Late Model Dirt Racing Stabilized After Lucas Oil’s Involvement in 2005

May 15, 2017

A race at a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event.

The oval can get rather crowded at Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events

Although late model dirt racing was being performed in the early part of the new century, the field was in disarray and needed to be stabilized. So in 2005 Lucas Oil stepped in and created the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

The series has become the leading national touring sanctioning organization for dirt late model racing. To prove its success, the 2017 season will include 56 sanctioned events held in 36 different venues across 21 states of the United States.

A V-8 engine that generates 800-horsepower powers the cars that race in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series

The venues that have hosted or will host sanctioned events are located throughout the midwest and southern parts of the United States.

According to Jeremy Shields, Marketing and Sales Relations for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the series is sanctioning some of the industry’s largest events in 2017 including:

• Super Bowl of Racing at Golden Isles Speedway

• Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway

• Sunoco North/South 100 at Florence Speedway

• COMP Cams Topless 100 at Batesville Motor Speedway

• $100,000-to-win Dirt Track World Championship at Portsmouth Raceway Park

Each event pits vintage open wheel cars commonly found in Wisconsin from the 1950s to 1970s. Each event includes the following sections:

The Lucas Oil Speedway is one of 36 tracks where Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events are held.

Racing at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri

• Hot Laps. Also referred to as warm up or practice laps, these races consist of two to five laps to help the driver become familiar with track conditions and set up and are the first races to occur.

• Qualifying. Usually occurring before the start of the event, drivers race to qualify for upcoming heat races. Each driver gets two timed laps and their best time determines qualification. Qualifying is also used to line up the big crown jewel events.

• Heat Races. Competitors who qualify for heat races participate in the “pill draw” to draw numbers that determine when each will start in their heat race. The heat races are the preliminary races for each class. These races may determine the starting race position in the main events and earn points. The top three or four winners qualify for A-Feature race.

• Semi-Feature/B Main. Racers who have not qualified for the A Main race have another opportunity to do so in this race. Called the last chance qualifier or B feature, the race includes drivers who did not make the A feature through the heat races. This race is 12 to 15 laps. The number of racers who participate affects how many racers graduate to the A event. It is usually between two to six. Those racers who qualify for the A-Main from the B-Main start behind the drivers who have qualified through the heats. At selected racing events where there are a large number of cars participating, there may be a series of qualifying races known as “alphabet soup” -- C, D, E, F, etc. The number of cars participating in the event determines the number of alphabet soup races. A certain number of racers will race in the lower feature and the top two go on to the next race and on and on until final qualifiers for the A Main race is determined.

K&N sponsors the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt series as a whole as well as several individual racers

• Feature/A Main. An A feature or main race is held for each division. The season’s point standings or a combination of heat and trophy, dash and semi-feature finishing positions determine starting positions. Points, a trophy, and often a purse are awarded. The winner of the feature event is recognized as the winner of the event.

Point collection starts with every driver receiving 50 “participant points” as long as they pay the entry fee and compete in at least time trials, heat race, or a b-main event. Overall fast qualifier in groups A and B collects 10 points for the fastest time in each event. Points are awarded for racers who finish first to 26th in the B-main event.

Over the years, Lucas Oil has increased the points fund to attract new racers into the sport.

"Show-up money has increased, and we’ve added more high paying events,” said Jeremy Shields, Marketing and Sales Relations, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. “New drivers are always looking to join the tour."

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series makes stops in several southern and midwestern states

According to Shields, racing events are promoted through social media, print advertising including posters and flyers, television commercials and radio spots.

"We use social media to promote upcoming events, share post-race results, and promote our marketing partners," said Shields.

K&N Engineering has been a major sponsor of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Racing Series since its inception in 2005.

"K&N was one of the original partners when the series began in 2005," noted Shields. "K&N has been instrumental in helping grow the series to the premier national tour for Dirt Late Models. Above all, the relationship that we have built among their company employees is second-to-none."

Drivers who are competing in the Series in 2017 include:

• Boom Briggs

• Colton Flinner

• Darrelll Lanigan

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is a popular attraction at any stop in the series

• Dennis Erb Jr.

• Don O’Neal

• Gregg Satterlee

• Hudson O’Neal

• Jimmy Owens

• Josh Richards

• Scott Bloomquist

• Steve Francis

• Tim McCreadie

• Timothy Culp

"The 2017 roster is bulging with superstar drivers boasting championship pedigrees. Combine the record number of events on the Series schedule with the strongest roster in Series history, 2017 looks to be the biggest year yet," concluded Shields.

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