Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Clanton savors 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 returned home to Zebulon, Ga., this week after making his first-ever trip Down Under to compete in the Australian Speedweek at Perth Motorplex. Driving as a teammate to Todd Bayley — a longtime Aussie customer of Clanton’s Capital Race Cars — the 50-year-old former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion recorded two victories (a 15-lap Western Australia Late Model Championship preliminary feature March 6 and March 11’s 30-lap Humpday Hustle headliner) and placed third in March 14’s 100-lap finale after a deflating tire cost him the lead to winner Warren Oldfield late in the distance. Mechanical trouble prevented Clanton from starting March 7’s Western Australia Late Model Championship that was won by Kye Blight, an Aussie who has competed extensively in the United States, but the one blemish didn’t diminish his experience. “I’m just glad we got the opportunity to come over,” Clanton said in an interview while noting that his buddy, fellow racer and current WoO Late Model Series director Steve Francis, had frequently told him that he needed to race in Australia.
No. 2: Clanton finished fourth in the overall Australian Speedweek points standings that were won by Oldfield, whose triumph in March 14’s miniseries finale was historic as it marked the first 100-lap Dirt Late Model race ever contested in Australia. Clanton’s fellow Georgian, Jody Knowles, also represented the USA during the Speedweek and placed sixth in the points standings with his trip highlighted by a preliminary feature victory on March 13 and a third-place result in the Humpday Hustle A-main. The third American competitor, Missouri’s Jeff Roth, finished 12th in the Speedweek points standings.
No. 3: When asked in an interview if he hopes to return to race in Australia next year, Clanton made it clear that he is already looking to clear his schedule to make another visit Down Under for some action and to help his growing number of Capital Race Cars customers. In fact, he mentioned that if Perth’s Australian Speedweek remains in March rather than running close to the holidays, he thinks he can round up perhaps 10 guys who don’t have national touring series commitments to join him and swell the American driver representation.
No. 4: In my Inside Dirt Late Model Racing column this week I document the return to racing of Rome, Ga.’s Jake Knowles — a cousin of Jody Knowles — after he spent 44 days in a hospital last fall being treated for serious complications related to pancreatitis. One item we talked about was his 2009 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory at the defunct Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway, a $7,000 triumph that he scored as a 23-year-old upstart driving for Cleveland’s then owner Monty Morrow. “That’s my most memorable win, you know, with (the late) Scott (Bloomquist) running second,” Knowles said, fondly recalling the moment from 17 years ago. “People get on me, they’re like, ‘You don’t even know what you ate for lunch, but you remember everything about that race.’ ”
No. 5: I mentioned earlier this week that Sunday’s Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series points opener at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala., is well positioned to pick up some big-name drivers who compete in this weekend’s WoO Late Model Series doubleheader at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., was the first national racer to indicate he’ll join Talladega’s field in search of the $12,000 top prize. Now at least three more have added the race to their schedule provided all goes well for them at Magnolia: Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., who will make his first-ever Hunt the Front start; Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., who will spend the weekend driving Kevin Rumley’s No. 6: and Big Frog Motorsports pilot Daulton Wilson of Fayetteville, N.C.
