*Turn 2 Blog is a regular feature on InsideDirtRacing.com. Here, site operators Michael Moats and Richard Allen take turns offering their thoughts on the dirt racing topics of the day from east Tennessee and beyond.
Richard: The season’s first truly big race is now in the books and it was won by Bobby Pierce as he took the checkered flag in the $30,000-to-win Show-me 100 at Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway. The victory just continues that driver’s run of success in big races as he won the crown jewel events North-South 100 and World 100 in the latter half of the 2016 campaign.
Pierce represents a new wave of talent that has swept into the sport of Dirt Late Model racing during the past decade. At 20 years of age, the Oakwood, Ill. driver promises to have a long racing career ahead of him. Provided that career remains on dirt, there is no telling how many race wins and championships Pierce could pile up over the next twenty or thirty years.
But as I said, he represents an even bigger class of young talent. Brandon Overton is 26-years-old and has really seen his career take off since last fall when he joined forces with Randy Weaver and Chip Stone in the No. 116 car. Donald McIntosh is 24 and has already earned regional series championships and has scored numerous race wins across our region. And on a more national level, 22-year-old Devin Moran has won national touring series races and really looks to be coming into his own here in 2017 on the World of Outlaws Late Models circuit.
The future looks bright as far as the upcoming talent in Dirt Late Model racing is concerned, doesn’t it?
Michael: It certainly does as long as they can continue to field good rides. The names go on and on. In addition to the ones you mentioned, Brandon Sheppard is just 24, Chris Ferguson, Tyler Erb and several others are all in their 20’s and have won some big money races. There are even some in their teens that are making names for themselves like Hudson O’Neal and Michael Lake.
These drivers have tons of talent. But you and I both know if there aren’t enough good rides out there which means the amount of talent each one has won’t matter. Hopefully, some bigger teams will give some of these drivers a chance as most are currently driving for a family-owned teams or a smaller budget, regional operations.
Richard: True, it’s all about the money and who has it or who is willing to fund the ride. Sadly, talent plays very little into the equation when it comes to getting opportunities in any form of racing.
I knew that when I began naming names I would leave some good ones off. Fortunately for the sport, there are so many up-and-comers that it is almost impossible to name them all. And further, with there being so many, some of them are bound to find sponsors or a big operation who would be willing to take them to the next level.
Bobby Pierce
Coming back to Pierce for a moment, with his age and the success he has already experienced he may have a very unique opportunity for both himself and the sport as a whole. Having made a name for himself in the bigger realm of NASCAR with his runs in the Camping World Truck Series events at Eldora Speedway, he could become that guy who brings Dirt Late Model racing to a bigger audience at some point in the future.
In much the same way that drivers like Dale Earnhardt or Jeff Gordon became household names in the 1990s for NASCAR, Pierce could be the guy for dirt racing that everyone has heard about and will feel the need to go see in person. I’m not suggesting that racing on dirt will reach the same level of popularity that NASCAR did two decades ago, but I am saying the sport could very well get a shot in the arm from such a rising star.
Kyle Larson is currently giving Sprint Car racing somewhat of that very boost right now. And when new fans are introduced it provides the effect of a rising tide lifting all boats.
Do you see that sort of possibility with Pierce or any of the other young drivers out there?
Michael: I’m not really sure. He’s raced the trucks on some asphalt tracks too. He’s had some decent showings, but nothing indicates he’ll get a legitimate shot at that series anytime soon. But things can always change.
I think in order for him to have that kind of impact on Dirt Late Model racing, he’d need some success on some level in NASCAR and still run his dirt car some. Even then, it seems most mainstream motorsports media give more attention to Sprint Cars than they do Dirt Late Models. Tony Stewart used to compete in Dirt Late Models and had the Prelude to the Dream that helped the sport. But it seems like any gains made there have flattened out since they no longer run that race and haven’t in several years. I think it’s more of a perception problem for the sport by the mainstream racing media than anything else. Unless Stewart decides to start racing them again or a Chase Elliott decides to run a few races, I don’t think anyone else can really move the needle.
Richard: I do agree that the mainstream media values Sprint Cars over Late Models, for whatever reason. At any rate, Pierce and the other drivers we mentioned above are definitely incredible talents. I don’t believe anyone would argue that.
To turn the discussion in another direction, I have noticed that some regional touring series have been struggling with getting more than just a handful of drivers to follow their tours. However, the more compact mini-series appear to do somewhat better.
In a story that was posted to this site yesterday, Jason Welshan, who is following the Ultimate Super Late Model Series in 2017, talked about the travel time involved in running those races. He also discussed the difficulties in having the helpers needed to go on long road trips as well as the preparation that goes into the cars and the hauler.
I’m wondering if some of the regional tours are getting a bit too spread out and that could be hurting their full-time driver counts. If a guy has to travel five or more hours to get to a touring series race that pays $5,000-to-win only to have that race get rained out and he winds up missing a $5,000-to-win race that was running much closer to home, it becomes hard to justify running a series.
Are the regional series, or even the national tours, becoming too widespread?
Michael: I think some of the regional series are becoming too spread out. I feel the ones that are that way may only have one race scheduled for a weekend. While some drivers and teams may like that, it is an incentive to most to have doubleheaders as many weekends as possible. I think that has been the success of the other regional series. If a series is going to ask teams to travel great distances, they should do their best to have a second race to make the trip beneficial. But I also understand that is sometimes easier said than done.
Brandon Overton and his team recently won Ray Cook’s Spring Nationals mini-series
The national tours are fine. To be a national tour, you really have to go to as many places as possible. I do, however, think making two trips to one part of the country that is nowhere close to any of the teams is a bit overkill. But we have seen the national tours do some adjusting to their schedules if the drivers request any such change.
Richard: DirtonDirt.com’s Andy Savary recently posted some interesting car count figures for the mini-series tours vs. the season-long regional tours and it showed that the mini-series are doing much better. It seems as if it must be easier for the guys who race and also have regular jobs outside the sport to take a week or two off to race rather than having to get a day off here and there over the course of an entire season.
Ray Cook has become somewhat the master of the mini-series. I’m wondering if we will begin to see more tours like his recently completed Spring Nationals and upcoming Southern Nationals from other promoters across the country during different times of the year.
Michael: One of the good things about a mini-series is it’s not dragged out through the whole year. It allows drivers to commit to something that may only last two to three months, then move on to other things.
I feel like there are too many series that run in this area. After a while, it’s the same core of drivers that participate in most of these races. It’s becoming the same traveling show with different series names each week.
