Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: There's no place like Dome
With the Kubota Gateway Dirt Nationals upon us inside the The Dome at America's Center, our roundtable checks in for the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
What’s your favorite things about indoor racing vs. outdoor racing?
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: Just the complete uniqueness of an indoor event. The whole feel of the deal is different than anything we experience with racing outdoors — the special logistics necessary, the tight confines of the track (which brings the rough-and-tumble action), the brush with major-league amenities, the big crowd. Indoor racing also provides that neat aura that comes with not seeing the track until you walk through that opening in your section of the stands.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: First off, we ought to be grateful there’s indoor racing to hold us over during the winter months. Not too long ago, the concept seemed more of a far-fetched dream than an attainable reality. Thanks to Cody Sommer’s vision and relentless efforts, The Dome’s grown into an all-around spectacle. So when talking about indoor racing, The Dome specifically, I’d put it third on my list of spectacles in the sport behind the World 100 and Prairie Dirt Classic. Of course, indoor racing will never overtake outdoor racing, but if there is one thing indoor racing does have, it’s the palpable energy that energizes the event inside the arena. You get that at the World 100 and PDC, but The Dome’s energy is unmatched.
Aaron Clay, DirtonDirt weekend editor: My favorite thing about indoor racing is the uniqueness of the event and how the sound of the crowd carries within the closed confines of The Dome. Last year’s Gateway Dirt Nationals was my first indoor racing experience and it left a lasting impression. Obviously, engine noise is considerably louder inside of a closed facility, but I was even more impressed that the roar of the crowd could be heard over the cars. You could easily tell if a situation was brewing or how the crowd felt about a driver. Outdoor racing is obviously dominant in our sport, but indoor racing just hits the senses in a different way.
Josh James, contributing DirtonDirt photographer: The first thing that comes to mind is weather won't determine if we race or not. I’ll stop short of saying it affects the track surface as it does matter if there is precipitation when bringing in the dirt for the the track build, but you can’t argue how nice it is to have some climate control while spectating an event. Besides those facts; the indoor confines of The Dome offers an amplifier for crowd noise and engine roar that takes the event atmosphere to another level and has made the Gateway Dirt Nationals what it is.
Among challenges in Dirt Late Model racing, where do you rank navigating a traffic-laden Dome track while leading a feature.
McFadden: There is simply no safe spot on The Dome’s fifth-mile layout. Usually both the top and bottom grooves are occupied throughout the field, which leaves the leader few options when they catch the tail end of the field. I will say, feeling claustrophobic as the leader navigating traffic isn’t the end of the world. If the leader has a hard time passing, then everyone behind you faces the same issue. If you’re going to make your move, it should come before traffic plays a factor because I like my chances as the leader in that scenario. But make no mistake, danger lurks in every corner, whether you’re leading or fighting to stay on the lead lap. It’s definitely one of the hardest races to execute start to finish.
Clay: Navigating lapped traffic at The Dome, or any quarter-mile bullring, has to be one of the most difficult tasks that a race leader may encounter. On one hand, you’re leading the race and trying not to put your car in harm’s way, but you also better know that a snarling pack of cars are breathing down your neck, waiting for you to bobble or open the door. With a track smaller than a football field, you expect bent sheetmetal and flared tempers, but as the race leader, you simply hope to avoid the chaos.
James: It has to rank high on the list as it puts a premium on driver decision making and skill. And nobody is safe from it. With the short length of the racetrack, only a handful of green flag laps will land the leader in some hectic lapped traffic. That traffic is also coupled with navigating the challenging racetrack itself with a concrete barrier on both sides and the unpredictable character the track develops by the main event. It’s important to place yourself in the position to pass but also preserve equipment enough to conquer The Dome.
Kovac: It’s one that tests just about every quality a driver must possess for success. The short distance (the feature is just 40 laps) certainly eliminates most of the chess game a racer employs in long races, but there’s still elements of patience and smarts that are necessary lest a driver end up running themselves into trouble that dooms them. A driver needs to be more aggressive — and willing to trade paint — than usual to seize any opening that presents itself, while simultaneously anticipating where cars ahead might be going. I’d say the focus it takes ranks right up there with the biggest and toughest of racetracks.
Any gut feelings about a relatively unheralded driver finding Dome success?
Clay: I certainly wouldn’t consider Garrett Alberson unheralded at most venues the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series visits, but I also wouldn’t consider him a master of short-track racing. Even more intriguing, Alberson and his Roberts Motorsports team have unveiled a retro-appearing Late Model body, one that harkens back to the 1990s. I’m quite confident that aerodynamics and downforce mean almost nothing on Gateway's fifth-mile temporary clay oval, but I’m interested to see how Garrett performs and if he feels a big difference from the driver's seat.
McFadden: Mansfield, Ohio’s Kyle Moore has top-10 potential come Saturday night at The Dome, I think. He’s starred on short tracks in the Buckeye State the last three years, compiling his third straight 20-win season. Two years ago he scored a monumental upset victory on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals at his home track, Wayne County. Moore’s cut from a similar cloth as Tyler Carpenter in the Ohio Valley region, and we all know how Gateway suits Carpenter. Another driver I have my eye on is Crate standout Hayden Cardwell in making his Super Late Model debut.
James: Looking at the driver rosters, there are a few that I could see making their presence felt, but I’m looking forward to seeing Dylan Thornton’s first laps inside The Dome in the DRT entry. The 24-year old California native has had a lot of great runs throughout this past season and there’s no doubt in his abilities to drive a race car. The short track inside the Dome removes the aerodynamic obstacle that any young Late Model driver can attest to its learning curve. I think Thornton will be able to navigate the short oval like he does in Iowa, being aggressive when he needs to be.
Kovac: How about Colten Burdette? He fits the unheralded profile to perfection. A regional-local racer of modest means, he’s flashed potential for bigger things with his performance at Ohio Valley tracks near his home in Parkersburg, W.Va., especially this year with his breakthrough run to a championship on the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series. He might not have the firepower and finances to go toe-to-toe with the best at big tracks, but he has the goods to make noise in his first trip to The Dome.
Predict the winner of the Gateway finale.
James: Seeing eight iterations of this event, it’s hard not to select a Brandon Sheppard or Bobby Pierce. Both excel at this style of racetrack, both are two-time champions of the event, and even with their successes you could argue both have a something-to-prove approaching in closing out 2025. However I think the reuniting Ricky Thornton Jr. and crew chief Anthony Burroughs will triumph and collect RTJ’s first Gateway Dirt Nationals Victory in the Super Late Models and he will be the first driver that can lay claim to being a winner of both divisions competing at the Dome.
Kovac: Jonathan Davenport. The physical action on the indoor bullring certainly isn’t J.D.’s cup of tea — he might skip the race altogether if it wasn’t such a big merchandise seller for him because of the huge crowd — but he’s never won the big show in his five career attempts (fourth in 2019 is his best finish) and that means the fierce competitor in him craves a victory. I think it’s time for Davenport to get it done at Gateway. Winning the race-record $70,000 top prize would be an appropriate cap to a fine season that’s exceeded 20 victories and includes a notable quarter-mile triumph at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway, which makes me believe he’ll carry that little-track success to Gateway.
McFadden: The Dome runs through Brandon Sheppard as no driver has more Saturday night stats (eight) and Saturday night podiums (four), but I feel like Ricky Thornton Jr. is going to get the job done this week. He’s finished on the podium three times and with Anthony Burroughs back in his corner as crew chief, vibes will be flowing with enthusiasm from the Koehler Motorsports No. 20rt pit area.
Clay: I’m grabbing the lowest-hanging fruit, but I’d put my money on two-time winner Bobby Pierce. It’s well known Pierce hasn’t ended his season in the strongest fashion, securing only one victory since Aug. 23 — Oct. 18’s Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway — but the Gateway Dirt Nationals is an event that falls almost perfectly in his wheelhouse. Pierce operates in his prime when his right-rear quarterpanel is laid against the outside wall and the fast line is around the top, which is almost assuredly where he will need to be in Saturday’s $70,000-to-win finale.
During the offseason, what’s your likelihood of grabbing a seat on the couch, finding a previously streamed Dirt Late Model race, and watching it all over again (or first the time)?
Kovac: I’m not going to lie, probably zero. I see more than enough races both in person and online during the season. I don’t need to watch a full event during the sport’s down time. Now I might look over a few minutes of an old race when a video that interests me pops up on social media, but, as much as I love the sport, I’m getting a little distance from it when we’re in the (very short) offseason.
Clay: I hate to be “that guy,” but I simply cannot enjoy a race, or any sporting event for that matter, when I already know the outcome. The intrigue of not knowing who wins, or if one driver can hold off another, is a big reason why I tune in. I’m usually scrolling social media, or taking in a podcast, if I happen to have any downtime in the offseason, or find myself relaxing on the couch. But, with just four weeks between the Gateway Dirt Nationals and the Wild West Shootout, there certainly isn’t much downtime in the Dirt Late Model industry.
James: Better than your weatherman’s snow forecast. I think there will be a 100 percent chance of me turning on a full race replay and it playing in the background of me working on some offseason projects. I find it wild turning on an event from May or June and seeing or listening to what the storylines were then and knowing how they played out that particular night or even at season’s end. Also from a photographer's point of view, you can see things on a stream that you may have missed that night or even some lighting and photo angle ideas for the next time I'm at that track.
McFadden: Those chances are slim. Look, I love racing, and in order to do this job well, it takes passion and working long nights, especially when we’re traveling. But the winter months are to unwind and take my mind off racing as much as possible. Sometimes us folk who work in motorsports need a breather from racing. There’s plenty of races awaiting us next year.
