A packed grandstand is likely this weekend at Smoky Mountain
Smoky Mountain Speedway has, for several years, established itself as a fixture on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series schedule. But in 2022, the Roger Sellers-owned track took that involvement a step further by also proving itself to be the site of one of that tour’s most lucrative events. Last year. Chris Madden picked a $50,000 payday from the Maryville, Tennessee facility in the first contest at that venue to dole out that amount. The planned 2021 version of the ‘Mountain Moonshine Classic’ was rained out.
This Father’s Day weekend the national touring series will return to SMS in what will prove to be a return to racing for those who follow Lucas Oil after a rainout of the scheduled $50,000-to-win Historic 100 two weeks ago at West Virginia Motor Speedway then last weekend off for the Dirt Late Model Dream event held at the Eldora Speedway.
The 2023 Mountain Moonshine Classic will be a two day affair.
A key component of Friday’s twin $5,000-to-win features and Saturday’s big payday main event is that these will be the first times in which Super Late Model machines will take to the track that has been reconfigured from a 4/10 mile clay oval with each set of turns being just a bit different to a more symmetrical 3/8 mile test of man and machine.
This will be a piece of a very lucrative stretch of races for Dirt Late Model competitors after the $129,000-to-win Dream held last Saturday then the $100,000-to-win feature under the sanction of the XR Super Series this past Monday evening at the Kokomo(IN) Speedway. Smoky Mountain will offer a $50,000 payday on Saturday night.
Ricky Thornton Jr. will enter this weekend as the LOLMDS points leader ahead of Hudson O’Neal who trails by a margin of 165 markers then comes Brandon Overton, two-time and defending series champion Tim McCreadie, and Devin Moran. Former champions Jonathan Davenport(6th), Earl Pearson Jr.(11th) and Jimmy Owens(12th) find themselves in the position of having to make a strong move up the standings quickly or else face the likelihood that a championship will not be in the offering for 2023.
After numerous rainouts throughout the spring months, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be looking to get into a racing rhythm of sorts as the SMS show be be the first of series of consecutive races that will keep drivers and teams busy until the final weekend of July.
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