Richard: Well, we’ve made our way through spring and the rainy weather that hampered a great many races over the past couple of months. Now we’re set to move into what looks to be a very busy summer with scores of races scheduled locally, regionally and nationally on the dirt racing calendar.
As I’ve said before, I buy a yearly planner after New Year’s each season and pencil in all the big races scheduled by the major touring series and our local tracks. I then go through that planner and highlight all the events I might consider going to. Over the course of the next three months, there is a lot of yellow on the pages of that planner in terms of races in our own area.
And aside from local races, there are some big events upcoming on the national level as the crown jewel Show-me 100 and The Dirt Late Model Dream races are on the near horizon.
This is prime time for dirt racing fans, isn’t it?
Michael: It certainly is. Aside from the big national races, this is the best time of the year on a local level. There were a couple of World of Outlaws races and now we’re heading into the period where there are a couple of Lucas Oil races over the coming weeks.
If I have one complaint, it would be great to see some of these races spread out a little bit. I realize the national tours have to worry about their own schedules. The two World of Outlaws races are within a month of each other and the two Lucas races are within three weeks of each other. It might help the fans that try to save up and go to all these races. But it’s certainly a lot better than having these races on the same weekend on back-to-back nights like it used to be.
Richard: I was thinking about those big touring series races coming to our area as well. There probably aren’t many areas of the country in which fans get the opportunity to see World of Outlaws Late Models and Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series races as often as we do here in east Tennessee. But you’re right in that these races are compacted into a relatively short period of time. As you say, however, the national tours are pretty much boxed in regarding their scheduling.
Staying on that theme, it was fun watching a “local guy” in Billy Ogle, Jr. beat out the touring regulars in the WoO Late Models event at the Tazewell Speedway. I’ve often said that if there is any region of the country where local drivers may actually have an advantage over the heavily financed and experienced nationals stars, it could be here in our area due to the uniqueness of the tracks in east Tennessee. As Josh Richards said in an interview we did with him earlier, there is no other place where he races that is similar to Tazewell.
Of course, we have to give the big stars their due. The WoO race at Smoky Mountain may have been won by a guy from east Tennessee, but that guy is pretty much the biggest star in the sport.
Are the big guns ripe for another “upset” when the Lucas Oil folks roll into Tazewell and Smoky Mountain?
Michael: You can never count out Billy Ogle, Jr. at Tazewell, especially if that low groove is working. The only thing about Tazewell is the car counts aren’t as high as other tracks, thus decreasing the chances of an upset.
I can see several potential candidates at Smoky Mountain. The obvious one is Randy Weaver. I’m sure he’d like to redeem himself after the showing he had at the WoO race last weekend. Another is the defending race winner Casey Roberts. Mike Marlar and Dale McDowell always run well there, but I don’t know how much either would be considered an upset if one was to win that race.
One thing I will be interested to see is if the five regulars that raced in the WoO race at SMS will have a decided advantage over those that haven’t been on the track this year, like Earl Pearson, Jr. or Jonathan Davenport.
Richard: To completely change the subject, we are heading toward the final weekend of the Spring Nationals Series as that Ray Cook promoted tour will make a three race swing through Georgia with races scheduled for Boyd’s Speedway, Dixie Speedway and Rome Speedway.
It has been an unusual year for the Spring Nationals due to the fact that so many of their races have fallen victim to rain. Still, Chris Madden finds himself at the top of the standings going into this final weekend.
Can the South Carolina driver hold back the likes of Ogle, Donald McIntosh, David Payne and Stacy Boles in the tight points battle?
Michael: Madden has not been his usual self performance wise this year, so far. But he runs well at all of those tracks, especially Dixie. McIntosh has a lot of laps on all three of those tracks. He nearly won the title last year in his own equipment. I can see the title coming down to the those two on the final lap at Rome.
With only a few races in the books this year, each of these races will be critical in regards to points. An engine failure or a crash in any of those could severely hurt the chances of any of them. With a little bit of luck, I could see David Payne being a factor as well.
Richard: You raise a good point about Madden. This is a season that has seen him struggle by his high standards. And with that, he has even made the somewhat surprising move of driving the Barry Wright Race Car he has used to compete with in Crate Late Model events. In recent years, he has been a stalwart in Bloomquist Race Cars but seemingly is open to experimenting with something else.
While it seems commonplace for Madden to be at the top of the standings in a Ray Cook promoted series, it does seem rather unusual that he is doing so without dominating the series by winning multiple races.
As we have talked about before, the technology on Dirt Late Models is changing so rapidly that it is difficult for a driver or team to pin themselves to one particular brand of chassis, engine or shocks and not at least be open to the possibility of making a change.
Apparently Madden is no different in that regard, which could make this summer’s Southern Nationals very interesting.
The BWRC driven by Chris Madden in a Spring Nationals race in Cleveland earlier this year.
