Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Ohio wins spur Michigander's hot start
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Mike VanderMark Jr. (Steve Alcorn photos)
After yet another fruitless trip to Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park, Mike VanderMark Jr. remembers one night when he dialed up car owner Nick Weed on his four-plus hour drive north to Cedar Springs, Mich.
“I was talking to my car owner on the phone,” VanderMark recalled, “and I told him, 'I'm like, man, just next time I say something about coming down here, just tell me no,’ because every time we come down here, it's just bad luck, something happens, we struggle. We just never seem to be able to put a night together.”
But this season, during perhaps VanderMark's best career Late Model start, VanderMark finally put it all together at Attica. The 39-year-old racer who had never previously cracked the top five at the competitive track led every lap of April 17’s feature event.
The victory was VanderMark’s first at Attica, but his second of the season in Ohio. Two weeks earlier he debuted his new Longhorn Chassis with a victory at Moler Raceway Park just east of Cincinnati.
“It’s definitely been great. I couldn’t ask for a much better start than we’ve had so far,” said VanderMark, who owns 15 career victories, most of them during the warmer months. “In years past, we've had a few good years we get rolling pretty good, but it's usually around midseason. It just kind of seems like it takes us a little bit to get our feet under us and get rolling, then around midseason we kind of figure some stuff out and get rolling good and can knock off a few wins.”
VanderMark is accustomed to winning during his 20-plus year racing career, mostly in various stock car-style divisions as he’s averaged double-figure victory totals the last half-dozen seasons. He’s a two-time IMCA stock car Clash on the Coast champion among winter events in Florida and Alabama along with multidivision victories closer to home.
"I've been pretty fortunate,” VanderMark said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities over the years to drive for people and I kind of just drove whatever I had the opportunity to drive. I’m just a pure racer. I'll drive anything whenever I can anywhere.”
His Late Model career launched in 2018 when he landed the ride with Weed, who had provided VanderMark engines for his pro stock and is the co-owner of VanderMark’s employer, North American Diesel Parts.
“He kind of always talked about buying a car and having me drive it and stuff like that, and I never really knew how serious he was, because he'd talked about it for a handful of years there,” VanderMark said. “He brought it up again, so finally I'm like, you know, how serious are you? And he's like, ‘You look for a car and I'll buy it.' And I was like, well, that sounds pretty serious then, so that's kind of how we got started.”
VanderMark’s first Late Model victory came in 2019 and his best Late Model season came with five victories in 2024. After running three different chassis brands over eight seasons, the team decided for 2026 to buy a Longhorn Chassis through Vinny Guliani of VG Performance.
VanderMark picked up the car at Longhorn’s North Carolina shop in November with Guliani going through suspension setups, shocks and orientation of the car. The Michigan driver quickly adapted to the new ride, crediting it for his strong start.
“It just fits me really well and came right out of the box good with it,” he said. “I just I think the biggest thing is the car just fits what I want to feel way better than anything else I've driven as far as Late Model racing.”
In the season opener at Moler, “I never changed one single thing on the whole car that night cause I just told myself, you know, I just wanted to get a good feel for the car and not change anything and just drive it. Just get laps on it and see where we was at with it,” VanderMark said. “I couldn't ask for it to come out of the box better than that.”
In his next start at Crystal (Mich.) Motor Speedway’s opener, VanderMark started eighth and finished fourth, and the next week headed to Attica.
"I really like the place,” said VanderMark, who often ends up there because it’s an attractive early-season destination. “Just the facility, the track, everything. Just we've never had no luck there, never ran good there, so I kinda was beginning to almost not want to go there.”
VanderMark's certainly glad he made the trip. While he didn’t adjust his Longhorn at Moler and made a few minor adjustments at Crystal, VanderMark knew evolving track conditions required some changes for the Attica feature.
"I was just kind of judging how slick I thought that feature was gonna get and how much we needed to tighten the car up,” VanderMark said, adding that he "wasn't super-confident on what I thought. I knew we're in the right direction, but I just didn't know if it was gonna be too far or not enough, and it was pretty much right on the money where we wound up, so everything worked out there.”
Guliani watched on DIRTVision and sent a congratulatory text to VanderMark’s phone.
"We finally had a good car there and things fell our way with everything throughout the night,” VanderMark said. "I think that's probably the biggest race I've ever won as far as level of competition and everything like that.”
He sat out of action the last weekend in April — the VanderMark family went on a cruise to the Bahamas — but he’s looking forward to the rest of 2026, which likely won’t include any points chases. He’ll primarily compete at Crystal, I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., and a few other Michigan tracks. He’s also scheduled DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series events that are closest to home. The driver who won 16 features across multiple divisions last season will continue with non-Late Model events, as well.
"I'm kind of proud of where I'm at right now. Not that I'm on the national scene or Jonathan Davenport or anything like that, but I guess I'm proud and happy of where I started, where I came from, and worked my way up to where I'm at now. I’ve been fortunate enough to, I feel like, put myself in a lot of opportunities and made the best of them to get where we are right now,” VanderMark said. “Because when I started racing, we had nothing. We had started with Oldsmobile motors and didn't even have a Chevy and kind of worked my way up and been fortunate enough to win across all the divisions I've been in.”
Weekly highlights
• Multitime track champ Jeff Rine of Danville, Pa., earned $4,000 for an April 24 Super Late Model victory at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway.
• Capturing April 24’s Crate Late Model feature at Baton Rouge Raceway, Brady Walton of Greenwell Springs, La., made it three in a row in the division at the Baker, La., oval.
• Winning his first Late Model feature in 23 seasons, Jody Krug of Plattsmouth, Neb., captured April 25’s event at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa. The 56-year-old returned to the division last season after a lengthy hiatus, joining 33-year-old son Jordan. Jody Krug's last victory came in 2003 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Neb.
• Sweeping an Illinois weekend, Braden Johnson of Taylorville, Ill., notched April 24-25 Crate Late Model victories at Lincoln Speedway and Charleston Speedway.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning April 25 at Winfield’s West Alabama Speedway, 52-year-old Henry Pullen of Pittsboro, Miss., notched his first Limited Late Model victory. He’d competed in primarily Crate Late Models from 2009-17, took a break for family reasons and returned to competition last summer.
Weekly news briefs
• In a track reshaping for 2026, Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Ohio, is aiming to slow down the outside groove, creating an inside lane that will improve the racing, promoter Josh McDonald told DirtonDirt. In an offseason project, the banking was cut down significantly — only about 25 percent of what it was, McDonald estimated. Along with the reduction in banking, the inside groove was widened in the corners, making the track’s turns about 100 feet wide. Additionally, turn one was shortened to create a more prominent inside lane. The track work and a wet spring have postponed the season’s opening practice twice with May 1's practice rained out.
• Kirk Bradley, a former Dirt Late Model competitor at tracks including McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa., and Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway, died April 24 at his Great Valley, N.Y., home after a short illness. He was 47. An employee at Randy’s Collision for more than 30 years, Bradley competed through 2016 in weekly events along with occasional Jay's Automotive United Late Model Series and Mid-Atlantic Championship Series events.
• Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., which this season switched to American All-Star sanctioning for weekly 604 Crate Late Model events, has ended its transition and will run fully under the organization's rules beginning May 2. The track originally allowed drivers to use 2025’s Hoosier tires through June, but teams have told the track they're prepared to complete the switch to American Racer rubber. See the track's Facebook page for details on tire rules.
• Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway has named Larry Boos as race director. Boos has extensive officiating experience at tracks in Indiana and Ohio, including as director of operations at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
• Western Kentucky Speedway in Nebo, Ky., has added a 602 Crate Late Model division for the 2026 season. The track hasn't run a Late Model-style division regularly since 2022.
• Following the lead of Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway and other tracks, Bedford (Pa.) Speedway beginning May 1 will allow its Late Model Sportsman division the option of CT 525 powerplants on a trial basis. "The best way to see how those engines compare (is) to race them," Bedford's statement said. "We will let them race and see how they do. If the results aren’t optimal then we won’t allow them anymore." Bedford will follow Hagerstown's 525 rule amendment.
• After an April 25 rainout that further delayed the start of the season, Skyline Speedway in Stewart, Ohio, plans to release a revamped 2026 schedule to make up for lost events. The Jeff Burdette-owned track will consider additional Saturday dates as well as potential Thursday and Sunday races.
• Because of issues with water storage tanks as well as avoid conflicts with Willard (Ky.) Speedway, 201 Speedway in Sitka, Ky., has pushed its season opener two weeks back to May 16. Super Late Models and Crate Late Models will be among divisions at the opener.
• After a difficult night at Rockcastle Speedway in Mount Vernon, Ky., that ended with a rainout of the $3,500-to-win Crate Late Model feature, new track owner Matthew Norman pledged to improve the racing experience. “We are going to get better at it and we do plan to make this one of the best places to race,” Norman said. “Maybe not next weekend, maybe not the next three or four shows, I am going to figure it out and we are going to get it right.” When the rain hit, the track elected to pay drivers of the remaining features by the way they lined up.
• Princeton (W.Va.) Speedway is seeking to purchase a water truck and requested Facebook followers to share any potential leads.
• Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., will honor the memory of longtime racer Kenny Jamieson, who died unexpectedly April 24. The Junction City, Ore., resident competed at Willamette and other tracks in various divisions over more than 40 seasons.
• After receiving some criticism from fans for paying out the purse from the April 25 event halted by an electrical outage, 191 Speedway’s Junior Lawson posted a video explaining his decision at the Campton, Ky., track on a night with travelers from the Save A Lot American All-Star Series on hand. “The reason I paid the cars is because they need the money to keep racing,” Lawson said. “And I know (fans) need money to get here, and I understand that. But we made a choice last night that I feel like was the best choice in this situation that we had.”
• Merritt Speedway in Lake City, Mich., announced that Katie Kempher is the new track photographer. Kempher owns and operates Love-able Memories Photography. She replaces Randy Ellen, who filled the role for 11 seasons.
• An issue with East Moline (Ill.) Speedway’s city liquor license forced the cancellation of April 26’s scheduled season opener. The track plans to open the season May 3 with a program that includes IMCA-sanctioned Late Models.
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Hudson O'Neal of Martinsville, Ind., has 240 points to lead Tyler Erb (215) and Ryan Gustin (205).
IMCA (Limiteds): Jesse Sobbing of Malvern, Iowa, and Zach Zeitner of Bellevue, Neb., have 77 points apiece to lead Jordan Krug (74).
American All-Stars (Crates): Logan Walls of Junction City, Ky., has 340 points to lead Dalton Brown (190) and Tyler Hoy (188).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Covy Parsons of Iuka, Miss., has 282 points to lead Brandon Lunsford (279) and Joey Tucker (271).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss., has 366 points to lead Ben Davis (324) and Christopher Reid (311).
DIRTcar (Crates): Jason Garver of Starke, Fla., has 145 points to lead Austin Leamon (140) and Brandon Yates (113).
Ultimate (Crates): Henry Hornsby III of Beckley, W.Va., has 70 points to lead Brandon Adkins (68) and Dalton Adkins (65).
(Some organizations have yet to have points races)
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway (May 1): The four-division card includes a $5,000-to-win event for unsanctioned Super Late Models.
Moler Raceway Park, Williamsburg, Ohio (May 1): Super Late Models chase a $2,000-to-win purse in topping a five-division program.
Deep South Speedway, Loxley, Ala. (May 1-2): A $1,500-to-win purse is on the line for 604 Crate Late Models; factory stocks and pure stocks top the weekend’s Forever 51 special.
Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway (May 2): The quarter-mile ovals opens its FALS Cup season with a $2,500-to-win Super Late Model event.
Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (May 2): On Camera and Autograph Night, women receive $10 general admission at the gate for a three-division program including $4,000-to-win Super Late Models.
Friendship Motor Speedway, Elkin, N.C. (May 2): Weekly Super Late Model racing returns with a $2,000-to-win event, along with a $300 bonus for the highest finishing CT 525-powered entry. Undercard divisions include 602 Crates.
Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway (May 2): On the undercard of the five-figure CRUSA 604 Series event, 602 Crates chase a $2,062 payday.
Sugar Creek Raceway, Blue Ridge, Ga. (May 2): 602 Crate Late Models chase a $1,500-to-win purse on an eight-division program that includes Limited and Crate Late Models.
Smoky Mountain Speedway, Maryville, Tenn. (May 2): A six-division Saturday Night Shootout program is highlighted by a $1,500-to-win event for Limited Late Models.
Cottonwood Speedway, Dothan, Ala. (May 2): The Jackie Hughes Tribute includes a $1,222-to-win event for 602 Crate Late Models; factory stocks top the card with a $4,222 payout to the winner.
Winchester (Va.) Speedway (May 2): Crate Late Models chase a $2,000-to-win purse on a card that includes Limited Late Models.
