Brownstown Speedway
Landrum's confidence builds with strong run
By Bryan Ault
DirtonDirt contributing writer
Trevor Landrum (heathlawsonphotos.com)
BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (May 30) — Capturing the Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown Speedway and its $10,000 top prize on Saturday night would have been a career milestone for Trevor Landrum of Florence, Ky. — and for the first 30 laps of the 50-lap feature, it appeared he was on his way to achieving just that in the Northern Allstars Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event.
Landrum paced the field for laps 1-30 at the quarter-mile oval. Adam Stricker of Batavia, Ohio, was in hot pursuit, but Landrum was able to repel Stricker and still stay in front. | RaceWire
What Landrum wasn’t prepared for was Joseph Joiner, the Milton, Fla., driver who used the low groove on lap 31 to seize command eventually took home the checkered flag over Jason Jameson of Lawrenceburg, Ind. Landrum faded to finish fifth, right behind Brownstown regular Matt Boknecht of Seymour, Ind.
“There at the beginning, I felt really good because I was kind of judging how fast I was off the lapped cars,” Landrum said. “I didn't know if the bottom would come back in and I could still pass them pretty easy up there. But as the race went on, you know, it kind of evened out, and then when (Joiner) passed me there I really thought the bottom had come in and I went down there and it stuck pretty good, actually, but he drove by me and drove away and the other two drove away. I don't know what tires he had on, but they were good.”
Opting to go softer on tires compared with the rest of the frontrunners proved to be the deciding factor for Landrum. His top-five run at Brownstown was better than his 10th-place finish Friday at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway where he “battled different issues on the car.” With his car straightened out, a better tire choice might have given Landrum the checkered flag.
“He had a good run,” Landrum’s father, Steve, said after the race. “I think it gives him a lot of confidence to get up there and lead some laps. We went a little soft on the right-rear and kind of hurt him. He fell back a little bit to fifth at the end, but still, all in all, it was a good run.”
Running up-front was a huge confidence booster for the Bluegrass State driver in a season with many ups and downs. He posted a ninth-place finish at the Northern Allstars-sanctioned Spring 50 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., in March and picked up his first victory of the season at Molar Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio, two weeks ago and sees his program trending in an upward direction.
“It was a bittersweet weekend,” Landrum said. “And we finally, I think, got it all fixed for that feature and we were good. I don't know if I went a little too hard early or what, but we were pretty good. I think I was first time I led that many laps in a $10,000-to-win race, so that was pretty cool. You still want to win it, but I guess you got to start somewhere.”
Key to Landrum’s success this season has been the hiring of Shawn Fulwood as crew chief. Fulwood, a 45-year-old from Jacksonville, Fla., came over from the JRR Motorsports team after a successful stint as head wrench for Josh Rice of Verona, Ky., who is in his rookie season with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Fulwood sees potential for Landrum to take his racing talents up to the next level.
“He struggled with a car that wasn’t really that good,” Fulwood said. “So he followed some demons for a little while. After that, he got this car and it’s a whole different ballgame than what he’s used to. He was struggling a little bit and the opportunity came around where Josh went full-time. (Landrum) hit me up and wanted me to come help him for a little bit, so I agreed to do the Northern Allstars stuff with him. And like I said, he’s been gaining every time we hit the track.”
Fulwood readily acknowledges that Rice and Landrum are very different drivers with different styles. Landrum is more patient while Rice is a cushion-pounding wheelman who can smash the pedals, something Fulwood is trying to encourage Landrum to be at the right moments.
“He’s got a lot of patience. Josh grew into some patience,” Fulwood said with a wry grin. “Right now, the struggle with Trevor is just getting him to be aggressive when it’s time to be aggressive. He wasn’t really used to being aggressive the last couple of years. Everybody’s so fast and so aggressive. You can’t wait. You have to take, so he’s learning that and I’m pushing him in (that direction). He ain’t rejecting it. He’s putting it out there now. He’s doing it real good.”
Another key factor for Landrum has been the switch to Longhorn Chassis. Replacing his Team Zero Race Car for a fresh 2025 Longhorn right before his home track’s Sunoco North-South 100 last season has been a battle, but he is slowly figuring out his new machine.
“I started Super Late Model racing in (the late Scott Bloomquist’s) cars,” Landrum said. “This is the first thing I’ve ever driven that’s not his. It was definitely a learning curve trying to figure this one out, but we’re getting there. We keep learning every week, and I just keep getting more confidence in it.
“I mean, anytime you can run up front with that stellar of a field there, definitely boosts your ego a little bit and you don’t get as nervous as running up there,” he added. “I was a little nervous there starting race, but as soon as we went green there and I felt how good the car was all that went away and we just set sail there. I just wish we could have been a little better there at the end.”
Landrum is second in the Northern Allstars Series points behind Jameson, and continuing to follow the James Essex-backed series is the plan for 2026. He will skip Eldora Speedway’s Dirt Late Model Dream festivities to get ready for the rest of the tour and regional races in the coming weeks, with the Northern Allstars event at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway on June 13 next on his calendar.
“I really see us getting some wins,” Fulwood said. “We’re finally getting a baseline put together and something he’s feeling comfortable with. That was priority one, to get something that he likes. And now once he’s settled in he can start to focus on driving. Hopefully, if I keep doing my job, he keeps doing his.”
