Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Teams, students grade UNOH program with A+
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt.com staff reporter
UNOH students (left to right): Houston Null, Parker Null, Seth Hunter, Aaron Pederson, Skylar Schipee and Vishesh Sharma. (DirtonDirt)
Vishesh Sharma had never seen a Dirt Late Model before, yet during Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events at Atomic Speedway outside Chillicothe, Ohio, and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway two weeks ago, he found himself working as a crew member for Brenden Smith’s No. 17ss team.
An enthusiastic Formula 1 and IndyCar fan, the 22-year-old High Performance Motorsports major at Lima, Ohio’s University of Northwestern Ohio — a partner of the Lucas Oil tour — has aspirations to eventually work in open-wheel racing. But Sharma, or simply “Vish” as his fellow classmates call him, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to crew for a Lucas Oil traveling team, an opportunity a handful of UNOH students have typically one to two weekends a year through the college’s motorsports program.
The native of India has moved halfway across the world to chase his dream of becoming a full-time mechanic in auto racing.
“It’s pretty cool. Yeah, I kinda stand out (being from India), but they make me feel appreciated and they welcome me pretty well. I enjoy this, it’s a lot of fun,” said Sharma, who also pointed out that Dirt Late Models are “a lot more tougher to work on than the other stuff I’ve done, more tougher than the modifieds and the stock cars I’ve worked on.”
“I’m very new to all this,” he added. “It’s just about getting my foot in and seeing what’s out there.”
UNOH has been a partner of the Lucas Oil tour since 2010, having churned out countless auto racing mechanics in NASCAR, IndyCar, dirt racing and monster trucks, among other forms of racing. Dirt Late Model racing team owners like Ken Roberts lauds the UNOH program as a pipeline for Dirt Late Model crewmen, which are seemingly harder to find these days.
Roberts Motorsports had UNOH student Aaron Pederson and UNOH alumni Trevor Gardner assist driver Garrett Alberson at Atomic and Brownstown.
“Anything we can do to perk interest with the younger generation, to answer their questions, I mean that’s the future of the sport,” Roberts said. “We certainly encourage it. You never know what questions are going to come up. We’re happy to be part of it.”
UNOH graduate Mason Bevard, a former crewman for Ohio driver Devin Moran, is the connecting link between the Lucas Oil tour and UNOH’s High Performance Motorsports program.
Four years ago, Bevard got to crew for Hudson O’Neal when he drove for Double Down Motorsports for a weekend, just like the six UNOH students got to crew for select teams. The experience kindled a deeper desire as a Dirt Late Model crewman, and he celebrated in victory lane with O’Neal in March 2021 at Atomic, too.
Now Bevard wants to pay it forward by connecting UNOH students with Lucas Oil-traveling teams or other Dirt Late Model operations.
“After that weekend, I ended up receiving a job through all this,” Bevard said. “So it’s worked for me, and it’s kind of a full-circle moment that I get to bring all these kids here and see if this is what they want to do.”
A few notable alumni from UNOH include D.J. Williams, the tire specialist during Thornton’s 34-win season in 2023 and Lucas Oil-title winning campaign last year, as well as Koehler Motorsports shop mechanic Bryce Nichols. Bevard also said that the program has turned out many eventual employees for Dirt Late Model engine builders, a testament to the program’s wide-ranging career paths.
“If you go to a drag race and throw a rock, you’re going to hit a UNOH alumni. It’s unreal the way they’ve taken over some of the positions in motorsports,” Bevard said. “It’s crazy the spectrum of kids that go there. Everybody goes there for a different passion.
“Some kids want to go sprint car racing. Some kids want to go Late Model racing. Some guys want to build motors and go drag racing. So this is an opportunity to see if this is what they’re passionate about. I have a pretty good group of guys here.”
Even if a student doesn’t want to work full-time in Dirt Late Model racing, a weekend on a Lucas Oil-traveling team is beneficial to a student honing their engineering expertise.
Pederson, the 23-year-old UNOH student who wants to work full-time in Late Model or sprint car racing, was able to oversee Alberson assembling his shock packages on race day.
“He’s very hands-on with the car. He explains a lot of the things he’s doing,” Pederson said of Alberson. “He had his initial stuff he had on, and he was working on some things he might put on as the track changes throughout the night. It’s pretty interesting to see.
“It’s definitely a lot to take in, but it’s some of the stuff we learn at school. It’s not too far out there, but some of it is really crazy. He does things differently than a lot of other people, too.”
When Roberts was presented the idea of having a UNOH student held his team for the Atomic-Brownstown weekend, he didn’t hesitate letting Pederson tag along.
“We get them acquainted with the car and make them feel welcomed. We get to know them and their interests because their interests are all over the board from motors or chassis or whatever. Once we got that, we have them observe, and wipe down the car.
“Garrett gave (Aaron) some education on shocks and springs, and that opened their eyes. What’s cool is that spurs additional questions, and that draws them in.”
Not every task is that mechanically intricate, though, as Bevard reminds the UNOH students “to not expect anything crazy,” at least with initially crewing on a Dirt Late Model team.
“The first weekend is about building relationships and that you’re going to be wiping the car down, you’re going to be taking some wheel covers off, doing some of the basics,” Bevard said. “But this is building a foundation for when they go to Eldora” Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, potentially assisting at one of the sport’s biggest races with the Dream or World 100.
“A team could say, ‘Hey, let’s grab that UNOH kid we worked with a couple months ago.’ They’ve created a really good bond, and it’s led to so many things,” Bevard said.
Along with Sharma and Pederson, four other students had the chance to crew for Lucas Oil teams: 19-year-old Parker Derks (Carson Ferguson), 20-year-old Seth Hunter (Ricky Thornton Jr.), 19-year-old Houston Null (Devin Moran) and 19-year-old Skylar Schippee (Brandon Overton).
Hunter and Null were on winning teams during the weekend, and Hunter called his time with Thornton’s No. 20rt team “a dream opportunity.”
Hunter, a Port Royal, Pa., native who grew up at the town’s half-mile track, has also previously crewed for Josh Richards at Best Performance Motorsports in 2018, once for Shane Clanton in 2023 and a few times for Ross Robinson. His goal is to become a tire specialist, “but if I ever got the opportunity as a crew chief, I’d do it.”
Because the UNOH motorsports program provides hands-on experience for other forms of racing, like NASCAR and stock cars, it’s harder for current students to be regularly involved with Dirt Late Model teams. But events at tracks like Atomic, Brownstown and Eldora that are within 250 miles of the college are feasible training grounds for aspiring mechanics or engineers.
Responses from established Dirt Late Model figures are supportive, too.
“I talked to (SSI Motorsports crew chief) Anthony Burroughs, and he was like, ‘This is awesome.’ Devin (Moran) has told me ‘anytime Houston wants to come with us, just have him text us,’” Bevard said. “It’s been really great feedback. It’s gone very, very smoothly.”
The college even has a hand in June 27’s Valvoline Iron-Man American Late Model Series event at its home track, Limaland Motorsports Park, the third-mile’s first Super Late Model race since 2012.
“The school allows students to turn something they’re passionate about into a career,” Bevard said. “That’s what it’s all about. … Everybody who’s come out of the motorsports program has flourished. It’s really shown itself.”
