Tim McCreadie
Tim McCreadie just pulled off one of the biggest wins of his career this past weekend in the weather delayed World 100 at Eldora Speedway. While on the surface, the Watertown, NY driver’s victory may not have seemed to be such a surprise considering that he is a former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion, contended right down to the final event of the season in 2017 for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title, and has compiled numerous national touring series triumphs and grabbed other crown jewel trophies during his career.
But a closer look reveals just what a feat McCreadie pulled off in not only capturing Dirt Late Model racing’s most coveted prize but also currently placing himself sixth in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings with one win at Florence(KY) Speedway during the 2018 campaign. The No. 39 machine also pulled into victory lane following an early season WoO Late Models event at Volusia Speedway Park.
But the real story comes from the fact that the driver known as T-Mac has competed for more than half the season against the top national touring series racers with a distinct disadvantage working against him. Following an early season podium finish in a LOLMDS feature at Tazewell(TN) Speedway McCreadie stated in his post-race interview that he was looking for someone with a license to drive a big hauler truck who could steer his familiar Sweetners Plus rig during the series western campaign.
Either that truck driver never appeared or some other issue surfaced and the team has toured basically from one end of the country to the other in a dually pickup truck and a box trailer for half the season.
I know there are those out there who will be quick to exclaim that a hauler has never won a race. Of course, that is true. But what those haulers do is make it much easier to win races with all the parts and pieces they carry along with the equipment used to maintain the car when the team spends weeks at a time away from their shop and on the road. And that’s not to mention the availability of sleeping quarters that do not have to be found after the rest of the competition has already found a place to spend the night.
Tim McCreadie’s No. 39 Longhorn Chassis
This writer witnessed first hand the monumental effort McCreadie and his crew put in between qualifying and the feature race during the recent Lucas Oil event at Rome(GA) Speedway following mechanical issues experienced during the preliminaries. And that hard work ultimately resulted in a runner-up finish.
The fact that McCreadie and his crew were able to endure the rigors of a racing season while competing at a high level with such a disadvantage is nothing short of miraculous. And on top of that, he was able to win the most prestigious race on the Dirt Late Model schedule which only adds to the impressive nature of the story of the 2018 season.
