Comparing Dirt Late Model Racing’s Greatest Recent Seasons

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t.

That statement seems to be particularly true in the world of Dirt Late Model racing. Whenever a racer has completed a great season, someone will invariably throw out a statement such as “You’ll never see anything like that again”. But within a couple of years or so of the season that was thought to be unmatchable, someone matches or even exceeds it.

I will be quick to admit that my knowledge of Dirt Late Model racing history is very limited. Although I attended races in limited numbers with my dad as a kid, I was away from this version of motorsports for years, only returning to it in 2008 when invited by a friend to attend a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee.

Since I cannot go too deeply back into the history of this type of racing, there are three drivers who have achieved the greatest seasons in Dirt Late Model racing that I can readily remember. So, here is a comparison of those individual campaigns.

The first of those “You’ll never see anything like that again” seasons came in 2015 when Jonathan Davenport was not only the talk of the Dirt Late Model world but he was very much the talk of the motorsports world in general when he won many of the biggest races the sport had to offer at that time. Of his 23 total victories that year, several came in the most prestigious and most lucrative events in the sport.

‘The Fast 49’ really went on a roll after he picked up $100,000 for winning the Dirt Late Model Dream at the Eldora Speedway. Remember, Davenport did not actually cross the finish line first in that race but the car of apparent winner Scott Bloomquist came up light at the scales and the No. 6 K & L Rumley Longhorn Chassis machine was ultimately  rolled into dirt racing’s most desired victory lane.

From that point, Davenport and the team led by Kevin and Lee Roy Rumley went on a tear. The $30,000 Show-me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway and the $26,000 Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway fell to the suddenly red hot team. Even more monster paychecks were earned in the $50,00-to-win features in the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway and the North-South 100 at Florence Speedway.

With Davenport clearly on a roll, the top Late Model stars in the country converged again on Eldora Speedway for the much-coveted World 100. When all was said and done, the Blairsville, Georgia native had won the first of what is now a total of four Globe trophies, earning $48,000 in the process.

In the end, Davenport was crowned as the 2015 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion which came with a $75,000 payout. It absolutely was one of the all-time great seasons any individual driver and his team has ever achieved.

However, 2019 would see another driver have a “You’ll never see anything like that again” accomplishment. Even as recently as two years ago, there were very few races that even approached the six-digit-to-win payout figures in this form of racing. As a matter of fact, there were three such features held in 2019 and one driver claimed them all.

Not only did Brandon Sheppard and his Rocket Chassis house car team totally dominate the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series tour that year by capturing 18 series checkered flags but they also won the three most lucrative events of the season held under any sanction. In all, Sheppard collected four checks valued at $100,000 or more.

The New Berlin, Illinois driver was paid $125,000 for winning the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora in June of that year. He then captured the race known as the Dirt Million in Mansfield, Ohio that doled out $101,000 and in the fall he took the checkered flag as the victor of the Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park cashing a $100,000 check in the process.

Along with all of those race wins, Sheppard also captured the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury for another $33,000, and finally, his fourth $100,000 payment of the season came for earning the World of Outlaws Late Model Series championship.

Surely there would never be another Dirt Late Model driver to earn that much money again in a single year, right?

Enter the 2021 season and a driver named Brandon Overton.

Because of the Covid-related pandemic shutdowns of 2020, a number of the sport’s top races were either not held at all or were modified from their original form. Among those were the two crown jewel races held at Eldora. As a result, the Tony Stewart-owned track opted to hold two Dirt Late Model Dreams and two World 100 events in 2021 with the Dreams paying $127,000 and $126,000 respectively and the World 100s offering up $54,000 and $53,000 each.

Overton started off 2021 in a winning way and just never really stopped beating the competition to the checkered flag. But the big paychecks started to be cashed in June when he accomplished the unprecedented feat of claiming four feature wins over a four-day stretch as part of Eldora’s extended Dream weekend. Not only did the No. 76 Wells Motorsports Longhorn Chassis win two preliminary events but the Evans, Georgia native also took both of the primary races collecting more than a quarter-million dollars in the process.

Aside from Donnie Moran’s $1,000,000 win at that same Ohio track in 2001, it was the richest weekend ever achieved by a Dirt Late Model competitor. But Overton was far from done as ‘Big Sexy’ then added another $30,000 to his June collections when he won the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway.

Overton then scored a $50,000 triumph later in the summer in the prestigious North-South 100 at Florence before taking $40,000 away from the Rock Gault Memorial at Cherokee Speedway.

When the sport returned to Eldora in September for the World 100 double feature, all eyes were on the No. 76 ride.  Overton won on Thursday night to secure another $54,000, and in Saturday’s main event, it looked as if the 30-year-old driver was bound for another major win. However, Davenport had other plans and was able to make his way to the front late in the going to add to his Globe collection.

Overton scored a $50,000 payday at the Texas Motor Speedway later in September then added a pair of $20,000+ wins later on in the fall. In all, his 31 feature victories netted just shy of $1,000,000 in prize money to go along with some very prestigious trophies for the mantle of his new home.

From an earnings standpoint, Overton’s 2021 campaign has to be ranked ahead of the others. And at the same time, no driver has won three crown jewel features on that track in a single season so it would be hard to argue against his achievements from an historic aspect as well. But that is not to take away from the others mentioned as well as another worthy of an honorable mention.

But if not for Overton’s stunning record of big wins in 2021, the stellar season compiled by Davenport in the same year would likely have been counted as one of the greats in recent years.

‘Superman’ took 27 wins during this most recent campaign which included the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake, the second of the two World 100 features at Eldora and the main event held on the dirt covered Bristol Motor Speedway. All of those wins were worth $50,000 or more. In all, Davenport earned more than $20,000 in seven different races during 2021.

Four great seasons amassed by three great drivers over a period of seven years. One has to wonder who will be next and what will that person accomplish. But one thing we should have learned over these recent years is that the phrase “You’ll never see anything like that again” should never be used again in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing because you probably will see it again, and perhaps even more.

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