If you are a fan of major Dirt Late Model racing events, this is the time of year for you. Over the next seven weekends there will be feature races paying $40,000 or more to win at tracks around the country each Saturday night.
And perhaps more importantly, if you are a racer in need of financing to make it through the remainder of the season, this is the time to make that happen. From this Saturday until September 15th it will be non-stop action with significant prize money on the line.
Sure, there are points battles being waged in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, but there are huge amounts of cash up for grabs over the next couple of months. A driver and team can seize the opportunity to right a season that may have otherwise been going wrong over these next few weeks or a driver who has been having a good season can make it one for the history books with multiple wins within this upcoming time frame.
Don O’Neal won last year’s USA Nationals
This weekend(Aug. 2-4) the World of Outlaws Late Model Series will sanction the USA Nationals to be held at the Cedar Lake Speedway. The event pays $50,000 to the Saturday night feature winner with preliminary racing on tap as well at the New Richmond, Wisconsin facility. Even with the fact that it is a long haul to the upper Midwest for many teams, the starting lineup is likely to look like a who’s who of the Dirt Late Model world. This is aided by the fact that the WoO Late Models Series schedules a number of events in that area leading up to the USA Nationals and by the fact that there will be no competing Lucas Oil race to take those regulars away from this crown jewel race.
Following the USA Nationals, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will sanction five of the next six major outings.
Tim McCreadie(39) scored the win in the 2017 North/South 100
The famed North/South 100 will take center stage in the dirt racing universe from August 8-11 with a LOLMDS makeup race(Ralph Latham Memorial) paying $12,000-to-win on August 8th. Other preliminary activities will take place on Thursday and Friday then the main event is set to roll off on Saturday night at Kentucky’s Florence Speedway. As is the case for the Cedar Lake race, there will be no competing national tour event on this weekend which should allow for a stellar field of competitors racing for the $50,000 first prize.
Scott Bloomquist was the winner last year in Batesville
The following weekend will see another big LOLMDS sanctioned weekend(August 16-18) in play as that series heads to the Batesville, Arkansas area for the Topless 100 at the Batesville Motor Speedway. A winner’s purse of $40,000 awaits the Saturday night victor in the race that features Late Models racing without the sheet metal covering the tops of the chassis. There will be preliminary racing on Thursday and Friday providing teams an opportunity to earn extra cash. However, there are World of Outlaws Late Model Series events scheduled for other parts of the country from August 16-19 so this will be a race featuring primarily Lucas Oil regulars and regional standouts.
A new event enters the mix on the weekend of August 24-25 as the Dirt Million will take center stage. The race will pay more than $100,000-to-win with the exact amount not settled until ticket and merchandise sales leading up to the race at Ohio’s Mansfield Motor Speedway are completed. The points paying Lucas Oil race will certainly have a stacked field of competitors with no opposition from the WoO Late Models on that weekend and such an extraordinary purse up for grabs.
Jonathan Davenport, driving a car owned by G.R. Smith, won last year’s Hillbilly 100 and World 100
It’s back to the traditional venues and races following the Dirt Million as the LOLMDS heads to Tyler County Speedway in West Virginia for the 50th running of the Hillbilly 100 on September 2nd. This race is the highest paying one-day affair on the Dirt Late Model calendar with a winner’s check totaling $50,000 on the line. And once again, with no competing national touring race taking place, the field is certain to be loaded with top names.
Jonathan Davenport will be in the Lance Landers-owned car in this year’s World 100.
The ‘Granddaddy of Them All’ will follow the Hillbilly 100 as teams from all over the country head to Rossburg, Ohio and Eldora Speedway for the legendary World 100. With a winner’s purse that increases by $1,000 each year, the 2018 winner will receive $51,000 for his efforts in an event not sanctioned by either national tour. There will be preliminary feature races leading up to Saturday’s main event.
Mike Marlar made in two Knoxville Nationals win in a row in 2017
And finally, all the big money racing reaches a temporary break following the Knoxville Nationals to be held at the historic Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on the weekend of September 13-15. The main event on the track perhaps more known for Sprint Car racing will pay out $40,000 to the winner with preliminary features also handing out cash rewards. Again, a full field should be expected with this LOLMDS event being the only national touring series race in play on this particular weekend.
As you can see, we have reached a point in the Dirt Late Model racing season in which big money event follows big money event for seven consecutive weekends with no less than $40,000 payouts for the winning drivers in each of these crown jewel races. And more, there are bragging rights and prestige on the line as every driver wants to have his name written among the list of champions for these prized races.
