A few takeaways from the 2018 Georgia-Florida Speedweeks

The more than two weeks of Dirt Late Model racing that typically takes place in February has come to an end. Having watched virtually every race contested during that time period- either in person or via a Pay Per View broadcast- I developed several takeaways from what I saw.

Here are those observations:

Longhorn/Rocket Domination: As was mentioned in an earlier piece on this site, two Dirt Late Model chassis builders took center stage throughout much of Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks. Longhorn Chassis and Rocket Chassis had drivers to collect all but two of the combined checkered flags handed out at Golden Isles Speedway, East Bay Raceway Park, Bubba Raceway Park and Volusia Speedway Park during the first half of February.

Jonathan Davenport led the way for Longhorn as he amassed a total of four victories(2 at East Bay, 1 at Bubba & 1 at Volusia) while Brandon Overton and Kyle Bronson picked up one win each at East Bay with Tim McCreadie taking his Longhorn to victory lane once at Volusia.

Brandon Sheppard was the top winner for Rocket in that company’s house car as he scored three total wins(2 at East Bay & 1 at Volusia) with Josh Richards picking up two wins in the first pair of races held during SpeedWeeks at Golden Isles.

The power play by these two chassis brands was finally interrupted when Dale McDowell drove his Shane McDowell Racing Sweet-Bloomquist Race Car to victory on Thursday night at Volusia in a $10,000-to-win feature with Scott Bloomquist following that up the next night in his Sweet-Bloomquist with another $10,000 triumph.

Had someone told me going into SpeedWeeks that only three types of chassis would win during the entire stretch of races, I would have guessed those three(as would many other people). That’s not to say there aren’t good drivers and teams in other cars, but it is obvious that the others have some catching up to do.

Davenport/Rumley Return To Old Form: To follow up on the lack of surprise regarding chassis brands, another thing that should not have been found surprising is the renewed success driver Jonathan Davenport and setup guru Kevin Rumley experienced during SpeedWeeks with their Lance Landers-owned team. As mentioned above, Davenport was the victor in four feature races, had ten top-5 finishes, and scored nine preliminary race wins during the week. He also took home a total of $52,000 according to DirtonDirt.com.

After the season this duo put together in 2015 which garnered them a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title and scores of crown jewel and other feature wins along with a couple of big victories while paired together late in 2017 on the G.R. Smith-owned ride, it should have been shocking to no one that the No. 49 car ran up front. But the results from SpeedWeeks simply confirmed that this team will be a force to reckon with in 2018.

Chris Madden and Barry Wright Clicking Immediately: I have to admit that I was somewhat of a skeptic when I first heard the news during the off-season that Chris Madden would be taking the reins as the driver of the Barry Wright Race Cars house car. It’s not that Madden hasn’t proven himself behind the wheel, because he has. And it’s not that BWRC hasn’t had success in the past, because they have. It’s just that those chassis mentioned above seem to be ahead of the others and the Wright car had struggled over the past couple of seasons with the likes of Jimmy Owens and Jonathan Davenport driving.

Did this organization ever prove me wrong.

Since he is likely to chase the World of Outlaws Late Model Series tour again in 2018, Madden only entered the No. 44 ride in the races contested at Volusia Speedway Park and sanctioned by that series. In his five starts, the South Carolina native scored four top-5 finishes, including three second place results. Further, their consistency allowed the team to pick up the alligator shaped trophy emblematic of the week-long DIRTcar Nationals championship.

It was definitely a good start to the 2018 campaign for Madden and BWRC.

The Rich Get Richer: The powerhouse teams only seemed to solidify the fact that they are indeed powerhouse teams. Even with some of these experiencing difficulties during at least some part of SpeedWeeks, the championship contending organizations from 2017 that field cars for Brandon Sheppard, Josh Richards, Scott Bloomquist, Tim McCreadie and the new entry to this group, the team of Jonathan Davenport, accounted for eleven wins out of the fourteen features contested.

Of those three wins not coming from this short list of drivers, two were scored by teams who have strong regional records and have announced their intentions to follow a national tour(Brandon Overton & Kyle Bronson) while one was collected by Dale McDowell who drives for Shane McDowell Racing, which is one of the most potent regional operations in the country.

All of the teams mentioned above fall into the first category addressed in this piece and that is each of them run either a Longhorn Chassis, a Rocket Chassis, or a Sweet-Bloomquist Race Car. At least after these early returns have come in, it looks like those not on this list have an uphill battle to fight if they are to join the ranks. But as all of us who follow this sport closely know, these types of things tend to run in cycles. However, it is remarkable that no matter what the cycle may be favoring at the time, many of the same people seem to have a way of placing themselves in the right spots to take advantage of the latest trends.

Well Known Names Struggled: While there are those who seem to always be in the mix when it comes to being at the right place with the right equipment at the right time, there are some who still face difficulties. A few of the sport’s most recognizable names failed to leave their mark in Georgia and Florida during SpeedWeeks.

Bobby Pierce came into the season with high hopes after joining Dunn-Benson Motorsports with Rocket Chassis cars in their stable. This is a driver who has won crown jewel races and Summer Nationals titles during his young career. Much was expected of this pairing going into the season. But the results from the races they entered in Georgia and Florida did not provide the results many were looking for.

Pierce only posted one top-5 finish in nine feature starts. While it is indeed very early in what will be a long season, the No. 32 team is mired in 15th in the Lucas Oil standings a full 365 points behind leader Jonathan Davenport.

Another team with championship caliber drivers and equipment that struggled was that of Clint Bowyer Racing. Drivers Don O’Neal and Darrell Lanigan failed to produce a single top-5 finish out of a total of 22 races entered. For that matter, there were few times in which either driver looked like a serious threat to contend for podium finish. This has to be particularly disturbing considering that the team showed strength late in 2017 by picking up feature victories.

Even drivers such as Scott Bloomquist and Tim McCreadie, who each won a feature at Volusia, struggled to maintain consistency during the Lucas Oil portion of SpeedWeeks. Jimmy Owens was another driver who showed signs of strength but also had times in which he was not as competitive as is often expected.

Again for all of those mentioned above, this will be a long season and there will be plenty of opportunity for improvement. It will be interesting to see if that improvement takes place.

Drivers Pushing It To The Limit: One thing this writer noticed during SpeedWeeks was that drivers are racing as hard as they possibly can on each and every lap. They have to because if they don’t someone else will. And while there may be some failures or crashes among those who drive hard, some will make it to the finish. Those who “take care of their stuff” may find themselves racing just to remain in the top-10.

There simply are too many drivers willing to drive flat out with teams who can prepare cars that can withstand that kind of punishment. Reliability of the cars will be at a premium for those who hope to compete for titles in 2018.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association

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