Portsmouth Raceway Park
Fast Facts: 42nd General Tire Dirt Track World Championship
By Robert Holman and Aaron Clay
DirtonDirt.com
Dates: Oct. 13-15 (modified prelims Thursday; Late Model and Limited Late Model prelims and modified feature Friday; Late Model and Limited Late Model features Saturday)
Track: Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park (high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval).
Purse: $100,000-to-win Late Model feature ($3,000-to-win feature for non-qualifiers).
Sanction: Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
Last year’s winner: Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., who won his first career DTWC.
Tickets: $70 for three-day general admission (details below)
TV and streaming: FloRacing and MavTV
Websites: lucasdirt.com or portsraceway.com or thedtwc.com.
Track phone: (740) 354-3278.
Notes: The General Tire Dirt Track World Championship is the season finale for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. … Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., has wrapped up his second consecutive Lucas Oil Series championship. … For the eighth year in a row, the Carl Short-promoted race pays a race-record $100,000-to-win. … The overall purse has increased by more than $30,000 for 2022, with the feature purse getting an additional $23,615. … All but three of the 26 starters will enjoy a purse increase from last season, with sixth place doubling from $3,500 in ’21 to $7,000 this year. … Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., won the July 1 Lucas Oil Series race at Portsmouth this year. … Modified prelims are set for Thursday. On Friday, Late Models and Limited Late Models contest their prelims and the Modifieds compete in a $5,000-to-win main event. … Saturday’s action includes consolation races and the 100-lap main event, as well as a $4,000-to-win feature for Limited Late Models … The top 26 drivers who fail to transfer into the DTWC (via preliminary events) will be eligible to start a $3,000-to-win non-qualifiers' race. … The non-qualifiers’ race is known as the Jim Dunn Memorial, honoring the late first winner of the DTWC who rallied from the rear for a stirring victory in 1981 at Pennsboro. … The DTWC has had 26 winners. … Portsmouth is the seventh track to host the DTWC; this marks the race’s 11th straight year at PRP. … There have been five winners in the 10 DTWC events held at Portsmouth. … Brandon Sheppard has four wins, while Josh Richards and Scott Bloomquist have two victories each and Ricky Thornton Jr. and Jimmy Owens one apiece. … Sheppard, Richards and Bloomquist are the event’s only back-to-back winners. … Sheppard is the race’s youngest winner at 20 in 2013. … Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., is the only home-state winner to capture the DTWC, earning $60,000 for his 2003 victory at Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, Ky. ... Though 21 of the 41 DTWCs were held in West Virginia (18 at Pennsboro and three at West Virginia Motor Speedway), Richards was the first native West Virginian to win. … Freddy Smith (Pennsboro and Thunder Ridge); Bloomquist (K-C Raceway and Portsmouth); and Shannon Babb (Bluegrass and K-C Raceway) are the only DTWC winners to win the race at two tracks. … Portsmouth seats 4,000 spectators with 300 more seats in the pits.
DTWC winners
Year: Winner, hometown
2021: Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, Ariz.
2020: Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, Ill.
2019: Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, Ill.
2018: Josh Richards, Shinnston, W.Va.
2017: Josh Richards, Shinnston, W.Va.
2016: Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, Ill.
2015: Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, Tenn.
2014: Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, Tenn.
2013: Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, Ill.
2012: Jimmy Owens, Newport, Tenn.
2011: Don O’Neal, Martinsville, Ind.
2010: Earl Pearson Jr., Jacksonville, Fla.
2009: Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, Wis.
2008: Brian Birkhofer, Muscatine, Iowa
2007: Chub Frank, Bear Lake, Pa.
2006: Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, Ill.
2005: Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, Tenn.
2004: Rick Eckert, York, Pa.
2003: Darrell Lanigan, Union, Ky.
2002: Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, Ill.
2001: Bart Hartman, Zanesville, Ohio
2000: Wendell Wallace, Batesville, Ark.
1999: Steve Francis, Ashland, Ky.
1998: Freddy Smith, Knoxville, Tenn.
1997: Marshall Green, Dalton, Ga.
1996: Billy Moyer, Batesville, Ark.
1995: Jack Boggs, Grayson, Ky.
1994: Ronnie Johnson, Chattanooga, Tenn.
1993: Freddy Smith, Baton Rouge, La.
1992: Ronnie Johnson, Chattanooga, Tenn.
1991: Freddy Smith, Kings Mountain, N.C.
1990: Jack Boggs, Grayson, Ky.
1989: John Mason, Millersburg, Ohio
1988: Donnie Moran, Frazeysburg, Ohio
1987: Larry Moore, Dayton, Ohio
1986: Billy Moyer, Batesville, Ark.
1985: Freddy Smith, Kings Mountain, N.C.
1984: Jack Boggs, Webbville, Ky.
1983: Freddy Smith, Kings Mountain, N.C.
1982: Charlie Swartz, Ashland, Ky.
1981: Jim Dunn, Roseville, Ohio
DTWC purse
Feature event
1. $100,000
2. $20,000
3. $10,000
4. $8,000
5. $7,500
6. $7,000
7. $6,000
8. $5,000
9. $4,500
10. $4,000
11. $3,500
12. $3,250
13. $3,000
14. $2,750
15. $2,700
16. $2,650
17. $2,600
18. $2,575
19. $2,550
20. $2,525
21.-26. $2,500
Non-qualifiers’ race
1. $3,000
2. $2,000
3. $1,500
4. $1,250
5. $1,200
6. $1,150
7. $1,100
8. $1,075
9. $1,050
10. $1,025
11. $1,000
12. $900
13. $800
14. $700
15. $600
16.-26. $500
Event schedule
(Subject to change)
Thursday
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Camping registration open
11 a.m.: Ticket will-call open
Noon: Grounds cleared and secured
1 p.m.: All gates open
5:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m.: Modified hot laps
6:45 p.m.: Modified time trials
8 p.m.: Modified heat races
9:45 p.m.: Modified consolations
10:30 p.m.: Modified non-qualifiers’ race
Friday
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Camping registration open
11 a.m.: Ticket will-call open
Noon: Grounds cleared and secured
1 p.m.: All gates open
5:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m.: Hot laps
- Limited Late Models
- Late Models
- Legends
Opening ceremonies
- Limited Late Model time trials
- Late Model time trials
- Legends heats (8 laps)
- Late Model heats (12 laps)
- Modified hot laps
- Limited Late Model heats (10 laps)
- Modified feature (30 laps)
- Legends feature (20 laps)
- Limited Late Model consolations (12 laps)
Saturday
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: Camping registration open
11 a.m.: Ticket will-call open
Noon: Grounds cleared and secured
1 p.m.: All gates open
5:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
3:30 p.m.: Dirt Racing Outreach service
5:30 p.m.: Drivers’ meeting
6 p.m.: Hot laps
- Late Models
- Limited Late Models
Opening ceremonies and award presentations
7 p.m.: Competition
- Late Model consolation races (15 lap)
- Late Model hot laps
- Intermission/track prep if necessary
- 42nd annual General Tire Dirt Track World Championship (100 laps)
Award presentations
- Limited Late Model feature (25 laps)
- Jim Dunn Memorial non-qualifiers’ race (25 laps)
Tickets
Thursday
Three-day general admission (18-and-up): $70
Three-day students (12-17): $40
Three-day youth (7-11): $25
Three-day child (6 and under): free
Reserved seating: Additional $5
Three-day all access pit pass (all ages): $80
Friday
Two-day general admission (18-and-up): $70
Two-day students (12-17): $40
Two-day youth (7-11): $25
Two-day child (6 and under): free
Reserved seating: Additional $5
Two-day all access pit pass (all ages): $80
Saturday
One-day general admission (18-and-up): $50
One-day students (12-17): $30
One-day youth (7-11): $15
One-day child (6 and under): free
Reserved seating: Additional $5
One-day all access pit pass: $60
Camping
Primitive camping: $40
Online reservations: thedtwc.com/faq
Camping information: 740-354-3278 or 740-858-4972
