Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Health scare for Hedgecock family
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: Driver Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn., was supposed to be spending a fun weekend on vacation with his family along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The getaway turned scary over the weekend, however, when his father, Chad, suffered a massive stroke at the beach house where they were staying. A veteran 55-year-old racer who operates BMF Race Cars and Eagle Racing Engines while also fielding Dirt Late Models for his son, Chad Hedgecock had his left side go “completely dead,” according to Cory’s Facebook post, but an ambulance crew quickly responded and rushed him to a nearby hospital. The stroke — attributed to Chad’s heart being in AFib for what doctors said was a week — led to multiple MRIs and CT scans that found a massive blockage in his brain; he was transported by helicopter to a hospital in Pensacola, Fla., for a catheter procedure to retrieve the clot, but “by the time he got there the clot had completely disappeared,” Cory wrote. Calling it “nothing short of a miracle,” Cory noted that his father appears to be “perfectly OK” after he received further treatment in the ICU. “Thought I was losing my best friend. Puts some things in perspective really fast on what’s important and what isn’t,” Cory wrote before adding: “Me, pops and momma gunna have a big meeting next week on how we can calm down dad. Gotta keep him around a few more minutes.”
No. 2: While Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., kept his Dirt Late Models and modifieds in the shop last weekend, he still stood in victory lane. He took his 6-year-old son, Caden, go-kart racing Friday at the Jonesboro Karting Complex in Bono, Ark., and stood by proudly as his boy raced to his first-ever feature win. “I’ve had opportunities to win some cool and very big events in my career,” Dillard wrote on Facebook. “But watching my son drive to his first win tonight hits different!”
No. 3: After spending a busy week running the World of Outlaws Late Model Series East Coast swing, third-year tour regular Tristan Chamberlain of Richmond, Ind., is taking Memorial Day weekend off from competition for his family and friends to celebrate his graduation from high school. The 18-year-old completed his studies at Indiana Digital Learning School — he took online courses in recent years so he could pursue his racing career — with honors to earn recognition as the Salutatorian (second-highest academic rank) in his Class of 2026. Chamberlain’s accelerated program of Advanced Placement classes also has him nearing completion of his first year of college courses.
No. 4: Hat tip to Bubba Roling, the 18-year-old driver from Middleburg, Fla., who shined over the weekend in the first two Super Late Model starts of his career. A Crate Late Model standout in recent years, Roling got his shot to move up in class with his Jeff Maloy-owned team obtaining an open-competition Clements Race Engine. Roling adapted well to the extra power in a pair of Georgia races on the Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series, finishing sixth in Friday’s feature at Waycross and improving to third Saturday at Norman Park’s Needmore Speedway. Roling, who celebrates his 19th birthday Saturday, said he plans to enter a limited number of Super Late Model events the rest of the season.
No. 5: The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series could certainly use a break from wet weather after losing two of three events last weekend at Eagle (Neb.) Raceway and two other events over the previous three weekends. Will the trend turn around with this weekend’s 34th annual Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.? Well … let’s hope so. The week has started off rainy at the 3/8-mile oval with strong Monday storms producing flooding in the area and had a fast-running stream of water gushing through part of the campground on. The forecast shows chances of rain throughout the weekend, indicating that track and series officials will likely find themselves battling the weather. But as of Tuesday evening, there does appear to be some positive trends in the forecasts that could provide the breaks needed to get most, if not all, of the tripleheader in as scheduled.
