Inside Dirt Late Model Racing
Notes: Focus on I-35 oval pays for Missourian
By Alli Collis
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Tommy Cordray (Jessica Oskvig)
Tommy Cordray of Browning, Mo., has spent the last decade chasing the United Late Model Association weekly points championship, finishing runner-up in final ULMA standings last season. But in 2019, the 55-year-old Cordray has turned his focus to weekly Limited Late Model racing at I-35 Speedway in Winston, Mo., and he’s enjoying the time he’s getting to spend a the track with his family.
After traveling long distances to race in recent seasons, Cordray now finds himself making the 70-minute drive to Winston, Mo., each weekend and its paying off in a big way. With eight victories at I-35 so far this season, Cordray is aiming for his fifth career track championship, headlining DirtonDirt.com's latest Weekly Notebook presented by Bilstein.
“Things just been going really good,” Cordray said. “I've got this car, I bought it new in 2017, it's Bob Pierce car. Last year we finally started getting it figured out, got it really handling good about halfway through the season last year, and we've been able to carry it over for this year.
“I really like the Winston track. I used to run there years ago and I'm glad they brought the Late Models back. I don't know, that track fits my driving style. So far it's just been a really great year.”
Indeed, it has been a standout season for Cordray, a two-time track champion at both I-35 and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Choosing to move away from the ULMA sanctioning in 2019 after hosting a handful of events last year, I-35 now holds weekly Limited Late Model programs with more track-specific rules. While Cordray admits he’s one of the veteran racers in the division, he’s also found a setup that he’s comfortable with, which has led to his nearing double-digit wins so far this season.
“Part of it is the class is new again this year over there, so some of (his success) has to do with some of the guys ain't as experienced in this class as I am,” Cordray said. “Right now the car counts are not as high as they hopefully will be, so that has a little bit to do with my success. I think part of it is I really know my way around this track and I know what I want when I'm on this track for the car. I know what I want for setup. I know what I'm after.”
After finishing seventh in the ULMA standings two years ago, Cordray ended up second to fellow Missouri racer Dustin Hodges in the 2018 championship points chase. In chasing the ULMA title over the last 10 years, Cordray often made the three-hour journey to Wheatland, Mo., even running at tracks as far away as Humboldt (Kan.) Speedway. In racing primarily at I-35 this season, Cordray’s been able to share his time at the racetrack with his father, niece and other family and friends.
“Winston's only 65 miles, so that's an hour and 10 minutes to go there, where Wheatland’s been a three-hour drive for the last 10 years,” Cordray said. “Now my family can come over and watch me race. Friends can come watch me race. It’s hard for them to come to Lucas and watch me race, with the drive being so far. So that had a lot to do with it. I liked the track and the people.
“It just made sense to quit driving three hours and four hours to race everywhere, when you can just drive an hour and 15 minutes to race at Winston. And Winston is a good facility and a good track.”
Racing closer to home has also helped from a work standpoint. As the owner-operator of Tom’s Collision Repair, Cordray stays busy throughout the week, sometimes only having time to prepare his car on Friday evenings before heading to the track Saturday afternoon.
“It's a lot of hours over here, late at night, a lot of Friday nights,” Cordray said. “I don't get the race car in here like I should. Some of the customers, they worry about when they bring their car in, wondering if you're going to be working on their car, or working on your race car. So sometimes it stays out on the trailer all week, and then comes in on Friday night. Usually, I'm the only one who works on it. I'm here by myself.
“There's a lot of Friday nights that I'm here 'til five o'clock in the morning, trying to get everything ready. If I come over here early on Saturday, working on it, people come by, wanting you to fix this or that, and then I don't get nothing done. So I try to get everything done, and then sleep 'til noon on Saturday, so I can just get up and go load the car and go race.”
Enjoying an eight-victory season back in 2007, Cordray now finds himself tied with what he considers to be one of his best years of racing to date. While he’s hoping to close 2019 with the I-35 track championship, he’s mostly enjoying getting to spend his Saturday nights at the track with his father Larry and niece Jackie.
“The biggest thing that I like is this year, my dad can go over and watch all the races,” Cordray said. “He's 75 years old and in my early days, he used to film. He was part of the reason for a lot of my success at Winston. He used to film my races, and I'd study the films and stuff. I'm sure glad to have all these victory lanes pictures and stuff with my dad and my niece and everybody in it.
“I’m just trying to enjoy myself this year, not have so much stress. In the past, everything had to be about the racing, and this year, it is about the racing, but I'm also trying to enjoy it more. I'm getting older. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up. And I just I want to enjoy my time.”
Weekly highlights
• Chad Becker of Aberdeen, S.D., swept June 21-22 events at Fiesta City Speedway in Montevideo, Minn., and Miller (S.D.) Central Speedway to stretch his personal winning streak to five in a row.
• Freddie Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va., also holds a five-race winning streak after his June 22 victory at Ohio Valley Speedway in Lubeck, W.Va. Tyler Evans appeared to have the race in hand when mechanical woes forced him out, handing the lead and victory to Carpenter.
• Jason Covert of York Haven, Pa., earned $5,500 between June 21-22 victories at Potomac Speedway (Gene Van Meter Memorial) in Budds Creek, Md. and Winchester (Va.) Speedway (Red Nininger Memorial) in special events. Covert’s win streak ended June 23 when Kyle Lee edged him in another memorial race (Frank Sagi) at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
• With a June 22 victory at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla., David Whitener of Middleburg, Fla., earned $4,000 in outrunning Trey Pearson and Tyler Crowder. Whitener’s brother, Mark, led early but fell from contention with mechanical problems.
• Larry Timms of Hodges, S.C., picked up a $500 bounty on track-dominating Kenny Collins with his June 22 victory at Lavonia (Ga.) Speedway. Collins finished third.
• In a rare Super Late Model event at Humboldt (Kan.) Speedway, Payton Looney of Republic, Mo., raced to a $1,000 victory, taking the checkers ahead of Larry Ferris and Cory Green.
First things first
First-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• In his third season of Late Model racing, Beau Nave of Billings, Mont., captured his first feature victory in the division with a June 22 victory at Electric City Speedway in Great Falls, Mont. The 38-year-old Nave won his first feature of any kind in 10 years of oval racing.
• Ryan Kereluk of St. Andrews, Manitoba, won his first-ever Late Model feature June 20 at Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg.
• A transplant from Switzerland, Thomas Hunziker of Bend, Ore., captured his first career Super Late Model victory June 22 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.
Weekly news briefs
• Because of the success of the Super Late Model division, Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway added $1,000 to June 29’s feature purse with the race paying $2,500-to-win and the top five finishers receiving extra money.
• Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., requires major repairs or replacement of the frontstretch wall and catchfence, the track announced. An inspection by the insurance company revealed the problems, which forced the cancellation of July 3-4 Zimmer's United Late Model Series events. The track was given a provisional permit to competed June 29.
• Larry Kelley, the owner and operator of Sunset Speedway in Omaha, Neb., from 1976-’90 and former RPM Auto Racing Promoter of the Year nominee, died June 21. The Waterloo, Neb., resident was 79. Kelley, who also owned Dirt Late Models fielded by drivers including Steve Kosiski, Bud Burdick and John Anderson.
• Ricky Kay and his wife Brenda have acquired the lease at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway and will begin promoting the track at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds effective immediately, taking over from Bill Schwader. The Kays are the parents of three-time IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series champion Justin Kay of Wheatland, Iowa. Along with farming, they operate a “mom and pop grain elevator” in Wheatland, while Brenda Kay is also an independent insurance agent.
• Eddie Massey of Mableton, Ga., is taking over promotions at East Alabama Motor Speedway with Billy Thomas stepping away because of minor health concerns and the desire to spend time with family and friends, the Phenix City, Ala., track announced. Thomas expects a “seamless transition” for Massey, a member of a longtime racing family whose father Ed operated West Atlanta Raceway for many seasons. Thomas expects “new and fresh ideas” for the longtime Late Model track that’s home to the Alabama State Championships and National 100. Contact Massey at (678) 836-3768 or eddie.massey@hotmail.com.
• Atomic Speedway will hold a June 29 raffle with proceeds going to the fan suffering back injuries June 21 accident at the Alma, Ohio, oval when a sprint car cleared the turn-three fencing and struck the grandstands. Doorpanels, nosepieces, T-shirts and more will be raffled through donations from race teams. Bruce Caplinger of Chillicothe, Ohio, announced on Facebook his back was broken in four places and he suffered a slight concussion when Brinton Marvel’s car entered the spectator area. Track owner Brad McCown and general manager Mike Norman visited Caplinger’s home on June 24. Caplinger was thankful to fans who helped or reached out, emergency responders, physicians, nurses and to Marvel for telephoning to check on him.
• Elkins Raceway is mourning the June 24 death of Dave Kurtz of Weston, W.Va. Kurtz was leading the first-ever feature at the Kerens, W.Va., track in 1952 when a spark plug wire came off and left him with a second-place finish, according to track historian Jimmy Henry. Kurtz, 87, was a member of the Elkins Raceway Wall of Legends.
• Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn., is seeking full-time help for racetrack preparation and maintenance. Call track owner Bob Harris (931) 685-1009 during business hours for more information.
• At a June 24 meeting, Friendship Motor Speedway in Elkin, N.C., settled on rules packages for divisions upon the track’s reopening. The track plans to have an open house and free practice session on July 7 with a tentative first race under new promoters on July 12.
• Promoter Brad McCown has scrapped plans for a midweek Super Late Model miniseries between Ohio’s Atomic Speedway and Moler Raceway Park. Moler’s cancelled events (originally scheduled to pay $2,500-to-win) are June 26, July 17 and July 24; Atomic’s cancelled events (paying $3,000- and $5,000-to-win) are July 10 and July 31. A June 19 event rained out.
• Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., has added a June 27 practice session. The track’s June 29 event features bonuses for early-arriving fans as the first 30 spectators will be admitted free and the next 50 fans through the gates will receive a free hot dog at the concession stand. Crate Late Models lead a six division program with grandstands opening at 5 p.m. and hot laps at 7. General admission is $10.
Weekly points chases
DIRTcar (Super Late Models): As of June 20, Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., has 1,298 points to lead Rusty Schlenk (1,073) and Ryan Unzicker (797).
IMCA (Limited Late Models): Through June 16, Matt Ryan of Davenport, Iowa, has 537 points to top the standings over Justin Kay (502) and Jeremiah Hurst (494).
ULMA (Limited Late Models): Aaron Marrant of Richmond, Mo., and Kaeden Cornell of Willard, Mo., are tied atop the standings with 347 points each.
WISSOTA (Limited Late Models): With 1,668 points, Chad Becker of Aberdeen, S.D., leads Shane Edington (1,216) and Craig Rodgers (1,082).
DIRTcar (Crate Late Models): Through June 21, Logan Moody of Catlin, Ill., has 1,016 points over Jake Little (1,004) and Dakota Ewing (999).
Fastrak (Crate Late Models): As of June 22, Michael Bland of Pineville, W.Va., tops the standings with 569 points over Troy Frazier (520) and Donnie Dotson (437).
Durrence Layne (Crate Late Models): Through June 26, Cole Cameron of Hattiesburg, Miss., has 521 points to lead Sid Scarborough (459) and Braden Mitchell (434).
Sweeney Chevrolet RUSH (Crate Late Models): As of June 24, Chad Homan of Penfield, N.Y., tops the standings with 1,308 points over Darren Alvey (1,248) and Chuck Bowie (1,220).
Southeastern Crate Association (Crate Late Models): Jacob Brown of Gaffney, S.C., tops the standings with 234 points over Dale Timms (219) and Ron Geehring II (207).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Georgetown (Del.) Speedway (June 28): The Clash for Cash pays $3,500-to-win for Super Late Models with Crate Late Models among other divisions on the card.
Big Sky Speedway, Billings, Mont. (June 28-29): The WISSOTA’s Wild West Tour kicks off with a doubleheader at Big Sky for the miniseries with other divisions in action.
Winchester (Va.) Speedway (June 29): The Clash for Cash events pays $3,000-to-win for Super Late Models with Crate Late Models among three other divisions in action.
Hidden Valley Speedway, Clearfield, Pa. (June 29): The Chester D. Bailey Memorial Trophy Night includes a $3,000-to-win event for Super Late Models with four other divisions in action.
Dixie Speedway, Woodstock, Ga. (June 29): The track’s Independence Day Celebration sponsored by Day’s Chevrolet features a $3,000-to-win Super Late Model event; a fireworks show is included.
Greater Cumberland (Md.) Raceway (June 29): The second annual Ray Welsh Memorial pays $2,000-to-win for Super Late Models. The 25-lapper will have three divisions on the undercard.
Oakshade Raceway, Wauseon, Ohio (June 29): The Attica-Oakshade Challenge is back in action with drivers from both tracks gunning for a special purse and season-long points.
Gondik Law Speedway, Superior, Wis. (June 29-30): WISSOTA Late Models will chase a pair of $2,000-to-win purses as part of the Great Lakes Border Battle event highlighted by the modified division.
Rome (Ga.) Speedway (June 30): Along with sister track Dixie, the Independence Day Celebration at Rome features a $3,000-to-win Super Late Model event with fireworks part of the program.
Sheridan (Wyo.) Speedway (June 30-July 1): The third round of the WISSOTA Wild West Tour takes drivers to Sheridan for a Sunday-Monday doubleheader with other divisions also in action.
