VELOCITY RPM

A Passion For Southern Dirt

Written by: Dave Kelly

John Atherton and Larry Hubbard Jr. like to go fast. It’s in their blood. Together, they own General Elevator Solutions, a growing and successful company.

But hey, how fast can elevators really go?

So, they turned their passion for victory to car racing and founded Velocity RPM, with the goal of growing dirt track racing, parts and machining in Southwest Florida.

Dirt-track racing is a classic form of motorsports competition held on clay- or dirt-surfaced oval racetracks throughout the U.S. It started before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and ‘30s, for both automobiles and motorcycles, settling as a sport on mid-sized, car-based dirt tracks mostly in the country’s southeast.

In fact, the body that governs most dirt-track racing, the International Motor Contest Association, or IMCA, was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan and is currently the oldest active auto-racing sanctioning body in the United States. Nowhere is dirt track racing more exciting than at Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Florida. Founded over a decade ago by Ken Kinney, this one-third mile, semibanked oval short track offers dirt racing at its finest.

Often referred to as “the Southernmost Raceway in the U.S.A,” Hendry County Motorsports Park hosts weekend racing over 40 times a year, featuring races in such top dirttrack classes as Mod Lites, Late Models, Sprints, Outlaws, Gladiators and more.

Velocity RPM specializes in supporting two of these classes in particular—Mod Lites and Late Models. Mod Lites are 5/8th scale race cars powered by a 190-200 horsepower stock 16-valve motorcycle engine, often producing more than 10,000 rpm, while remaining purpose-built cars.

NASCAR drivers typically train in Late Model cars, which can produce 400 horsepower and hit 100 mph on dirt tracks, super exciting and fun to watch.

Late Model class stock cars were originally a product of the Carolinas and are the premier class raced at local and regional tracks in the south. They weigh over 3,000 pounds and produce more than 400 horsepower underneath a fiberglass body built to withstand the rigors of short track dirt racing. In fact, Late Model racing is a typical driver’s steppingstone—almost every NASCAR driver has raced in this class at some point during his or her career.

As an investment in their racing legacy, Velocity RPM purchased Superior Race Cars, a company that supports racers in the Mod Lite class. With three drivers competing for Superior Race Cars—Larry Hubbard Jr., Codey Benoit and Steve Diamond—the battle to the checkered flag is always heated. On any given

Roundup

Details on the The IMCA STARS Sugar Bowl Winter Nationals or how your company can support local dirt track racing, contact Sponsor@ VelocityRPM.com

Hendry County Motorsports Park 863-983-3478, hendryracing.com

International Motor Contest Association imca.com

Velocity RPM 239-984-2773 weekend at tracks in the southern U.S., you can see the Superior guys giving it all they have. In fact, Larry and Codey racked up multiple wins in the 2021 season and are raring to go for 2022.

Velocity RPM is taking advantage of this excitement by producing The IMCA STARS Sugar Bowl Winter Nationals at Hendry County Motorsports Park, February 9-12, 2022. This awesome race weekend will feature four nights of Mod Lite racing and more while paying out thousands of dollars in prize money. There is even a bass fishing tournament the day before the races to help support the cause.

The Superior Race Cars’ drivers will be competing all weekend long, showcasing just what can be accomplished with the support of the Velocity RPM parts, machining and racing team. FCM