Coles County Speedway
Race at tiny outdoor oval provides Dome preview
By Bryan Ault
Special to DirtonDirt
A look at tiny Coles County Speedway. (brendonbauman.com)
MATTOON, Ill. (Sept. 28) — Dirt Late Model’s unique annual indoor event, the Kubota Gateway Dirt Nationals, is still three months away, but 15 racers on Sunday got a head start on rubbing fenders in close-quarters action Sunday at the Rural King Road to the Dome at Coles County Speedway.
The Brian Rieck-promoted invitation-only event was fashioned to mimic December’s event at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Mo., except it was held outdoors on an unusually warm September evening. Tiny dirt oval? Check. Fan-oriented festivities? Plenty. Contact? Encouraged. Fence repairs? Virtually inevitable.
Yet Dirt Late Model drivers came to the track nestled among Illinois cornfields, racing with respect on the eighth-mile oval just west of Charleston.
“I think it's similar,” said Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., a 34-year-old driver who took home the checkered flag over Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., by 0.542 of a second, pocketing $10,000. “It's definitely smaller than the Dome. But I mean, I don't think it's too bad. Like, it's not too small for Late Models. I think it can put on a good show. Like, it would be cool if this event could grow, kind of partner with the Dome and get more cars here.”
With 25 modifieds on the undercard, the event format was also similar, with drivers signing autographs and walking through a makeshift tunnel for driver introductions before feature events. Everyone agreed the tight confines at the track that typically hosts micro-sprints were a great preparation the Dome.
“I think it's very similar,” 48-year-old Bob Gardner of Washington, Ill. said ahead of the night’s action. “It looks like a little bit darker dirt, but it appears like it's going to do the same thing that the Dome does. It's going to be kind of hard to get a hold of. It's got a little bit more banking.”
Steve Sheppard Jr., whose national-touring son Brandon runs with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and recorded second and ninth-place finishes at last weekend’s Jackson 100 weekend at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway before rolling into Coles County in his family-owned No. B5 entry, thought the turns at Coles County were wider than the Dome.
“Corners looks like there’s plenty of room, but I ain't sure about them straightaways,” said Sheppard, who tagged the wall during time trials. “I mean, I barely clipped the wall with the right rear and ripped the whole deck out of it. And that's on the straightaway, so I'm kind of nervous.”
The black surface of Illinois was one key difference between the race in the Land of Lincoln and the big show in the Show-Me State. Gordy Gundaker of St. Charles, Mo., a Gateway Dirt Nationals regular whose father Kevin Gundaker annually oversees the building of the indoor oval, thinks the Coles County surface provided a unique twist compared to the light-colored dirt hauled into the arena that formerly hosted St. Louis Rams NFL games.
“I know we run this exact same gear here as we do at the Dome,” the 33-year-old Gundaker said. “You know, it really is like a Road to the Dome deal, so a lot of stuff that we do here, we're going to do, you know, in December. This has got a little more grip and stuff in it. Like I said, it's it really is better than what I thought it was going to be.”
The elder Sheppard, who lured his son into competing, appreciates how the track was willing to take a chance on a quirky event and hopes it grows in the future.
“Brandon wasn't going to come,” the 50-year-old Sheppard said. “And I'm like, ‘Listen, you know, it's a new event. Racetracks, you know, they're not building any new ones, so I think that if we can support it, we should.’ I’ve always told him that. the local racing needs help, really does. We can't let that die off because it's gonna hurt big events, too, I believe. in the end. So I want to support them all if I can.”
A part-time racer, the elder Sheppard added that the Dome invigorates and motivates him to keep racing, and plans to compete more next season. A new chassis has been in the shop for several weeks, but work obligations have hampered his on-track activities this season.
“I love the Dome,” Sheppard said. “The Dome is why I keep racing, to be honest with you, because I love that one time of year going there. I'm a small-track guy, too. I've always loved them, I grew up in Macon, so, like I said, I don't know about this straightaway thing because like I said, I tore the damn deck out of it on the straightaway.
“It’s just the excitement in the atmosphere,” he added. “I mean, it's just a really cool event. A lot of guys tore up all their stuff. I've been there I think, three years now, maybe four. I mean, I've tore up some sheetmetal. I've seen some (stuff) get torn up, don't get me wrong, but it's more because of the driver. I'm thinking, ‘Well, all you have to do is let off the gas, you know, and it wouldn't have been that bad.’ Like I told them last year in an interview on DirtOnDirt, it's the most fun you can have with all your clothes on.”
Spatola thinks he has the moxie for repeat performance at the Cody Sommer-founded Gateway Nationals, which this year pays a race-record $75,000 to the winner.
“I mean, especially for us Illinois guys, that's home for us,” Spatola said. “And like, I've been there every year. A lot of people didn't think it would work, a lot of doubt, all that, and it's beyond that now. I think the Dome has grown to one of the top four events in our sport now when you factor in all the people, being in the middle of December, all the people watching on Flo. I know I have buddies back home that have 30-people watch parties in their garages watching the Dome. So, it's massive.”
