Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Florida Crate racer's solid season
Taylor Jarvis (Katrina Parker Photography)
Going back to last season, Taylor Jarvis of Milton, Fla., is enjoying the hottest stretch of his Crate Late Model career. And now he’s got his richest victory to go along with it.
The 35-year-old's second victory of the season at Blackwater Speedway in Baker, Fla., on July 25 gave him $2,600 in earnings and his fifth consecutive feature victory overall.
“We’ve been just blessed so far. I just try to take it week by week and whatever happens happens,” Jarvis told Crate Racin’ USA's Cody Earley on the organization’s podcast last week. “We just try to prepare and show up and do the best we can.”
His best rivals the best of CRUSA’s 604 competitors as he’s won 20 of his last 30 starts in the division including eight of 13 this year. He tallied a career-high 12 victories last season.
While Jarvis has six victories at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, Ala., to go with a pair of wins at the renovated Blackwater (formerly Northwest Florida) Speedway, he hasn’t been able to race enough to be in contention for the CRUSA weekly title, which is currently led by former champion Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss.
The closure of a track cut down more chances to race for Jarvis, who stands fifth in CRUSA points. His best previous finish in weekly points is 16th twice, including last season.
“We had hoped we were going to have chance at (the title) this year, but with the unfortunate situation where Mitchell’s Motorplex (in Perkinston, Miss.) closed, that’s another track we ran at a good bit,” said Jarvis, who has been worse than fourth just once since his first two starts of the season. “That kind of hurt us on our race count. We had a couple of DNFs early in the year that kind of hurt us, too. We’re just going to plug away and see where we end up. It should hopefully be my best finish in the national points, but we’ll just see where the cards fall when it ends.”
Jarvis credits his car and mentor with his recent success.
“We picked up this Longhorn, I think this is my third season on it. That was a big boost,” he said. “But I credit a lot of what we’ve done later to my shock builder — I call him my mentor, too — Daniel Martin of Martin Motorsports. He’s helped me with a good package on the car, but he’s taught me a lot about maintenance and maintaining a car, and then coached me on driving. I mean, a lot of what I’ve been able to do I credit to him just helping push me to that next level.
“I think a lot of it is we have a real good package working right now and just tinkering with it every week, try little things here and there but when it don’t work, you just go back to what did.”
How did Jarvis get into racing? “I was born into it,” he said, adding that his father raced occasionally and his uncles were competitors, too. Jarvis began running go karts at the age of six and by 13 graduated to full-size cars and Crate Late Models by the age of 16. He had a stint in Super Late Models in his early 20s but has primarily run the Crate division with more than 70 career victories including six triumphs on the former Panhandle Challenge Series from 2015-17.
He’s a multitime champion at Deep South, where he’s again dominating the points with six victories in seven starts.
“It’s a beautiful facility. It’s probably one of nicer ones in the Southeast as far as the spectator side or the driver’s side,” Jarvis said. “They really worked a lot on the surface this year, and I mean I noticed they resurfaced over the winter and the dirt they have this year, it’s been really good for tire wear. We’ve been able to stretch tires out longer than we have in the past.
“They’ve actually made the track racier. There’s been a couple of nights we’ve been able to get off up the (inside) wall and run the top a little bit and make some ground. They’re doing a lot and I know they have a lot left to do. They’re trying hard so we try to support them over there.”
Jarvis also appreciates the “major overhaul” by the new Blackwater owners and the chance to run at his hometown Southern Raceway, which under the new ownership of the Hunt the Front-operating Joiner family offers $3,000-to-win events, including one on Friday.
“The Joiners, they’re doing a wonderful job turning Southern around. I mean, that was a big undertaking and they’ve run with it and had a lot of success,” Jarvis said. “I know it’s going to keep getting better. So I’m real happy for them there. Like I said, Deep South is a nice place to go, Blackwater is hopefully going to trend up. It would just nice if we could build the local car count a little bit too and get everybody on board, and hopefully we’ve got good horizons ahead for the 604 teams.”
Jarvis plans to stick with weekly competition through the summer, but he’ll target at least one special event late in the season at East Alabama Motor Speedway in Phenix City for the National 100 or Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss., for the Coors Light Fall Classic.
“We try to do one big season-end race a year, just more of a racecation as people call it,” he said, “just to kind of loosen up and unwind and turn some laps.”
Weekly highlights
• Winning July 24-25 features, Devin Shiels of Britton, Mich., swept weekend Super Late Model action at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park and Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio.
• Collen Winebarger of Corbett, Ore., outran preliminary feature winner Joey Tanner on July 25 at Cottage Grove (Ore.) Speedway for a $4,200 victory in the Virgil Hanson Memorial Logger’s Cup.
• Joey Leavell of Waynesboro, N.C., won July 25’s Limited and 604 Crate features at Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway.
• Winning July 26 at East Moline (Ill.) Speedway, Logan Veloz of Colona, Ill., snapped Travis Denning's six-race winning streak.
• Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., earned a $2,900 Dick Litz Memorial victory July 26 at Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.
• With his July 25 Super Late Model victory at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio, Corey Conley of Wellsburg, W.Va., notched the 400th feature victory of his career, counting Late Model and modified events.
• Hometown driver Dustin Hughes swept both 602 Crate Late Model features during Cottonwood Speedway’s July 24-25 Blake Bowen Memorial in Dothan, Ala.
• Davenport (Iowa) Speedway hasn’t had a repeat winner in 2026 IMCA Late Model competition with Tommy Elston of Keokuk, Iowa, extending the streak with a July 24 victory.
• Former track champ R.J. Conley of Wheelersburg, Ohio, swept July 25 Super Late Model features at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park.
• Before winning July 25’s Limited Late Model feature at Sumter (S.C.) Speedway, Austin Mintz of Hopkins, S.C., lowered the track record with a 14.116-second lap.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning July 24’s feature at Dixieland Speedway in Elizabeth City, N.C., Case Daniels of Autryville, N.C., notched his first Limited Late Model victory.
• Former truck racer Jared Kalynuik of Marquette, Manitoba, won his first Limited Late Model victory July 24 at Victory Lane Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Weekly news briefs
• On the heels of the news that Hawkeye Downs Speedway will return to a quarter-mile dirt layout next season, the track has also scheduled the Miller 100 for October for Super Late Models. Purse details weren’t announced.
• Park Jefferson (S.D.) Speedway has added Late Models to the July 31 program using rules of the Repairable Vehicles.com Tri-State Series. The purse will pay a minimum $1,000-to-win on a night when Masaba Inc. is sponsoring the race program.
• Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway issued a public apology to Travis Fultz of Harrogate, Tenn., for his July 18 disqualification from third place in the Crate Late Model feature. He was penalized for weighing in too light, but the track later discovered mud under a scale plate that interfered with accurate readings. In a response to a question whether he was paid third-place earnings, the track told DirtonDirt that “everything has been handled on that end” but didn’t explicitly say he’d been paid. “What we posted as simply for Travis and his reputation,” according to a track official.
• Car builder Toby Jordan and longtime publicist Jay Pees on July 25 were inducted into the Wall of Fame at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., during the track’s 70th anniversary celebration. Jordan, who operated Tobber Racing, was a multiple car-owning track champion for drivers including Chub Frank, Matt Urban and Rich Gardner. The late Pees was the founder of Raceway Magazine and worked in track publicity for more than 40 years at Stateline and other tracks.
• The third annual Chevrolet Performance CT525 Nationals will pay $6,500-to-win on Sept. 10-12 at Harris Speedway in Rutherfordton, N.C.
• Nate Rinaldi of Brighton, Ontario, won July 25 at his hometown track for the first round of the Crate vs. Open Late Model Challenge. The other two Ontario miniseries events were postponed by rain and rescheduled for Sept. 4 at Ohsweken Speedway and Sept. 19 at Buxton Speedway.
• Former Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series champion Matt Dooley of Fayetteville, Ga., is expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his right pinky finger in a July 18 Limited Late Model crash at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway. The 30-year-old Dooley, who is leading Limited Late Model points at Senoia and has seven 2026 victories in Late Model-style divisions at the 3/8-mile oval, is expected to see an orthopedic specialist on Monday for further treatment.
• U.S. 30 Speedway in Columbus, Neb., has completed a new concrete pit viewing and seating area that debuted during the track’s July 23 race program.
• Plymouth (Wis.) Dirt Track is mourning the passing of former Late Model and multidivision racer Jeff “Spiderman” Fechter, who died in January at 66. A prayer service will be at noon Aug. 15 at the St. Augustine Cemetery in West Bend, Wis., followed by a celebration of life from 1-3 p.m. at VFW Post 1393.
• Hibbing (Minn.) Speedway Hall of Fame on Aug. 15 will induct team owner Jojo Terzich, racing brothers Jeff and John Tardy,
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., has 2,059 points to lead Tanner English (1,972) and Mike Spatola (1,675).
IMCA (Limiteds): Zach Zeitner of Bellevue, Neb., has 777 points to lead Tommy Elston (764) and Drew Baker (747).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., is back on top with 1,290 points ahead of Shane Sabraski (1,264) and Kevin Burdick (1,090).
American All-Stars (Crates): Brandon Fouts of Kite, Ky., has 586 points to lead Logan Walls (546) and Dalton Brown (542).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Joey Tucker Elora, Tenn., and Brodie Thompson of Talladega, Ala., are tied with 606 points apiece with Chace Pennington (577) in third.
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss., has 620 points to lead Chris Reid (578) and Nick Thrash (563).
DIRTcar (Crates): Braden Johnson of Taylorville, Ill., has 874 points to lead Chase Wilson (792) and Hudson Dick (708).
Gen X (Crates): Parker Gilbertson of Montevideo, Minn., has 1,053 points to lead Blake Swenson (996) and Trevor Walsh (992).
RUSH (Crates): Jeremy Wonderling of Wellsville, N.Y., has 1,326 points to lead Winchester, Va., driver Devin Brannon (1,303) and Davin Kaiser (1,292).
Ultimate (Crates): T.J. Salango of Beckley, W.Va., has 254 points to lead Brandon Adkins (233) and T.J. Hicks (220).
USRA (Crates): Jason McFadden of Jim Falls, Wis., has 4,058 points to lead Lucas Peterson (3,698) and Josh Wahlstrom (2,818).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Georgetown (Del.) Speedway (July 31): The Camp Barnes Benefit pays $5,500-to-win for the Super Late Models and big-block modifieds with Crate Late Models among three undercard divisions.
Bedford (Pa.) Speedway (July 31): The Gary Martz Tribute pays $4,000-to-win for the Super Late Model division.
Southern Raceway, Milton, Fla. (July 31): Postponed seven days, the Late Model Challenge event pays $3,000-to-win for Crate Racin’ USA 604 competitors at the newly resurfaced oval.
Dacotah Speedway, Mandan, N.D. (July 31-Aug. 1): North Dakota Governors Cup action pays $2,000-to-win for WISSOTA Late Models in both race programs.
North Florida Speedway, Lake City, Fla. (July 31-Aug. 1): The Summer Slams opens with 602 Crate Late Models and pays $2,500 for Southern Clash-style Late Models and 604 Crates for the finale.
Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway (Aug. 1): Limited Late Models chase a $13,037-to-win payday in the Dylan Kennedy Memorial, one of the richest Limited Late Model events of the season. Heat wins pay $137 apiece among other bonuses.
Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway (Aug. 1): The Jackson County Fair Race pays $3,000-to-win with Crate Late Models among undercard divisions.
Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway (Aug. 1): The Stephen Wragg Memorial pays $2,900-to-win for Limited Late Models with $500 going to the fast qualifier courtesy Aquabot of Georgia.
Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway (Aug. 1): Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., will race for his sixth $5,000-to-win payday this season at the half-mile oval.
Silver Bullet Speedway, Owendale, Mich. (Aug. 1): Super Late Models battle for a $3,000 payday on MARFC Night (the Crate Late Model division isn’t in action).
Path Valley Speedway, Spring Run, Pa. (Aug. 1): Dr. Crouse’s Topless Limited Late Model special pays $1,500-to-win with five undercard divisions.
Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway (Aug. 1): The Coal Miners Memorial pays $3,000-to-win to the Super Late Model division. The track will give a lucky fan $10,000 if the track attendance record is broken.
Winchester (Va.) Speedway (Aug. 1): The Crate Late Model division tops the program with a $1,500-to-win event.
Sheridan (Wyo.) Speedway (Aug. 2): The track’s lone Late Model program is the season puts the full-fender cars on the card with several other divisions including quarter midgets.
Hibbing (Minn.) Speedway (Aug. 3): The Iron Man Late Model Invitational pays $2,000-to-win.
