Kelly Carlton of the Ultimate SLM Series
On Monday, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series caused quite a stir in the dirt racing world when it handed down a new set of rules regarding the Late Model cars that will compete in their series during the 2016 season. In particular, the new stipulations addressing the suspension components and shocks on the cars were most noteworthy.
The LOLMDS rule book can be found here –> http://lucasdirt.com/1595-lucas-oil-late-model-dirt-series-technical-bulletin with the changes highlighted in red.
In some cases, regional racing series will conform to rule changes made by either or both of the national touring series(Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws Late Models) for the sake of continuity so that their regular drivers can easily transition into the national events when those series contest races within that particular region and so the national stars can compete with the regional series in a relatively seemless manner when such opportunities arise.
However, that does not necessarily appear to be the case in this instance, at least not in the immediate future.
Kelly Carlton of the Ultimate Super Late Model Series believes that governing such guidelines as those handed down by the LOLMDS would be difficult due to the nature of the regulations.
“Not likely,” Carlton replied when asked via text message if his series would adopt the Lucas rule package. “We will wait to see what WoO does and then make a determination from there of what, if anything, we need to do. What Lucas has put out is so technical that it requires a very in-depth knowledge of rear suspensions and their parts and pieces. The pre-race tech will be intensive and time consuming. And I still don’t know if it all can be policed consistently. We will have to do a lot of research and discussion with our teams and others to get a grasp on what we will do.”
Carlton went on to point out that what is best for a national touring series may not work as well for their regional counterparts.
“We just have to think about all the local and regional teams first and foremost,” the director declared. “They are our client base and we have to make sure that anything we do wouldn’t have a negative impact on them in any way.”
Lynn Acklin of the Southern All Stars Dirt Racing Series echoed Carlton’s concerns regarding the series being able to adequately police the new measures without the manpower available to a national touring series.
Ray Cook
“I have been in the process of trying to figure out what all it will encompass as to far as tech of the cars,” Acklin explained. “It will take somebody that knows what they looking at to police it right and enforce it. We are heading toward a NASCAR box and it could be bad for the sport. I agree costs need to be looked at but if you go with a spec shock deal, it would scare a lot of guys off as everybody has their own deal on shocks.”
Ray Cook, who administers three separate racing series, said that he did not foresee his Southern Nationals, Spring Nationals or Southern Nationals Bonus Series adopting the new rules package anytime in the near future. He also stated the need for further study into the matter before handing down any sort of new regulations to his competitors.
