Although I’m not nearly as good of a photographer as Michael Moats, I get lucky once in a while and actually snap a decent photo. My favorites are those in which it looks as if the car is coming straight toward the camera. So recently, I was going through some of the shots I have taken this year and paying particular attention to those. In doing so, I noted the shape of the cars in that straight on view and how something didn’t look quite right.
As a result, I went back through some older pictures and began to compare. A close inspection of a car from today versus a car from three years ago reveals, at least to my untrained eye, a marked difference.
Please keep in mind that I am not singling out any particular driver or team. I simply chose two photos that I felt best illustrated the difference I am talking about. In the first photo you will see a car driven by Ty Dillon in a Southern Nationals race back in July of 2015 at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, VA. The second photo is one of the car driven by Darrell Lanigan in July of 2018 during a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, SC.
The primary difference between the two that I see is how the newer car takes on the shape of a reverse-C. Looking at the Lanigan car from straight on, you can see how the right front juts out significantly and how the right rear does the same. The older car appears to be much straighter along the right side. While both cars seem to be bowed on the left side, it looks as if the newer car has been “finessed” a bit more than the older car.
Take a look at a Dirt Late Model car raced earlier this month and compare it to a similar car from back in 2015 and you can see a difference. Note the straighter right side of the Ty Dillon car from 2015.
Ty Dillon’s car from the 2015 Southern Nationals race at Wythe
Here is Darrell Lanigan’s car from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race at Cherokee Speedway in July of 2018. Note the reverse-C shape on the right side.
Darrell Lanigan’s car at Cherokee Speedway in July of 2018
Again, I am not picking on any particular team. And more, I’m not accusing anyone of cheating because most of the cars look the same and they all have to pass the same inspection processes in whatever series banner they race under. What I’m pointing out is nothing that someone with a more trained eye than mine hasn’t already seen. I’m just noting an evolutionary difference that has taken place over the past three years.
Obviously, we could find plenty of photos from further back in which Dirt Late Models of a decade or two ago wouldn’t look anything at all like those of today. But within this relatively short period of time there has been a noteworthy change.
