Batesville Motor Speedway
Dillard's Topless payback unnerving for Alberson
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
The Garrett Alberson-Cade Dillard tangle at Batesville. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
LOCUST GROVE, Ark. (Aug. 15) — Garrett Alberson never doubted his slide job for the lead in Friday’s second semifeature at Batesville Motor Speedway’s 33rd annual Nutrien Ag Solutions Topless 100 presented by Big River Steel. Cade Dillard, though, didn’t cut Alberson any slack. | RaceWire
Two unrelenting drivers vying for the same real estate came together in dramatic fashion to trigger a multi-car backstretch pileup of the 3/8-mile oval on the lap-eight restart. When Alberson slid into the lead in turn two, Dillard never let off and their cars both rose off the racing surface, Alberson’s No. 58 nearly getting upside down and Dillard’s car doing a wild wheelie before both crashed back to earth, Alberson sustaining the brunt of the carnage that collected a number of onrushing competitors.
Neither driver was hurt, but both went from being viable contenders of Saturday’s $50,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series prize to requiring extensive repairs on mangled cars. With contrasting opinions on the clash’s cause, the two didn’t discuss their opinions of the incident except with others, first briefly on FloRacing immediately afterwards and then later in the pits.
“I mean, he spent half the corner right there in the middle,” Robeline, La.’s Dillard began in his postrace assessment of the tangle. “And we got our momentum up, and then I seen he's coming up. I attempted to turn down, but once I've seen we're making contact, no, I didn't lift. Everybody just sees what happened tonight, but it's been two or three times throughout the year we've got run over by the same 58 car.
“We just got to the point, I was over it. And the amount of drivers and crew guys that came over and talked about they're glad somebody did it, I think there's a lot of people that feel the same way.”
Interviewed immediately after the wreck on FloRacing, Alberson said the video would tell the story. That review validated what the Las Cruces, N.M, driver believed.
“I watched that replay. I had him clear by at least a car length,” said Alberson, tied for fifth in Lucas Oil Series points. “By the time he could see me, I was clear by a car length. And I’ve been slid hundreds of times — close, not close. The game is, that’s the game. In this game, we throw slide jobs and we try to break people’s rhythms. And you go again. And if he wanted to race me, then we could’ve raced. I don’t know. What took place there, I’m pretty disappointed for him.
"The thing I’m happy about tonight is, I can go to sleep knowing I did my job and I’ve taken account for my mistakes in the past. If he can go to sleep feeling good about himself, I think he has some issues he needs to work on.”
Alberson knows exactly why Dillard raced him the way he did Friday at Batesville. Flash back to their on-track incident at July 31’s USA Nationals prelim at Cedar Lake Speedway, where Alberson started third made contact with the pole-starting Dillard on the initial start of the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series event.
So when Alberson made his move for the Batesville lead on Friday's lap-eight restart of the 25-lapper eventually won by Jonathan Davenport, Dillard conveyed the message that he hadn’t forgotten where they left off.
“You know, I’ve made my mistakes and I can admit that. I went into the grease there at Cedar Lake and hit him in the left-front,” Alberson said. “But if you watch that replay real close, I was on the brakes when I hit him. There’s a big difference, in my opinion, between being on the brakes, knowing you messed up and being able to admit you messed up. I even admitted to him, I know I messed up. But what happened tonight was on a totally different level.”
Competitors pointed out Batesville’s layout was more juiced than normal, creating close-quarters racing and lightning speeds that cut reaction times. Dillard said conditions had been “somewhat” a factor in the tangle, which occurred after the pole-starting Dillard led the field back to green after leading laps 5-7. But Dillard, an independent racer who regularly enters the Topless 100, made clear the main reason for the contact.
“I mean, typically, whenever under green flag racing, if you're not anywhere close to the leader, typically, you don't do something like that on a restart either,” Dillard said. “But you know, hindsight’s 20-20. It is what it is at this point. For years, I've got my butt chewed by my car owner for just getting ran over and never doing anything about it.
“And I went and told (Alberson) at Cedar Lake after he hit us lap one, turn one, that I was over that. Like I said, once I've seen that we were making contact, no, we definitely didn't lift.”
According to Dillard, he’s raced Alberson a little harder since July 11-12’s Diamond Nationals weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
“He did it to us at Wheatland, too. He’s just … a nice guy and his car has speed, just when he puts a helmet on, he just kind of turns into — I’m not gonna say anything bad there — just loses his mind a little bit, drives over his head a lot,” Dillard said. “Once again, like I said, when you got that many other racers come by and talk about it, you know, I'd say there's several people feels the same way.
“I just wanna thank all my sponsors and my crew and everyone that sticks behind us. It sucks it ended the way it did. Our car has speed, really good speed, the past few weeks. Just thankful for everybody that keeps supporting us.”
While the damage to Dillard’s car was primarily cosmetic, Alberson’s battered car ended up dangling from a tractor while being unceremoniously hauled to the pits. The Roberts Motorsports team was forced to unload their second car for Saturday’s finale.
“We know our other car is good. It’s the one we ran at Cedar Lake and it’s really competitive,” Alberson said. “With the situation there, we have enough tore-up stuff, it’s going to be plenty hot tomorrow and I don’t want to kill my guys. We’re just going to swap it out tonight and go again.”
For Dillard, he considers himself a level-headed racer who doesn’t get worked up easily. But Friday, the driver of the Shane Sprinkle-owned entry gave himself permission to put his reserved nature aside and dole out some payback.
“Man, I think anybody that knows me knows I’m like that,” Dillard said regarding his calm demeanor. “But you take a lot for so long and then kind of gets to the point … there’s been so many nights my car owner tells me, you know, it's time to stand up. He gives me a little chewin’, and I'll go on.
“And those just happen over and over, and like I said, I warned (Alberson) at Cedar Lake, if you do anything stupid, there would be the consequences. He kind of messed around and found out there.”
Told of that, Alberson said Friday’s incident is unsettling.
“He needs to look inside himself right there. He could’ve hurt me and other people in that field,” Alberson said. “We both have kids. He has kids. I would never do that to somebody like that. He was in the gas while I was flying through the air. Yeah, just, maybe he has a different view.
“What I saw there and what I know in my heart is that I feel pretty disrespected. Yeah, what’s gone on between him and I is on a totally different level than what he did right there. Hopefully he can sleep good.”
