Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Clanton set for trip Down Under
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: Shane Clanton’s personal 2026 racing schedule is largely fluid as he devotes most of his time to assisting his Capital Race Cars customers, but he has one stretch of competition firmed up and it’s very far from his Zebulon, Ga., home. He’s heading Down Under in a couple weeks to participate in Australian Speedweeks at Perth Motorplex, a five-race miniseries that includes March 6-7’s Western Australian Late Model Championship; March 11’s Hump Day Hustle; and March 13-14’s Late Model Nationals 100. The 50-year-old driver will race as a teammate to Todd Bayley, an Aussie Dirt Late Model regular who campaigns Capital Race Cars. It marks the first time in Clanton’s career that he’ll compete in Australia, which annually hosts visiting U.S. racers.
No. 2: Speaking of Capital Race Cars, a nugget of news about the Cedartown, Ga.-based chassis manufacturer that might have slipped under the radar was the announcement by Clanton and his partner Chad Smith that have finalized the purchase of all remaining business assets of the company from its founder Marshall Green. The initial transaction in January 2024 saw Clanton and Smith take over the Capital Race Cars division of Capital Fabrication Inc. from Green, whose staff at the fab shop continued to produce the chassis. Now Clanton and Smith also own the fabrication portion of the enterprise, bringing, the full spectrum of design, fabrication and distribution under one roof. It also means that Green, a former driver whose accolades include winning the 1997 Dirt Track World Championship at Pennsboro (W.Va.) Speedway, is no longer involved in the Capital chassis business that he launched 13 years ago.
No. 3: In my Inside Dirt Late Model Racing column topic this week I wrote about the possibility that Brandon Sheppard’s victory in last Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., signaled a returned to prolific winning form for the 33-year-old driver and Mark Richards’s Rocket1 team. B-Shepp added more credence to the theory by immediately adding another victory in Thursday night’s 40-lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season opener at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla. I looked back to check when Sheppard had last scored wins in consecutive starts and found he did it twice last year — April 12 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (World of Outlaws Late Model Series) and April 17 at Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa (MARS) and again June 29 at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway (Summer Nationals) and July 4 at Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio (Lucas Oil) — but both back-to-backs were split between the Rocket Chassis house car and his family-owned No. B5. The last time Sheppard was victorious in two straight full-field feature starts driving for Rocket1 was in 2022 when he won three straight Lucas Oil A-mains from Feb. 9-11 at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.
No. 4: I must say, from the photos I saw posted on social media, that Turn 5 Bar at Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Fla., looks pretty cool. It hosted a little get together for racers and fans following Thursday’s open practice for this weekend’s inaugural WoO doubleheader at the third-mile oval and from afar I’d rank it as one of the top on-site dirt-track bars in the country. Looked like a fun place to hang out.
No. 5: Condolences to the family and friends of longtime Gary Stuhler crew chief Randy Walkling, who died unexpectedly Thursday at the age of 64. Walkling was the veteran Stuhler’s right-hand man for most of the past quarter-century, serving as a dedicated crewman and close friend of the 70-year-old Hall of Fame racer from Greencastle, Pa. I saw him often at the track alongside Stuhler and he always offered a friendly hello and was ready to chat, though in recent years he wasn’t around quite as much because he stepped back from his regular wrench-turning duties with Stuhler to spend more time with his family, including two grandsons. Stuhler’s racing Facebook page had a post on Thursday remembering Walkling as being “more than just a part of our crew — he was a true part of our racing family. For many years, he played an important role in our team, giving his time, dedication and passion both at the track and behind the scenes.”
