I got out of road racing last year when I sold the corvette. It was a hard decision, but I thought it was for the best. I thought I did ok for the resources that I have, but the cost of that type of racing was just more than I could afford to compete at the level that I wanted to. I debated on scaling back to a spec type of racing (Spec Miata, Spec E30) but just couldn't get myself into those. The travel associated with road racing was also a concern so I basically decided to go in a complete different direction.
I grew up watching the local dirt oval racing stuff and was always fascinated by the late model class. Thought they were so cool and loved the way they thundered around the track. Back in 2012 I decided to go back to Crossville Raceway and catch one of the local Saturday night shows since my dad ironically won 4 tickets to go watch the racing that night earlier in the week. Little did I know that would spur me into getting into the dirt scene. At that time, I was repairing the vette from my Road Atlanta wreck and prepping it with an aero package to take full advantage of all the rules of the class I was running. That night I decided I would sell my vette and find a dirt late model chassis. My dad had always wanted me to give them a shot but was always supportive in my road racing. Finally got the vette back together and sold it May/June 2013.
I ran my first dirt late model race in October of last year. Second time I had ever driven on dirt and in a late model, and you could tell was a rookie out there
We didn't have the car setup right for the track and still had alot to learn. Second race was a $5,000 to win crate race held at North Georgia Speedway the following weekend. I knew it was going to be a big race, but I went right in from the deep end. My lack of experience showed by qualifying 29th out of 31 cars which would make it difficult to make the feature race. Lots of carnage in the heats and LCQ, but I escaped all that to come up about 2 positions short of transfering to the A Main. I was dissappointed, but still had the car intact and learned alot from that night.Third race was back at Spring City Raceway (where I did my 1st race at too) and things went a little better. I was more prepared and more comfortable in the car than previously. Qualified 5th out of 12 and didn't run any heat races. So I started the feature the same and was pressuring 4th and almost getting by, but couldn't make it stick. Settled for 5th which wasn't too bad.
Fourth and final race of 2013 was at Cleveland Speedway. This was an annual event that has been going on for over 25 years. I practiced at this track the week before to get some more time in the car and learn as much as possible. We only got one qualifying lap so you had to make it count. I didn't get the lap I wanted and qualified 28th out of 34 cars. Had to run the heat race and finish in the top 6 (started 9 cars) to make it into the feature. I was running 7th with one to and saw a guy in front of me slowing a little going into turn 3. Turned out he had a tire going down... so I hustled to pass him in turn 4 to take 6th place and make it into the feature. If I didn't do that, I would've had to go home. Started 23rd (out of 24 cars) for the feature which was 30 laps. Not much to lose so I started picking off a couple of cars the first few laps. I had made it up to about 17th before I spun out on my own and losing my track position with 5 laps to go. My car was running hot too so I had to start at the rear of the field. Restarted and got back by another car to finish 18th on the night. Still wasn't satisfied, but it was fun to say the least.
So that leads me to 2014. I've got the car prepped and ready to go for this year. Next weekend I plan to go down to 411 Motor Speedway if the weather cooperates and do some testing on their open practice day. I've never ran that track before and might be running their a few times this year. Just like in road racing, I have met some really great people along the way and made some nice friends. Here are some pics of what the car looks like this year. Enjoy!
