Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Lucas Oil-WoO combo winners
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: When Daulton Wilson captured his first-ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series feature July 8 at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., he achieved a milestone: he became the 60th driver to win a full-field A-main on both the WoO tour and the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. (Wilson previously was victorious with the Lucas Oil Series on Feb. 10, 2024, in the Winternationals finale at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla.) What made Wilson’s accomplishment even more notable is that he did it just days after Max Blair had joined the exclusive club as well with his career-first Lucas Oil triumph on July 4 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio.
No. 2: Who tops the list of most all-time combined WoO and Lucas Oil victories? It’s the late Scott Bloomquist, whose 127 wins (94 Lucas Oil and 33 WoO) has him one checkered flag ahead of Brandon Sheppard’s 126 (89 WoO and 37 Lucas Oil). Three other drivers have topped the 100-win mark between the two national tours that have been running since 2004 (with the WoO also having two earlier seasons in 1988-89): Josh Richards (111), Jonathan Davenport (106) and Jimmy Owens (102). Drivers who have won at least 50 combined features are Bobby Pierce (86), Darrell Lanigan (78), Tim McCreadie (77), Billy Moyer (66), Chris Madden (58), Ricky Thornton Jr. (57) and Shane Clanton (54).
No. 3: It’s interesting to note the seven drivers who have won exactly one full-field feature on both the Lucas Oil and WoO tours. The list includes Daulton Wilson, Rick Aukland (he was an original Dirty Dozen member of the reincarnated WoO in 2004 but his single victory on the circuit came in 1989), Jeff Smith (both wins at North Carolina’s Fayetteville Motor Speedway), Billy Ogle Jr., Jamie Lathroum, Tim Dohm and Chad Simpson.
No. 4: Before Tuesday’s Lucas Oil Series event at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, VG Performance’s Vinny Guliani offered up a neat Facebook post that harkened to the last national touring series race contested at the track: a Hav-A-Tampa/UDTRA Dirt Racing Series show on Aug. 22, 2000. Guliani recalled being a race-loving 14-year-old attendee of the very memorable event. “During the parade lap, the fireworks stand fell over and the fireworks were shooting through the infield,” wrote Guliani, who added that he remembered “ducking for cover behind structures with Jimmy Cabral,” the veteran wrench who was Freddy Smith’s crew chief at the time. He also recalled Brian Birkhofer riding out a major flip at the start of the race and then proceeding to “ram Jimmy Mars’s car with his four-wheeler.” (National Dirt Digest reports say Birkhofer retaliated against Steve Francis? Either way, the statute of limitations is likely up). Guliani noted that Freddy Smith suffered a back injury in the Birkhofer wreck while Scott Bloomquist emerged as the feature winner. “Watching the big dogs race” left a big impression on Guliani, who “thought the way they built their bodies and presented their race teams was so cool” that he “wanted to do that” and, indeed, would make a career in the sport. I also must say that Guliani has a top-notch memory for details of long-ago races. More posts like this, Vinny!
No. 5: When my colleague Todd Turner interviewed Daniel Hill for our Weekly Notebook, the Morgantown, W.Va., driver told the story about his current team owner Dave Groves winning his final Late Model feature in 2009 in a 21-year-old(!) Doll Brothers Chassis. Hill, in his first season and not even as old as the car, finished second, but Groves apparently didn’t pay attention to who was chasing him. "Dave is telling me about his last win, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I was there,’ ” Hill said. “I got second to that old car that lives a half-mile down the road that doesn’t even have power steering.”
