Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Official navigates eye surgery
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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: Veteran Dirt Late Model official and public relations specialist Kelley Carlton has had his early-season duties hampered as he recovers from March 3 emergency surgery to repair what he said doctors called “a giant retinal tear” is his left eye. The 54-year-old National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer from Woodruff, S.C., is blind in his right eye — he lost his sight in it completely some 20 years ago when debris from a race car struck him while he was wearing bubble goggles as he flagged an event at Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway — so he’s had to back away from his job as an emergency medical technician as well as his usual racing responsibilities while his regains full vision with his left eye. “We are getting there,” Carlton told me Wednesday when I asked how he was coming along. “My vision is pretty good; I can use my readers (glasses) to look down at my phone and whatnot, but my eye is full of oil (to keep the retina in place) so I have to look ‘through’ that when looking straight ahead. Hopefully I will be able to get some glasses in the next couple of weeks that will allow me to drive and hopefully get back to work soon.”
No. 2: Carlton, whose 2026 racing work includes directing the Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series and serving as promoter and P.R. director of reopened Modoc (S.C.) Speedway, was able to attend a recent practice and last Friday’s Ed Basey Memorial at Modoc. His girlfriend, Kristen Ettenger, drove him back and forth, allowing Carlton to oversee the action from the tower. “I can’t see well but I can give advice and make sure all the moving parts stay moving,” said Carlton, who was told by his doctor that he couldn’t do any heavy lifting and he should “stay out of the dust.” Of course, the latter is difficult at a dirt track, but Carlton related that when he told new Modoc promoter Ronnie Powell that he needed to avoid dust with his eye recovering, Powell “had the whole pit area and parking area treated with calcium chloride to keep the dust down.” As Carlton noted, “Ronnie has been super understanding” as he navigates the aftermath of his eye surgery.
No. 3: Speaking of Modoc, did you happen to see an aerial photo of the track that was taken during last Friday’s grand reopening of the 3/8-mile oval near the South Carolina-Georgia border? The crowd of course looked impressive, but I was taken by the distinctly gray color of the racetrack itself. It almost appeared to be a paved track from above, but it was just the new gray-gumbo clay that Powell had trucked in to replace the typical red clay that predominates in the Southeast. The surface proved to be well received by the competitors. Carlton said he messaged about 40 drivers and almost all of them reported experiencing very little, if any, tire wear during the season opener.
No. 4: We almost made it through the month of March without a single weather-related cancellation or postponement of a national touring series Dirt Late Model event. Both the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and World of Outlaws Late Model Series were 4-for-4 until the Lucas Oil tour announced Tuesday that this Friday’s Buckeye Spring 50 at Atomic Speedway in Alma, Ohio, was being rescheduled to Sunday because of a cold, rainy forecast. But the series isn’t losing the race with Sunday looking good as a rain date and it appears Saturday’s show at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway will run off on planned as well, albeit under chillier conditions than all of this month’s national touring events have enjoyed. What’s more, this weekend’s WoO doubleheader at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City and Senoia (Ga.) Raceway seem primed for warm, clear weather to close out three straight weekends of competition.
No. 5: I know it was sprint cars, but I made sure to tune into Tuesday night’s live FS1 coverage of the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing Series event at Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park. It’s always neat to see a dirt-track event appear live on a television network, which hopefully exposes the sport to more casual fans. One thing I’d like High Limit to add to their remaining five FS1 broadcasts this season is a sprint car driver in the announcing booth to provide color commentary and analysis. I think that would be a great boost to the broadcast, much like January’s Wild West Shootout broadcasts on FloRacing benefitted from Hall of Famer Billy Moyer’s inclusion on the announcing team.
