down with Kofoid to whittle down on the exciting details filling 2022 and what lurks around the corner in 2023.

Dirt Empire: Let’s start off discussing this last season when you achieved success in just about every type of car you drove. Does this success make you want to focus more solely on one type of race car and potentially sacrifice time on your

schedule from other things?

Buddy Kofoid: I would say yes and no, but mainly no. Although there are certain cars that I really enjoy running, I have other priorities that I have to stick to while my main focus may be on what I have to do in that moment. Whether it’s midgets, or sprint cars, or pavement late models, those are the things that I really enjoy doing right now. But all the while, sometimes I will run a silver crown car or a pavement midget, and I also really enjoy doing those things as well. Sometimes things like that though are to fill my schedule and to help me become a better driver in the cars that are my main focus.

DE: Were there any opportunities when you get to fill in your schedule when you are able to pick also the track or a possible situation where you know that you’ll perform better or the surface will fit your style more?

BK: It was more just my availability.

This year midgets were my main focus, just running with USAC. Then I got involved with Leighton Crouch and Crouch Motorsports [winged sprint cars] and they know what my schedule and responsibilities are with the Toyota Development team and know that is my main focus. So, we [Crouch Motorsports]

Photos: David Campbell

Kofoid has always been a factor in his three Chili Bowl attempts and, in 2022, he won the Tuesday night prelim and was fourth in the finale.

pretty much raced as much as we could when I wasn’t racing a midget, wherever and whenever that made sense for me.

DE: Speaking of USAC, you were able to cement yourself into the record books this year for quite a few different things. When you got started racing midgets just a few years ago,

BUDDY KOFOID

BACK-TO-BACK BUDDY!

did you ever imagine this would be what you would quickly achieve?

BK: You know when I started full-time in 2020, I don’t know that I knew what I thought I could accomplish. Obviously, you want to win, and do the best that you can and try to move up, but also prove yourself. Midgets were new to me in 2020, but I’ve been able to do really

good things, thankfully multiple times [he laughs] which makes it better for sure. I think a lot of the source behind that was consistency, not just racing in the car itself, but consistently being with the same group of guys, sticking with the same package that worked for me and my crew chief. As well as being with one of the best teams in the history of midget

racing, and just trusting the process, believing in what we had.

DE: What has this kind of success in such a short career meant to you?

BK: It’s meant a lot really. I don’t really sit back and think about it, that’s not really how I am. It’s not a bad thing, but I think sometimes it’s good to remind yourself and to give yourself something to be proud of every once and a while when you aren’t doing something. I’m certainly proud of what I’ve been able to do, but I’m also hungry to do more, and repeat whatever it is that I’ve done in the past. I always look forward to being better and achieve more. At the USAC banquet in Indy, to hear those stats again, and to see the videos, it’s definitely a good feeling, too.

DE: Do you think it adds another level of excitement when you aren’t paying much mind to the stats and you get to a race and suddenly, you’re about to change a record or the stats get brought up?

BK: I would say yeah. A lot of the

stats that I hear are something that I didn’t know I was close to achieving. It seems like this year has been full of all sorts of new statistics and facts. Whether it’s comparing win counts, the championships, or who has won backto-back, it just makes you sit back and realize what we’ve been able to do. It definitely makes you proud, but at the same time, you have a job to do, so all of

that kind of goes out the window and its business as usual.

DE: Does this level of accomplishment make you want to focus more on midget racing or does it make you want to explore all of the options out there that open up from this?

BK: Well, let’s put it this way, I won’t be

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Ryan Northcote

racing midgets full time next year. So [he laughs] I guess that kind of answers it, doesn’t it? There is still a lot I want to accomplish in midget racing, like winning the Chili Bowl. I think that would solidify myself as someone who was a really good midget driver. For me it would make me feel like I’ve pretty much completed everything that there is to do or that I wanted to do in a midget. When I can, I’ll still expose myself to midget racing, I fell in love with it, it’s fun to do when you can, and I think it’s made me a better driver in general.

DE: Speaking of the Chili Bowl, what makes this event a Crown Jewel event for you?

BK: I think because it’s the biggest race in the world, its known as one of the biggest dirt races in the world. There’s an extremely unique format, unique venue with a large car count. You get close to 400 cars over six/seven days. You’re going against the best in the world,

including people who are great in other disciplines outside of dirt racing. I think that’s the nice thing about the Chili Bowl, it brings everyone together that respect the Chili Bowl and midget racing. I’ve never won it and hopefully in a month I can say that I have, but the feeling of just rolling down the ramp is indescribable. Very few racetracks or events give you that feeling, I think that in itself makes the Chili Bowl very special.

DE: Recently you were able to release that you’re returning back Down Under to race midgets in New Zealand, what kind of challenges do you think you’ll face going back?

BK: Thankfully, I’ve been to New Zealand twice now, racing on the South Island, not the North Island and that was in sprint cars. So, I’ve been in the environment before, and I’ve experienced the tracks but at the same time, the equipment, the cars, and the people that will all be new again. Especially for midgets. I’ve ran lots

of different sprint cars for lots of different people, but midget wise, I’ve ran my whole career with pretty much one team and the same group of guys. That will be an adjustment in itself. But Jason Lee has good equipment, and he has a great group of guys, so hopefully paired with my experience we can make a smooth transition.

DE: Is there any particular race or track on that schedule that you’re excited for?

BK: Really, it’s all of them because I’ve never been to the North Island or Auckland. I’ve never been to obviously Western Springs or Bay Park or any of those tracks. So, for me, besides the racing aspect of it, I’m excited to go to a new place. I think all of that together is exciting and that’s what I look forward to the most is something new.

DE: With all of the opportunities you’ve had to race different types of

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Rick Sherer

Kofoid moved from his native California to jump start his career in Ohio with great rides like the Ed Neumeister 11N. He’s shown here hard on it at Attica in 2019.

cars this year, do you think you’ve built upon any skills or learned any lessons that will help you going forward to the Chili Bowl?

BK: Obviously racing different cars and for different teams at different tracks will always make you a better driver if you can pounce on the opportunity and make the most of it. But I feel the best I’ve ever felt. I feel the cars are the best they have ever been, I feel that Jarrett [Martin] is the best he’s ever been, too. Our consistency not just in our racing package, which is unique itself, but with our partnership, the people around us, our friendships together, that’s just made us better. I think we are night and day better from last year and definitely from two years ago. Last year, I was going for my first championship, I don’t know if I raced differently, but I was more conscientious of what was happening and what I was fighting for. I feel like once you accomplish it, you know what to do the following year, and I feel like I was able to do things different, I felt way more comfortable, like we carried a certain swagger.

DE: Take away the contracts, the obligations, if you got to build the ultimate schedule, what would be the non-negotiables?

BK: Lawrenceburg for Midget Week, then Williamsburg for the Outlaws race. A lot of people now know that’s my alltime favorite track. Then I’m not sure, obviously I want to run the Knoxville Nationals, the BC39, the Kings Royal, really all of the big races. Thankfully I’ve gotten to do most of them already previously or this year, I’m pretty happy with what I’ve been able to do already. Honestly though, the Kings Royal, I’ve had to miss it the last two or three years, so that would probably also be one of them.

DE: We’ve covered a lot on the midget front but let’s talk some ARCA racing. With this move to racing in the ARCA series, was it to continue to improve as a driver or was this a move with the direction to one day end up in NASCAR?

BK: Short answer is yes, the main reason why I’ve been racing midgets with the Toyota Racing Development program is to eventually move on to the pavement world. That’s one of the main reasons I’ve been running ARCA. Toyota has given me great opportunities to do this kind of stuff, so hopefully one day I can get there. NASCAR has always been my goal. I think that has been some of the reason I got

While Kofoid has found a lot of success in the Keith Kunz’s midgets, he also helped Kunz in his winged sprint car program, including driving it to victory at Fremont Speedway in 2020.

to be exposed to the truck races on dirt, then the Springfield ARCA race, to maybe get a bit more familiarized and getting exposed to that environment. That’s where I eventually want to be, so with my involvement with Toyota, coming from the dirt world, it kind of starts with the midgets, then the pavement late models, and stuff like that.

DE: In August, you competed with ARCA at the Springfield Mile, and you were running second when an on-track incident occurred and took

away any chances of you making a move for the lead and Jesse Love. What does it feel like to be so close to a major opportunity like that and have it taken away so suddenly?

BK: Overall, I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity, I had a lot of fun and it felt really good. Knowing that you have a chance to win with one of the best cars out there and best teams out there, gives you a really good feeling. I was really excited about all of that, and really enjoyed it overall, I’m excited to do it again. There was a chance I could

Photo: Rick Sherer

Photo: Rick Sherer

have run Du Quoin, but I had a midget race that weekend so I was kind of bummed about that. But I’m going back, my main priority has just been midgets. But I’d love to do it again, there’s no hesitation there.

DE: For USAC, the Springfield Mile is quite a historical track and deeply embedded in their history, while you were there with ARCA, with your own name embedded in USAC history, what did it mean for you to get to race at a track as historic as this?

BK: I thought it was really cool, it was my first dirt mile I’ve ever been on. It was something new for me and for me to figure out. I always enjoy a challenge and seeing something new. Seeing the whole venue was really cool with everything they had going on there with the State Fair. It was a lot of fun, especially being exposed to the ARCA world.

DE: Let’s talk a bit more about the upcoming 2023 season, you mentioned earlier that you wouldn’t be racing midgets fulltime. Where could we expect to see you?

BK: A lot of winged sprint car racing, hopefully more late model and stock car stuff.

Photo: Ryan Northcote

The focus for the last two years for Kofoid has been midgets but that could be changing as he transitions to more sprint cars and full-bodied cars going forward in 2023 and beyond.

extra LAPS

BUDDY KOFOID’S INCREDIBLE USAC MIDGET CAMPAIGN

BY RICHIE MURRAY

• Buddy Kofoid won the 67th year of USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship racing in car number 67.

• He delivered a record-extending 12th entrant title to Keith Kunz Motorsports and the 10th for Curb-Agajanian. Kunz’s previous series entrant championships came in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.

• He became the first driver to repeat as champion since Bryan Clauson in 2010-11. He became the 12th to achieve the feat, joining such luminaries as Shorty Templeman (1956-57-58), Jimmy Davies (196061-62), Jason Leffler (1997-98-99), Mike McGreevy (1965-66), Mel Kenyon (1967-68), Sleepy Tripp (1975-76), Stevie Reeves (1992-93), Tony Stewart (1994-95), Dave Darland (2001-02) and Jerry Coons Jr. (2006-07).

• Kofoid’s 13 feature victories in 32 series races place his win percentage at 40.63 percent. That’s the highest single season winning percentage in series history in terms of a driver’s victories compared to the number of total events on the schedule. The previous mark was held by Christopher Bell’s seven wins in 18 scheduled races (38.9%) in 2014.

• Furthermore, Kofoid’s baker’s dozen victories on the year made him one of just five drivers to reach at least 13 triumphs in a USAC National Midget season, which trails only Kenyon’s 17 in 1967 and 14 in 1969; Rich Vogler’s 16 in 1988; and equaled the 13 triumphant performances Sleepy Tripp posted in 1975.

• He got his work finished early as well, wrapping up the championship with three races remaining, and winning by a total margin of 203 points, the most lopsided difference between first and second since 18 summers ago in 2004, and the ninth most substantial point differential in series history.

• The scalding late-spring run by Kofoid reached the level of “white hot” after reeling off four consecutive victories at Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway as well as Illinois’ Tri-City Speedway and at Indiana’s Bloomington and Lawrenceburg Speedways, making him the first to win four-straight with the series since Kyle Larson between 2012-2013.

• Kofoid’s second Indiana Midget Week title in as many seasons put him in exclusive company alongside Shane Cottle (2005-06) and Rico Abreu (2014-15) as the only individuals to reach the pinnacle of the annual weeklong Hoosier state mini-series in back-to-back seasons.

• Kofoid owned every statistical category in 2022 with most wins (13), laps led (326), top-fives (27), top-tens (29), fast qualifying times (5) and heat race wins (9), which he shared with Thomas Meseraull and Bryant Wiedeman.

Photo: Ryan Northcote

Kofoid didn’t win Turkey Night this year - in fact he didn’t even finish after a wild series of flips while running fourth - but he did get to celebrate a second straight USAC Midget title with the Keith Kunz Motorsports juggernaut.

Photos: Paul Trevino

review in PICTURES

GATEWAY DIRT NATIONALS

WELCOME TO THUNDER DOME...

Photo: Michael Boggs

DIRT

Nebraska’s Jordan Grabouski loves the Dome and showed that you can look great and be fast as he raced to third in the modified finale on Saturday night. He was also third best in his prelim.

Yeah, things got rough and tumble and emotional and fans were very vocal throughout the week. And, no, despite the loosey-goosey vibe in the Dome, this man was not the official flagman of the event, at least he wasn’t this year. Next year?

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Josh James

The Dome is always a huge event for St. Louis-based racer Kyle Steffens and he fared well and just missed the podium in fourth in the mod finale.

Photo: Josh James

Think the quarters are close in the Dome? Mike Harrison (24H) holds the bottom versus KC Burdette by keeping his wheels rubbing the concrete.

Use your smart phone camera to link to the in-car roll over video thanks to Speedway Car Cams. Be sure to like and share their YouTube videos.

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Josh James

“You Can’t Park There!” Charlie Mefford got his modified upside down inside and then gave an enthusiastic, hilarious interview that had the whole Dome on his side.

Tyler Erb runs hard to the inside of last year’s Dome hero Tyler Carpenter en route to his emotional victory on Saturday night.

Yes, contact will be made! Brandon Sheppard gets friendly with the left side of Mike Spatola’s entry mid-pack in the finale. Spatola was fifth while Sheppard DNF’d to a 16th place run.

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Todd Boyd

Jason Feger... JASON Feger.... see? It’s not that difficult. Gosh darn it! Who let the publsiher lay out last issue’s cover?

Jason Feger came to play, finishing a respectable 8th in the big feature. Check out his journey on his YouTube channel - use your smart phone camera on the QR code to the right. Be sure to subscribbe to his channel to catch all of his future posts!

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Josh James

Jadon Frame’s strong week in the J8 came to a jarring end in the second qualifier on the final night in this tussle. Harry Hanson (7), Greg Kimmons (27) and Nicky Pennington (95) were also affected.

Heartbreak to Heroics - Tyler Erb scored an emotional win in the finale just four days after losing his father Mark to a heart attack. An absolutely unbelievable emotional feat.

Photo: Josh James

Photo: Ron Sloan

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Todd Boyd

The 2022 Gateway Dirt Nationals will go down as one of the most exciting and emotional races ever held in the dome. No doubt everyone will be back for more in 2023.

Photo: Todd Boyd

guest MIC DROP

MY BROTHER THE ZAMBONI DRIVER

BY KELLEY CARLTON

Driving home from St. Louis after the Gateway Dirt Nationals has become one of my favorite drives over the last few years. This year it wasn’t quite the same for me though. Or maybe it was but just in a different way. Back in September, my mother had a pretty bad fall. She had a head injury and since she has come home from the hospital, she has required almost 24/7 supervision. I am fortunate that my family has been supportive and none more so than my brother Rusty. He volunteered to skip out on the trip this year and stay home to help with my mom so that I could be at Gateway. His selflessness means more than I can ever put into words. This is something that I wrote after our return home last year. It was inspired by Rusty. After you read it maybe you will understand how much this guy really means to me.

On our 12-hour trek (which turned into 16 because of traffic jams and rerouting) back home from the Gateway Dirt Nationals, I was again reminded the power of laughter and comfort of fellowship. And of course, along the way we added another story or six to the archive that we have built over the last 25 or so years together. I always fly into St. Louis a few days earlier than my crew guys. They finish up their work week at home and then jump in a 12-passenger van and high tail it westward to join me in putting on one of the biggest events in the sport of Dirt Racing today. But I make it a point to always ride back home with

them. I cherish that time together on the road. There are always tons of laughs and stories along the way.

2021 and the early weeks into 2022 brought lots of difficulty and uncertainty to my doorstep. The continuation of the pandemic and the ever-looming possibility of another nationwide shutdown is always a concern. I also worry for our sport and the direction it seems to be headed. In September, I was faced with the apparent impending loss of one of my best friends while I was 900 miles away. But I have also experienced more than my share of triumph and great times. My best friend flipped the script on us and is on his way to a complete recovery. I have been blessed with good health for myself and my family. And there have been so many other positives. On this ride home I was able to take a break and keep my mind off of all of that noise for a little while.

At Gateway, we all work together as a team. We all pitch in and do the things that need to get done in order to make everything go smoothly. Sometimes we may need to do things that are outside of our comfort zone or maybe even things that some might see as beneath our responsibility. But again, it’s a team effort. So, when Cody Sommer tasked us to help keep the annex hallway cleaned with the street sweeper, my guys stood tall to the task. This hallway, which adjoins the Dome where the track is built and the Convention Center building which is utilized as the pit area, is about 70 feet wide and 180 feet long.

There is an unimaginable amount of dirt that blows in to it and even more is drug back through this hallway as all the race cars exit the race track to the pit area. Keeping up required many passes of this floor sweeper. As I have come to

expect, my guys just made it happen. My brother Rusty ended up doing the lion’s share of the sweeping. So much so that we all believe that he secretly enjoyed doing it. When it would need to be done someone would remark on the radio “we need the Zamboni driver to make some passes…” And soon thereafter Rusty faithfully and swiftly complied with that request.

I am truly blessed by all of the guys and girls that are on my team. I know that surrounding yourself with good people is one of the keys to success in any business. When it comes to my big brother, he was the very first one on my team. He has supported every crazy idea or big dream that I have had. He is one of the main reasons that we have been able to be successful in this business. He trusts me to make good decisions and then proceeds to follow me into battle to make things happen. He is a loyal and trusted confidant that I am proud to have by my side all these years later.

Back to that long ride home. We made a stop somewhere 4 or 5 hours into the trip. As my group begins to grow long in the tooth more frequent restroom breaks have become necessary. We stopped at a convenience store so those that needed the break could go in and do so. I decided to wait in the van. The next 20 minutes of laughter and inability to breathe left me joking to the group that I intend to write a book detailing all of the stories from the road over the years. I said I am going to title the book “My Brother the Zamboni Driver” to pay homage to the fact that my older brother was often the protagonist among these road stories. That one was, in fact, no different. But I will have to save it for the actual book so maybe I can sell a few copies.

the business of DIRT EDITION

Way back in December of 2022, a little get together took place in Indianapolis, Indiana. This, of course, was the Performance Racing Industry annual trade show. It’s always a veritable who’s who of racing industry individuals and companies. Dirt Empire Magazine was on site as an exhibitor and we also took in as much as we could of the PRI show. Here are some shots of things we thought were interesting. Enjoy!

If you’re looking to find the hottest new race car trailers, there’s no better place to comparison shop than on the floor of Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.

If you’ve ever wanted a former World of Outlaws champion to give you tips on which seat to buy, it can happen at PRI. Daryn and Mandy Pittman were hard at it all week at the Ultra Shield booth.

PRI is a good place to flex and Matt Sheppard did it better than most by bringing a fantastic looking mod along with the Super Dirt Week 50th Anniversary trophy that he won last October in Oswego, New York.

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

You’ve got to be creative to catch everyone’s eye while walking by the booth and the ATL folks brought several examples of their fuel cell technology that, combined with a customer testimonial, certainly made one think about their fuel safety program.

The Bernheisel/Lazer Race Products booth had a creative cutaway that offered an inside look at all that goes into making their late models so fast.

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

NASCAR partnering with USAC is big news and they announced a new NASCAR Youth Series for electric quarter midgets, which will run on dirt and pavement.

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

Bentley Shaw of Dominator Race Products continues to innovate - for your consideration - (left) the new plastic Late Model rear spolier. (below) Fiberglass Composite body panels. If you weren’t fortunate enough to see these items in person at PRI, contact Dominator - dominatorraceproducts.com.

RCi continues to create fuel cells and accessories including this 16-bolt oval fuel cell fill plate with an adjustable pump hanger to allow for attaching an in-tank fuel pump. To find out more, contact RCi - rciracing.com.

On display was this refurbished 1920 Ford Roadster, with the German phrase “Schnell Gehen” on the body. “Go Fast” is what racing has been all about from the very beginning.

Kyle

PRI

to say hello and sign a copy of Issue 9. Our favorite part? A new subscriber happened to be there signing up for a full year. Upon realizing who was standing next to him he very quietly asked, “Um, Mr. Strickler, could you sign mine too?” Of course, Kyle was all smiles and signed away.

Photo: Adam Cornell

Photo: Adam Cornell

Photo: Adam Cornell

Strickler stopped by the Dirt Empire booth at the

show

Photo: Adam Cornell

Photo: Adam Cornell

short track STARS

Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania

DANNY BOUC EARNING IT ALL

BY RANDY KANE

LATE SEASON HOT STREAK

Crawling out through the window of his self-owned number 32 center-steer 358 modified ride, parked in victory lane at New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, New Egypt, following the $7,500-to-win, 75-lap Legends of The Fall late October special, Danny Bouc could feel that giant monkey jumping off his back, finally chalking up his first win anywhere in 2022.

“It’s about time,” the 33-year-old second-generation chauffeur announced afterwards.

A week later it was off to Georgetown Speedway in Georgetown, Delaware, for the 50th annual Camp Barnes Benefit $5,500 to win 30-lap big block modified feature event. Bouc started on the front row and quickly powered into the top spot off turn two on lap two, aboard the Craig and Leslie Pondish owned center-steer number 6. Following 30-laps of action, once again, it was Danny Bouc waving the checkered flag above his head and standing in victory lane after winning his first career main event at the track.

“We have always shown speed here,

however, we have had the worst luck that anyone could have,” Bouc said. “I started thinking, maybe the car was cursed or something. We’ve had a tough go the past few years. My car owners have stuck with me through some really tough luck. I love driving for them. They are great people. This makes it all worth it.”

The following evening, back at Georgetown again wheeling his sharplooking 32, it was the 30-lap 358 Modified $5,000-to-win feature event. Bouc started from fifth place and by lap 10 he was out in front. Bouc extinguished every threat and claimed his third straight main event triumph. “These past three races certainly have made up for all that’s happened to us here these past few years. All three of these races were good paydays and hopes are it’ll carry us into next season,” said Bouc. “I’m worn out and I’ll need a break. Hopefully, we can use some of this money to get some fresher equipment for next season. I’ve got a few interested partners who’ll be joining our efforts for next season and, hopefully, it’ll produce better results.”

In 2021, the Plumsteadville, Pennsylvania, based chauffeur switched gears and went to Grandview Speedway full-time, steering the famous Norm

Bouc finished eighth in the race for the championship, collecting two feature wins and gaining many new fans. However, by the end of the campaign, the relationship soured and Bouc was back in his own car finishing out the season.

FAMILY HISTORY

Bouc’s family has always had a history of racing, with his father Gary running at the since-shuttered Flemington Fair Speedway and Nazareth Speedway half-mile track from 1976 to 1982. Afterwards, Gary remained in racing as a crew member and, later, became one of the most respected engine builders into the 1990s. Danny wound up growing up at the racetrack.

Bouc’s first race was at the age of seven, racing around the backyard aboard a kart. Eventually, he grew up into racing at Snydersville Speedway and, later, moved on to the national kart circuit. He cut his teeth running the indoor Three-Quarter Midgets for a short period. In 2006, he raced a handful of sportsman events at Big Diamond to get his feet wet and, by 2007, Bouc advanced to the Sportsman Division at New Egypt, winning a Rookie Sportsman championship that year.

Hansell owned 358 modified ride.

Photo: Dave Pratt

Photo: Scott Bender

“After college,” Bouc recalled, “I returned home and ended up back at the race track in 2012 running with a big block modified. I won twice with outdated equipment and the big block often broke. Later, with a big block rule change, I quickly ran out of money and just couldn’t keep up with the costs so I took most of 2013 off. In 2014, we switched to a spec 358 Modified engine and I showed some progression with two victories.

“In the early years, my dad owned the motors that Gary Butler used and Butler kind of became my mentor once I went into the Sportsman and Modified stuff. Butler helped me the most, getting me headed in the right direction. The 358 motor allowed us to race hard every week and maintain our stuff much easier.

Consistent top 10 finishes turned into top five finishes and we continued to progress in the point standings to fifth by 2016. From there we were up to fourth in 2017, third the following season and in 2019 we finished second over the next three

seasons,” revealed Bouc.

“As a young guy just getting into racing, Danny was always asking questions and coming to me for information when I was at his dad’s engine shop,” revealed 56-year-old former racer Gary Butler out of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. “I enjoyed him being around, asking questions and just being so passionate about racing. It’s been fun watching him grow as a racer and, eventually, going on to win championships. He turned out being a hell of a racer and I was happy to help him in some small way.”

Bouc had a ride with a low-budget team or two, but most of his progress was made wheeling the family-owned cars. In 2018, Bouc expanded with a Short Track Super Series ride aboard the Pondish 358 and He still brought his very familiar family-owned Gary’s Septic Service ride to New Egypt weekly. That same year Bouc ventured off to Big Diamond Speedway in Forestville, Pennsylvania, in compete in the annual Coalcracker 72 weekend

offering $10,000 to the race winner. It became the biggest win of his career and most memorable up to that point outside of racing at New Egypt.

Bouc had, by far, his most successful campaign ever in 2020 at New Egypt, winning a Twin 20s night, winning the season opener, capturing a 100-lap triumph and took home $10,000 by winning the season finale. A track championship followed.

The offseason that followed got “extra silly” for Bouc. “Our plans changed several times, but ended with the call from Norm,” Bouc explained. “The steady progression of my racing career coupled with all the hard work we put into things resulted in that call from Norm [Hansell]. It’s a huge step up running for a team like Norm’s, with his equipment. My goal was to double down on victories and everything else should fall into place. Just win some races, run up front and make some money.”

Early on in 2021, Bouc suffered

Photo: Dave Pratt

Photo: Dave Pratt

Bouc in his big block days back in 2012 with a catastrophic failure. In 2014, Bouc found a home in the 358 mods.

contact flats and plain old flats hurting his efforts, plus a few incidents running weekly at Grandview. It was new race tracks, with a new car and new race team and winning at Grandview certainly took a lot of the pressure off his back. “As a team, running for Norm nobody cares about championships. Championships will come if we win races,” said Bouc. “It was important for Norm and me, both, to go that extra mile to earn wins. If you don’t push hard and finish second that hurts. It was very special to win that New Egypt championship because I didn’t feel like I was a driver who was a championship caliber driver. I don’t like going to the races and putt-putt around to finish seventh or eighth and get points I need because it doesn’t pay the bills.”

Running weekly at Big Diamond and Grandview, Bouc was looking forward to that schedule. “I’ve always loved racing at Big Diamond, but it always was so tough for me to get there on a Friday night racing with my own stuff,” suggested Bouc. “Only having one car available certainly made it difficult. I know running there with Norm’s stuff is a great combination. Grandview is the toughest, weekly. Some weeks multi-championship racers like Craig Von Dohren, Jeff Strunk and Duane Howard don’t even qualify. I’ve been labeled as an aggressive driver and you have to be that way to be successful there. You cannot let anybody push you around.”

“I’ve raced at Georgetown, Wall Stadium, the old five-eighth-mile big track at Bridgeport, Big Diamond, Grandview, New Egypt, some other Short Track Super Series stops, Port Royal, Susquehanna

and other places, with Grandview being one of the toughest tracks around because of the weekly competition there,” continued Bouc. “Winning there means so much to a new face coming in like me. I’m very passionate and I’m not a real fan of handicapping or pill draws. I like time trials the most. I really don’t enjoy playing that handicapping game like some do,” offered Bouc.

Away from the races, Bouc works for his father in the family septic business (Gary’s Septic Service) and keeping busy away from racing as the truck driver, it is something he enjoys as a normal guy. Since he got into racing, though, it’s been tough living life as a normal guy.

As the 2021 season ended, Bouc and Hansell split as a combination, with Bouc moving in a different direction for 2022. It was surprising, but expected, nonetheless. Eventually, returning to New Egypt wasn’t a complete surprise.

“I don’t know how far my racing career might take me,” mentioned Bouc. “I am happy running the 358 Modified cars right now, but trying some sort of Sprint Car,

that might be cool? The best experience I’ve had in racing has to be the Rookie championship at New Egypt back in 2007. I’d love to win a race like the Freedom 76 at Grandview in the future because it is the highest paying event around and the toughest of all to accomplish. Running the big block car, you always wanted a big cushion to lean on, but running a 358 modified you like the dry and slick tracks. It brings out the best in a driver. If it is wet and heavy, everyone is fast. I just enjoy racing, overall, no matter what it might be.”

At New Egypt last year, Brandon Grosso captured seven feature wins and easily walked off with the 358 Modified track championship. Bouc was a solid runnerup, going winless, but authoring a steady and consistent effort. He knows what it takes to win a track championship and hopes in 2023 he’ll find that little extra.

Danny Bouc definitely has worked hard and gone out and earned every bit of his racing success, with much more still to come. That’s obvious.

Photos: Dave Pratt

COMPETITOR COMMENTS ON DANNY BOUC

“Danny is as intense as they come. He is all in. He loves racing and eats, sleeps, drinks and breathes it. He is very focused. Very determined. Danny is determined to win every time out there. He doesn’t settle for second place. He will work his ass off. Even if we aren’t racing that week. He is always in the shop. Danny doesn’t take a break, even if we are off a month. We raced karts together and he moved on to the big cars before me. We raced the indoor series and have a bond since those days. I remember the night he won at Atlantic City and had the victory taken away in tech. He wanted to win that event for some time. He borrowed the engine from another guy and once they took the win away I thought he’d end up in jail that night. He got out of it and I got the ride next and won that event twice. He’s never said it, but I’m sure he was steaming inside about that turn of events.” - Cale Ross of Lambertville, New Jersey.

“Danny is a fierce competitor and a hard worker. He is an ultra-competitor. He’ll never settle on finishing in second place. Danny was a big help in getting me to be competitive. In 2015, we sucked at New Egypt and headed off to Five Mile Point to race. When we came back, Danny helped me a great deal. He is the reason I am competitive at New Egypt today. He became a great friend and after a while he told me you’re good enough now I can’t help you anymore and we laughed. He told me I was on my own from that point on. Danny was even in my wedding and I loved racing against him every Saturday night. He made it fun in so many ways.” - Mike Butler of Milford, New Jersey.

“Danny’s a great racer. He’ll always race you hard. Danny is a hell of a racer and a lot of fun off the track. Danny will run you hard all night on the track and afterward he’ll have a beer with you and just be a true good guy. One night at Grandview, I remember I got a flat and my guys had a long run to my pit to change it. Danny wasn’t qualified, but he was parked across from us and he left his pit and was the first guy at my pit to help out. Truly a great competitor and more.” - Billy Osmun III of Bloomsbury, New

Jersey.

Photo: Kirsten Snyder

Photo: Kirsten Snyder

Photo: Dave Pratt

track SPOTLIGHT

KNOXVILLE RACEWAY

NEW MAN AT THE HELM – JASON REED

BY JOANNE CRAM

While his title of General Manager of Knoxville Raceway is new, Jason Reed is anything but new to Knoxville Raceway. With a long history and relationship with Marion County, Iowa, he is ready to hit the ground running at Knoxville Raceway with his newly acquired title. We caught up with him just before the PRI trade show to find out more about him and his plans for the Knoxville Raceway.

Dirt Empire: Tell us about your background and what has your involvement with Knoxville Raceway been and tell us about your family?

Jason Reed: I was born and raised in Melcher, Iowa, where my family and I still live and are active in the community there. [Melcher is a small town about 15 minutes south of Knoxville, also in Marion County]. My wife is Jaime, and we have three daughters: Kynser 20, Kasyn 17, and Kesley 14. Growing up in rural Iowa, I was always involved in 4-H, and was very glad to involve my girls as well. They are active with their 4-H family in sheep and pigs. Kynser is at Central College in Pella for sports training or chiropractic. Kasyn is a senior at Melcher-Dallas High

School and taking college courses to be an RN. Kesley is a typical 8th grader trying to figure life out. Jaime works for the Melcher-Dallas schools, so that allows her to be active in the community. We have always been big race fans. I went to races from infancy and was glad to introduce my wife to Knoxville Raceway when we first started dating. She’s been hooked ever since and we have raised all three girls around the races as well. Even my parents were involved with Knoxville Raceway. My mom worked at the track concessions and my grandfather was a past fair board member and president. You could basically say I grew up at Knoxville Raceway. My girls all work at the track through summer and Nationals. Knoxville Raceway is a Reed family affair. Jaime also does a lot of volunteering for the fair board helping with things wherever needed and also around the track. She’s always lending a hand and super supportive.

DE: What was your past work experience that led up to this career change for you?

JR: I’ve spent the last 18 years as a supervisor with the 3M Knoxville plant where I managed anywhere from 60 to 120 employees at any given time. I worked with a lot of community

members, hourly employees and upper management delivering results for the company. It’s a great company to work for and allowed me to grow my strengths in leadership. My biggest accomplishment was achieving the Manufacturing Excellence Award. The challenge was to help my department double the output of what they were producing at the plant using the same budget, employee allocation, and same company footprint. We were to condense the product time output to create a faster turnaround. There are only eight of these awards given worldwide each year. I achieved it in 2015. It was a very big honor to earn this award and I was able to go the 3M headquarters in Minneapolis to receive it. In my 18 years at 3M, I spent a lot of time collaborating with people and leading successful teams.

DE: You have been a fair board member for several years. Tell us about your history at the track.

JR: I was elected to the Marion County fair board back in 2008 and have served as president twice. Of my time on the fair board, I served on several committees: eight years on Executive Committee; four years as president, and four years as secretary. I was on the Fair Committee from the start, then I went

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Ryan Nortcote

over to the Race Committee. At Marion County, our structure of the fair board has three committees: Race, Fair, and Grounds. The fair board meets every first Monday of the month where the chairperson of each committee reports on how each committee is going. The president actually serves on all three committees, so it’s a big job with a lot of time commitment. When I was on the Fair Committee, my goals were to increase attendance to the fair, improve the entertainment venues, and to bring more people outside of the 4-H group to the fair. My committee started a new fair sponsorship program to raise more funds for the programs and all proceeds go directly to the fair program. This year we brought wrestling, blow up rides, and other free events to the fair through this program. All of these activities were completely free for the public to attend. Our goal was to have more things for families and kids to do that is inexpensive and free to do, which in turn, brings more traffic to our fair. We also invited food trucks this year to increase attendance as well. Our concession stand on site also supports 4-H, so we wanted to be sure the food trucks weren’t deterring from funds raised for 4-H. We didn’t charge the food trucks to be on premises, but instead asked them to donate to the 4-H program. We felt it was a great success as the 4-H concession stand sold more than they had ever sold and the food trucks also donated to the program.

Bringing big name entertainment to the fair was also a huge accomplishment, starting back in 2014 with Hairball. We have had artists such as Charlie Daniels, Martina McBride, Tyler Farr, John Michael Montgomery, JoDee Messina, Parmalee, Great White, and Warrant. Our goal was to have a bigger draw to come to the

fair. It’s been a learning process to get into the concert promotion business. We host our event on the Friday night of the county fair and it’s an expensive venue to host. Our goal is to not lose money and bring 3,000 or more people to our event. Our bigger goal for the concert is to grow attendance to 5,000-7,000 people who in turn will attend the fair. It’s a very tough market with forty other fairs being held in our region at the same time competing for attendance.

Our Race Committee goals are also big. It’s no secret that the Knoxville Nationals is what keeps Knoxville Raceway’s weekly program afloat every year. Our goal is to make it a great event every year, a better Nationals than the year before. We always want something unique to do for each type of fan. It’s an ongoing challenge making sure all day, every day before and after races there is something to do

besides just the hours of the racing. We want to create a festival atmosphere. We are proud that our race committee has a strong car count for 360 and 410 Nationals because of the high caliber of the weekly car count and program we have at Knoxville. We know it takes a dedicated weekly car count to continue to make Knoxville Nationals the biggest and best sprint car event in the world. It’s tough to make racing balance financially because we pay one of the best weekly purses in the country. It’s a balancing act, but keeping our weekly purse higher is something we need to do to keep our weekly sprint car racing healthy and strong, which in turn keeps the Nationals strong.

Our Grounds Committee is also dedicated to making the Marion County Fairgrounds and Knoxville Raceway better by investing directly in the grounds. Some

Photo: Paul Arch

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE

examples of what we have accomplished in recent years includes purchasing of the old Pamida building and parking lot. We have been able to repurpose that building and parking lot for storage and parking during race season and Nationals. We have also been able to partner with local race businesses, such as Leavitt Graphics which is housed on the north side of the building. The old Pamida building gets traffic off fairgrounds property for flow, offers more area for media check in, and more of the fan base to walk around teams parked during Nationals. Other things we have done include resurfacing the entrance and exit to the fairgrounds property, upgrades to improve the facility, building a much needed north campground additional shower house, and we are in the process of adding another elevator to main grandstands. Being on the board and serving as president meant I knew I had a lot to tighten up on when I became GM, most people won’t see it, but a lot of the work will be seen eventually. Dealing with sponsors is new to me, but I’m excited to learn and grow professionally with this process. Jim Uitermarkt has been a great partner to help me continue working with sponsors and build those relationships.

DE: How did this new job title come about?:

JR: The fair board had been discussing for the past year or so bringing more local leadership at the track. At the June fair board meeting, it was decided to pursue a general manager position, and at that same meeting, a fair board member spoke up and nominated me. My response was heck yes! I was ready for a career change and new challenges. The Executive Committee then needed

to create a job description, salary, and steps for proceeding. In September, the job description was created and the fair board appointed me as General Manager. My duties will include working with sponsors, scheduling events, day to day operations and duties, and working closely with John McCoy as Competition Director. My goal is to partner and collaborate on big decisions and to work hard to make Knoxville Raceway the best place to race. Being on the fair board for 14 years has helped me with my fair board member relationships - I see things from their point of view on what they expect out of a GM. I didn’t have to learn the fair board or the fair business, I could go right to work. I knew what needed changed, fixed, and grown so was able to dive right in on October 1.

DE: What are your vision and plans for Knoxville Raceway in 2023?

JR: One of my major goals is to keep the Nationals as big as the year before and continue to make it an even bigger event. We need to continue to prioritize the selling out of Saturday night’s event and hopefully get to a sell out for our Friday night show as well. So far, ticket pre sales are up already, up a from a year ago during the same time. The phone has not stopped ringing since 8 am the day tickets went on sale to the public. We have also added another two day outlaw show over April 22-23 as well as keeping our June 9-10 show we have held for the previous several seasons. This gives people more of a reason to come to Knoxville Raceway before August, and hopefully encourage them to come back for the Nationals. We also added a two day USAC show on June 2-3.

DE: What about beyond 2023?

JR: I am discussing things with John McCoy daily. We are committed to running a weekly show for as long as we can with a changing race landscape. We would like to grow the Late Model Nationals in September. I’d like to go to the World 100 at Eldora to see how that race is run and how we can better grow our race and better meet the needs of the late model fans. Another priority is to grow the 360 Nationals; it’s a great race and we want to highlight the amazing 360 talent from all around the world and make it as big of a race as it deserves to be. I am just excited for this new role in my career and want to thank the fair board for trusting me with this position and believing in my vision for Knoxville Raceway.

Photo: Paul Arch

As a long time fair board member, Reed knows the importance of all three committees - race, fair and groundsall working together to make Knoxville Raceway and the entire facility successful.

review in PICTURES

FROM 13TH to first, Justin Grant beat out Kyle Larson to become the winner of the 81st annual Turkey Night Grand Prix, which was run at Ventura Raceway in California back in November 2022. Enjoy some of the images captured from the night.

81st TURKEY NIGHT

Grant Grabs First Turkey Title

PHOTOS

PAUL TREVINO

“THIS IS ONE OF THE RACES I FELL IN LOVE WITH. I DIDN’T THINK I’D EVER GET A CHANCE TO RUN IN IT, NEVER THOUGHT I’D MAKE A SHOW AND CERTAINLY NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE ABLE TO WIN ONE.” – JUSTIN GRANT

2023,

just

midgets at Ventura can be. (below) In the meantime, in addition to watching Justin Grant battle Kyle Larson and Buddy Kofoid for the win, spectators were also treated to wheelstands a plenty like the ones below featuring Dominic Gorden inside of Emerson Axsom and Thomas Meseraull doing the usual T-Mez things.

TEN 98-LAP TURKEY NIGHT FINISHERS

1. Justin Grant (13)

2. Kyle Larson (22)

3. Bryant Wiedeman (4)

4. Jake Andreotti (9)

5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1)

6. Logan Seavey (8)

7. Alex Bright (27-Provisional)

8. Emerson Axsom (24)

9. Carson Macedo (7)

10. Jason McDougal (18)

TOP

(left) Taylor Reimer entered Turkey Night with high hopes following her front row start in 2021 but missed the show in

showing

how tough

universal TECH

By Vahok Hill TIRE

MANAGEMENT 101

TIRES ARE the most consumable parts of a race car. Tires are the mechanical interface to the track. Tires will attribute a good bit of how the car performs on any given day. Tires, however, are still one of the most misunderstood components on the car. How do you assure that you always have the best tires on the car? This is not a complex process; it will take the development of some tire management skills and some rigor around documenting your tires. Yes, the dreaded notebook again. You do not need a bunch of fancy tools or computers and fancy (expensive) software applications. At the minimum, you will need to keep some notes and keep track of your tires race to race.

If you are running open tires and have an unlimited amount of money to spend on tires this would be a much simpler task. Just use new tires every single time the car hits the track. But such is not the case for most weekly racers. The majority of racers cannot afford new tires every race and for some classes it would wasteful. Many local racers are required to use one brand and compound of tire. This is usually done under the guise to save the racer money, not really sure this is the most logical reason, but that is just the way it is in many associations. While forcing the racer to use a specific tire brand and compound of tire may sound like a way to control costs, many racers are not always in sync with this practice. You also need to keep good track of the wheels you are using. More on that in a bit.

Let’s start with the easiest method of managing tires. Sell your old tires prior to wearing them out completely. Sell them while they are still in reasonable condition. We need to face the fact there are always racers on tight budgets. If your old tires are not completely worn out, there is usually someone who needs a lower cost option to keep on the track. It will help keep you in newer tires and not an entirely bad way to help with your cash flow. You should always try to sell your used tires; it just makes good financial sense.

First, you need a good set of eyes to inspect tires, this applies to new and used tires. Look for any obvious damage to the tire. Yes, new tires can become damaged; there are perils in the journey from the manufacturer to the final customer. Not so much at the point of manufacture but from poor handling or lack of care in transport and storage. Review the bead of the tires on the inside and outside, where the tire will be interfacing with the wheel, damage in the bead of the tire can cause a variety of problems, the least of which can be leakage between the wheel and the tire. Not a good problem. Look at the sidewalls and the treaded area for obvious issues. The first inspection should occur when you are still in the place of purchase. Once you leave the “store” with the tire, it’s all on you. Most tire retailers will not refund your tire if it is “damaged” once it leaves the shop. Buyers beware. Look at the side walls of the tire. You are looking for any obvious

damage like small punctures or scuffing also look for tire repairs, like patches and plugs on used tires. If the tire has some repairs you may want to pass on the tire just to avoid any potential issues in the future. While this is not a problematic area when purchasing new, it still happens. If you are buying used tires, you need to be especially diligent in the inspection for damage.

METHODOLOGY

Keep track of your tires, just from an inventory perspective. From an economic perspective, there is really no need to purchase tires in bulk even if you get a “better deal” from a cost perspective. Racing organization’s being what they are, it is possible that the brand and or compound of the tire could change and you could be stuck with a bunch of tires that are no longer legal to use in your racing organization. The deal on tires is not always as good as it seems after the sale is complete. You can tie up a good bit of money in tires that could be used elsewhere in your racing budget. Practice inventory control. Just like in the real world, inventory is dollars and letting a bunch of new tires age in your shop is just not good inventory control. Also, why should you pay for the privilege of aging tires in your shop. Let the tire guys deal with the inventory.

Most tires used on cars come with a date code that the manufacturers place on the side wall of the tires. This code usually will tell the year and the week

Photo: Paul Arch

of the year that tire was manufactured. There are other numbers on the code as well and these sometimes mean different things from different tire makers. They also may tell you the lot and batch codes as well. Contact your tires manufacturer to see how to read the codes. At the very least, you will want to purchase tires that are as “fresh” as possible if it is October, you will want tires that are from a manufacture date as close to October as possible. If the tire was made in February, it means the tire is already nine months old. It still may be new, but it has been sitting around in inventory for nine months. While it may not have compromised the tire, you just never know.

Let’s talk abought wheels a bit. Your wheels should be inspected on a weekly basis prior to hitting the track. You should be looking for obvious damage, dents, bent wheels and any cracks. If your tires lose air during the week, look for and locate the leak. A leak on track will rear its ugly head at the worst possible moment, like when you are leading. If you are running a bead lock wheels, you need to keep track of the hardware that holds the bead lock in place. Damaged bolts should be replaced and all of the bolts should be checked for proper torque. In fact, it is a good idea to completely change out the hardware on a regular basis. The threaded holes in the wheel need to be inspected and cleaned out frequently. Also, the sealing surfaces need to be inspected as well. Check with the manufacturer of the wheel for the correct Torque specification. And, make sure you any bolts you replace are the same grade as the wheel came with. If the wheel came with grade eight hardware replace it with grade eight hardware not just some bolts you have in the shop. The grade matters. Do not use lower grade bolts just because you may have some. Use the correct hardware. A point of safety, deflate the tire, prior to loosening and or removing any of the bead lock hold down hardware.

Wheels also play a large part in how well the tire works. Tires tend to heat up quicker on narrower wheels. Why? Good question. I have observed racers, where it is allowed, use a narrower wheel, for qualifying. The tire tends to reach temp sooner on the narrower wheel. Not a significantly narrower wheel but an inch to an inch and a half narrower. The narrower wheel tends cause the tire’s side wall to flex more and the tires tend to increase in temperature a bit quicker.

Remember, if you go too narrow, it will impact the tires contact patch with the racing surface. We need to remember that a little is a good thing. More is not always better. This is why we test and document as possible. However, excessive temperature is not always a good thing during the race. As the tire reaches operating temperature, all things are good. But, if the tire gets too hot bad things happen, the tires blister and chunk and start to degrade from a performance perspective quite quickly. The tread can get “feathered” having the appearance of using very coarse sandpaper on the tire. How hot is too hot? You need to research your particular brand and type of tire. The manufacturer is a great starting place to ask what the optimal operating temp for your particular tire. Your job is to make the tire reach that temp as quickly as possible and not over heat. Seems simple enough but in reality, is a difficult task. In longer races tires can get to hot and other things like brakes can put a good bit of temperature into the wheel and that finds its way into the tire.

track degrades. It is really simple to do and it takes just a bit of time.

After the car comes off the track you need to do a few things. Check the tire temp as soon as the car stops, check your air pressure and check the tires tread for the hot durometer number, then once the tire cools down check the cold durometer number. If you are really a numbers guy, it would be good to jack up the car as soon as possible and record the race ending tire diameters to see if the stagger has changed over the course of the race. All of these numbers need to be documented and kept as part of your notebook. Tire temp and air pressure are very common but many racers do not check durometer. Durometer is simply a measurement of how hard the rubber is on the tread or where the tires interfaces with the track. The smaller the number the softer the rubber. The more the tire hardens the more the tire’s ability to grip the

Just as a special tool is required to check air pressure, temperatures and tire diameter you will also need a durometer to check the hardness of the rubber. A durometer is a simple gauge with an analog scale and a small probe sticking out of the bottom of the gauge. When you place the durometer on the tire the probe will be pressed against the tire and the needle on the gauge face will point to the number that corresponds with the rubber hardness. The hot durometer number

the tread on your street car. Tire management is not brain surgery or rocket science, it is a process that any racer can master.

PRE-RACE CHECKS

• The age of each tire on the car, how long you have owned the tire. New/ Used

• How many laps the tire has on it, or how many races it has been used.

• The manufacture date, year and week of the year,

• The diameter of the tire.

• The cold durometer. (The durometer will change as the tire gets heat cycles on it, the tire will be harder cold and harder hot as it ages.)

• The wheel width and the condition of the wheel.

• The circumference of the tire

• The air pressure in the tire cold.

• Tread depth

POST-RACE CHECKS

is or should be lower when the tire is at operating temp. Again, some questions you should be asking the manufacturer.

Where do you purchase a Durometer? There are many sources even Amazon sells Durometers. They even have digital durometers. They range in price from $30 to well over $800. Longacre, the racing tool guys, have a nice unit in the $80 range. I own one of the Longacre gauges and it works great and is very durable.

Tire temps can be measured with a probe type thermometer or an infrared gun type thermometer. The gun type thermometer is quick and the prices are in the 20.00-range. The infrared gun type thermometers are quick and You probably have a good tire pressure gauge and cloth tape for measuring tire diameters. A quick word on tire pressure gauges. If your tire pressures run 10 to 15 PSIG you should get a tire pressure gauge that has a max pressure of 30 PSIG. You want to tire pressure gauge to place the range you will be measuring in the middle of the gauge. The middle of the pressure range of the gauge is the sweet spot. If your working tire pressure is 15 PSIG do not get a 100 PSIG gauge.

Tread depth, although we are talking about dirt tires, this also applies to pavement tires, we need to keep track of the tread wear as we use the tire. There are many tire gauges on the market they are simple tool. Just place the tool on the tire and measure the depth of the tread no different than measuring the depth on

• Air pressure measured as soon as possible once the car is off the track.

• Tire temperature measures as soon as possible once the car is off the track.

• Durometer of the tire, measured as soon as possible once the car is off the track

• Diameter of the tire hot, measured as soon as possible once the car is off the track.

• Tread depth, measure prior to any further use

• General condition of the tire and wheel, you are looking for obvious damage to the wheel or the tire.

Once you have this data what do you do with it. The short answer is it

depends. The longer answer is that you can start to draw a causal link between performance and tire use. Every time the tire hits the track it will go through a heat cycle. A heat cycle is simply every time the tire is heated to its operating temp or possibly beyond the optimal operating temperature. For example, if your tire is used for practice, two heats and a main event that is four heat cycles. The number of heat cycles the tire goes through the more the performance will degrade, the longer it will take to heat the tire to its optimal temperature. You will see a lap time difference between a new tire and one that has gone through multiple heat cycles. And, the difference will not be a good one. This is where you can use the data to make decisions about your tires. Each type of car will abuse tires differently. A Sprint Car will go through right rears faster than a left front tires. A street stock will not abuse tires like a higher horsepower car. The track will have a great deal to do with tire wear from a physical perspective, but a heat cycle will always degrade the optimal performance of a tire. How your driver drives the car can have a huge impact on how the tire performs and lasts.

The reason you need this data is to make decisions about the replacement intervals of the tire. A tire can look good from a physical perspective but it may have aged out or have gone through multiple heat cycles and does not generate grip like when it was new. Is it ready to be sold or is it past any further serviceable use? The more data you have the better the decisions you can make. It really is just that simple.

The author can be reached at: Vahok.Hill@cox.net

The durometer reading was taken on a Hoosier karting tire. When the tire is hot as it exits the track the number will be lower. This is a new tire. As the tire gets used the rubber will get harder and the potential grip will diminish. Not a completely bad thing just knowing that as the number of heat cycles goes up the harder the tire will become.

Photo: Vahok Hill

The track surface may change over the course of the day/evening, you need to make the necessary changes to your race car to help the tires work as best as possible. It does not matter if it is a kart or a late model. Things change over the course of a race day and you need to be ready to make changes. Photo: Vahok Hill

engine builder SPOTLIGHT

By

KS ENGINEERING RACING ENGINES

KEVIN STOA is the owner of KS Engineering in Albert Lea, Minnesota, just north of the Iowa border. Originally from Minnesota, Stoa’s career took him around the country before depositing him back in his home state. He began by graduating from Riverland Tech School in Austin, Minnesota. He then worked for a NAPA store and began building race engines. He also got experience working on everyday engines as well as diesels while there. This provided a well-rounded basis from which his race-engine building career would blossom.

Stoa then went to work for JR Motorsports in Iowa, and eventually landed in North Carolina, working on engines for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“I got a chance to work on some big projects,” Stoa said. “I was a tuner for Brian Clausen’s engine and a few others. That experience really helped me to excel. Within 6 months I was working on Cup engines.”

After his time at Ganassi came to an end, Stoa moved back to Minnesota and opened his own engine shop, KS Engineering.

“We started with a lot of hobby stocks

and B mod engines, and we were pretty successful with that,” Stoa said. “But we’ve done just about everything now including late models and limited sprints.”

With two additional full-time employees and several part-time people, KS Engineering puts out around 125 or more engines per year. Though stock cars and B mods tend to be the bread and butter of the operation, work on modifieds and late models as well.

“We do things a little bit differently

here,” Stoa explained. “There are three of us, and we each work on every engine and it seems to work out. I do a lot of the rough work, like the cylinder head work. Preston Brogaard does the finishing work, then Jerry Nelson double checks everything finishes up and runs the dyno. Every engine is a team effort. It eliminates any mistakes since everything is checked, rechecked and triple checked.”

The attention to detail and the commitment to the craft has developed

Photos: KS Engineering

into an exceptional power plant program that brings in track and series championships every year.

Some successes from the last year include Jesse Sobbing who was the 2022 Malvern Bank West Series Champion in his number 99 late model. Mike Nichols collected the IMCA Stock Car Missouri State Championship, Northern Region Championship and National Championship with KS Engineering under the hood of his number 63. Nichols also logged the 600th win of his career this year as well. Numerous other track and series champions have driven into victory lane with KS Engineering powering their way.

Stoa himself runs the black, white and red 98 modified himself, though in 2022 his own racing had to be placed on the back burner while he ran his company.

“I actually didn’t get out this last year until October,” Stoa said. That first race of his season was the USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway. Stoa finished second. Then he headed to the Mason City Motor Speedway for the Five Star Classic which he won. “That was my season,” Stoa said with a laugh.

Stoa is clear that he hasn’t done it all by himself.

“Preston and Jerry and I, each of us is important to each engine,” Stoa said. “But my wife, Abby, is also an integral part of the operation. She’s a banker by day, but she helps me keep the business rolling and is a huge support. I couldn’t do

any of this without her help.”

“We also have some great suppliers like Jones Racing Products,” Stoa continued. “They have been great from the very beginning. They have solid quality. They’re really the best in the business and that’s why we use them. We’ve been able to build up trust with them. I can call CJ, tell him what I need. They ship it out right away, and I pay the bill. Jones has never left me hanging.”

There have always been challenges along the way. Building a company from scratch is a difficult task, but hard work and determination have paid off. Creating a dyno room that can accurately and consistently test engines takes knowledge and talent which KS Engineering possesses, enabling them to complete that task, bettering their program. Recently the entire industry has struggled with getting raw materials, parts and components, but KS Engineering did the digging and was always able to deliver – thanks in part to suppliers like Jones Racing Products.

No matter the challenge, KS Engineering finds a way to keep going, producing proven championship racing engines for their clients, backing it up with top of the line customer service.

“It’s always a team effort,” Stoa said. “I think that’s what makes us better.”

Photo: KS Engineering

Photos: Buck Monson

Kevin Stoa (left) at the USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway in early October 2022.

the lighter side of DIRT

IF YOU SEE JEFF GORDON…

Tales From An Autograph Hunter

BY BILL BLUMER JR.

“IF YOU SEE Jeff Gordon, tell him I’m looking for him.” That’s what I, only halfjokingly, told people from day-one in Tulsa at the Chili Bowl. Gordon was scheduled to be there on the last day, as he was the Grand Marshall, but I thought perhaps he’d show up early. I was in search of an autograph or two.

I’ve been an avid autograph collector since I was about ten years old. Growing up in Wisconsin, some of my earliest memories were at Road America chasing the likes of Mario Andretti and Al Unser Sr. for signatures on my Formula 5000 program.

Eventually, I became a bit of a student of the hobby. I also found that if I had something cool to offer a driver for their signature, sometimes something noteworthy would happen. It didn’t have to be a stellar wheel stand shot that got their attention. Sometimes it’s just a moment. A candid I took of Tony Stewart with Page Jones garnered attention and a request from both drivers for a copy. Kasey Kahne grabbed a photo I took of him in a one-off midget ride and walked away for several minutes, showing it to his crew. He then came back and asked if I’d ship him one.

Tony Stewart also taught me not to bring junk to be signed. I once saw him

sign the back of a flip phone, to which he said sarcastically to the owner, “People ask me to sign stupid (stuff) all the time, but I’m not talking about this.” That moment stayed with me when I had my only chance to get an autograph from “The King,” Richard Petty. He unexpectedly showed up at a race where I was armed with a ton of stuff to be signed but I had nothing of him. I might have had a blank piece of paper but figured, “screw it”. It wouldn’t go with my collection of photos and cards so I’ll just pass. Tony should be proud.

Back to Jeff Gordon. He was the first open wheel racer that was truly my own find. Dad had pointed me to some of the earlier stars, Billy Engelhart and Tom Bigelow for instance, and I was a big fan of both. But Gordon was someone I followed when he was a kid. I saw him race sprint cars, midgets and Silver Crown cars before NASCAR discovered him.

Back in those days, the late ’80s or early ’90s, I’d obtained his autograph a couple of times. But, never on an 8x10 that I took, which is the greatest joy of my voluminous racing autograph collection. So, for Tulsa, I found the first photos I’d ever taken of him. They were from the Knoxville Nationals around 1989 but I wasn’t precisely sure. I figured Jeff would clear that question up for me, went we met.

When I told people to look for Jeff, some thought it was a joke, some had

no clue he’d be there. By the end of the week, I added, “If you have to corner him and call me, feel free.”

There was a sighting on Friday night, but the races were going on so I didn’t bother to go searching for him. Saturday came and thanks to Sammy Swindell, I was able to catch up with my idol. I was watching Sammy’s run through the alphabet soup of races. I think he was on his sixth transfer but he got in a tangle and broke a front shock and was out. With that, I figured I’d go on my hunt for JG.

I have a sixth sense as to where my drivers might be and honestly, I basically walked right to where Jeff was. He was behind the rope in, I think, Kyle Larson’s pit, but I was so focused with total tunnel vision that I really don’t know. There were a few other fans, maybe 15 or so that had stuff to sign also.

Now, I’d imagined all week how this meeting would go. I was wearing my 30-year-old Jeff Gordon Diet Pepsi Midget T-shirt. It still fit, if only barely. I was carrying the same JG satchel I’d had at the Chili Bowl for probably the last 20 years. I figured, out of all of us fans, he’d probably stop, sign my stuff first and we’d chat about the shirt. I’d tell him how I got it personally from him at Angell Park Speedway, my hometown track. He’d tell me how he flipped early in the race that day, only to bring out a back up car where he won the feature after fighting his way from the back of the pack in several races

just to make the “A”.

Then he’d look at the 8x10 I took of him in the push off area at K-ville, in the McBride & Shoff car and note how cool it was that Dave Blaney was next to him. Jeff would go on to tell me that that was the only ride he’d ever been fired from and we’d have a good laugh. As it ended up, he just signed it without a word.

I didn’t pull out the second photo just yet. I let him pass and sign stuff for other folks. Diecast cars and commercially made NASCAR racing (baseball type) cards were the order of the day for everyone else. Jeff walked to his next destination, signing all the way. He had a mask on, as the virus was still prevalent. I imagined he was grinning the whole way, just pleased that folks remembered him. Jimmy Sills caught him in the aisle and both old drivers lit up and had a spirited, but brief conversation. Jeff then went back to signing and then got to the safety of the “velvet rope” and the Alex Bowman Racing pit.

There, Jeff grabbed one more item to sign for that session. It was the photo my dad took of Jeff and I, and my friend Craig, in the pits at that same Knoxville Nationals. In the picture, Jeff had a pink cap on and his driver’s suit down to his waist. He was signing a couple of World of Outlaws cards, the baseball type, for me.

There was a woman in the background. She was looking upon him proudly and I wondered if it was his mom or something. I hoped she might catch his eye and he’d clear up who this mystery woman was.

Before signing this photo, he stopped. Looked at it a bit more closely and said, “Hey, I even have a ‘Gaerte’ shirt on.” I assumed it was a Gaerte racing engine shirt. Then Jeff looks over and yells to someone sitting 20 feet away, “Hey, Joe, I even have your shirt on!” To which Joe Gaerte the subject of the shirt, who just happened to be in the vicinity laughed and waived. Jeff handed the picture back to me and that was it.

I didn’t bother with the extra photo I had of him and Blaney. I brought it figuring he’d surely want a copy. I also didn’t dig out the two die cast cars I’d brought. They were stock cars anyway. With a grin on my face, I went back to the WisKan pit where I was hanging out for the week and told everyone the Jeff Gordon watch was over, mission accomplished. If you see Jeff Gordon, tell him thanks for giving me one more fun autograph story to share.

AUTOGRAPH DOS AND DON’TS DO

• Take advantage of offered autograph sessions as a great chance to meet a driver in a nonstressful environment.

• Bring something interesting to sign – anything will work but the more unique or memorable an item, the better your chance of connecting with the driver on a deeper level.

• Give them the benefit of the doubt. If you have a bad experience or are the last person in line not to get an autograph, respect their time and try again. It’s not their job to always be signing.

DON’T

• Say it’s for your kids if it isn’t. If you’re a collector, just fess up.

• Push it. Some racers have race mode and it’s their job to be in race mode. Respect their time. Well before race time or after race time is the best time.

• Count on them to have something to sign with. Most racers will have a black sharpie but don’t miss your shot by being unarmed. If you want it signed in red, you’d better have red!

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Chad Wells

Dallas, Iowa

SCOTTY JOHNSON HOT SHOT ON THE RIGHT TRACK

BY JOANNE CRAM

After graduating from Melcher-Dallas High School last May, Scotty Johnson spent his summer at Knoxville Raceway turning quite a few heads this season in his 305 Pro Series sprint. His consistency and five wins earned him third in the standings behind Mike Mayberry and Tyler Groenendyk.

Unlike a lot of Knoxville regulars, his family wasn’t originally a sprint car family. When he was three years old, his dad took him to English Creek Speedway, just up the road from where the family lives. He knew by age three that he would be a sprint car driver one day, so he informed his dad that he wanted to race karts. The next thing Scotty knew, a winged outlaw dirt kart showed up at the family shop. Being only three, he was too young to actually compete at ECS yet, so they would practice at ECS midweek until he turned four and could join the restricted class and start officially competing.

Although dirt track racing wasn’t native to the Johnson family, his dad, Corey, used to drag race in Eddyville, and he also raced the Enduro at Knoxville a couple

times. “He had a top five finish, but his hopes of Knoxville Raceway Enduro fame were dashed when the engine overheated”, Scotty said. Naturally, the family needed to race something, so when Scotty showed interest in the winged outlaw karts, this was a great place for the father and son to start.

They raced karts for points for a dozen years at ECS and in the off weeks would do some traveling to tracks offering bigger races, like Texas and Thunder Hill in Wisconsin; “We hit a lot of tracks in between, anywhere we could race and get experience.” Climbing the ranks at ECS, Scotty started in the Restricted Box Stock Class, and joked, “My first season highlight was not getting lapped. A couple years after that, I started getting the hang of it and felt like I was getting competitive,” said Johnson.

He got his first win in 2011 and first championship at seven years old at English Creek. In 2012, he won the championship again at ECS. In 2013, Scotty was old enough to move up to the box stock winged outlaw dirt cart, which meant no restrictor plate, more speed- a lot more competition, and a lot of older kids. “This was a hard couple seasons

because I was at the bottom of the age bracket again and I had to figure out how to handle the speed of the kart without the restrictor plate and how to handle the kart. We raced two seasons and I felt like we didn’t have a lot of success.” The Johnsons worked on growing their engine program, trying experimental engines for 2015-17, partnering with ECS to try to create new classes and grow the kart classes.

In 2018, he moved into the 500 class. “This class is a huge horse power difference. I felt a lot out of control from the machine itself. It’s like trying to tame a wild buck. Big lesson to learn. For people who don’t know what the 500 is like, imagine trying to run two inches off the ground running 70 miles per hour- it’s a real handful.” The team also continued to fight off a lot of engine issues that season.

The 2019 season found Johnson starting to figure the 500 out a lot more consistently, gaining much more control over the kart. The team figured out the engine issues. Scotty, Travis Hansaker and Nick DeMoss all three battled for the points championship all season. Even though Johnson ended the season with

Photo: Dave Hill

Photo: Ryan Northcote

the most wins, he fell short of points and ended up in the runner up position. A highlight on the 2019 season was getting to race Mike Ayers’ 305 for the final two races at Knoxville. “The first night out I had a lot of nerves and approached the track tentatively. The second night went a lot better, I let my guard down more, felt more comfortable in the car. We qualified in the top 10 and finished 12th. I was happy with that for my first ever appearances in a sprint car.”

In late 2019, Johnson was involved in a fuel incident and 30% of his body was burned. He was hospitalized for 32 days with third degree burns. During and after the hospitalization, there was a lot of intense physical therapy, painful bandage changes, a lot of range of motion physical therapy, surgeries to repair and release scar tissue, more surgeries for revision and release repair to help him move better. The burns were over the majority of his left arm, chest, bottom of his right arm, and neck. Johnson says he is thankful that it wasn’t worse than it was, because it could have been a lot worse.

Due to the accident, the 2020 season was diverted. The team was planning on racing the family car but Johnson took the season off recovering. Family friend and former 410 Knoxville Raceway regular

Chris Walraven filled in. Scotty got to race one 360 Nationals race before the Covid “The One and Only” 410 show. “It was great to be back at Knoxville Raceway and behind the wheel, even for just one race.” He was also able to race Steve Wares’ 360 Engine at Lee County with the Sprint Invaders at the end of the season but unfortunately got crashed on the first lap of the A-main, ending the night prematurely.

The next year, 2021, was Johnson’s first full season at Knoxville Raceway in the 305 Pro Series class. He started out trying to figure the car out. “We crashed a couple times. Had to reign things in, learn set up, learn how to drive, be a better competitor on the track. I learned a lot of car control and driver patience that season”.

Last season was his most consistent yet and for 2023, he hopes to move up to the 410 class if the sponsorship dollars can be raised in the off-season. Long term dreams for Johnson are to race professionally with the World of Outlaws one day, but mainly be competitive at Knoxville in a 410. But first, Scotty plans to finish his finance degree at Central College in Pella, where he is currently a freshman. “At least this way, if professional racing doesn’t work out,

I’ll have a high paying job to support my hobbies and racing.” Johnson has a bright future ahead of him; his valedictorian 4.0 status will take him far in life with his work ethic and drive to excel in whatever he sets his sights on.

SUPPORT SYSTEM

Family: Parents Corey and Kirsten, and brother, Brody.

Crew: Gregg Vanwyk, Sam Konrad, Seth Walraven, Chris, Walraven, Brody Johnson, Corey Johnson, and Russ Ferguson.

Sponsors: Cold Fire, Joshua Jenkins

Realty, Albaugh LLC, Hooties MD, Goodno Promotions, Tub O-Towels, The Hoch Family, Waukee Power Equipement, Atwell Trucking, Curry’s

Custom Carpentry, Nana & Papa

Dock, Doug DeJong Farms, The Krpan Family, Ron and Barb Van Wyk, Skyler Williams, Doug Baber Racing, Dan Henning Racing, JF2 Racing.

Photo: Dave Hill

auxiliary POWER

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN a fan of dirt track racing or NASCAR, the name Labonte is synonymous with the world of racing. Like most aspects of racing, the fast paced life around Longhorn Chassis has a behind the scenes Labonte that has not only played pivotal roles in the world of motorsports, but pivotal roles around the Longhorn Chassis shop. Miranda Labonte tends to fly under the radar enjoying life as a fan at the track, but her contributions during the week around the Longhorn shop aren’t to be taken for granted. We snagged a few moments with Miranda to chat about her life in racing, and we mean ALL aspects from asphalt to dirt track – and more importantly why dirt track racing fans hold a special place with her. Let’s learn about the behind-thescenes Labonte!

Dirt Empire: For those who don’t know much about you, give us a little of your racing background. Did you grow up in a racing family? How did you get introduced to racing?

Miranda Labonte: I grew up in Ontario, Canada, with a dirt track only a few miles from my house - South Buxton Raceway, now Southern Ontario Motor Speedway. I started as just a fan, turned trophy girl and then helped a little with announcing the races. In 2008, I was co-host of an online radio show, Dolls of Dirt, where we interviewed a lot of the dirt late model drivers. I was also the pit reporter for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series for the 2008 season.

DE: What brought you to working behind the scenes at Longhorn?

ML: My husband Justin, co-owner of

MIRANDA LABONTE

Longhorn Chassis

Longhorn, oversees the day-to-day operations at the shop and when things started to really take off and get super busy, he asked if I’d come help out in the front office. I knew just enough about race cars and also knew a lot of the drivers, so that helped. Now I can tell you every part and piece on a dirt late model and how much they cost!

DE: What are some of your responsibilities at Longhorn? What is a day like for you?

ML: I just work part time in the front office. I answer the phones while I’m there and help with part orders, sending quotes for a new race car, set up information and ship out all the merchandise orders. I also handle the social media platforms.

DE: Are you involved with creating new merchandise ideas and how do you go about deciding if an idea will sell or not?

ML: I can’t take much credit for merchandise ideas. Jacqueline Rumley

comes up with and designs about 90% of our stuff. She’s really good at what she does, I’m lucky to call her one of my best friends and business partner with the merchandise.

DE: You’ve obviously been exposed to and around a lot of both dirt track racing and asphalt. What do you feel makes dirt track racing stand out and unique?

ML: The fans! There is nothing like dirt track fans! I love watching the races from the stands, everyone is always so friendly! Most people don’t have a clue who I am but are usually pretty shocked at my racing knowledge.

DE: Are there any other aspects or associations you are involved in around racing?

ML: I take care of all Terry’s (Labonte) fan mail. You’d be surprised how much fan mail he still gets!

DE: In 2016 you were diagnosed with breast cancer. How did this affect your

day to day and life around racing?

ML: My diagnoses didn’t just affect me, it affected our whole family. Justin was still racing pretty regularly then but ended up selling his car and stopped racing to help take care of me and Brooks. Brooks was only 1 at the time; making it extremely tough to tend to him. I’m forever grateful for his sacrifice and help; I couldn’t have got through that time without him.

DE: What is a race day/weekend like for you?

ML: They’re fun. I don’t have to “work” at the races; my work is done during the week, at the office. So, when I go to the races, I get to go watch and enjoy them.

DE: What are some of your favorite highlights/moments about being involved in dirt track racing?

ML: I remember when Justin first started building chassis and he’d come home so dejected some nights, questioning why he was doing it. We only had two people running our cars then and we were all struggling. Fast forward ten years and we have built our 600th chassis and I can’t keep up with who is in one of our cars or all the wins. I pinch myself sometimes, it’s incredible to witness and I’m so thankful to be as successful as we are now, but it’s definitely didn’t come without struggle, sacrifice and hard work!

DE: What are some of the challenges and lessons you have learned through selling and designing merchandise that you didn’t expect or anticipate?

ML: What you think is going to sell huge, doesn’t and what you think won’t sell at all, usually sells out! Also, we rely heavily on social media and online sales. We have a small trailer we can use for

selling merchandise at the track, but both Jacqueline and I enjoy watching the races, so neither of us wants to be stuck in the trailer selling shirts.

DE: Between raising children, maintaining your family, being in the eyes of race fans, traveling, merchandise responsibilities, how do you juggle it all and maintain balance?

ML: I just have one kid, Brooks, most of the time, he comes to the shop with me. You can usually find him in the break room raiding the vending machine. He’s old enough now that I don’t have to watch over him constantly and he’s become good friends with the guys in the back shop, so he enjoys hanging out here. He’ll help me fill merchandise orders and mail them out. I learned to include him in pretty much everything I do, so that helps keep things balanced.

DE: What would you say was your favorite part about pit reporting? How did you get involved in that aspect of the industry? Did you find it challenging to come up with information and questions on the spot for drivers?

ML: I love traveling and visiting new tracks. I was actually attending the 2008 Chili Bowl and the same production company that was producing that race produced the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. They had mentioned needing a new pit reporter and asked if I’d like to try. I remember having to audition and interview a few drivers. I think they were Dave Darland and Jerry Coons Jr. It went great and I got the job! I was so excited and thankful for the opportunity. I had a couple of friends that worked on race

teams, one being Matt Langston, who actually works at Longhorn now too and is our longest standing employee. But, I’d always go pick his brain before races, find out what the track was like, who ran well there, etc. So, that would help me prepare for the night and interviews. My all-time favorite person to interview would hands down be Scott Bloomquist - he’d never say no and always gave you something entertaining!

DE: What have been some of your favorite race tracks or races you’ve been to?

ML: Eldora will always be my favorite track; it’s where I met my husband, Justin. And the 2018 World 100, when Tim McCreadie won in our dually and enclosed trailer will always be my favorite race!

DE: What is your favorite part about getting to design and sell merchandise?

ML: My favorite part is spotting people wearing our stuff, whether it be at the track, watching a live pay per view or just somewhere randomly. It’s pretty cool. Also pretty much everything we sell, I’d wear myself, so my wardrobe is consonantly being updated.

Photo: Matt Butcosk

The Longhorn Braintrust - Justin and Miranda Labonte (left) pose with Kevin and Jackie Rumley (right).

shooter at LARGE JACY NORGAARD

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.

Chris Madden in staging at Davenport Speedway in May 2020.

Alone in the Colosseum. Jonathan Davenport hot laps before another huge show at Bristol Motor Speedway.

GET TO KNOW JACY NORGAARD

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota, but am now living in Kannapolis, North Carolina

Age: 29

Year Started Shooting: 2008

First Publication to Print Your Work: The Midwest Racing Connection

Favorite Track to Shoot: Ogilvie Raceway in Ogilvie, Minnesota

Favorite Division to Shoot: Late Models

Remaining Bucket List Races: Indy 500, Monaco F1, Daytona 500

Favorite Thing About Racing Photography: Finding unique angles that are only available at dirt tracks due to their less than restrictive nature.

Outside of race cars, what do you like to photograph: Lighthouses

Camera Equipment: Nikon Z9 (2), Nikon Z6, 70-200 f/2.8, 4-70 f/4, 14-24 f/2.8, 300mm f/2.8, 85mm f/1.4, 105mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8.

Kyle Hammer during pace laps at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Brandon Sheppard post race interview at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York.

Dale Earnhardt Jr straps in at the revitalized North Wilkesboro Speedway.

Photo: Wayne Riegle

Mike Mckinney off track at Spoon River Speedway.

Morgan Ward rides just a little bit up and over the cushion at Brown County Speedway.

Brandon Sheppard in staging at Lancaster Motor Speedway in Lancaster, South Carolina, on a gorgeous autumn evening in September of 2020.

The late models are stacked up four wide and ready to rumble at Bristol Motor Speedway in April of 2021.

Crew Chief Heather Lyne gives signals to Dennis Erb Jr at Jackson Motorplex in July 2021.

Dust at dusk! The late models are ripping it at Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York.

THE ORIGINAL BACK IN BLACK

dirt CHRONICLES

By: Bob Mays

Hector Honore’s Black Deuce sprint car won more (270 confirmed) than any other single dirt track car and perhaps any race car ever. Built in 1953, it ran under Honore’s care through 1967. It continued with a couple of different owners until the mid-1970s. The Black Deuce made its debut on May 7, 1953, in Danville, Illinois, with Bobby Grim up. It swept the show, the first of many. Grim won 146 features with the Deuce before handing it to Pete Folse, who won another 90!

The Deuce won 237 features with Offy power, but Hector could see the writing on the wall. In 1964, he stuffed a Chevy between the frame rails. Gordon Woolley piloted the 12-year-old car to six feature wins in 1965.

(Bob Mays collection)

(Leroy Byers photo)

Hector sold the Deuce to Indy 500 vet Chuck Weyant shortly before the 1968 season started. To his credit, Weyant kept the Deuce identity intact, only adding a roll cage. Chuck won a track title with the Deuce, at Fairbury, Illinois, in 1968. (Beetle Bailey photo)

The last major victory for the Deuce came at Des Moines, Iowa, in the 1967 Hawkeye Futurity with Jim Moughan at the wheel. The Deuce won seven IMCA National titles, four with Bobby Grim and three with Pete Folse. (Beetle Bailey photo)

new & featured PRODUCTS

THIS RIVET REMOVER BIT has a cutting head for drilling out 3/16 pop rivets . The shaft of the bit is .171” size that allows the rivet heads to be easily removed. After removing bit from the drill chick simply hold bit upside down and the rivet heads will fall off the shaft.

When using a Standard drill bit to drill out rivets the rivet heads collect on the shaft of the bit. Because the a standard drill bit has the same diameter from the cutting head to the shaft it makes the rivet heads very difficult to remove. The most common way to remove them is with a pair of pliers. Gripping the rivet heads with the pliers and reversing the drill Direction while pulling them off with the pliers. Using that method you can only remove two or three rivet heads at a time.

But using PoPBiT Will eliminate the need for pliers to remove rivet heads and all rivet head can be removed at the same time as they simply fall of the shaft when the bit is turned upside down. Patent Pending #63419239

www.popbitusa.com

THE ASCENT CARBON BRACE is a full carbon head and neck restraint with stainless and aluminum hardware. A shock absorber built into the backplate of the device to help reduce concussion causing forces.

The Ascent Carbon Brace works with Meru Safety’s patented shock absorber design. In a frontal or reverse impact Inertia Dampening Technology (IDS) helps dampen the speed at which the head comes to a stop. Unlike other common FHR devices that bring the head to a stop quickly which can cause concussions, Meru is making massive strides in concussion prevention by being able to control the head movement throughout the entire length of impact which results in major reduction in concussion causing forces. A shock absorber connects to the hinged back plate on the device which allows the back plate of the device to

move back and forth slightly. Speed sensitive valving detects large force impacts and stiffens to dampen abrupt movements. The Ascent Carbon Brace connects to any helmet with mounting points with a sliding tether system familiar to other FHR devices, and is available to use for anyone with a 5 or 6 point harness.

Meru will begin taking preorders for its devices direct to consumers through its website as early as mid December. Upon completion of the SFI certification process Meru will begin to ship products which is targeted for early 2023. For more information or to learn how to purchase the Ascent Carbon Brace visit merusafety.com

meru-safety.com

(405) 504-8797

SUMMIT RACE PRODUCTS

LONGACRE TIRE PRESSURE GAUGES

Tire pressure has a huge effect on your race car’s performance. That’s why having an accurate tire gauge like the ones made by Longacre is a must for reading and setting the correct tire pressure. Summit Racing carries Longacre analog and digital tire gauges from basic to pro level, including these:

STANDARD TIRE GAUGES

Just because Longacre calls these ‘standard’ doesn’t mean cheap. They have an internal gauge damper for accurate readings and longer life, an air release button, two inch diameter dials with a glow-in-the-dark face for easy low-light viewing, a flexible 14 inch long hose with an angle chuck installed, and a ball chuck. Your choice of 0-15 PSI, 0-30 PSI, and 0-60 PSI versions.

DIGITAL TIRE GAUGES

Longacre Digital Tire Gauges are very accurate and super easy to read—really important when you’re making tire pressure changes at the track. Most read to 1/10th of a pound and have an air pressure release button, a bleed valve, flexible hose with attached angle chuck, a ball chuck, and a rubber gauge bumper. Many gauges are backlit and have an auto-off function to save the battery.

MAGNUM TIRE GAUGES

Magnum Tire Gauges have an extra-large 3.5 inch diameter dial with a glow-in-the-dark face so you never miss a pressure reading. The gauges hold the pressure reading until you release it, and have dual air pressure release buttons for faster pressure setting. Other features include an internal gauge damper for more consistent, accurate readings, a 17 inch long hose with a swivel angle chuck installed, a ball chuck, and a hard storage case. Your choice of 0-15 PSI, 0-30 PSI, 0-40 PSI, and 0-60 PSI versions.

PRO PRECISION TIRE GAUGE

The Pro Precision Tire Gauge has an even bigger dial—4.5 inches— than the Magnums and is accurate to 1/2 percent. It has a glowin-the-dark face, pressure reading hold feature, dual air pressure release buttons, and an internal gauge damper, plus a 17 inch long hose with a swivel angle chuck installed, a ball chuck, and a hard storage case. The Pro Precision reads from 0 to 60 PSI.

STREET STOCK CAMARO VALANCE

Set you race car apart from the field with our valance designed to fit the DOM-330 Camaro Nose Kit, three pieces in this kit and comes in 12 colors.

28- Nuts & Bolts included in kit. Mounts to the leading edge of the nose for easy assembly.

Hi Impact Plastic

12 colors

3 pcs set.

Weight of valance w/bolts — 6 lbs.

NOSE OR Graphics Not Included in Kit –DISPLAY ONLY

Street Stock Camaro Valance – DOM-345 $69.00

dominatorraceproducts.com

419-923-6970

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pit STOP