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Special event promoter and upstart chassis builder Cody Sommer announced Tuesday night that K.C. Burdette of Parkersburg, W.Va., will drive his No. 13 Race DRT house car in June 4-6’s Dream XXXII at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

The 36-year-old Burdette (pictured) emerged as the winner of Sommer’s second Dream Driver Search, which drew entries from over 500 drivers across the short-track spectrum seeking an opportunity to compete at the famed Eldora half-mile. Sommer initially cut the list to 50 contenders before narrowing it down to eight finalists leading into Tuesday’s decision that was streamed live on the Race DRT Facebook page.

Sommer, who is well known as the promoter of the Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Mo., announced at the start of the live-stream that he had further reduced the candidates to four — Burdette, Devin Gilpin of Columbus, Ind., Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, Ga., and Charlie Mefford of Belton, Ky. — and would use a random draw to determine the winner of the Race DRT seat.

“It’s an opportunity for someone who deserves it,” Sommer said during the announcement. “We just want to showcase drivers out there that are clearly talented.”

A veteran racer who competes on a modest budget while working full-time for the Parkersburg Fire Department, Burdette has over 200 career victories. The majority of his success has come in open-wheel modified action, but he’s raced Dirt Late Models on a limited basis — last year he won two features in the class at Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio — and also has experience working on the full-fender machines as a crewman for the late Scott Bloomquist and, in fact, Sommer’s Race DRT house car.

Burdette has never entered a crown jewel Dirt Late Model event at Eldora, however, so he was overjoyed to land a chance at the Dream with Sommer.

“I’m ready,” Burdette said when Sommer contacted him moments after the random draw went his way.

Dylan Thornton of Orcutt, Calif., won last year’s Race DRT Dream Driver Search but failed to qualify for the 100-lap feature at Eldora. The 24-year-old driver ran several other races in Sommer’s house car and is scheduled to drive it again in this Saturday’s March Madness event at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.