Dirt Empire Magazine - Vol. 3 - Issue 17 - Aug/Sept 2023

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 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, Tanner Dillin, 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 14

O’Neal.

6

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14 HUDSON O’NEAL - A NEW HOME FOR THE NEW DEAL

To whom much is given, much is expected. That axiom certainly applies to Hudson O’Neal as he navigates his first year in the Rocket House Car after taking over for Brandon Sheppard. We check in with the youngster mid-season to see how things are going in his first year in a primetime ride and his hopes for the rest of 2023.

20 #DEASKS – CHARLIE MEFFORD

We fielded your questions for one of the hot, young stars of the modified scene and we asked him about his famous “You Can’t Park There” catch phrase, winning at Volusia, running karts against his friends in Kentucky and how he plans to keep building on his success.

26 BLAKE HAHN – FAMILY TRADITION

The Hahn name carries a lot of weight in his home state of Oklahoma and being the grandson of Emmett Hahn has opened a lot of doors but Blake Hahn has built his own brand and has put in all the time and sweat required to build one of the top 360 teams in the country. Now, he’s trying to do the same in the 410s.

32 NATIONAL DIRT LATE MODEL HALL OF FAME – CLASS OF 2023

It’s another class of legends going into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame and we’ve got all the stories and stats that made them great and what makes them such important pieces of the history of the sport. The induction will take place in Florence, Kentucky, in early August.

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It’s kind of using the same model as the NBA Dream Teams – three dirt late model stars got together to all work cooperatively and race as a unit. Max Blair, Boom Briggs and team manager Chub Frank are having a great time racing together in 2023.

The new pilot in the Rocket 1 cockpit for 2023 is Hudson

Our own Ashley Zimmerman catches up with him and gets the skinny.

Photo: Todd Boyd

fore WORD

By Adam Cornell

ERNEST HEMINGWAY once said, “The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.” Stephen Covey, educator, businessman and author of The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People said, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

In dirt track racing trust is so vitally important to success. You have to trust your car and crew to have the confidence to push it as hard as you can behind the wheel. There’s even a level of trust bestowed upon the race promoters to run a fair race. In this moment of time in which we live, however, trusting people is getting more and more difficult.

Two-and-a-half years ago, many of you decided to put your trust in me and Dirt Empire Magazine, despite the fact that many of you had been burned by other magazines and companies. That’s pretty incredible. This issue, number 17, finishes out the first vote of trust many of you gave to me and this publication when you signed up for a two-year subscription before we had ever put ink on paper.

Back then, you might have gotten a postcard in the mail or maybe an email or maybe you saw an ad on social media, and you decided to throw caution to the wind and trust us to actually produce and

“THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT IF YOU CAN TRUST SOMEBODY IS TO TRUST THEM.”

- ERNEST HEMINGWAY

TRUST

then mail you a magazine that you would deem worthy of your payment.

Initially we planned on eight issues a year. Starting our print run with issue 2, that took you early two-year subscribers all the way up to issue 17. We had some hiccups, near-death-experiences, paper shortages, and all the fun challenges that go along with starting a new business. In the middle of last year, as we signed an agreement with a major distributor so we could be in Barnes & Noble and BooksA-Million stores, we had to shift gears and move to six issues per year. But we assured all of you early subscribers that you would get every issue you paid for, even if it took a couple of extra months to get them to you.

And here we are. How have we done?

There were times I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill the promises I had made, but hard work, determination, tons of support from our staff and contributors as well as our loyal advertisers and you, our readers, has gotten us through it all. Thank you, one and all.

There are days that I find myself alone in the office (usually during lunchtime.) That means when the phone rings I’m often the one who answers. It has been a pleasure over the last few years to be able to speak to those of you who have called in. I enjoy hearing about your love for dirt track racing, where you go to see races, some of your history with the sport, and even what you think of our publication.

I recently spoke with a subscriber who purchased some of our back issues, and he told me, “My wife thinks I’m crazy, but I have the stack of Dirt Empire right there on the table. I get up every morning and have my coffee and read another issue. I’m like a kid at Christmas.”

I love these kinds of conversations, not because it pumps up my ego, but because I feel like all the work and effort has been worth it. We pull all-nighters. Our photographers sometimes drive hundreds of miles only to get rained-out. Our writers struggle to get interviews, and they can sometimes take place at inconvenient hours, working around the schedules of the interviewees. All those efforts are totally worth it when I hear how much our readers love what we do. It makes me trust that this endeavor has merit.

There has been a lot of opportunity for reflection over the last few months as we move through the middle of our third year in existence. When you’re working hard towards a goal and then you achieve that goal, it’s easy to forget the pain you endured during the journey. You tend to only remember the good things. I like how our memories work that way. I don’t remember the struggles, I remember the moments of success.

How do I gauge success? When a subscriber renews their subscription. They are in effect saying, “You’ve done well so far. I trust you to keep going.” And over the last year and a half as subscriptions come due, it’s clear, thousands of you continue to put your trust in us.

I thank all of you who have trusted me and our team to bring you dirt track racing action in each issue. It’s an honor to serve you.

When I started this project, I never would have believed I would have found emotional fulfillment in a subscription renewal, but it’s real. Every time we get a renewal it encourages me to keep going and try harder.

So, what do the next few years hold?

Though I can’t be certain about what tomorrow will bring, I know that we are all committed to continuing to produce the best dirt track racing magazine in the history of the sport, as long as you want to keep reading it.

I trust you’ll be along for the ride.

Let’s go racing!

Photo: Melissa Tousley

from the EDITOR

By Justin Zoch

IT CAME ROLLING through our town. The same weekend that David Gravel was hauling in the richest winner’s purse in Sprint Car history – until the Million that is – Taylor Swift came blowing into Minneapolis. She took over our city and state like nothing we’d seen before. I didn’t spend multiple month’s mortgages to attend but you couldn’t not know what was happening.

For those that don’t know, her tour is called Eras and feature segments from each era of her career. The conceit is that instead of having to go out there and pour her heart into songs she wrote at 15, she can play act and be a character of herself in that era. Its like she managed to kill cringe. We all look back at our past and find things we’d rather not remember or relive and rock stars are forced to do this on a nightly basis but this is a brilliant work around.

Very occasionally, when I am forced to clean an office or find an old article or tidbit for a reader, I’ll find myself going through old magazines and reading stuff that was written a long time ago by a

AMONG MY FAVORITES THAT I WOULD STILL ARGUE REMAIN COOL 20 YEARS LATER ARE THE WHITE WALLS AT KNOXVILLE, GARY WRIGHT, HAROLD ANNETT’S TMC NUMBER 1 CAR AND DOUG CLARK, TO NAME A FEW THINGS.

ERAS

completely different person and I enjoy critiquing it and putting myself back into that place again. One column I found again recently was particularly interesting and it was published in August of 2002, nearly half of my life ago. I’ve gone back to this one several times over the years and have written my thoughts on it previously but I dug it out again with Swift in mind. It was called “I’m Not Cool, But I Know What Is” and it was a play on the fact that I didn’t own even one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Coolest Albums of All Time. I was incredulous so I created a list of the 50 coolest things about sprint car and midget racing. It’s a nice time capsule, to be sure.

Among my favorites that I would still argue remain cool 20 years later are the white walls at Knoxville, Gary Wright, Harold Annett’s TMC number 1 car and Doug Clark, to name a few things. I stand by all of that, for sure. A few others, like number 40, make me proud to this day. “Despite the outlaw image we project, we’re a community of wannabe corporate sellouts. Let’s face it, everything in racing is for sale. Always has been.” I also appreciate number 10 – “Hollywood has yet to make a dreadful, big-budget farce out of our sport, ala Driven or Days of Thunder.” How much longer will this be true in a world where Kyle Larson happened?

I’m proud of a few others, too. Number 24 was “If you win the King’s Royal, you get a robe, a crown, a big stick and a title.” Number 28 is “Every other sport takes a break in their best-of-seven game series for ‘travel’. Racers just drive all night.” Those still hold water. I had what I thought to be hot takes on how much better the name World of Outlaws is than National Basketball Association, how cool it is that Gas City, Indiana, has a great racetrack, the number of guys named “Rocket”, “Bullet” and “Mr. Excitement” in those days and how much I love being covered by dust and mud. All good stuff.

But there is some cringe in there, too, that I would

certainly edit out if it wasn’t written in ink on a page. For instance, number 12 was Larry Neighbors’ sideburns. A fine trim to be sure in the day but not worthy of inclusion. Maybe the top 500 coolest things! I also had a bit about trophy girls and an off-color joke about non-wing cars going topless that I certainly won’t rewrite because it’s so childish and stupid.

However, my main regret is number 50. The last one. My walk off! “Tyler Walker. He’s young, he’s good looking and NASCAR tried to take him. But, for now, he’s all ours, baby.” Oof. I’m glad I don’t have to go on stage every night and defend either Tyler Walker’s career or that piece of writing. But, it is okay, we take the good with the bad and move on, right, and realize that was a different era of his career and mine.

writing in the DIRT

FOUR-DAY FAMILY REUNION

By Ashley Zimmerman

THERE’S SOMETHING truly unique about Crown Jewel races, and it’s not the way it can completely change the trajectory of a driver’s career. Dirt track racing, especially during the week of a Crown Jewel, singlehandedly hosts a dirt track racing family union spilling forth in nostalgia, history, memorable stories and sense of family that has become the core of the atmosphere that surrounds dirt track racing’s richest events. As a race fan outside of the excitement that surrounds on track action with our favorite drivers, we look forward to catching up with our dirt family, reminiscing about the good ole days, and explaining to all the “puppy-racers” just how much our sport has grown.

For this race fan, August means embarking to my favorite Crown Jewel, my 37th Knoxville Nationals; returning home to a racetrack that could very well claim to have raised me, right along with the

AS RACE FANS, WE MAY GATHER FOR THE RACING, BUT IT’S IN HOW DEEPLY WE BOND FOR RACING THAT HAS ENABLED US AS RACE FANS TO BUILD AN UNBREAKABLE COMMUNITY.

friends who have most certainly become my family over the last three decades. As young kid, my ears laid witness to a who’s who of legendary Knoxville stories from hearing about the poker games in the Arizona barns, to “alleged” water truck theft, taking out farmer’s corn fields pushing off sprint cars, Australians coming to help Tim Deaver, and so much more. While I could recite these stories by heart approaching my teenage years, I was blissfully unaware of just how much value they brought to my personal racing story.

That is until August of 2003, at seventeen years old this would be the last nationals I shared with my dad, the ringleader in my passion for sprint car racing. It’s this Knoxville Nationals, now twenty years ago, that I first began learning just how priceless the stories that surround racing really are. Just before the Nationals in 2003, sprint car racing lost Keith Hutton in an accident in Oskaloosa at the Ultimate Challenge. Keith, his wife Jenny, and my parents happened to be very good friends thanks to racing, and during Nationals, while mourning Keith my father shared incredible racing memories amongst other lessons that have imprinted my story. The years that followed the passing of my father brought nationals weeks filled with stories about my dad in his younger, more wilder years, his preparation for my entrance into the world, and other moments that reminded me just how much of his character was left with me; stories that still leave me smiling, stories that without the moments surrounding the Knoxville Nationals I would have never been blessed to hear.

This lesson in the value of my father’s racing stories caused a motivation in me to be purposeful in creating more moments to continue my story, making new friends around the campground each year (ask the “California guys” from many years ago, I’m one heck of a neighbor), keeping in touch with my grandstand buddies who have sat next to me since my teenage years and then some, and of course, to always make time for

the ones who watched me learn to walk, talk, and witness the roots that firmly planted me in the heart of sprint car racing’s most hallowed ground.

It comes as no shock to me that I’m not alone in these actions, or in looking forward to catching up just as much as I look forward to the races. I witness dozens of posts across social media each year sharing excitement about getting to see their racing family again. As race fans, we may gather for the racing, but it’s in how deeply we bond for racing that has enabled us as race fans to build an unbreakable community. A community that has stood together to raise funds for injured drivers, help young race fans to have unforgettable moments at their favorite racetracks, in mourning memorialized the legacy of the founders and heroes of our sport.

Could you imagine the moments in racing that could have been lost if not for the retelling by fans? Could you imagine the emotion that would be lost lest we had created the nostalgia? Dirt track racing is rich in many virtues such as driver talent, historic racetracks, incredible sponsors, large purses, but it is the richest in its community. Crown Jewel races may bring forth a new page in racing history, it’s the race fans reunited that ensure the pages are not just written.

the lighter side of DIRT

Travelin’ With Paul

VETERAN RACE photographer Paul Arch travels the country all year and he’s always got his eye out for something interesting and he always, always has his camera at the ready. Throughout this season, Arch visited plenty of new tracks, old favorites and found lots of little nuggets of joy to share with our readership.

By Paul Arch

HUDSON O’NEAL

A NEW HOME FOR THE NEW DEAL

BY ASHLEY ZIMMERMAN

THE VACANCY of the Rocket 1 Racing house car in the fall of 2022 left most of the late model racing world stunned, but it was the announcement of one of late model racing’s youngest drivers Hudson O’Neal to fill the seat that took words from them all. With Brandon Sheppard vacating the ride to return to his family car, Hudson O’Neal was tasked with continuing the winning legacy set by the duo of Sheppard and Josh Richards, a pressure O’Neal felt from not only himself,

but by race fans, media, and the rest of the late model community.

While young in age, O’Neal is no rookie where racing is concerned, whether it’s late models on dirt or asphalt, O’Neal turned more than enough laps to quickly find himself feeling right at home in the Rocket 1 ride. O’Neal took to notching lines in the win column going back-toback during racing action at East Bay Speedway in February.

As late model racing prepared to enter into the first of Eldora Speedway’s coveted Crown Jewel races, it was undoubtedly perfect timing to talk the ins and outs of the season – the highs,

the lows, the high expectations, the most wanted, and of course just a bit about the future of his still young racing career. Coincidentally enough, Hudson O’Neal would go on just a few days post interview to grab one of the cherry on top accolades he set for his freshman season in the Rocket 1, leading all one hundred laps of the XR Super Series race at Kokomo Speedway for a cool $100,000 payday, while we couldn’t shine up our crystal ball quite enough to predict this excitement, it’s safe to say, Hudson O’Neal has perfected exceeding his own high expectations.

Dirt Empire: You started this season off with a new team, the Rocket 1 racing team, a team that was extremely successful with Josh Richards and Brandon Sheppard. How do you handle the pressure to perform amid such a rich legacy?

Hudson O’Neal: Whenever you come into a team like it is at Rocket 1, it’s really big, there has been a lot of success there with Josh and Brandon. Especially when you go into Speedweeks with all eyes on you, it definitely adds a bit of pressure. I felt like after we got through Speedweeks, and got a couple of wins under our belt, I felt way better about it. I felt like we were

on the right track where we could just kind of race and not feel the added pressure from the outside world, the media, and all of that. Coming into it at first was a little intimidating, but we got past that.

DE: When the opportunity to drive for Rocket 1 originally arose, what were your initial thoughts?

HO: It was a dream come true. Whenever you start racing late models, you dream of being a part of the one of the top teams. I had a really good deal at Double Down Motorsports, and whenever Mark [Richards] called in August of last year, it was quite the phone call. I remember how excited I was just to be in consideration for the ride, it definitely meant a lot to me.

DE: Now that we’re approaching about the half way point of the season, how would you say you’re meshing with the team? What is your view of how the first part of the season went?

HO: The first part of the season went really well. We’ve had a few moments of struggle here the past few weeks, but I feel like our speed is still there. We just haven’t quite put all of the pieces together. I’ve made some mistakes on my end that have taken us out of some good opportunities to win some races.

DE: You mentioned that you’ve had some bad luck the last few weeks, and that bad luck followed you to your last visit to Eldora for the Flo

Racing Night in America race, where a flat tire toward the end of the race cost you lead and win. How do you process moments like that to prevent them from affecting your momentum going into the next race?

HO: Even though I’m just 22, I feel like I’ve been doing this a long time, and you know it’s just kind of part of it. You’re going to have those really bad days, and that for sure was a really bad day. I felt like we had a really good run going there, especially to come from as far back as we did. I felt like it was going to be a really cool win for us to come from that far back. We let that one slip away from us, it was a really long ride home, and we had a race the next day. It was one of the more difficult races to let go. Throughout my career I’ve had some bad luck, and you just have to look at the next race. That’s what we’re fortunate enough to do. We race so much nowadays that whenever you have bad runs, it’s normally not very long until the next race. The best thing you can do is get back in the car and move on. Whenever you start racing again you sort of forget about the past. That’s what we’re looking to do here this weekend, after a bad couple of weeks, we’re looking to try and put all of that behind us, get back in the race car, get back to racing, and do what we know how to do.

DE: You’ve been pretty open in sharing that Eldora is your favorite race track, even including it on your

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Josh James

Is it possible to look fast without tires? O’Neal proves it is before action at East Bay in February.

website. What about Eldora makes it special to you?

HO: The whole atmosphere of it. Ever since I was a little kid, I remember coming and sitting in the grandstands and watching this race. I remember when I was a really young kid, around 12-13 years old, I would really look forward to coming to these weekends, the Dream and the World, all year long. It was just that time where most of my family came to those two races, a lot of memories and history are here. There’s just something about it, it gives you little butterflies in your stomach, whenever you’re thinking about coming here for these weekends. I remember it more for the memories, being little and running around, it’s just really cool. Anytime I get to go back it’s really special.

DE: Obviously winning a Crown Jewel at Eldora can really change anyone’s career, but with your career just getting started, how would winning one change your life?

HO: I think it would do more for me personally than what any of the stats would do for me. For me to be able to win one, I think it would just prove to myself that I can win big races there. I’ve won some preliminary nights, and I’ve won some smaller $5,000 to win nights on off weekends, and I feel like I’ve had good cars here in the past a few times that have put me in contention to win some of these big races, and I just haven’t quite

been able to do it. Whenever you win the Dream or the World, it’s another step in your career, you become one of the elite guys. I think I want to win it more for myself than I do any of the others who look upon my career. It would be really cool in all aspects.

DE: Aside from Eldora, what are some of your other favorite tracks to visit on your schedule?

HO: I always enjoy going back to Brownstown. It’s my home racetrack. I think it’s fun to get to go there, for the atmosphere, and to get to see all of the fans that have supported me from whenever I raced sprint cars there on a weekly basis. It’s always really cool whenever I can go back there, and hopefully run well. I always really look forward to the North/South 100 at Florence every year. That’s a race that I’ve come really close to winning, I’ve been on the podium several times, and it’s one that I just haven’t quite been able to do it yet. Hopefully, that’s one that I can check off the list here in the next year or couple of years. There are quite a few that I look forward to going to, but those are two.

DE: You’ve raced late models both on dirt and asphalt. What made you stick with dirt?

HO: I don’t really know. I started my career on asphalt, I ran a couple of years in the trucks and the pro late models, and I really enjoyed it. But I never really got to give it a fair try when I matured as

a driver, I was really young when I raced asphalt, early teens. Sometimes I wish that maybe I could go back, not to turn it into a career, but to go back and give it another shot to see what has changed over the years, and if I’ve gotten better with how I’ve become as a driver versus the way I drove then. I don’t ever want to go back to asphalt to stay, I really enjoy the dirt stuff, and the success that I’ve been able to have with it. With all of the history with my dad, dirt just seems like home.

DE: It’s been mentioned in a few places, one of the races you’d most like to win is the Chili Bowl. Does that still stand? What makes the Chili Bowl top your list?

HO: Well, [he laughs] not to burst anyone’s bubble, but it’s not at the top of my list anymore, it’s [the list] changed a little. But, when I did my stint where I was racing quite a bit of sprint car stuff, I was really enjoying what I was doing, and I still would enjoy doing some of it. I just don’t quite fit the stature [he laughs again] to fit in sprint car stuff - I’m a little tall. I got turned over one time at Lincoln Park and banged my knees up a little bit, nothing serious, but it put a damper on racing sprint cars. I really enjoy the midget stuff, and the non-wing 410 stuff. I never got to drive the 410 winged sprint car stuff, which I would love to do sometime. I think that if you go to the Chili Bowl, the best of the best in competition of not only

Photo: Matt Butcosk

sprint cars but from all over the world, the best sprint car drivers from New Zealand, NASCAR Cup drivers, the best of late model racing, modifieds, the best of everything that you could ever dream of come to this one race. It’s the who’s who of racing throughout everything, including guys like Santino Ferrucci that come from the IndyCar/Formula One side. It’s really cool and fun to go there and see all the different levels of racing and it’s all in one building. To be able to do something like that, winning a race like that, would rank above the rest.

DE: We’ve danced around a little bit here touching on all the diverse forms of racing you’ve gotten to compete in, with the time we are in currently with driver’s actively crossing over to different forms of racing when their schedules allow, have you ever considered adding something into your down time?

HO: I really enjoy focusing on the late model side but I do think the more types of race cars you drive the more versatile you can be in a race car. I really think it helps with your instincts, no matter what car you drive, there’s something that will be comparable to be able to sharpen your skills. Learning to drive different race cars is a plus and I’ve really thought over the last couple of years about trying to add in doing something a little bit different. Right now, with this year joining the Rocket 1 team I thought it was best to just try to focus solely on the late models. But it’s not something I’m going to rule out trying

here in the next couple of years in maybe trying to go do some modified racing or some sprint car racing.

DE: Looking back at this season and with what remains, what have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome to be able to make this season the best it can be?

HO: The main thing is learning how to win big races. I’ve won big races in the past, but I haven’t won them consistently and the Rocket 1 team has been accustomed to that over the years. Being around Mark, Danny, Joel, and Austin, they have been great at being able to communicate with me on how to become better at my craft. It’s been really cool being able to work with them and learn how Sheppard and Josh were so successful for so many years in a row. I feel like, while we haven’t been as successful as they have in years past with a lot of racing left this season, I feel like I’ve grasped on to some of things I’ve still got to learn. I’m still young and I’m learning every single time I go out on the racetrack. I think there are little mistakes that I make that in the later part of Brandon and Josh’s career, the Rocket 1 team would never make. I think that’s just a part of it, learning. I’m looking forward to a few successful years with the Rocket 1 team, and hopefully being able to make this a long-term thing.

DE: We’ve got just one question left. If there was one thing you could accomplish this season that would be your cherry on top of your first season

Winning is fun! Especially on a FloRacing weeknight special in Lincoln, Illinois.

with

Rocket 1, what would it be?

HO: Our eyes are mainly on the Lucas Oil points championship, if we can accomplish that at the end of the year, that’s going to be the cherry on top that does it all for us. As far as racing day-today goes, I really feel like if we could win a Crown Jewel or even multiple, I feel like that’s where we really want to succeed is in the bigger races, the races that pay out more. We have the equipment and everything to accomplish it, we just have to put ourselves in the position, and I feel like we’re able to do that. So, not only a championship, but winning big races. If we win big races, the championship will follow.

Photo: Michael Moats

Photo: Ryan Roberts

O’Neal at the XR Super Series race in Bull’s Gap, Tennessee, where he hauled out $20,000 for third place.

DIRT EMPIRE ASKS

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

WHILE THE Gateway Dirt Nationals purse does not pay to the caliber of a dirt track Crown Jewel race, the atmosphere, excitement, and the stories that fill the Dome never pale in comparison to the events that fill the racing season. The 2022 Gateway Dirt Nationals did not fall short in emerging talent and exciting moments, in particular and most notably,

CHARLIE MEFFORD

PARKING WHEREVER HE WANTS

that of modified driver Charlie Mefford. While one could have hypothesized Mefford’s age taking center stage in discussion of the sixteen-year-old Kentucky native, it would turn out to be a wreck and one very special post wreck interview that would coin Mefford the “you can’t park there!” kid and bring all of dirt track’s eyes on him.

For Mefford, capitalizing on the attention brought on from the Gateway Dirt Nationals attention was valuable and allowed the young driver to pave an opportunity to showcase not only his charismatic personality, but his natural talent behind the wheel of a modified. With the explosion of t-shirt sales,

Mefford kicked off the 2023 race season chasing gators in Florida and continuing to shock and awe fans with a green to checkered win at Volusia Speedway during Florida Speedweeks competition. Hungry for more, Mefford has consistently placed himself up front throughout the first half of the race season, hoping to change the narrative from the young kid who wrecked at the Gateway Dirt Nationals to one aimed at the talent he has showcased in racing action.

The dust having settled from the Dome, and the gator win a proud memory, we fielded questions for Charlie Mefford about how he got here, everything Gateway, how he balances it all, and the

Photos: Josh James

impression he’d like to leave on dirt track racing. One thing is for certain, Charlie Mefford never ceases to surprise where interviews are concerned, whether it’s wit or wisdom well beyond his age.

Dirt Empire: Since the Gateway Dirt Nationals and “you can’t park there!,” you’ve experienced quite a bit of growth. How have you managed to navigate your way through it all?

Charlie Mefford: Honestly, I think I’m handling it pretty well. I’m really trying to grasp on to a lot of it. I started a podcast; trying to make the most out of the spotlight, get my sponsors out there the most I can. I tell everyone, it doesn’t feel like I did anything to get this attention. I didn’t win a $100,000 to win race or do something crazy, it feels like I didn’t do anything. It’s funny to know that many people know who I am now. This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid, I wanted to be a well-known race car driver. It has kind of back fired on me, not everyone knows me as a race car driver, they know me as the “you can’t park there!” kid, the kid that wrecked a race car, no one really knows my talents if you will.

DE: Currently in the world of modified racing, you’re one of the younger drivers out there racing on the upper levels, which brings a lot of new experiences and tracks. Who do you lean on for advice or guidance when you need it?

CM: Recently, we’ve been running a lot of MARS Series stuff, and it’s been on a lot of racetracks I’ve never been to before. The person that’s really helped me a lot this year is Kyle Steffens. He’s really helped me out, he’s pointed me in the right direction. You know a lot of people have issues they don’t really like talking about, for me, I can get a really bad temper, if I go to the racetrack and something bad happens, I just get a really bad temper. Kyle has helped me a lot with that this year. He’ll sit me down and say, you know Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you have to sit down and really think about that. I’m sixteen right now, so like you said, one of the younger ones, going to racetracks, being competitive, and it’s Kyle who has been helping me. He’s even given me set up advice; he’s really taken me under his wing. He’s really taught me to see the positive side in my darker moments. I wouldn’t even call him

someone who’s mentored me, I’d call him one of my best friends. We have a lot in common, we like having a good time, it really helps that we’ve built such a good relationship over this year.

DE: What would you say has been some of the best advice you’ve been given?

CM: [he laughs] Go fast, turn left, you know, that’s number one right there. Keep my head in the game. Kyle told me at Spoon River while we were sitting there talking, I was having a bad night starting outside the pole of the B-feature, car wasn’t all that great, and I said, worst comes to worst, we’ll get a provisional, and Kyle said, shut up, you’re not going to get a provisional, you’re going to go out there and win the B-main. I can tell you exactly how we did it. We were coming to the green going around turns one and two, I looked inside, and I said, I’m going to win this B-main, and sure enough, we won the B-main. You just have to be confident in yourself, that’s one of the biggest things in this sport. You have to be confident; you can’t go out there thinking you’re going to get fifth, you have to go out there striving to win every single

Photo: Josh James Mefford is about to remove his helmet, utter “You Can’t Park There” and launch his star in the Gateway Dome.

Mefford racing right up to the edge inside the Gateway Dome where he got on his lid and then lifted the lid on the Dome with an enthusiastic interview.

race. If you’re winning fifth, and you say that, then that’s where you’re going to stay, because that’s the goal you set. I tell a lot of the younger kids who go-kart race that get nervous, you’re going out there to do the same thing everyone else is, you’re going out there to win. The only difference between you and them is that you’re actually going to do it. I see a lot of myself in Kyle. You know, he really helps me out and I’m a part of the younger generation. I do the same, I try to help the younger generation to me. I try to take the same stuff my mentors have passed on to me and pass it down. So yeah, I really think the best advice has been being confident, that’s one thing that’s picked me up and gotten me through this year.

DE: You touched on this some initially, saying that you’ve really wanted to capitalize on the attention you’ve gotten from the Gateway Dirt Nationals, how would you say that attention has affected this season and carried forward? Has it allowed you to do things you normally wouldn’t have gotten to do?

CM: Oh absolutely, we wouldn’t have been able to do the traveling that we’ve done. Race Ranch sells our t-shirts and our t-shirt fund is what made it possible for us to go to Volusia and we somehow managed to pick up a win there, which was probably the biggest win of my career. If it wasn’t for what happened at the Dome, and the t-shirt sales from it, I wouldn’t have been able to do that

or be traveling up and down the road. Our t-shirt sales really fund our racing program right now.

DE: Where would you like to see this momentum carry your career down the road?

CM: I’d like to be one of the best modified drivers in the country. I think the way the momentum is going, the way I’m learning and adapting to different tracks, I think our stuff is going right, and it’s just me and dad right now! A really long-term goal would be getting to be a fulltime late model driver. The quicker that happens, the better it’ll be, but stuff like that doesn’t happen overnight. I’m just going to keep grinding and grinding until opportunities like that happen.

DE: Let’s run it back to the beginning of this season, and that Volusia win you spoke of. In February, you led every single lap at Volusia to win your first gator trophy. What has it meant to you to be able to check big wins like that off your list already?

CM: To this day, I still can’t believe I did that. [he laughs] I’m honestly speechless about it still. Like I said, we’ve been to a lot of new tracks this year, and Volusia was one of them. I’ve ran laps in the sim there, but never drove anything around the racetrack before. This is what I mean by adapting really well, we adapted and straight up put it on them, everything was working right. That was only my third feature on it, I finally got the groove of it

down, the car was really good, and that’s how it went. There’s going to be a lot of people out there that can tell you their car is not good, and they’re driving it hard and are out front. Then you have those people whose car is good, and they’re not driving it as well as they should be, and they are still out front. It’s just one of those deals where everything matched up perfectly. We went down there and executed everything perfectly and brought home a gator.

DE: Aside from the golden gator from Volusia being one of your biggest career wins, what are some other moments in your career that stick out to you and carry sentiment?

CM: For the top spot, it’s pretty close between the Maxxis Nationals and the gator. I picked up a Maxxis Nationals win, one of the highest events you can win in go-kart racing in 2017. It was really special to me. That was really only our second year running down south in karts, it was against the best in the nation. There were people coming from Texas, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, and all over down there, it was the who’s who event of the year. We picked up the win and received the infamous orange leather. Then there’s the Burris Nationals the weekend after that we went on to win, too. That was the who’s who event of Burris stuff. While I wouldn’t really count it as a win, we got the Tri-State Pro Championship, so it was three leather jackets in three weekends. It was a really cool deal. I haven’t really

Photo: Josh James

won a lot in a modified yet, but every time we do I treat it like it’s my biggest win ever. Every win could be your last.

DE: What would you say has been one of the defining moments of you career thus far?

CM: The Florida trip. Dad thought we were going to go down there and run mid-pack all week. But no, we went down there and won. I think that really changed my career.

DE: For those that don’t know, you’re from Belton, Kentucky, and currently, it appears that the area around Owensboro is supplying modified racing with some of its top drivers, with Tyler Nicely and Cole Falloway competing against you pretty regularly. But this isn’t your first time competing against them, having run against them in karts. Has having this level of competition your entire career motivated you to stay at your best at all times?

CM: Every time I wake up, it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I want to be the best that I can be. I’ve raced against Cole pretty much my whole life, we started in go-karts together. Cole and I moved up to modifieds about the same time, and then Tyler, I think he’s one of the best out there right now. They both really have their stuff on point, you always hear that if you want to be a big dog, you have to run with the big dogs, and that’s what we’re here doing, we’re running with the big dogs. There’s a lot of talent down here, with them, me, Josh Harris, Trent Young and Lucas Lee; there’s a lot of talent here in

MY DAD TOOK ME TO A RACETRACK AND JUST KIND OF GOT ME A GO-KART. I THOUGHT THAT WAS KIND OF FUNNY, IT DIDN’T REALLY START AS MY DREAM, BUT BY GOLLY IT TURNED INTO IT. NOW THIS IS ALL I REALLY KNOW.

- CHARLIE MEFFORD

western Kentucky for the UMP stuff.

DE: What made you want to go from karts to modifieds and not something else? Was it your dream to race modifieds?

CM: This is going to sound kind of funny. I was working on tires the other day and thinking about people chasing their dreams. This was never really my dream; I wasn’t asking my dad to buy me a go-kart. I didn’t wake up and want to race really bad and start saying “get me a go-kart”. My dad took me to a racetrack and just kind of got me a go-kart. I thought that was kind of funny, it didn’t really start as my dream, but by golly it turned into it. Now this is all I really know. Moving from go-karts to a modified, I got into a pretty bad wreck in late 2017 and broke my leg. That was all it took; dad went out the next week and bought a modified. We had a few people we knew around home that had went from go-karts to the upper ranks around home in modifieds, that was

one of the highest classes then around here. So, we just took it a step under that and moved up into a b-mod.

DE: With it just being your dad and yourself, you’re obviously a pretty small grassroots team. There’s a lot to juggle between day job responsibilities and prepping the car. What does a typical week look like for you?

CM: Well, Monday through Wednesday, I work at my engine builder’s shop for Phillip Oakley of Oakley Engine Performance. When I get off work at 5, I usually stop in Owensboro and grab something to eat, and then go home and work on the race car. Thursday, if we aren’t racing, I usually spend all day working on the race car and then Friday through Sunday, we find somewhere to race and then start the deal all over again. Dad doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves: he really works his tail off in the shop all week while I’m

Racing inside of Tyler Nicely, another modified star from the Owensboro, Kentucky, region that Mefford is a part of these days.

Chatting with Blake Anderson and becoming a star at the Gateway Dome.

Photo: Josh Jamess

The Meffords went to Volusia to get some early season laps and were beyond delighted to bring home their first Golden Gator.

working. Dad owns his own business, so he doesn’t always have to work as late as some do, so he gets to come home a little bit earlier and works on the race car. I wouldn’t say it’s difficult, but it’s kind of a struggle. I know it’s not working five days a week or full-time, but it can get hard, it’s an hour for me to work and an hour back every day, so it’s just one of those deals. I kind of bit off more than I can chew, but I’m chewing as hard as I can and getting it all down. I think we’re making a pretty good deal of it. Phillip, you know, he’s a racer himself, so he understands that I race, and that racing is what I love, and he lets me off any time I need to go racing.

DE: Looking at the remainder of the 2023 season, what are some of the tracks you think will present a challenge for you?

CM: We’ve been to some really challenging tracks already this year. Fairbury was a track I thought I was going to be able to go out there and wahoo rip the cush and be fast, but that was an absolute lie; that place is really tricky. Every racetrack is a challenge, you know? I’m not going to get there and ace it on my first lap. Nothing is that easy.

DE: If you had to look at the first part of your season and rate the season 1-10, what would you say it’s been? Are there areas you’d like to see some improvement to be able to rate it higher at the end of the season?

CM: I’d have to give it a solid 10. We’re running really good against really good competition. If anything can make it better, it’s to start winning races. But, like we’ve talked, we’re on racetracks we’ve

never been, never stepped foot on, and going on to be somewhat competitive. If we can start busting off some wins here, I think it’ll really benefit the rating at the end of the season.

DE: If there was one driver whose inspired you or influenced you to keep going to make your career be everything you want it to be, who would you say that is?

CM: I don’t know, that’s kind of a hard question. I mean, there are a lot of drivers who have come from where I’ve come

from. You know, Jonathan Davenport, he came from a mom-and-pop team, and look at him, he won $2 million in a late model just last year. It’s not that I look at somebody to keep grinding, I look at myself in the mirror, and I’m like, you chase your dreams, you dream what you want to be and you can achieve it. I’ve heard that all my life, and I believe it’s true. Now I work really hard and I just try to achieve anything I can and everything I can. Sometimes, if I don’t, well so be it, I’ll get another shot someday.

Photos: Paul Arch

a main FEATURE SPRINTS

BLAKE HAHN

FAMILY TRADITION

BY PATRICK GRANT

WITH MULTIPLE CHAMPIONSHIPS under his belt in various micro sprint classes as well as back-to-back ASCS National championships, Blake Hahn has carved out his own racing path in the shadow of a deep and storied family tradition of dirt track racing. His grandfather Emmett kicked it off in 1962 with a 20 year career, won multiple NCRA and Tulsa Speedway championships, cocreated the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, and formed the American Sprint Car

Series. But it doesn’t stop there, Grandmother “Fuzzy” Hahn (Nan), the family matriarch, was the cornerstone of the Hahn family and ran the business side of Blake’s race team until her passing in 2021. With his father and extended family also having deep roots in the aforementioned endeavors, the Hahn’s truly embody the “racing family” spirit.

Dirt Empire: What are your earliest memories of racing?

Blake Hahn: Growing up, my first memories were at 5 or 6 years old at Creek County Speedway and watching my

family run the race track that they owned. I’d watch the modifieds, mini stocks and the two-barrel sprint cars.

DE: When did you first get your chance to race?

BH: In 2006, I drove micro sprints and then eventually moved up to the restrictor class and then on to the outlaw class and eventually the ECO-Tec Midgets.

DE: What was the learning curve like during those years?

BH: It was just me and my dad. We spent a lot of time bouncing things off others, trying to learn as much as we could.

Photo: Patrick Grant

DE: In 2012 you jumped into a sprint car for the first time. How did that come about?

BH: Yeah, we had won two Golden Drillers at the Tulsa Shootout that year and Brian McClelland had been begging his mom and dad to let me drive his car while he was driving for Ronnie Davis. They finally agreed and my first night out was in Lawton. Without any practice, I ran seventh so that was a win for me.

DE: Did that open some doors for you in the 360 sprints?

BH: My dad told me early on that if racing was something I wanted to do that micros was as far as he could take me. I ended up driving for Bruce Griffin at the end of 2013, which was a major steppingstone. Bruce told me he wanted to run the full ASCS National Tour the following year after I had just graduated high school. Being an 18-year-old kid and having that chance was huge and something I will forever be thankful for. I stay in contact with Bruce to this day because he really took a chance with me. It allowed us to travel on the road and we learned a lot as a team. It was cool to have an operation handed to you and even without necessarily having full reign, that kind of learning experience at 18 years old taught us the responsibilities required and that set us up for how we operate the family car today.

DE: Once you moved up to sprint cars, did your grandpa coach you from afar or did he take a more interactive part in your driving career?

BH: I have had both over the years because I’ve been racing for so long now. When we ran the micro, he would let us do our own thing and never had a whole lot to say about it. Once we got to the sprint car, obviously, with the ASCS he has a little bit of knowledge. Then, when we fielded the family-owned car in 2015, he would try to point us in the right direction. For me, it was hard because he was such a good racer that only knows winning, so he expected that out of us too. But racing has changed a whole lot and the competition is really stiff, so obviously to win seven or eight races in a row like he used to do is very unlikely these days.

DE: Tell me about the role your grandma (Nan) played in your career.

BH: Yeah, she was the real boss, if we wanted to get anything approved, we would sell the idea to Papa first and then we would hope Nan would go for it. If she said yes, it was gonna happen. She was basically the boss of it all.

DE: Talk about the part your dad, Tom, has played. Is he an integral part in your career path?

BH: My dad has been to every race I’ve been to except one. He’s got me to where we are really. He’s the talker, the guy that goes out and does the work and really helps get my name out there. He has played a pivotal role in my racing career. Obviously, him getting me through the micros, he was my crew chief there. After that, it was his job to help us learn as much as we could and get us in touch with the right people to make us as good as we could possibly be. Luckily, he still gets to go to all the races with us. That’s the best part about it, to be able to travel with my family.

DE: Regardless of what class of car,

you and crew chief Dalton Siegler seem to have great chemistry. What do you attribute this to?

BH: I got to know Dalton running at Port City Raceway. Dalton grew up around racing and we even raced together, so we’ve been pretty good friends since we were 15 or 16 years old and he knows how I like my car. Typically, Dalton is one of those guys who can just watch the car and can see what it’s doing. Some people might say “it’s loose”, but he is breaking it down a lot more. To be able to have my best friend as a crew chief is valuable. Obviously, there’s nights where we are frustrated with each other and things don’t go our way, but we can speak our mind and know that at the end of the day we’re not mad at each other, but just disappointed at the time. Everything we’ve learned, we’ve learned it together over the past 10 years.

DE: Who are the drivers that have inspired and helped you the most along the way?

BH: Guys like Jason Johnson, Johnny

Photo: Patrick Grant

Three generations. Blake Hahn after winning the ASCS National event at Salina Highbanks from a last place starting position with his father Tom, grandpa Emmett (Papa) and grandma “Fuzz” (Nan) in 2016.

It’s a family thing for the Hahns. “My dad has been to every race I’ve been to except one. He’s the talker, the guy that goes out and does the work and really helps get my name out there.”

Herrera, Tim Crawley and Jeff Swindell helped me as a young driver. Being able to bounce some stuff off those guys while standing at the fence while they’re just talking and giving you information. Someone I really look up to as a driver, owner and team operator is Brian Brown. I think he is someone a lot of drivers look up to. Not only on the track, but off the track as well. He obviously carries himself very well off the track and is very personable. Sponsorship wise, you couldn’t ask for a better guy, so it’s cool to see that. On the racetrack, he is very respectful and he drives you hard but he doesn’t drive over you.

DE: What piece of advice sticks in your brain?

BH: There’s a night that sticks out in my head when we were Billings, Montana, and while standing at the fence, I looked over to Jason Johnson and asked him if he thought the track would take rubber. He took a step back and said, “look at all that dust up there in the lights. Once the dust is gone, then it’ll start taking rubber.” That’s something so simple, but something that I can really take a step back and look at now. There was another night at I-30 Speedway during

intermission that Tim Crawley showed me how to read the track. Then one year we went to East Bay with Gary Wright for a couple of weeks and had a really good time learning from him. It’s just the little things like that throughout the years that makes me the driver I am today.

DE: As an up-and-coming driver, what driver did you look up to the most?

BH: I really, really liked Jesse Hockett. I would see him in a winged car, nonwinged car, 360 or 410 and you didn’t really know when or where he was going to race and he’s kind of from our area too. He was somebody that I loved cheering for.

DE: What would you call your biggest win to date?

BH: I’d probably have to say the Short Track Nationals. It’s one of those places where I ran my micro and it’s close to home. When I was growing up, you see the amount of cars there and say “one day I want to win this thing” and then once we did it, it’s unbelievable and then we backed it up two more times. It’s just a great atmosphere and being close to home makes it stand out.

Photo: Patrick Grant

Photo: David Campbell

I WOULD SAY THAT SOME PEOPLE THINK I’M THE SPOILED RICH KID. WITH MY GRANDPA BEING THE OWNER OF THE CHILI BOWL, THERE’S A LOT OF MISCONCEPTIONS.

I ASK PEOPLE, WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE IN MY GRANDPA’S BUSINESS BEING IN RACING VERSUS ANOTHER GUY’S BEING IN ANOTHER INDUSTRY?

I WORK HARD AND PUT IN THE WORK JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DOES.

- BLAKE HAHN

DE: Let’s talk about the Chili Bowl, you’ve had some good runs there and you’ve made some Saturday night finals. What is the missing link to put it all together for the big win?

BH: I think the missing link is really just not having enough laps in the midget. I feel like we have a competitive enough car and the capability to be a winning car. I feel like a prelim win is right there, but when you only get a run in the midget two or three times a year, I think it really handicaps you compared to the guys that are running fulltime. You gotta be really aggressive and that’s not necessarily my driving style, I gotta force myself to drive a little more aggressive come Chili Bowl time.

DE: You’ve put together a true outlaw race schedule with a lot of 410 and ASCS National events, as well as running the midget a few times. Was that a planned “next step”?

BH: We always wanted to do an outlaw type schedule and after the back-to-back ASCS championships we felt like we proved that we can field a competitive car. So, the only thing left to do was to go run the 410 and the only way to get better is to go out and run as much as possible. Our team was in a good position to do it and we got some good backing and good opportunities. So far it’s been everything we’ve expected and then some.

DE: What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned so far while running with the World of Outlaws and High Limit Series?

BH: Really, just to run full tilt every single

lap. Obviously, with ASCS you gotta drive the car fast, but the level of speed these guys are going every single lap for 30 laps straight is unbelievable, and that’s the thing, you’ve got to be on every single lap. A lot comes down to qualifying and fortunately we’ve been pretty good and we’ve had some good speed, it just comes down to being able to put the whole night together.

DE: Do you feel you’ve been welcomed by the 410 guys?

BH: Yeah absolutely, you know maybe not necessarily the drivers, the drivers are focused on their thing, but the series themselves, absolutely. We knew that running with the World of Outlaws that we were going to get our butts kicked but are being treated with respect by the World of Outlaws officials and feeling welcomed. I feel like they actually wanted us there, that makes a big difference for the racer. You could definitely see how it is run like a business. Also, it’s really cool to see what Brad [Sweet] and Kyle [Larson] are doing with the High Limit Series and see how successful it is right off the bat, that’s really cool. They are the first new series in

a while that has created a lot of hype with the fans.

DE: Let’s talk about the High Limit Series. Is that the fresh take or shot in the arm that the average local guy needed to go race at that level?

BH: Yeah, I think that a twelve-race schedule is very appealing. You don’t have to do a 40 or 50 race schedule; it’s one night a week and you get another couple weeks off. For a guy that has to work, they can make it work. I think that’s why you see 25 guys saying they’re gonna run the whole thing. The point fund isn’t outstanding by any means but the payout throughout the year is pretty good. So, if you if you have good speed and can make stuff happen, I think you can make it worth your while.

DE: Who is responsible for the daily care and feeding of your race cars?

BH: Monday through Sunday, it’s me and Dalton at the shop; my dad helps out on the road. He’s the guy that drives the truck and helps with the fuel and stuff. Through the week, Dalton will take care of the car and I’ll take care of the engine

Photos: David Campbell

and it’s pretty much all on Dalton on race night.

DE: What is the biggest misconceptions people have about Blake Hahn?

BH: I would say that some people think I’m the spoiled rich kid. With my grandpa being the owner of the Chili Bowl, there’s a lot of misconceptions. I ask people, what’s the difference in my grandpa’s business being in racing versus another guy’s being in another industry? I work hard and put in the work just like everybody else does. I don’t just show up to the track with my helmet bag. I feel like my grandpa gave me a great opportunity to show my talent and what our team can do. To show him how much I appreciate the opportunity, the only thing I can do is to show up to the shop and work all day like a 9 to 5 job to show that I appreciate the position that I’m in.

DE: So what’s next for Blake Hahn – aside from wanting to win the Chili Bowl.

BH: I mean yeah, that’s the goal for sure, I have some Golden Drillers but not the one I’m really after, so I’d really like to do that. I’d also like to have some success in the 410 and if everything worked out, I would like to see our team run the World of Outlaws tour. Obviously, we would have to have a lot more backing and a lot more people helping out on the on the team. It’s something that’s so close, but so far away at the same time. So that’s our end goal, to be able to do that for a year or two and see what we’ve got and to go learn every night with those guys. I feel like that’s the best place to learn and where our team deserves to be. We have the potential to do it, we just have to put in the work to get there.

Photo: David Campbell

2023 INDUCTEES

Being good at what you do is one thing. Being good at what you do, consistently, over the course of an entire career is quite another. Dirt Empire Magazine salutes those individuals that have risen to the level of excellence that can only be rewarded with an induction into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in Walton, Kentuky. Congratulations to all the 2023 inductees!

became the Secretary of the Board of the Hall of Fame. It is a position which allows me to give my input on the future of the Hall of Fame.

INTRO BY KELLEY CARLTON

THE HISTORY OF dirt late model racing can be traced back to the origins of the automobile and competitive auto racing itself. However, what is viewed in today’s terms as a “Dirt Late Model”, has grown and evolved substantially over the last few decades. The earliest recognized form began around 1965. Along the path of the evolution, there have been many pioneers both behind the wheel and behind the scenes. In 2001, the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame was established to preserve the history of the sport and honor its many heroes.

In 2004, I was fortunate enough to be appointed as a voting member of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame thanks to a nomination from my friend Tony Hammett. I was honored by the recommendation and I was quick to agree to the responsibility when Bill Holder called me. Little did I know then just how much I would fall in love with this Hall of Fame. Nor could I fathom how involved I would eventually become. In 2013, I

This place and this honor are truly special. It is a painstaking process from initial nomination to actually making the main ballot. The process can sometimes take many years. And the emotion and pride are never more evident than during acceptance speeches by inductees and even those that introduce them. Often times there are tears and cracking voices as the acknowledgements and thankyous are spoken. I certainly did in my own “full circle” moment, 14 years after he recommended me, I had the privilege to induct Tony Hammett into the Hall of Fame.

The National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame had humble beginnings as founder Bill Holder and several volunteers worked

tirelessly to raise the funds to make the NDLMHoF a reality. After a myriad efforts, the funding was finally in place to erect a building to house the Hall of Fame. The contribution of a parcel of land from the King Family at Florence Speedway was the final piece of the puzzle.

Today, the NDLMHoF is a much-revered piece of the lexicon of dirt racing that sees thousands of visitors annually. And it is a place where racing fans for years to come will spend time learning and reliving the rich history of our sport. On August 12, the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame will enshrine it’s 23rd class of inductees during a ceremony just prior to the final night of Florence Speedway’s North-South 100. There will be many laughs and even some tears shed as we acknowledge another deserved group that helped to make our sport what it is today.

FOR THE 2023 CLASS, another secondgeneration inductee has earned his place into the Hall as the late Jackie Boggs, son of inaugural class member Jack Boggs, will be posthumously inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

With both his dad and Uncle Randy Boggs being past World 100 winners, it was only natural for a young Jackie to find his way into the ranks of dirt late model racing. It would lead one to believe that being the son of one of the country’s all-time top late model racers, Jackie would receive anything needed to get into the sport. Yet, there were no favors or handouts received and he worked and earned it all on his own. Using poker game winnings, along with funds borrowed, the Grayson, Kentucky, youngster put together a powerplant and installed it in a used frame he acquired from fellow Hall of Famer Audie Swartz to get himself on track. This relationship with Audie and Swartz Race Cars carried him for a good part of his career.

The initial Swartz car saw Jackie ring up 19 feature wins while knocking around Southern Ohio, Portsmouth, KC and the Thunder Mountain Speedways, including his first checkered at Fleming County in Kentucky in 1990. As his abilities grew, so did his win totals and he took his first big win in the Southern 100 at Southern Ohio, which he won twice, and put together an impressive 37 victory season in 1998.

As the new millennium rolled in, Jackie began to make his mark on the sport not only regionally but nationally. In 2001, he hit the road competing with the traveling Renegade STARS series scoring wins at the East Bay, Florida Nationals and at Bedford, Pennsylvania, while taking

a third in their final National points. He finished off that campaign with a big win in an UDTRA event at his home track Thunder Ridge and the MACS Fall Fest at Challenger, Pennsylvania.

Following in his father’s legendary tire tracks, the winning hardware from major events continued to pile up. A $22,000 sweep of the 2005 World of Outlaws Late Model Series weekend at West Virginia Motor Speedway, the River Days 100 at Portsmouth, the 2005 Lucas Oil Super Nats at Charlotte, North Carolina, the Miller Brothers Coal Classic, an

unprecedented four wins in the lucrative Heritage Classic at Brushcreek, Ohio, a number of big wins on the eastern MACS tour along with many more have fallen into his win column.

Sadly, we lost Jackie when he passed away from an apparent heart attack in 2020 at age 51 while enroute to an event at Florence, Kentucky.

The barrel-chested racer with a gruff exterior, but a soft spot for children and young fans will be long remembered for his hard driving style and his famous 4B numbered race cars.

JACKIE BOGGS

Photo: Paul Arch BY KELLEY CARLTON

On the wheel at the 2004 World 100 at Eldora.

Photo: Paul Arch

Boggs in his final night in a car at Portsmouth for the Dirt Track World Championship in 2020. He passed away one week later en route to another track.

DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE

ERNIE ELKINS

BY KELLEY CARLTON

ERNIE ELKINS got his start in racing in the early 1960s at the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway, where the racing bug bit a young high schooler. Dean Combs, who went on to run many Goody’s Dash Series races, was one of his best friends and the two of them did not miss many shows in those days.

After serving in the Air Force and graduating from Lenoir Rhyne University, he bought what was the Southern Auto Racing News from the Thomas family in January of 1979. The paper was actually started in the Thomas Family race shop in Phenix City, Alabama. The National Dirt Racing Association was beginning to take

MIKE BOLAND

BY TIM HENRY

WILLIAM MIKE BOLAND was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1958 and eventually defected over the border to Cuba, Alabama. The burley Magnolia State native received a scholarship to play football for the Ole Miss Rebels, worked on the railroad and had one amazing racing career. Mike remembers as a youngster his father taking him to the Siccalena Raceway near Meridian, Mississippi, and his uncle taking him to the Wren Speedway, also in his home state, to watch fellow Hall of Famers such as Don Hester and Jerry Inmon compete.

Boland began his racing career at age 23 in 1981 and competed on the ovals until 2016. He tells the story how he and his wife, Lynn, did not care for the party scene but enjoyed competing on the dirt tracks. Mike and Lynn’s favorite number was 22 but upon arrival at the track learned it was already being used. The couple then decided to just add another two on his door and thus his famous number 222 was born. His super late model career quickly took off.

Boland’s first ever big win was a $10,000 to win event at his home track, the Whynot Speedway in Mississippi, in the 1993 Magnolia 100. He has also scored a pair of $15,000 wins in the Fall Classic, contested at Whynot in 1998

off at the same time and Ernie handled printing and designing all of series programs.

This led him into the same role with the American Speedway Association and that is also where his first promotional career started as he put on an ASA event at Lonesome Pine Speedway in Coeburn, Virginia. Names like Wallace, Kulwicki, Senneker, Miller and many more ran that series in those days.

He left for Cherokee Speedway in 1988 and that is where he stayed for the next 12 years. He was the first promoter to bring the STARS series south and started such events as the Blue-Gray 100 and the ultra-successful World Four Cylinder Nationals. During that time, he also promoted events at Antioch Speedway and Thunder Valley Speedway.

Humpy Wheeler and Charlotte Motor Speedway recognized him in 1993 with the annual Promoter of the Year award. In

and the Queen City Speedway in 2004. During his racing career, he earned an impressive seven Mississippi State Late Model Championships in the years 1995, 96, 97, 98, 2000, 01 and 02. Boland also laid claim to 16 Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series events.

Some of his other racing accomplishments include a series high 11 victories on the Rick’s Furniture Series, along with the tour’s points title in 1998. He also knocked down a pair of wins in the Southern 100 in 2005 and 2006 at the Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida. More big paydays collected by Mike were his 2005-06 victories in the Gulf Coast Championship Race at South Mississippi Speedway.

During his racing years, Mike established his chassis building business, the popular Boland Performance and Tray Star Race Cars which continues on today.

Car owners such as businessman Ben Howse, who also assisted Mike in starting his chassis business, Barney Bairfield, and Walter Ware have supplied late model weaponry for Mike to compete with.

Late in his career he found a great deal of success as a crate late model racer, retiring after the 2016 season.

Throughout his 35 year career, he has accumulated an incredible over 730 feature victories across multiple racing divisions.

1994, he was awarded the Bobby Issac Award for his contributions to short track racing by Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Photo: Tony Hammett

The home-state hero running hard at Columbus, Mississippi, in 2005.

BOOPER BARE

BY KELLEY CARLTON

BY EARNING a reputation as one of the east coast’s most popular and respected racers, John “Booper” Bare will take his place among the legends of the sport as an inductee in this year’s Class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

Gaining an interest in dirt late model racing through his father, the late Tommy Bare, a longtime champion on dirt ovals in his region, Booper assisted in preparing his father’s race cars for the weekend’s wars. At age fifteen, a semi-late model came his way and Booper found himself in the driver’s seat competing at the Log Cabin Raceway in Rocky Mt., Virginia. His first night out he finished seventh and at the end of the season was recognized as Log Cabin’s Rookie of the Year.

After four years in the semi-late division, he had chalked up numerous feature wins and track titles at the 311 and Friendship Speedways in North Carolina. In 1986, the Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, youngster graduated to the super late models, competing across the MidAtlantic area. Owning his own operation, Booper Bare Racing, he began honing his skills on the ovals and picking up wins.

For the 1989 and 1990 campaigns, he joined forces with Contributing Hall of Fame car owner Bobby Allen from Baltimore, Maryland, which proved to be two highly successful seasons. Together

the team saw Booper take top money in the Delaware State Championship race and his first Renegade STARS victory at Bedford, Pennsylvania, along with 17 feature wins and the Potomac, Maryland Speedway track title in 1990.

The following year, he hooked up with the traveling STARS Series, taking a victory right out of the box at the group’s opener in Winchester, Virginia. Booper ran consistently on the tour, enough to end up third in their final points and garner the STARS’ Rookie of the Year honors.

Through it all, obligations of tending a cattle farm and trucking business back home kept the redheaded Virginia standout from competing on a full time basis, yet he still managed to ring up close to 300 main event wins on dirt tracks in his 38 year career. Listed on his resume are accolades such as two Fall

Classic wins at Natural Bridge, Virginia, four MACS series victories, a Carolina Clash victory at Clary’s in North Carolina, and the 100 lap STARS Speedweeks finale at East Bay in Florida. Booper’s biggest haul, $15,000, came in scoring a win in a 100 lap special at Beckley, West Virginia in 1996. Add to his list a record 50 feature wins at Bare’s home Potomac Speedway.

In 2003, Bare cashed in big time, taking 19 feature wins along with the Tri-Track Challenge for sweeping track championships at both Potomac and Virginia Motor Speedway, earning him a $62,000 bonus.

Today at age 57, Booper still makes an occasional start in an open wheeled modified while mentoring and assisting the family’s third generation racer, his son Tyler, with his dirt racing ventures.

Photo: Tony Hammett

Running with the Lucas Oil Series at Hagerstown in 2010. Photo: Paul Arch

Bare at the 2006 World 100.

Photo: Tony Hammett

RICK EGERSDORF

BY KELLEY CARLTON

FOLLOWING AN ILLUSTRIOUS career with a a great amount of achievements in Upper Midwestern dirt late model racing, Rick Egersdorf comes our way into this year’s Class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame as only the second inductee from the state of Minnesota.

Rick’s interest in the sport developed at a very young age when he was involved in Pinewood Derby and Soap Box Derby competition, where he won a regional title and qualified for the nationals at Akron, Ohio. His first motorized racing came in successfully winning kart racing events.

Growing up in a motorsports family, watching his father Don crew for area racers and helping his older brother Steve, who raced on area dirt tracks, it was a matter of time until Rick found himself behind the wheel of a race car.

While still in high school, his dad obtained a 1956 Chevy for Rick to compete in the Hobby Stock division and at 15 years of age he was on his way. He ran his first event at the Stillwater Raceway in his home state. In the early years Egersdorf was a frequent competitor at Stillwater, North Star and the Cedar Lake Speedway, where he made his late model debut.

In 1976, he began racing as a teammate with his older brother, who owned the cars, competing together for several seasons. Come 1980, Steve

sold Rick’s car along with his services to car owners Marv Olson and Joe Jensen. Together they won a track championship at Cedar Lake in 1981. In 1984, Egersdorf and car owner Bob Osterman teamed up, which brought about Rick’s long time #17 racers. The Osterman/ Egersdorf combo won track titles and a very impressive 43 feature win season in 1987. Soon, the Craig Geller owned team was formed and became a force to reckon with until Rick’s retirement from the sport. Their first campaign together in 1991 was a sign of things to come as Egersdorf reeled off 35 midwestern feature checkereds and a WISSOTA Late model Championship at Cedar Lake.

All told, there are season titles galore on his resume with thirteen total at Cedar Lake, six at Red Cedar in Wisconsin, a pair at Centuria in Wisconsin, and one at Owatonna, Minnesota. He is also atop the

all-time Cedar Lake feature wins category with 77 Late model victories at the tough western Wisconsin oval.

When it came to traditional big dollar events, Rick has to be regarded as one of the very best in the sport at collecting winning hardware. An almost endless win list includes five victories in the Hibbing, Minnesota Labor Day Shoot-out; four Red Cedar, Wisconsin Punky Manor Challenge of Champions wins; three Silver 1000’s at Proctor, Minnesota; three Fall Invitationals at Superior, Wisconsin; three Red Clay Classics at ABC Speedway in Wisconsin; a pair of WISSOTA 100’s at Cedar Lake; and two WoO Late model Series scores at Cedar Lake and Shawano, along with wins on the NASCAR Busch All-Star tour.

Following 38 years of competition, Rick retired from active racing.

Running at Eldora in the late 1980s in Craig Gellar’s entry.

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Tony Hammett

At his personal playground, Cedar Lake Speedway, in 2011.

RANDY KORTE

BY KELLEY CARLTON

AFTER RACKING UP hundreds of victories on tough southern Illinois/ St. Louis area tracks through a 30-year career on the ovals, Randy Korte will accept induction into this year’s Class of the National Dirt Late Model hall of Fame.

A young Randy got his induction into the sport as a track wrecker truck operator hauling off broken race cars at his hometown Highland, Illinois Speedway. Korte left working the infield behind and began his racing career at age 19, climbing aboard a bomber car in 1984. He adapted well and took his first feature win in a Chevelle that season on Highland’s ¼ mile dirt.

From there it was a season in the sportsmans division before making a move up to the econo late model class. It was time to leave his home stomping grounds and head out to venues such as Granite City, Godfrey and St. Charles, Missouri to gain further experience. From econos to high powered late models was a short step, one that Randy used to launch his successful 30 year career.

Competing in UMP country, Korte became a headliner with the group, winning events and track championships and eventually defeating fellow Hall of Famers Roger Long, Ed Dixon and Kevin Weaver for the UMP DIRTcar national points title in 1997. It was a deed he repeated in 2006.

While still under the UMP banner, Randy captured the group’s Challenge of Champions Series in 2005, taking 10 victories during its three year existence. Through the years, he was always tough in UMP Summer Nationals action,

tallying 13 checkereds at various stops during “Hell Tour” competition. He also ran well with the Northern All-Star Tour, scoring 13 times and bagging a season championship with the group in 2006.

In 2002, Randy took on the handle “King Kong Korte” and hit the national trail competing across the country with the UDTRA Late Model Series and capture impressive wins in the UDTRA Silver Nats at Hagerstown, Maryland and the Charter Communications 50 at West Virginia Motor Speedway. While on the road, the Illini speedster took his share of big dollar shows such as victories with the ALMS and MARS series, the I-55 Nationals, the Grant Adcox Memorial at Cleveland, Tennessee, the United DLM Challenge at

East Bay, Fla., and the Commonwealth Cup, along with his largest payday in racing, a $17,000 weekend sweep of the Mopar 50 at the Kentucky Lake Speedway.

Treatments for Multiple Myeloma hampered his final seasons as a competitor to slow down one of Illinois’ winningest dirt late model racers.

In retirement, he has developed the Randy Korte Consulting group, which has been instrumental in assisting many young drivers, and created the Bi-State Late Model Challenge, a series between the Highland and I-55 Speedways which has been beneficial in salvaging racing at the two tracks.

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Brendon Bauman

Topless in 2008 at Charlotte’s Dirt Track.

OZZIE ALTMAN

BY KELLEY CARLTON

THE TRACK ANNOUNCER has always been an integral part of any race program. Inducted in this year’s Class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame will be announcer and P.R. man Ozzie Altman, one of the most charismatic microphone masters in dirt late model racing history. His familiar and enthusiastic voice has been firing up racing audiences across the country for what seems since the beginnings of the sport.

It all began for Ozzie when his dad took him to see race events at the old Sportsman’s Park Race Track in his home

GARY OLIVER

BY KELLEY CARLTON

ANOTHER OF THOSE legendary chassis builders from the “Golden Age of Dirt Late Model Racing”, Gary Oliver will be posthumously inducted into this year’s Class of the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame.

Gaining an automotive background at an early age, the Centuria, Illinois, native built his first car at age 14 in his high school shop class. Gary became involved in racing in 1968 as a competitor in the sportsmans and figure eights at the Quad

town of Jacksonville, Florida, watching battle hardened veterans such as Tiny Lund and Leroy Yarbrough compete. He quickly grew a passion for the sport and knew that someday he wanted to be involved in racing.

Eventually, Altman jumped into the world of motorsports getting involved in the promotional side of racing, learning the tricks of the trade as an understudy to one of the best, businessman Bob Harmon. Early on, he served as a radio DJ selling advertising for race tracks while writing and producing commercials for radio. He worked as a sports producer for a Jacksonville TV station presenting a variety of motorsports shows.

In 1994, Oz was hired as a race announcer at the Golden Isles Speedway in Waynesville, Georgia, working events on the lightning fast 5/8ths dirt oval. While engaged there, the touring HavA-Tampa Dirt Racing Series made an appearance and when the regular HAT announcer took sick, Series Directors Jimmy Mosteller and Mike Swims requested that Ozzie take over the night’s announcing duties. His performance made such an impact Altman was asked to climb aboard and become HAT’s permanent mike man during the series’ heyday years. Ozzie also served as a P.R. man for the group, writing press releases and promoting HAT racing on radio stations across the country. He was also instrumental in partnering with Trace Allee on the Maverick Productions HAT events broadcasted on the Southern Sports Cable TV network.

Oz’s Victory Lane Communications firm served various forms of racing with

Cities and Davenport Speedways.

He first began building Volkswagens in his body shop in Rock Island, Illinois, before developing a racing parts operation. He became a parts outlet and chassis distributor for fellow Hall of Fame Car Builder Ed Howe.

Come the 1980s, Oliver began to build his own chassis brand under the banner of Tri-City Buggy, eventually turning out hundreds of winning race cars, which quickly became the hot ticket in dirt Late Model racing on a national level. Hall of Famers such as Mike Duvall, Gene Chupp, Kevin Claycomb, Rodney Franklin, Pete Parker, Don Bohlander and Tom Hearst saw great success while campaigning Gary’s Tri-City Buggy machines. In 1981, Pete Parker drove the Tri-City Buggy House Car to 17 wins,

marketing, publicity and announcing.

His career at the mike is loaded with memorable moments working the booth at a number of the sport’s major events including the Charlotte Dirt Track and the Eldora Speedway, where he hosted the original Million Dollar Race along with coemceeing at the inaugural Hall of Fame Ceremonies in 2001.

The 66-year old Altman’s work has been limited since suffering a stroke in 2018.

For his long dedication of entertaining race fans across the countryside for so many years, Ozzie Altman is now taking his rightful place among the greats of the Hall of Fame.

which included a victory in the NDRA 100 at Granite City, Illinois. Oliver, along with co-team owner and engine builder Keith Simmons, saw their pilot Tom Hearst score 42 wins and earn the inaugural NASCAR National Weekly Racing Series Championship in 1982.

During this period, Oliver pumped considerable amounts of contingency fund money into sponsoring race events on dirt ovals. He also did a stint as a promoter at the Davenport Speedway in the early 1980s.

Eventually, Oliver ended up moving his racing operation to Lenoir, North Carolina, to assist in furthering his daughter Chrissy Oliver’s blossoming short track career.

Oliver passed away in 2015 at the age of 70.

Photo: Tony Hammett

Photo: Tony Hammett

MAX BLAIR & BOOM BRIGGS BETTER TOGETHER

BY DOUG KENNEDY

I’M EXCITED, I can’t wait.” Those were the words of dirt late model driver Max Blair when it was announced last December that he would be joining the Briggs Transport race team for 2023. “Working with Boom and Chub (Frank) has been awesome,” said Blair. “I’m now getting the chance to run on a National Tour with my dad, (Rob) and Chub Frank in my corner.”

For 2023, Max Blair and Rick “Boom” Briggs will be teammates for the Briggs Transport Racing team. Rob Blair is the crew chief for Max while Shane Winas handles those duties Briggs. Chub Frank will serve as the team manager. That’s nothing short of a Dream Team.

THE BLAIRS

Blair resides in Centerville, Pennsylvania, a town that’s not too far from the home of Boom”Briggs and Chub Frank - Bear Lake, Pennsylvania. Max is extremely excited that he has his dad, Rob Blair, a racing legend himself, in his corner. At 33 years of age, that’s important for Max. “We’ve done this together my entire life and that’s the only way I know how to do it,” Blair said. “He’s everything to me. I couldn’t have done this without him being there.”

The season started out to be Max’s second year with the World of Outlaws tour. But in late April, they decided to switch to the Lucas Oil Series so that Max could run for Rookie of the Year. The goal this year is for Max to finish in the top five

in points and for Boom to finish in the top ten. “We will continue to run Outlaw races when we can,” said Briggs.

Max’s first season with the Outlaws wasn’t bad at all as he finished third in points, with a pair of wins, 11 top fives, and 26 top tens. He barely missed out on the Rookie of the Year title, that was won by Tanner English who finished second. Boom ended up eighth in overall points.

“My first year with the World of Outlaws was an up and down year,” said Max. “We didn’t start out so good and then we had some really good runs, then struggled a little bit, and turned it up near the end of the season.” He plans to run as many Outlaw races as possible.

Max’s dad, Rob Blair, began racing when he was fourteen. The 1996 season

Photo: Mike Musslin

Max has also won his fair share of features and track and series championships that include better than 380 wins in 40 different states. That’s an average of 21 wins per year! His biggest win came late last March when he captured the $20,000 to win prize at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina. The highlight to his career was his very first World of Outlaws win at McKean County Raceway in 2017.

BLAIR

The bedrock for his career was his extensive time he spent racing with the RUSH Racing Series. “That’s where I made a name for myself,” said Max.

BOOM!

Rick “Boom” Briggs is one of the most cordial and kind drivers ever to put on a racing uniform. Put him right up there with Rick Eckert and Steve Baker on the Mt. Rushmore all-time nice guys list. Unfortunately, Briggs has had to endure a number of ailments and misfortunes during his racing career. He sustained a broken leg, lost a finger, had a testicle removed because of an accident with a farm tractor, and had a thyroid removed because of cancer in his throat. And just last year, he had to get a spot removed from his nose which turned out to be skin cancer.

“And I almost died from pneumonia once,” Briggs said. “Oh and then there were two racing concussions I received,

one from a sanctioned race and the other from a personal accident.”

But the worst came on the second day of qualifying for the Illini 100 at Farmer City Speedway. Briggs hit the wall at the end of the pits. The impact was so violent that it literally ripped the back end of the car away from the rest of it. “I was braced up so hard when the right front tire grabbed the wall, that I broke my wrist and the radial bone between my elbow.”

However, his greatest loss came when his dad, Rick, passed away in 2017. “It changed a lot in my life forever,” said Boom.

His serious racing career didn’t begin until he was 35 when he raced limited lates at Stateline and Eriez. From 1991 through the end of the 2005 season, Briggs took an extended hiatus from racing. During the hiatus he spent time helping his dad with his racing program, while also helping out his neighbor, Chub Frank. From 2000 through 2006, Briggs served as the crew chief for Chub. During his time with Chub, Boom was named the STARS and World of Outlaws Crew Chief of the Year. When his dad suffered a heart attack in 2005, Boom got behind the wheel of a race car once again.

From 2011 through 2019, Boom raced locally and regionally for a few seasons, won his third ULMS championship in 2012, (2009 and 2010 were the other two), and ran with the All Stars, the World

was his rookie year racing a dirt late model. Over the years, he has won a dozen championships, including the O’Reilly All-Stars championship and well over 250 races. Eleven of those wins came in his rookie season of 1996. His biggest win was The Fall Fest at Challenger Speedway, which paid $20,000 to win.

as Max has been a Late Model force as well. His racing career began in 2005 when he campaigned an E-Mod. After a couple of seasons, he ran limited lates and a steel block for two more years before getting into a crate late model in 2008.

opportunities to race against each other. “When there’s a yellow and you look over and see him right beside you it’s like a dream come true, particularly if we are both going for the win,” said Max of his dad.

BRIGGS

Photo: Michael Moats

DIRT

of Outlaws, the Lucas Oil tour, and then a return to the Outlaws. He took part of 2018 off following the death of his dad in 2017. Briggs felt he was needed at home for the business before racing again. “In my world, racing is second and business is first.”

Briggs Transport is a company that was started by Boom’s dad in 1970. They are involved with hardwood mulching, but the main part of the business is hauling for major companies like Cummins Engines, Serta Mattresses, and Trans 58. The latter has turned out to be great friends with Boom and have secured a spot as a sponsor on Boom’s late model.

His mom, Kathy, runs Briggs Transport and still comes into the office each and every day. She, Boom’s brother, Steve, and his brother-in-law, Todd, cover the hauling side of the business. Boom is in charge of the mulching side.

People might think that Rick got his nickname “Boom” from incidents that may have occurred on the track, but in reality, it was his grandmother that

started it all. She started calling me Ricker Boom and since my dad and I had the same first name, Boom stuck.”

The highlight to his racing career, as well as his biggest win to date, and a race that he wants to win are somewhat surprising and not what you might think he would say. As for his highlight, it was two years ago in August of 2021 at Davenport Speedway when he was in position to win his first World of Outlaws Race. He ended up finishing in third. “We should have won but……we did come from way back to get up front.”

His special win came at the 14th annual Stephanie Eckl Memorial race back in October of 2018 at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Brookville, Pennsylvania. “I actually passed Chub to get that win,” said Boom. Ironically, Rob Blair was the 2014 winner of the event.

As for the race he wants to win, it’s the Gopher 50 race at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota. “It’s an awesome racetrack.” said Boom. The race is a fundraiser for the Lion’s Club.

Regarding the race, Boom said, “It’s the atmosphere, the people, and a bad ass racetrack.”

There are great expectations for Boom, Max, and the entire two-car race team. “To get that first national win before I retire is what I want,” expressed Boom.

Over the years, Chub has been a great help to the Briggs family. Boom’s dad and Chub were first cousins with their moms being sisters. “I’ve known him (Chub) my whole life,” said Briggs of Chub. “We’ve been close for years.”

CHUB

Frank was a one-time national figure starting out with the initial group of WoO Late Model drivers. After 14 years, he retired from the series. During his stay, Chub won 16 World of Outlaw races. He also captured 26 Northern Xtreme Series events and eight major late model events like the Dirt Track World championship and the Hillbilly 100. These are just a few of the wins that Frank accrued during his illustrious racing career.

“I never kept track of the number of races I won,” said Chub. “Wins are

Photo: Michael Moats

Photo: Ryan Roberts

Photo: Michael Moats

Photo: Ryan Roberts

certainly important, it’s just something I never dealt with. I always did it for a living. I was more concerned about getting paid than about the number of wins I had.” His biggest win was the World 100. “That’s the one everybody wants,” said Frank.

Frank now spends a number of hours at his business, Chub Frank Racing, where he does framework, front clips, bodies, interiors, and anything else that is needed. He’s had as many as 19 cars in his garage at one time. “We had 40 cars here through this whole winter,” said Chub. When asked about building full rollers, Chub emphatically said, “I have no intention of doing that. Basically, I update these older cars to make them competitive.”

Max and Rob have their own shop to get things done, but Chub will certainly help out when needed. “Rob and I raced together for years,” said Chub. “I watched Max grow up. “I raced with Max for quite a few years, but with him driving on the road and me staying home, we don’t get that opportunity.”

Chub believes that the Briggs/Blair relationship will be special. “It’s definitely going to be positive and even more down the road. I think it’s going to work out really well. Getting it started was hectic, but now that the season is underway, we can work on more of the relationship part of it. I will provide the team with whatever they need. I will make sure they have everything like parts and technology.”

“Chub is our team manager,” said Boom. “He looks over both teams and orders 90% of all our parts. He makes sure we have everything we need to go out on the road.”

“I’m really excited about the

arrangement,” said Max. “It’s a really good fit. We’ve had some fun and some success and I’m excited for the future.

I hope it continues for a very long time. I can’t thank Boom and Steve (Boom’s brother) enough for what they have done. It’s been awesome so far.”

With regards to his own personal race schedule, Chub said, “I’ll pick and choose what races I will do -maybe 30 to 40 races overall. My cars are ready, but we’re battling the weather. I’ll probably race until sometime in September.”

“Besides having a good friendship and relationship, we both had the same

philosophy of racing,” said Chub of his relationship with Boom.

DREAM TEAM

“With Max and Rob on board, I feel it’s made us more competitive,” added Boom. Having their support and knowledge is priceless for me. This relationship is absolutely 100% thumbs up. It’s beneficial for all parties involved.”

“For somebody who grew up watching Chub and my dad race, it’s pretty special because they were my idols,” said Max. “To have them in my corner is a pretty cool thing.”

Photo: Ryan Roberts

When you’ve got a team manager like Chub Frank in your corner, you’ve always got a shot.

action CAPTURE

USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at Knoxville Speedway, in Knoxville, Iowa in June. If there’s a more beautiful sight in racing, it’s tough to imagine.

Photo: David Campbell

By: Bob Mays

Roy Robbins won the inaugural running of the Knoxville Nationals by coming to the show with something completely different – a wing! He didn’t dominate, second place Audie Swartz had one too and third place Earl Wagner hung with them by sheer force of will. Robbins persevered however, winning $2500 in his first ever visit to the Marion County oval.

KNOXVILLE NATIONALS

The daytime running came in the sixth Nationals in 1966. Heavy rains on Saturday led to a Sunday afternoon National and one of the best. Jay Woodside (Ted Hall 9), here passing Don Edmunds (Peat Brothers 71) was the fourth and final leader of the event. That he was there at all was only because of the rain. On Saturday, when the rain was supposed to run, Woodside and Hall were in Kansas City building a new engine and would have missed the final had it not been for the well-timed (for them) showers. (Ken Simon photo)

The biggest upset in Nationals history came in 1969 when unknown, Kenny Gritz drove around Jan Opperman four laps from the end to grab the victory. Poor Kenny didn’t long to enjoy his newfound celebrity, he was killed in a sprint car race just 16 days after Knoxville. In victory lane are

(Tom Powell photo)

(left to right): consey winner, Roger Abbott; second place, Jan Opperman, winner, Gritz; third place, Tiger Bob Williams and B Main champ, Thad Dosher. (Roger Arndt photo)

Lil’ Joe Saldana (Chadborne & Leverenz 2) had been coming close to a Nationals win since 1967 and finally closed the deal in 1970. In ’67, he was leading with seven laps to go when he broke a wheel, in 1968 he was fourth; in 1969 he was sixth. (Leroy Byers Photo)

The closest finish in a Knoxville Nationals came in 1974, when Dick Gaines (Karl Kinser 11) defeated Jan Opperman (Fred Aden 4x) by about 8-inches. Gaines let Opp play rabbit for 29 9/10 laps then suckered him coming off turn 4.

In 1975, no one got close to Eddie Leavitt (R & H Farms 40). His car was so strong, he spent the last couple of laps riding side-byside with fifth-place Jan Opperman (Bill Smith 4x).

(Phil Dullinger photo)

(Leroy Byers photo)

Steve Kinser (Bob Trostle 20) crashed his Karl Kinser-owned ride on his preliminary night in 1980 and it looked as if his Nationals was done. But Bob Trostle had a spare car in which Karl added his running gear and voila! It was the only time Steve crashed one of Karl’s cars so badly he couldn’t fix it and still they won. Ron Shuman (Gary Stanton 75) was just one of the perplexed thousands on hand to witness the magic. (Bob Mays photo)

Carmen Manzardo brought this one-ton, face-only-a-mother-could-love sled to the Nationals in 1984 and nearly beat Steve Kinser in a heat race, becoming a Knoxville Nationals-legend in the process.

Doug Wolfgang dominated the 1989 Knoxville Nationals about as completely as anyone ever has. Driving a car for a first-time owner (Danny Peace), built by a complete unknown (Wolfie’s brother-in-law Brian Schnee) with engines provided by a guy who was known mainly as a slightly flaky mechanic (John Singer), Wolf howled all the way to victory lane. (Ken

(Bob Mays photo)

Simon photo)

Steve Kinser’s reign as perennial Knoxville Nationals champion brought “ANYBODY BUT KINSER” t-shirts, bumper stickers, hats, signs hung on the fence, even planes towing banners. But when he won his 12th, and last, in 2002 after a seven-year drought, few begrudged the honor for the all-time Nationals champ. (Ken Simon photo)

Bobby Allen provided a feel-good story for the ages when he out-ran Sammy Swindell for the Nationals win in 1990. In victory lane, Scruffy seemed as stunned as the thousands in attendance at what had just transpired. (Paul Arch photo)

Donny Schatz is coming close to Kinser’s record that many thought, at one time, to be untouchable. In 2022 he won his 10th. (Bob Mays photo)

Kyle Larson came close several times before closing the deal on the Knoxville Nationals in 2021 to round out one of the most complete open wheel resumes ever. The year before, Larson swept to the win in the One and Only, which replaced the Knoxville Nationals for the first time ever due to COVID restrictions during the summer of 2020.

The Nationals is not always about winning. In 2012, Brian Brown shows the weariness of coming oh-so-close in the biggest race of the year. Little did he know, but the man that crushed his dreams on this night, Donny Schatz, would do it the next two years also, making Brownie the all-time leading, almost-but-not-quite-Knoxville Nationals Champion. (Ken Simon photo)

(Paul Arch photo)

review in PICTURES

31st ANNUAL SHOW-ME 100

MORAN AWARDED WILD SHOW-ME FINALE

NEWLY MINTED Crown Jewel winner Devin Moran may have said it best in victory lane at Lucas Oil Speedway after the Show-Me 100 when he quipped “What the hell? This is like the best, worst win of my life. I just won the frickin’ Show-Me 100 and $50,000, but Ricky was the best car in the field.”

Moran was awarded his first victory in the prestigious event when Ricky Thornton Jr. failed post-race inspection due to the droop rule and was penalized four positions.

Thornton, who was scored fifth, responded on Facebook with “3/8th of an inch high on droop after the left rear chain broke. A $50,000 win taken away for less than half an inch after a parts failure on THAT track. Sickening.”

Moran officially led Tim McCreadie, Spencer Hughes, the defending champion Chris Ferguson and Thornton Jr. to the wild finish. As for the legacy of the night, short term and long term, Moran summed it up as “I have no idea. There might be an asterisk by it, but it’s gonna pay 50 grand one way or the other, so we’re gonna take it. And we’re gonna drink some beer tonight.”

Photo: Mike Musslin

Photo: Mike Musslin

Photo: Mike Musslin

Photo: Mike Musslin

Photo: Todd Boyd

Garrett Alberson leads Daniel Hilsabeck (22) and Tyler Erb. The trio were all Saturday night A-main starters and Erb’s 7th was best.

Tim McCreadie doing his best work holding off Jimmy Owens.

Jonathan Davenport waved the stars and stripes and took the checkered, netting early feature wins of the Cowboy Classic and the Tribute to Don & Billie Gibson races, two of the preliminary features on Thursday and Friday in a lead up to the big Show Me 100 on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway. (Photos: Todd Boyd)

Photo: Todd Boyd

That’s pretty boys - real pretty.

They didn’t know it at the time but Devin Moran (99) and Tim McCreadie were racing for $50,000 here. It proves the point: never let up until you cross the finish line.

If there’s big money on the line, Brandon Overton (76) is going to be there but this wasn’t his finest hour and he scored a 17th in the finale.

Devin Moran had stiff competition on his way to victory and a $50,000 pay day at the Show Me 100. It was a bitter sweet victory, after Ricky Thornton Jr. failed the post race inspection.

(Photos: Todd Boyd)

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Todd Boyd

Tim McCreadie and Jonathan Davenport contemplating the universe, life and everything... or maybe just talking about the best place to get a steak in Missouri.

From left to right, its Boom Briggs, Bobby Pierce, Earl Pearson Jr., Jeff Herzog and Daniel Hilsabeck all muddying up their rides on a Saturday night.

Defending Show-Me 100 champion Chris Ferguson dug himself a deep hole and was forced to start 16th on Saturday but he raced his way around the likes of Tyler Erb (1) and Chad Simpson (25) on his way to fourth.

From opening fireworks to the checkered flag and victory lane, another Show Me 100 is in the books. This brief walk through of the photos from the late May event has us already planning for 2024!

Photo: Todd Boyd

Photo: Todd Boyd

where are they NOW

By:

WORLD

OF

OUTLAWS TRAVELER CHAD HILLIER

MOST SPRINT CAR DRIVERS will tell you that at one time in their career, driving with a nationally touring sprint car series has been a dream of theirs. Chad Hillier, now age 44, was able to do just that after racing at his home track of Skagit Speedway from the ages of 16 to 19 before heading out on the road with the World of Outlaws as crew for the Selma Shell World of Outlaws team, then ultimately racing with the NST and Outlaws himself. But where is he now, after hanging up his sprint car gloves back in 2013?

Chad has had a long history with sprint cars. Being from Sedro-Woolley, Washington, Skagit Speedway was just minutes away from his home. Chad’s father, Bob, took his young son to the races on Saturdays to watch while he drove a push truck. In 1987, with the nudging of his little boy, Bob Hillier decided to branch out with his racing interests and put all three of the Hillier kids in the quarter midget class. Chad, his two older sisters; Angie and Becky, traveled the Washington, Oregon, and Canada circuits racing their quarter midgets. That inaugural year of racing, Chad won the Western Grand National Championship. He raced the quarter midget scene until 1992 and won many regional and club titles during his fiveyear stint.

When Chad turned 16 in 1995, he took

his racing career up a notch, and also began racing at Skagit Speedway in their sportsman. This class is similar to the familiar 305 class that has begun running around the Midwest; intended to be run on a smaller budget, this sportsman class ran steel wheels, no power steering, and other track mandated, budget-lowering equipment. This class really helps a driver develop their driving skills, as there aren’t a lot of assistive technologies to make the car run smoother. It became evident that Chad Hillier was a force to reckon with. He won the point championship at Skagit in the Sportsman class in both his rookie year of 1995 and again in 1996.

The following season of 1997, Chad moved his racing up again. He began running both a 360 and 410 at Skagit. He had a very successful career and won a 410 and a 360 title and, in 2001, he won the Skagit Speedway 360 Nationals. In fact, Chad Hillier is on the books at Skagit Speedway having won points championships in all three classes - the Sportsman, 360s and 410s. In addition to driving the Hillier 24c, Chad also drove the Marc and Debbie Huson 73. In 2005, Hillier started driving for Dave DeWitt of Monroe, Washington. The team raced locally at Skagit, as well as some West Coast races, and then the 2006 season with Fred Brownfield’s National Sprint Tour. After the NST, Chad hit the road with the World of Outlaws in 2007 and

2008 as well as Gary Corfield’s program in Australia and had a best finish of 5th with the WoO. His last full season of competition in a sprint car was 2008 and he ran some local races up until 2013.

That 2008 season brought a lot of personal changes for Hillier. As he was winding up his career as a professional sprint car driver, Chad’s mom, Cheri, passed away on his way home from the World of Outlaws season championship at Charlotte. December of that year was a highlight, as Chad married his wife Cassandra, whom he met through Australian friends in 2005. They have two children, Levi who turned 13 in May and Savanna who has just turned 9. Chad started his own welding and fabrication business, Hillier Industries, back in 2011 which keeps him busy working a lot of

Joanne Cram

Photo: Paul Arch

Photo: Paul Arch

hours on custom aluminum and steel fabrication. Now that the kids are getting older, a lot of Chad’s spare time includes racing with his kids and attending a lot of their activities.

Of course, following in their father’s footsteps, Levi and Savanna both started quarter midget racing. Levi then transitioned into junior sprints, then 600s. Both kids have been very successful; Levi has numerous wins across all of his classes, and Savanna won the Dirt Cup Nationals quarter midgets last season. “The most gratifying thing is racing with your kids. Watching your kids do things is way cooler than anything you ever did,” said Chad. Levi started racing in 2015 at the age four in quarter midgets until he was nine. They raced mainly quarter midget tracks throughout Washington. Then he started racing junior sprints in 2016 at Deming Speedway weekly, as well as traveling to California, Oregon, and Washington, and went to The Tulsa Shootout. Some of Levi’s highlights have been winning 2 championships and getting 4th at the Shootout. He also won one of his feature races in California. Levi then moved into the restricted 600 in 2019. In 2020, he won Deming championship and Rookie of the Year in the 600 restricted class. In 2021, he won many features at Deming, then won the Cali Cup at Lemoore. In 2022, Levi raced the 600R class, and after Clay Cup he moved up to the 600 Open Class. The organization was hesitant to let him move up due to his age, so Levi had to prove himself in two races to ensure it was a good fit to move up classes. This season Levi is running an open 600 micro sprint and would like to move into a sprint car when he’s 16 and is very driven to drive professionally some day.

Savanna’s race career is just taking off, and she is very excited for the up and coming season and to have her dad and brother coaching her along. She will also be racing this season in a junior sprint at Deming. In addition to racing, Levi and Savanna are very active in soccer and basketball, and both kids play fall and winter sports to keep them active and engaged in team sports; Chad and Cass don’t have a dull moment with all the crazy schedules and absolutely enjoy watching their kids chase their dreams.

Chad’s spare time still includes anything outdoors. He tried his hand at raising cattle for a while but with his company thriving, there just wasn’t

enough time to continue in the cattle business. The family enjoys camping and chasing races - whether that’s watching or racing, and working on the house or “just living life”, as Chad puts it.

Chad is excited to see the changes happening at Skagit looking to Levi’s future in racing. “There is lots of cool energy with the new partnership between Kevin Rudeen, Peter Murphy and their partners. Living so close to the track is great. The new team is making huge improvements to the track and I can’t wait to see where things go”.

Looking to the distant future, Chad said he hopes to see Levi race the Knoxville Nationals some day and chasing his dreams racing full time. Stay tuned to see where Levi and Savanna Hillier’s race careers take them!

Follow along on Instagram at @levihillier24l.

action CAPTURE

Photo: Paul Arch

Flying Midgets! On top, the Xtreme Outlaw Series brought them to tiny Millbridge in North Carolina and Brent Crews went for a tumble in heat one on night two. Below, Davey Ray made a rare midget start at his former home Angell Park Speedway and got upside down qualifying. All was not lost as he scored second in the sprint feature later the same evening.

Photo: Bill Blumer Jr.

engine builder SPOTLIGHT

By DONATH MOTOR

WORX

NESTLED IN the verdant hills of Upstate New York, just south of Syracuse, is an unassuming red-barn-like building with the name Donath MotorWorx affixed to the exterior. Within those walls a alchemist works his craft, converting components into roaring power plants for area dirt track racers. That master craftsman is Brian Donath, aided by his team of engine building experts.

Donath began building engines nearly fifteen years ago, but moved into their current location about five years ago. Donath went to school as a CNC machinist and upon graduation took his knowledge to work for Kevin Enders for a few years. It wasn’t long before he launched his own business and Donat MotorWorx was born.

Most recently, Donath MotorWorx has focused on 602 crate motors for limited late model race cars like those featured in RUSH Late Model Series races throughout the region. Donath MotorWorx engines are also found in a number of the sprint cars that compete within the Empire Super Sprint Series. Donath also

builds big-block engines, including a recent one going to Kevin Root.

“I would say seventy-five percent of the engines we build are crates,” Donath said. “That accounts for eighty to a hundred engines a year. But we also work on sprints, maybe six or seven big-blocks a year and stocks as well.”

One cannot simply start working on crate engines for the different series. Donath MotorWorx had to go through the certification process for each of the series; such is the nature of working within the crate racing program.

“Other engine shops don’t want to work on crates,” Donath said. “But we have no problem with it. It was a little extra to go through certification, but now we’re really dominating the crate field. We have two in

the top five in points and more than 200 wins per year with our engines.”

One of the reasons DMW has continued to excel is that Donath is always there to support his customers.

“When it comes to race night, I’m always available for my customers to give support,” Donath said. “Sometimes it’s an all-night thing. I’ll be getting calls or text message until two in the morning. But it’s because of going that little bit extra that I have such a loyal customer base.”

Business these days isn’t without its challenges, however.

“I would say the biggest problem right now is getting parts and components,” Donath said. “It goes all the way back up the supply chain. Everyone is still

Photo provided by Donath MotorWorx

catching up after all the shutdowns [due to the reaction to the pandemic]. Some companies couldn’t get raw materials, others couldn’t get the labor to catch up.”

When it comes to suppliers like Jones Racing Products, Donath couldn’t be happier with their support.

“I’ve been using Jones since I started the shop. In the beginning it was a little challenge to get some of the crate guys to adopt Jones products. But they are coming around,” Donath said. “It’s the good quality, they don’t wear out. I like to call it the ‘forever fix.’ They are usually able to ship right away and the parts are always ready to go when we get them. We

are able to take the parts out of the box and put them right on.”

Though Donath MotorWorx is well known in the northeastern United States, word is getting out across the country.

“We’ve shipped some 360s to Arizona, a couple of 602 crates out to California,” Donath said. “So, we’re definitely growing.” So much so, that Donath’s daughter, Emma, is now helping out with some of the engine prepping.

“It’s cool to be able to have her helping out in the shop. I’m pretty proud of her,” Donath said.

With the continued success of their program, their responsiveness to their customers, and their reliance on the best parts manufacturers in the business, Donath MotorWorx will continue to thrive. And with the next generation learning the business, the company is prepared to face the future with the pedal to the metal.

donathmotorworx@yahoo.com

Photo provided by Donath MotorWorx

Photo: Quentin Young

Kevin Root’s number 34 is just one of the region’s race cars powered by a Donath MotorWorx engine, built in the little red barn in LaFayette, New York.

short track STARS

Gibbon, Nebraska

JOSH LEONARD ONE QUICK CORNHUSKER

BY LEE ACKERMAN

JOSH LEONARD is from a racing family and his dad Robby started his racing career in 1979 and raced through the 2012 racing season, primarily in Central Nebraska. So, it is not surprising that his son followed in his dad’s footsteps. Josh started his career in 2005 and the Gibbon, Nebraska, native has raced primarily in dirt late models the last few years.

In 2022, Leonard concentrated on the Malvern Bank SLMR Series, the High Plains Late Model Series and the Tri-State Late Model Series. He was especially successful in the High Plains Series winning the series’ first four events, and posting seven wins in all, but he did not compete for the series championship.

“We didn’t run for a championship with the High Plains Series because there were quite a few races that were just way too far for us to travel when we could race

closer to home those same weekends,” recalled Leonard. “We run all the different series because they are as close as we can get to Super Late Model racing around our area. All three series have for the most part the same rule packages, so it allows you to race at different tracks and series and not have to change much.”

Leonard also added a win in the Tri-State Series at the Crawford County Speedway in Denison, Iowa and ran a few Malvern Bank SLMR Series events. “

Despite not being a household name in the dirt late model world yet, Leonard has a national championship on his resume, winning the 2017 NeSmith National Championship while primarily racing at the Junction Motor Speedway (JMS) in McCool Junction, Nebraska.

“We decided to run for the NeSmith championship as soon as JMS decided to go NeSmith sanctioned in 2017,” said Leonard. “We were running crates anyway so we decided we could race three or four tracks within a five-hour distance

and could race three nights a week if we wanted to. We were able to win 21 out of 39 races and the way the points system worked we actually wrapped up the championship early and then could go race at the end of the season and not have the pressure on us. I think it helped my career just winning a lot and other people thought that as well.”

With all the different series he runs, Leonard gets to a lot of different racetracks but he has one favorite in mind. “The Dawson County Raceway (in Lexington, Nebraska) because it always seems to produce good racing. I grew up racing there and a had a lot of success there so that helps on making it a track you like. The shape and racing surface allows for multiple groove racing and that’s what a driver wants in a track.”

You can’t win races and championships in racing all by yourself (Leonard has posted over 100 wins and has eight track championships to his credit) and Leonard is blessed to have a great crew led by crew chief Braxton Leonard. Other

Photo: Tanner Dillen

members of Leonard’s crew include Stephanie Leonard, Brandon Leonard, Blake Beno, Justice Colson, Travis Frew, Robby Leonard and Dustin Benker.

“My family is a huge part of what makes it work.” States Leonard. “From my wife cleaning and keeping the truck stocked to my kid helping in the shop and giving me driving advice when we don’t win! He is 12 yearsold so he knows everything. He recently started racing a mini-mod and is doing great in that but is finding out quickly it doesn’t always work out how you plan it too and isn’t quite as easy to win every race as it looks. He is wanting to start racing more so I know before long that’s going to take more time

and money, so we have to weigh that out as well.”

“My dad (who raced) goes to all the races and helps keep the truck maintenance and things like that.” continues Leonard. “He doesn’t care how we run and he just loves to be able to go but when we win, he is definitely proud because he knows the time, money and work it takes to be able to do it. My brother and cousin also help and go as much as possible as well as a few friends that you when they can. It just takes everyone’s help. I couldn’t do it without every one of those people and all my sponsors as well.”

Leonard is his own car owner and we

asked him the differences of racing for himself and racing for another car owner and his experiences with that during his career. “When I started out racing, we built all of our own cars and engines and won some races, but it just got tough to stay up with how technology was moving so we decided to buy a car.” remembers Leonard. “My first non-home-built car I bought was a Rocket Chassis that I got from Vinny Guliani who is now with Jonathan Davenport. At that time, he was working with John Anderson and Shop Quik racing. I ended up buying it as a roller and he built me a set of shocks for it going into the 2011 season.”

“At the same time, I got hooked up with

Photo: Tanner Dillen Photo: Tanner Dillen

Russ Kennedy and had him build me an engine.” continues Leonard. “We ended up winning more than 50% of our races in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and were able to win three championships in a row at MidNebraska Speedway.”

In 2013, we decided to run the SLMR race (now Malvern Bank Series) at MidNebraska. That was my first Super Late Model race and we ended up running top four our first time out,” said Leonard.

“Once Mid-Nebraska closed at the end of 2013, it forced us to venture out to new tracks and travel more. We were able to win a decent number of races such as the Bugeater Bash and Cornhusker Classic (at I-80 Speedway) and a few others. We ran mainly I-80 and the Junction Motor Speedway from 2014 through 2016.”

In 2017 and 2018, with the Junction Motor Speedway going NeSmith, Leonard decided to go that route and won over 30 races in just those two years. At the end of 2018 Leonard talked to Giltner, Nebraska car owner Rick Hunnicutt and they decided to team up in 2019. They had good success winning an SLMR race and multiple races at I-80 running the NASCA Super Late Model class. They won the SLMR Rookie of the Year, NASCAR Rookie of the Year and the I-80 Super Late Model Championship.

“At the end of the 2019 season, I decided to go back on my own for 2020,” said Leonard. “Since then, with fuel and

the cost of everything, we have just kind of raced were it made since cost wise and when it works for my crew to be able to go along. I fund my own race program mostly out of my own pocket, so we try to make a plan to be able to race smart and not go broke before the season is over. If we start not finishing races or have a lot of mechanical problems we just have to stop and take a break and regroup. I would love to run the full Malvern Bank Series again but at this time my own funding just doesn’t allow us too so we just try to go where we can.”

We ask engine builder Russ Kennedy who has been around racing for a long time and his worked with Leonard since

2011 his thoughts on Josh Leonard and his racing program. “He is just an outstanding individual,” said Kennedy. “Josh is 110% all the time. He has great understanding of suspensions and shocks, and he knows how to make adjustments to get the most out of the car. He has had great success on a limited budget.”

As for future plans, it relies on finances and family. “We’ll start the season out with the Malvern Bank Series and see where we go from there. More than likely, we will hit and miss between a few different series, but we will just have to see once we get racing.”

As his engine builder Russ Kennedy claims, “Josh is 110% all the time... He knows how to make adjustments to get the most out of the car. He has had great success on a limited budget.”

Photo: Tanner Dillen

Photo: Tanner Dillen

Leonard celebrates a 2022 score at Phillips County Raceway in Colorado.

shooter at LARGE ZACH YOST

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.

Jimmy Owens at Fairbury American Legion Speedway (Illinois) in 2019 for the PDC.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series cars in staging during their return to West Virginia Motor Speedway in 2022.

GET TO KNOW ZACH YOST

Hometown: Paden City, West Virginia

Age: 30

Year Started Shooting: 2012

First Publication to Print Your Work: Dirt Late Model Magazine in the July 2012 issue

Favorite Track to Shoot: My Saturday night track Tyler County Speedway

Favorite Division to Shoot: Super Late Models

Remaining Bucket List Races: Show-Me 100, Knoxville Nationals

Favorite Thing About Racing Photography: Everything. Capturing memories, spending time with friends and the adrenaline rush.

Outside of race cars, what do you like to photograph: It’s all motorsports for me but I dipped my feet into baseball photography earlier this year and really enjoyed shooting that.

Camera Equipment: Canon R5, Canon 5D Mark III (2), Canon 300 f2.8, Canon 70200 f2.8, Canon 24-70 f2.8, Canon Fisheye 8-15

A herd of late models during the Jim Dunn Memorial at Muskingum County Speedway (Ohio) in 2023.

The drop of the green for the first heat race of the fan-less Dirt Late Model Stream at Eldora Speedway (Ohio) in 2020.

Golden hours and dirt showers.

Bird’s-eye-view of Scott Bloomquist during the Inaugural Gateway Dirt Nationals (Missouri) in 2016.

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SUPPORT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

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

Bill Blumer Jr. - facebook.com/bill.j.blumer

Bob Mays - catsracin@yahoo.com

David Campbell – www.seemymind.com

Josh James – joshjamesphotos@gmail.com

Matt Butcosk – mbutcosk@gmail.com

Michael Moats – mrm4@comcast.net

Mike Musslin - dirtnut777@gmail.com

Patrick Grant – patrickgrant1313@gmail.com

Paul Arch - peanumber10@comcast.net

Rick Sherer - ricksherer@outlook.com

Ryan Roberts - jryanroberts@ymail.com

Tanner Dillin - tanner.dillin397839@gmail.com

Todd Boyd – latemodel1967@gmail.com

Tony Hammett - tony.hammett@charter.net

Tyler Carr - tcarr95vc@gmail.com

Zach Yost - zyost11@yahoo.com

shooter at LARGE

Tyler Millwood under the bright lights at the Dirt Track at Charlotte (North Carolina) during the World Finals.

Rodney Sanders flips during the Winter Freeze at Screven Motorsports Complex (Georgia) in 2015.

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