What drivers might have been hurt by this stoppage?

This unplanned break just after the early portion of the 2020 Dirt Late Model racing season may have come at a good time for some. However, there were other drivers and teams who were hitting their stride as the racing calendar flipped over to March only to have that momentum halted when the world shut down for the coronavirus outbreak.

In all likelihood, there are several who very much would have liked for the season to continue uninterrupted not only due to the fact that they were running well but also not wanting their competition, who had gotten off to a poor start, to have an opportunity to hit the re-set button.

Here is our list of drivers who might have been hurt by this unexpected shutdown of racing activity:

Jimmy Owens– This regular on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series did not run terribly in the early 2020 races on that series but probably not as well as he might have liked during that tour’s portion of Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks held at Golden Isles Speedway, East Bay Raceway Park and All-Tech Raceway. His two top-5 and four top-10 finishes in eight starts have him ranked eighth in the series standings.

However, the three-time LOLMDS champion really came to life when he entered the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. After never having won on that track in a Late Model, the Newport, TN racer scored three consecutive victories against World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series competition.

Owens followed that success up with a top-10 finish in the WoO Late Model feature at Smoky Mountain Speedway in early March.

Clearly, the Ramirez Motorsports team had momentum on their side going into this unexpected stoppage. Can they maintain that speed when racing returns?

Brandon Sheppard– The defending World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion and his Rocket Chassis house car team picked up right where they left off in 2019 as the 2020 campaign kicked off. As a matter of fact, the Illinois driver is currently lead both his regular WoO Late Model Series standings as well as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points.

Five wins and a total of eight podium results out of his 19 feature starts so far in 2020 have landed Sheppard at the top of both national tours.

Obviously, this team is very good so asking if this hiatus will slow their momentum seems unnecessary. Seriously, does anything ever slow this team down?

Mike Marlar– The Tennessee driver is a former World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion and a multiple-time winner of prestigious events such as the Knoxville Late Model Nationals the the Hillbilly 100. Saying that Marlar knows how to win is an obvious statement.

That said, he did exit from the Dirt Late Model stage at the time of the government mandated(or encouraged) shutdowns when momentum was on the side of his Delk Equipment Sales team after he won the WoO Late Model event at Smoky Mountain Speedway. And more, the team had just rolled a brand new Longhorn Chassis onto the track, winning with it in their first try, just prior to the break.

Marlar has missed WoO Late Models races earlier this season but has started every Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature and currently sits sixth in the standings on that tour. It is unknown if Marlar and his team plan to chase a title once racing resumes, but they did appear to have things moving in the right direction before the stoppage.

Jonathan Davenport– Here is a driver and team that have in the past gotten off to hot starts in the early portion of the season and forced others to play catch-up in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings. But that was not necessarily the case during the 2020 version of Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks until the final series race at All-Tech Raceway where the No. 49 sailed under the checkered flag to collect the $10,000 victory.

While the early part of the season might not be the stuff of which we are used to seeing from Davenport, this Lance Landers-owned team is one of such talent and depth that it would be served better to contest as many races as possible. The more races run, the more likely this team is to start putting together consistent efforts near the front of the finishing order.

While there is certainly no guarantee that Davenport will win another LOLMDS title, there is the likelihood that he will eventually wind up in contention before year’s end. Missing races simply delays this team’s ability to get into a solid rhythm.

Tim McCreadie– One of the most noteworthy efforts by a driver and team during Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks had to be the one turned in by Tim McCreadie and his Donald Bradsher-owned Longhorn Chassis operation. In their first stint together after uniting during the most recent off-season, the No. 39 crew scored wins at Golden Isles Speedway, East Bay Raceway Park, and Volusia Speedway Park along with multiple other top-5 and top-10 results.

Those finishes were good enough to place McCreadie in the second overall position of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings, which for all intents and purposes actually makes him first among the touring regulars since Brandon Sheppard will drop from the top spot once the two series go their separate ways.

Almost certainly, McCreadie and the Mega Plumbing team would have liked an opportunity to keep that rhythm going beyond their time in the deep southeast.

Dale McDowell– The Shane McDowell Racing team is one that typically gets off to a hot start at the beginning of each season and it appeared as if that might very well be proving true once again when Dale McDowell captured the win in the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series opener at Cherokee Speedway at the beginning of March.

That win was followed up with a 7th place finish against a stacked field in the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature at Smoky Mountain Speedway.

In each of the past two seasons the No. 17m car has scored at least four wins by the end of April. No doubt they would have liked to build on their momentum from the Cherokee Speedway win and try to again achieve that same level of success but the coronavirus got in the way of those plans.

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