It goes without saying that no aspect of 2020 is playing out in a way that would be considered normal for any other year. The dirt racing world has been impacted by the cornoavirus pandemic just like every other aspect of life across the United States. And that is bringing about changes in the mindsets of competitors on the national, regional, and local levels.
Typically when the calendar turns to July, media and fans have a pretty good idea of which drivers and teams are contenders for titles on their respective tours. Because of current conditions, we can’t say anything with a degree of certainty but it would appear as if those drivers currently leading the two national series are in very strong positions at this midway point of the year.
With so many races already having been cancelled or rescheduled and numerous other races mired in uncertainty due to state and local restrictions related to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is no way to say for sure just how many more features will actually take place in 2020.
Jimmy Owens(20) currently leads Jonathan Davenport by a healthy margin in the LOLMDS standings
Up to this point in the season, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has completed 21 events. For now, there are 31 race dates remaining on the schedule with four of those being preliminaries for bigger races. But as was said earlier, with states and local governments changing their rules and regulations regarding large gatherings with relative frequency, there is no way to know for sure just how many of those 31 races will actually be contested.
Following the recent LOLMDS weekend that saw the national tour make stops at Tennessee’s 411 Motor Speedway and Alabama’s Talladega Short Track, three-time title holder Jimmy Owens holds the lead in the standings by 400 points over Jonathan Davenport with Tim McCreadie, Tyler Erb and Josh Richards even further back.
With Owens having scored four consecutive series victories, he has built a lead that would be difficult to overcome even under normal circumstances. But in this time of uncertainty, the task left to those in arrears of the Newport, TN driver seems even more daunting.
The Lucas Oil Series awards 200 points to each feature winner with second place receiving 180, third getting 170, fourth earning 160 and then a five point drop off for each position back through the remainder of the finishing order.
Obviously, if Owens were to meet with disaster in three or four races and one of his pursuers were to get hot that advantage could be eaten into quickly. But again, with the uncertainty of scheduling going forward, there may not be very many opportunities for such to happen. With that in mind, the leader’s position would seem to be even more secure than would be the case under normal circumstances.
Brandon Sheppard looks like the favorite to capture the WoO Late Models title
On the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series side of things, defending champion Brandon Sheppard holds a significant lead in the standings as he has 146 more points than Ricky Weiss with Darrell Lanigan, Chris Madden and Cade Dillard even further back.
The WoO Late Models have so far completed 18 features with 24 events remaining on their 2020 schedule of events. Like their Lucas Oil counterparts, there is no guarantee of what number of those yet to be contested races will actually go off.
Sheppard and his Rocket Chassis house car team are doing what they so frequently do on this tour by winning five series races so far and piling up 17 top-10 finishes out of the 18 races completed.
The WoO Late Models Series hands 150 points to each feature winner and 146 to the runner-up. From there, a two-point drop off per position occurs throughout the rest of the field.
Basically, Sheppard is so far ahead that he could skip an entire race and still might very well be the leader afterwards. Of course, the New Berlin, Ill. driver is not likely to do that.
With that said, Sheppard, like Owens, could be caught with a couple of disastrous efforts if those closest to him were to experience great success. However, the two-time champion’s record of consistency does not suggest that disaster is likely.
While it’s still too early to crown either Owens or Sheppard as the champion on their respective tours, the likelihood of them actually going on to collect another title is greatly increased by the uncertainty of future schedules. While we do not know for sure that any scheduled races will be cancelled, recent events have taught us that such is definitely a possibility.
Obviously, fewer races remaining means fewer opportunities to make up ground for those currently trailing the leaders.
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