Inside Dirt Late Model Racing
Column: Father-and-son pursuit of Lucas success
The hours have been long. The work has been grueling. The miles have been countless. The struggle has been real.
But for Pancho Lawler, it’s all been worthwhile. All the trials and tribulations he’s experienced over the past two years have come alongside his son Cory, an aspiring 23-year-old driver from Hanover, Pa., who is taking his lumps on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series in hopes of future success.
“It’s awesome. Challenging, but awesome,” the elder Lawler said during the recent Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals when asked about racing on a national level with his son. “Quite an experience. Just something I’d do every time you gave me a choice.”
Since Cory Lawler began chasing the Lucas Oil tour at the start of the 2024 season, it’s basically been him and his father on the road, traveling the highways and toiling on their cars as a family pair. Maintaining morale amid the torturous learning process of an inexperienced young driver going up against the sport’s biggest stars hasn’t been easy, but they’ve certainly become closer as father and son.
“We get a lot of hours in the truck together,” Cory Lawler said. “It’s just me and him, so, you know, we spend 24 hours a day together, and have every meal in an 80-foot long box.
“You’re right next to each other all the time. It’s trying at times. We don't always agree. We might butt heads, but at the end of the day, we’re still here to do a job and make the race and finish as best we can.”
Pancho, at 57 a veteran racer himself and owner of the Pancho’s Racing Products business in Hanover, Pa., relishes every minute he spends with his son.
“Arguments don’t last but about 30 seconds,” Pancho said. “We usually disagree on either driving or setup or something. It’s just, you get around each other so much, it can be crazy, but we get along very well.”
The Lawlers have been racing together since Cory was 7 years old, first in quarter-midgets and micro-sprints. Cory tested a Dirt Late Model for the first time in 2018, when he was 16, and began dipping his toes into the class as a competitor over the ensuing years.
Initially, Cory and Pancho both raced. Pancho has essentially “raced all my life in something,” but mostly in sprint cars in his native central Pennsylvania, but beginning in 2012 he focused on the Dirt Late Model division. Cory followed in his tire tracks, and eventually, as Cory displayed a deep interest in taking a shot at driving as an occupation, Pancho stepped out of the cockpit to become Cory’s crew chief and put the family’s full resources into his development.
“We raced together a small bit, but I realized that … we did a two-car thing, like, at Charlotte and I said, ‘We can’t do this,’ ” Pancho said. “I’d love to still drive, but I realize the end goal, realistically, to get him where he wants to go now. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be a professional race car driver when he first started. He kind of had that in the back with his mind, but you never know how serious people are.”
According to Pancho, once Cory “got serious about” pursuing Dirt Late Model racing, he was fully behind his son’s dreams. The focus became building a racing program that could carry Cory into national action and making it possible for Pancho to be his head wrench.
After high school, Cory had helped his father run Pancho’s Racing Products, a thriving enterprise that offers parts and other services, including fabrication work, to racers in multiple divisions. So with Cory and Pancho heading out to chase the Lucas Oil Series last year, who would step up in their absence? Pancho said he’s “fortunate enough to have my brother (Tab), and my wife (Deb), handle the store when we’re on the road.”
“Without those two, I couldn’t be out here helping him,” said Pancho, whose younger son, 21-year-old Dylan, is a senior at Wisconsin’s Milwaukee School of Engineering. “When there’s some downtown and we’re still on the road, I wish I’d be home to be able to be a little bit more involved in the business. But through the internet I stay involved, and my brother does a phenomenal job, and my wife.”
The Lawlers now have two race-ready Longhorn Chassis and four Pro Power engines in their stable. They’ve signed Drydene Oil and Sunoco Race Fuels as primary sponsors, and now Cory is invested in the team alongside his parents.
“Pancho’s (the business) owns the rig and Cory owns all the motors now and I own the cars,” Pancho said. “We set him up last year like, ‘You do all the expenses for the truck deal, the race car fuel, the tires.’ Engine rebuilds we split — the business pays for half, he pays for half. Now, like, when we have to buy new motors, that’s usually mom and dad.
“I’d say right now our biggest hurdle, or struggle, is probably just keeping up with the motor program. We have another one in (the trailer) and one in the other car, and (Pro Power’s) Bill (Schlieper), he turns stuff around like lickety-split, you couldn’t ask for anything better, but motors are always a big deal.”
Father and son don’t have a full-time crew member in order to keep operation costs down for the team, but they are certainly contemplating increasing their budget to hire one come 2026.
“We didn’t really realize how much having a third person (on the team) helps until we recently got a UNOH (University of Northwestern Ohio) student. Landon Moser, to come help us when we’re racing near the school,” Pancho said. “He’s been super, super helpful. He’s knowledgable, can do a lot on the race car. Good kid. Very helpful.
“All of a sudden, I could kind of back off what I’m doing or Cory could back off what he’s doing. (Moser) came down to Muskingum (County Speedway Zanesville, Ohio), and, Cory’s like, ‘I’m almost bored,’ because we don’t even speak, we just do our our own thing, and so now you have a third person and it’s like, ‘Wow, this is fantastic.’
“We realized after last year we needed like a tire person, if you will, or just a general maintenance person. We tried to get two guys but it just didn’t work out. You can't go crazy (increasing the budget), but as we’re out here, we learn what people are getting paid to do those (particular crew) positions and very few are really high salaries for those positions, so we’re looking into that.”
Withstanding the hard knocks associated with learning the ropes as driver and crew chief on the Lucas Oil Series has been the Lawlers’ biggest objective.
“This is one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” Cory said. “I mean, it ain’t easy. These (series) guys are really, really, really good at what they do.”
Cory’s 2024 campaign was absolutely a “learning year,” said Pancho, and the young driver’s performance record on the national tour documents that fact. The vast majority of his 29 Lucas Oil feature starts came through points provisionals he became eligible for as a series regular, and his best finish in a full-field A-main was 16th, in the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and a midweek show at Eagle (Neb.) Raceway. He finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year battle and 17th overall in the points standings.
This season has brought better results. Cory has shown improvement, as evidenced by his use of a provisional for fewer than half of his 28 feature starts. He’s still looking for his first top-10 finish in a full-field feature (11th on July 4 at Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio, is his best), but he’s hit some milestones, including his first starting spot inside the top 10 (ninth on July 10 at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa), a second fastest overall qualifying time at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D., and, most notably, a heat win on Sept. 19 at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway.
The Knoxville heat success, in which he beat three-time Lucas Oil Series champion Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., to the finish line, was especially uplifting to Lawler. It provided a boost that goes a long way for a young driver.
“Let me tell you, it gives us a lot of confidence,” said Cory, who locked into the Knoxville Nationals finale with his preliminary points total (he finished 19th in the 75-lapper). “It shows we’re making some gains.”
Pancho sees his son inching forward. He’s thankful to all the people who are helping him get there with either technical assistance or just simply words of encouragement.
“Max Blair, we’re close with him, and he says, ‘Look, it’s going to take you a while. Don't get dejected,’ ” Pancho said. “(Garrett) Alberson’s been great too. Lots of people are like that. You know, you get out here and get your teeth kicked in every night, you put your head down, you’re like, ‘Yeah, we suck.’ But it’s just the level you’re trying to play at. You just have to like take little victories, you know?
“These guys, they’re really good at their jobs, so, like, when you’re trying to compete against them at this level, it’s not going to be an overnight success. And he and I realize that. The strides he’s made this year, we set small goals as far as, you know, top 10s, heat race wins, qualifying for big events, and we’ve pretty much attained everything that we set a goal for this year. We were very realistic as far as wins and how many top tens we could get, or even a top five, which would be a small miracle at this time because it’s tough.
“But I just look at it like, what we do, or are doing, it’s very difficult,” he continued. “But on the budget we do it and the money we spend, we’re getting there. We’re in the direction, we’re in the right mix, we’re working with the right people.”
Pancho said Cory has attended Donnie Moran’s driving school in an effort to obtain knowledge from the Hall of Famer. The Lawlers also have cultivated relationships with such notables as Devin Moran, Donnie’s son and their fellow Lucas Oil Series regular; Longhorn Factory Team crew chief Anthony Burroughs; and Ohio racer-turned-technical consultant Keith Berner.
“Everybody ask me why I use Pro Power (engines). He fits our team,” Pancho said. “I use Keith (Berner as a tech consultant) … he fits our driver, he fits our team. The Moran guys, (Moran’s crew chief) Chuckie (Kimball), he helps us out. Burroughs helps us.
“It’s those type of relationships you have to establish. They’re important relationships to have in this business. You's got to have someone on your side. We stayed at Moran’s place for a couple days (between running a Sept. 13 event at Muskingum County and the Knoxville Nationals) … you hang around those kind of people, you learn how to do things better. And we’ve kind of been on some these guys’ coattails this year and have been fortunate enough to go test more with them.
“I think we’re getting there in small little gains,” he added. “We’re not lighting the world on fire, but we’re getting it. We are our own little team here and we set our own goals to get our own accomplishments. We may not get there in a year or two years, but we will be there as long as we continue on a path and grow and meet the right people and work with the right people.”
And through it all, you can bet father and son are going to stay side-by-side.
“I’ll be out here as long as he does it,” Pancho said with a smile.
Ten things worth mentioning
1. The Lawlers’ shop in Hanover, Pa., sits directly in front of the home base for Shark Racing, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car team that Hall of Famer Bobby Allen fields for Logan Schuchart. “We’re like 10 feet away from them,” said Pancho Lawler, who noted that he and Cory have a close relationship with the Shark operation. In fact, it was through the sprint car team that the Lawlers were connected with Pennsylvania-based Drydene Oil and landed a sponsorship deal with the company.
2. Both of the Lawlers’ primary sponsorships — Drydene and Sunoco Fuels — are not deals that strictly benefit the team. The Pancho’s Racing Products business is part of the arrangements with items from the companies included in Pancho’s offerings. “My goal is to sell enough product in my store to pay for my sponsorship and make you more money, as well as me,” said Pancho, who notably carries six different octanes of Sunoco Race Fuel at his business. “I don’t think too many other race teams have that capability to do that, because they don’t have that outlet, where I do. And if it helps Cory, fantastic.”
3. Pancho’s Racing Products and the Lawler race shop take up half the 26,000-square-feet building that Pancho Lawler said he’s a year-and-a-half away from paying off. To generate some additional revenue from the unused space, he rents out two areas to dance and cheerleading groups. He noted, though, that, thanks to sound-proofing in the walls, the sounds of music and yelling cheerleaders can’t be heard where they’re working.
4. This weekend’s Pittsburgher 100 will bring the second appearance this season of five-time national champion Josh Richards, the 37-year-old native of Shinnston, W.Va., who ended a nearly three-year absence from competition on Aug. 29 with a short-lived start in the opener of the Hillbilly Hundred at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. Richards is hoping for better luck this time — his Lernerville weekend ended with terminal engine trouble in his heat — and PPMS would seem to be just the right place for him. He calls the sprawling half-mile oval one of his favorite tracks and his performance record there over the years bears that out. Richards has started the Pittsburgher finale 13 times in as many attempts and has two victories (2007 and ’16) among eight top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. His fourth-place finish in the 2004 Pittsburgher (run over the 60-lap distance) was the best result of his rookie season on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series, evidence of how comfortable he is circling the fast track.
5. Here’s a notable coincidence of Richards’s 2004 Pittsburgher outing: the race winner was Bart Hartman of Zanesville, Ohio, who happened to be Richards’s Rocket Chassis house car teammate that year. He’ll race this weekend, of course, for his father Mark’s Rocket1 operation with a teammate again in Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill.
6. Interesting stat on Richards’s history in the Pittsburgher: in his 12 career starts in the event’s finale, he’s failed to finish on the lead lap just twice. Both were DNFs: a 24th-place finish in 2012’s 53-lap UFO-sanctioned event (he was leading on lap 32 when a tangle with a slower car knocked him out) and a 14th-place finish in ’21 (his last Pittsburgher appearance ended on lap 84 of the 100-lap feature after he struggled throughout).
7. And speaking of Richards, his racing plans remain uncertain but he does now have a new T-shirt available. His first apparel offering since he walked away from competition following the 2022 season has already proven popular as online sales were closed Wednesday not long after the shirts were first posted for presale. A limited number of the Rocketman shirts will be available this weekend at Richards’s hauler in the PPMS pit area.
8. If you’re wondering how well the Lucas Oil Series Big Four drivers — Ricky Thornton Jr., Devin Moran, Jonathan Davenport and Hudson O’Neal — can be expected to run at PPMS, just look at the most recent results of the Pittsburgher. Three of the championship contenders have combined to win the event’s four runnings since 2020 (it was rained out in ’22) with Thornton winning twice (2020, ’23) and O’Neal (’21) and Davenport (’24) claiming one victory. And while Moran hasn’t yet won the Pittsburgher finale, he’s finished second in each of the last two years.
9. Aside from Richards, Thornton, O’Neal and Davenport, the only other past Pittsburgher winner expected to enter this weekend’s action is Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., who captured the 2012 event following Richards’s demise.
10. I saw a humorous post on the Todd Cooney Racing Facebook page in which the team encouraged fans to vote for driver Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, in the WoO Most Popular Driver contest. According to the statement, Gustin “said if he wins he’s gonna streak through Marshalltown and (Gustin’s wife) Kendra will video it and put it on Facebook.” I think that’s a joke, right?
