The 2017 Dirt Late Model racing season will officially get underway this weekend when the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rolls into Golden Isles Speedway in south Georgia for a pair of feature races. The World of Outlaws Late Models will visit the Screven Motorsports Park in Georgia for a double dose of season opening events of its own the next weekend before both series head even further south into Florida.
Ronnie Johnson sometimes drives cars other than his own, such as the #A19 machine
Whatever success the drivers and teams experience in those upcoming races won’t occur by accident. Prior to loading their cars into the haulers for the trip to the facilities located in Georgia and Florida, a great deal of preparation has taken place in the various racing shops located all over the country. And further, even more work has been done on various race tracks by logging countless laps in the form of testing.
Even veteran drivers and the most experienced teams don’t simply trust their luck when they hit the track for the first time. In previous interviews done for InsideDirtRacing.com a pair of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame members offered their thoughts on the importance of testing in setting the tone for good results later.
Both Ronnie Johnson and Scott Bloomquist credit much of their success to the testing work that has been done prior to ever firing an engine on race night.
One benefit Johnson gains from testing for teams other than his own is that it sometimes helps his own program stay up-to-date.
Ronnie Johnson
“Everybody is getting better and everybody is getting better stuff,” Johnson pointed out. “It’s always been that way and it’s always going to be that way so my program had kind of gotten stagnant while everybody else is working and had gotten better.”
The driver known as ‘The Chattanooga Flash’ says that his location as well as his vast experience and unprecedented success on dirt ovals all over the southeast the country make him attractive as a test driver for those who might want to learn what their cars can do.
“I live about 12 miles from Boyd’s Speedway and they do a lot of practicing and lot of testing out there,” Johnson explained. “There’s multiple times during the year that I’ve been asked to come out there and drive cars so I’ve driven a lot of different cars. You know, you hear about the Longhorns and you hear about the Rockets, and on and on. I’ve driven all of those cars.”
But Johnson says that testing other types of cars is not always a positive in terms of helping his own program.
“You learn some stuff, you hear a lot of stuff, and you get to feel some different things,” the veteran driver said. “Sometimes that’s a bonus and sometimes that’s just really confusing. But I’ve never really been able to look at somebody else’s car or even take their notes and pick my program up.
“You’ve got to find out what works for you. I’ve never really been able to learn from what somebody else was doing. I get better when I just focus on what my weak spots are and work on those. I don’t have as much traffic in and out of my shop as a lot of them do, but again, you can learn some stuff or you can get really confused.”
Perhaps no driver is as noted for testing his equipment as Bloomquist. The defending Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion takes every opportunity to hit the track in an effort to find any advantage that might provide an edge over the competition.
Scott Bloomquist
“We’re working hard right now,” Bloomquist declared. “You’ve just got to keep testing and just keep beating this stuff up. There’s so many different products on these cars that make a big difference. I spend my time testing and constantly working on new things to test.”
But just testing for the sake of testing may not provide the answers Bloomquist is looking for. Experience and understanding of the car along with its many components provide the complete picture that will allow the Zero car to run out front.
“A lot of things you test might end up being good on that day at that place, but that doesn’t mean it would apply everywhere.”
