Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Crowl's lofty goals, realistic perspective
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Levi Crowl (Jason Walls/wrtspeedwerx.com)
For Levi Crowl, two things can be true at once when it comes to his wish list. He’d love to have a career as a national touring Super Late Model driver and he’d love to map out a version of the American dream with a stable job, a wife and kids, a well-built home on a desirable patch of land and annual vacations.
The 25-year-old Clear Spring, Md., dirt racer is also fully aware that the likelihood of those things combining in a single lifetime are remote.
And he’s OK with that.
For now, Crowl is finding the happy medium of plotting a future domestic life while getting the chance to scratch his racing itch in a Booze Brothers Performance car, which he’s driven to a pair of 2026 victories in Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway’s Limited Late Model division.
“I still think I have the talent to run against anybody,” said Crowl, who was largely sidelined for two seasons after his family-owned team faded away, “but there's also a side of me that I'm very understanding of, there's other things outside of racing that I want to be able to do and enjoy.”
Crowl has driven in circles most of his life. Beginning in quarter-midgets before first grade, he competed in that division about 10 seasons before jumping to Crate Late Models at age 16 when his late grandfather, Pap Crowl, bought the team a truck and trailer.
After a few winless seasons, Crowl hit his stride with three 2020 victories, including a RUSH Crate Late Model Series triumph at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial, Pa. He added seven more feature victories in 2021, including his first Limited Late Model triumph subbing for Wes Bonebrake at Winchester (Va.) Speedway.
Another career highlight came in 2023 in his debut at Atomic Speedway near Chillicothe, Ohio, where he captured a Burlile Performance Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series feature.
By then, fielding a race team was becoming difficult with the passing of his grandfather, the departure of a sponsor and his father turning his focus to other interests. Financial reality eventually forced Crowl to step away.
“Our equipment in my last couple of years, even when we won at Atomic, our stuff was severely outdated,” he said. “We were running shocks off of Gregg Satterlee's car that (veteran crew chief) Robby Allen set up for us that time were probably four or five years old. We were definitely severely outdated. We took the same setup anywhere.”
While Crowl made a few 2024 starts, he changed his Facebook profile to “retired steering wheel-holder” before a connection with a high school friend and former crew member helped him land a part-time ride with the Booze Brothers team.
During Crowl’s junior year in Spanish II class, Devin Bishop discovered Crowl was a dirt racer.
“I had photos of the race car in my binder,” Crowl recalled. “He was like, ‘Hey man, is that you? Like you dirt track race? You’re Levi?’ ” And soon enough Bishop showed up at the race shop to lend a hand. In class, instead of conjugating Spanish verbs — “We haven’t learned a freaking lick of Spanish,” Crowl admits — they’d study tire pressures and how to maintain a Crate Late Model.
"We met in Spanish class and he's been there every step of the way,” Crowl said. “Then he left for a couple of years to go run with (Lucas Oil Series regular) Ross Robinson and then he came back and he's been helping Brian Booze out and doing a lot of stuff for him.
"So he just started out doing tires and now to this day, he can do everything from build an engine, build a car and a body, and do the setups for people … he does it all now.”
Crowl and Bishop are not only good friends, they’re dating twin sisters. “So it's like we kinda have to be tight,” Crowl said with a chuckle.
Crowl’s relationship with Bishop led to Crowl making a couple of late-season 2025 starts in a Booze Brothers car last year, and he opened 2026 with the May 16 victory for the team at Hagerstown, his first victory in three seasons.
"I wasn't expecting it, that's for sure,” Crowl said. “Like I knew I could (win) if the situation was right, but I'm not gonna lie, in the feature, I was like, ‘Man, these guys are a lot fresher than I am.’ But starting up front certainly helped … at one point we had like a half-track lead and Devin kind of let me know with the sticks. So I had a general idea that we were pretty good.
"I knew in that aspect that I just hit my marks and be consistent. Once I was out there, it only took me a lap or two of practice to get comfortable again.”
Crowl backed up the triumph with a second victory on May 30. Outside of running Hagerstown’s Limited Late Model events, Crowl’s not certain on the team’s schedule, but he figures he’ll probably make 10-20 starts.
While he was out of action last season, “I was set on just not racing, just going to the track and hanging out with Devin and Brian and just playing golf on the weekends,” Crowl said. “I was quite content and happy with that and just saving money.”
But the near-scratch golfer is glad to be back in action in the team’s No. C2 that will often be in action with the No. B2 of Brian, who Crowl calls a father figure of sorts.
"I get a lot of joy out of seeing him benefit from it and not just me having fun,” Crowl said.
And knowing how expensive the sport is, Crowl is grateful to have a car owner willing to invest in his talents.
"It's the money and the time that comes with it that just doesn't mathematically make sense for me” to field a race team, Crowl said. "I do desire a large house on large land and I wanna be able to support my kids one day and what they do and I wanna go on trips. And I feel like if I race out of my own pocket that I won't necessarily be able to afford those or afford that stuff.”
If everything fell into place, Crowl, who works in sales at Steffey and Findlay Masonry Supply, would love to compete in Super Late Models professionally one day, mixing it up with Ricky Thornton Jr., Jonathan Davenport and other stars.
“Everybody growing up, you know, you get your stereotypical, ‘I wanna be an astronaut or a doctor or a police officer.’ Like mine was always I wanted to race for a living,” Crowl said. “And still, I would do almost anything within legal limits to be in RTJ’s shoes or Davenport's shoes and those guys and beat up and down the road with my best buds and be able to drive the race car and win.
"I've always said that I have the confidence that I would be able to compete on that stage and I don't think I would be dominant like Davenport and RTJ, but I would like to think I could squeak out a win here and there. But I think I also don't know truthfully how hard that stuff is and the level of the equipment that those guys are on, and they’re obviously on their game.”
For now, Crowl's situation with Booze and Bishop is ideal.
"This stuff I'm in now is top-of-the-line stuff and I think we work really well together as far as the setup goes,” Crowl said. “I’m not the most mechanically inclined or whatnot as far as how to set stuff up and the engines and etc., but driving I feel very good with and then being able to relay what I feel and what should be changed, I can relay that.
“The equipment is great and I can tell it by driving it. And like I said, Brian and Devin are extremely smart with what they do, so it's a good partnership. Like I think as long as it's something that Brian would like to continue doing, I think we could probably win a lot more races, just because I think it's a good partnership.”
Weekly highlights
• Skeeter Estey of Kelly Lake, Minn., won May 30-31 home-state features at Hibbing and Proctor.
• Winning May 29-30 Crate Late Model features, Trevor Collins of Seaford, Del., grabbed checkered flags at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
• Jordan Krug of Council Bluffs, Iowa, won May 30 at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa, for his third victory in five starts among three tracks.
• Travis Denning of Sterling, Ill., remained perfect at East Moline (Ill.) Speedway, on May 31 with his fourth straight IMCA Late Model victory.
• Winning May 29, Brady Walton of Greenwell Springs, La., extended his Crate Late Model winning streak at Baton Rouge Raceway in Baker, La., to five in a row.
• Kye Frick of Sweet Home, Ore., snapped Joey Tanner’s six-race winning streak at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore. Mechanical woes hampered Tanner, who ran the feature in Rob Mayea’s backup car and settled for second after rallying from the tail.
• Sweeping home-state action May 29-30, Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., grabbed Late Model victories at Kankakee County and Fairbury speedways.
• Kyle Cooper of Wheatfield, Ind., won May 30 at Shadyhill Speedway for his third straight victory in Medaryville, Ind.
• Sweeping Twin 20-lap features, Steve Blackburn of Greensboro, N.C., dominated May 30 Limited Late Model action at Friendship Motor Speedway in Elkin, N.C.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Rallying from the 13th starting spot, Kollin Hibdon of Pahrump, Nev., grabbed his first Late Model victory May 30 at Independence (Iowa) Motor Speedway in the Rick Dralle-owned No. 77.
• Three-time sportsman champion Joe Weiss of Elizabeth City, N.C., won May 29 at his hometown Dixieland Speedway for the 48-year-old's first career Late Model victory.
• Winning May 28 at U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb., 35-year-old Jacob Anson of Albion, Neb., captured his first Late Model victory.
Weekly news briefs
• Dog Hollow Speedway in Strongstown, Pa., has suspended Mike Laughard and Avery McMullen from competition for a week after misbehavior between the teams on May 29. The drivers also lost all points earned from April 10-June 12 and will be eligible to compete again June 13. The track also issued a warning for Tyler Ellenberger, who was black-flagged May 29 because of an “attempt to destroy or take out another car” in Crate Late Model action.
• Among 2026 Kentucky Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductees are Dirt Late Model racers Chuck McWilliams and Vern LeFevers. McWilliams notched more than 300 career victories while LeFevers won 660 times.
• Sponsorship from Jody’s Collision Repair has boosted IMCA Late Model purses at Park Jefferson (S.D.) Speedway to $750-to-win (with $400 to second and $300 to third). Remaining dates this season are June 5, June 26, July 10, July 24, Aug. 21, Aug. 28 and Sept. 4.
• Bert Transmissions by Budda has posted a $5,000 front-row challenge for June 10’s Kentucky Speedweek Dirt Late Model event at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky. Any driver scheduled to start on the front row can elect to accept a last-row starting spot. If the challenge-accepting driver wins the $5,000-to-win event, the victory will pay $10,000.
• Coordinating with Park Jefferson (S.D.) Speedway in alternating Late Model races, Highway 39 Speedway in Denison, Iowa, has amended its schedule with Late Models next appearing on June 12.
• After spring rains delayed the season, Raceway 7 in Conneaut, Ohio, is set to host its first practice session on June 5. The track wanted to make sure all was ready after a reshaping during the offseason that has flattened and widened the racing surface. The track’s drainage system was also relocated, moving the racing surface closer to the light poles to create a wider and slightly shorter track with more racing room.
• The owner of Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn., a popular quarter-mile oval that has hosted hundreds of Dirt Late Model specials since its 1973 founding, is looking for a buyer. Russell Boothe this week said he’s putting the track and its 40-acre property up for sale — “exploring the opportunity to find the right buyer" — but plans to continue operating the Middle Tennessee track for the time being. “After nearly five years of pouring my heart, time, energy, and resources into Duck River Raceway Park, I believe it’s time to pass the torch to someone who shares the same passion for racing and the future of this facility,” Boothe wrote on the track’s Facebook page. Interested parties should message Boothe via the track’s Facebook page.
• Jerry “Medina” Smith, a 2014 inductee into the Shawano (Wis.) Speedway Hall of Fame, died May 27 in Appleton, Wis. The 87-year-old was a former asphalt and Dirt Late Model racer whose career ended in 1978. Smith was “part of an era when racing was raw, tough, and built on pure passion for the sport,” the track said in honoring him.
• After polling drivers, Merritt Speedway in Lake City, Mich., decided to add a non-points Super Late Model event for June 6.
• Peoria (Ill.) Speedway owner Brandon Dean announced the 61-year-old quarter-mile oval will cease weekly racing and be put on the market. The closure announcement was made during Saturday’s racing program at the track, which will remain part of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals with its June 11 series date being promoted by Track Enterprises and Bob Sargent. The 43-year-old Dean, a home builder and real estate developer who has promoted the track 13 seasons, said he plans to focus on non-racing interests. “It just got to the point where it’s too much with everything that I have going on,” Dean said.
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., has 606 points to lead Ryan Unzicker and Daniel Adam, tied at 601 points apiece.
IMCA (Limiteds): Curtis Glover of Knoxville, Iowa, has 540 points to lead Tommy Elston (446) and Jordan Krug (386).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Three-time and reigning champ Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., has 446 points to lead Chad Becker (418) and Mike Stearns (393).
American All-Stars (Crates): Logan Walls of Junction City, Ky., has 486 points to lead John Ruggiero Jr. (276) and Dalton Brown (272).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Covy Parsons of Iuka, Miss., has 425 points to lead Allen Edwards (412) and Joey Tucker (406).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Christopher Reid of Wiggins, Miss., has 464 points to lead Shannon Lee (411) and Ben Davis (366).
DIRTcar (Crates): Braden Johnson of Taylorville, Ill., has 394 points to lead Chase Wilson (364) along with Hudson Dick and his uncle Chris Dick (330 points apiece).
RUSH (Crates): Davin Kaiser of Winchester, Va., has 914 points to lead Devin Brannon (757) and Kolbe Kimbrew (525).
Ultimate (Crates): Brandon Adkins of Jumping Branch, W.Va., has 136 points to lead T.J. Salango (116) and Henry Hornsby III (105).
USRA (Crates): Jason McFadden of Jim Falls, Wis., has 1,522 points to lead Josh Wahlstrom (1,200) and Cooper Sundby (1,186).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Pine Ridge Speedway, Guntown, Miss. (June 5): The day before a Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series event, the track hosts the $2,500-to-win Pat Car Tribute (practice is set for June 4).
Penton (Ala.) Raceway (June 5): Limited Late Models will chase a $2,000-to-win purse on a card that includes a special for the factory stock division.
Path Valley Speedway, Spring Run, Pa. (June 6): The Austin Gelwicks Memorial includes a $2,000-to-win event for topless Limited Late Models. Gelwicks, a Path Valley racer, died in 2016 at the age of 17 in a passenger car accident. The fast qualifier receives $100 in memory of Barry Miller with $50 hard charger and hard luck awards.
Kentucky Speedweek (June 9-13): $5,000-to-win Super Late Model events highlight races at Corbin’s Thunder Mountain Speedway, Junction City’s Ponderosa Speedway, Mount Vernon’s Rockcastle Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Burnside’s Lake Cumberland Speedway; total purses exceed $175,000.
