CONCORD, N.C.
The World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway was the place to be for dirt-track fans, competitors and industry leaders.
And that’s exactly what LMS Director of Events Roger Slack and World Racing Group (World of Outlaws) officials had in mind when they created the event.
Featuring the World of Outlaws sprint cars and late models together on the same card for the first time, the event featured a unique format with two rounds of qualifying for both classes on Thursday and full programs of heats and features on Friday and Saturday.
Saturday’s action was televised live on Speed, the first time a WoO LM race had been shown on live television. The event brought fans from 48 states and five Canadian provinces, 82 dirt late models and 48 sprint cars to the four-tenths-mile oval. Motor homes virtually surrounded the facility, and a souvenir midway gave campers plenty to do during the warm fall days. And the racing surface at The Dirt Track was the best it has ever been, especially for Saturday night when the racing was close, competitive and entertaining.
Skagit Speedway promoter Steve Beitler came from Wisconsin, noted Knoxville Raceway race director Ralph Capitani came from Iowa. Interstate Racing Ass’n head man Steve Sinclair trekked in from Wisconsin. TBARA operator Don Rehm came from Florida. Larry Boos came from Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Legendary sprint-car ace Bobby Allen drove in from Pennsylvania. And they were only a few.
Representatives from just about every chassis and engine builder in the sprint-car and late-model ranks were on hand.
Only a handful of tickets were left to be had for Friday, and Saturday saw a standing-room-only crowd (more than 14,000) watch an entertaining show that was run through in short order after Friday’s event included many crashes and finished shortly after midnight.
Veteran drivers Donnie Moran and Steve Kinser shared the stage after each posted impressive victories in highly competitive features. Moran held off WoOLMS champion Steve Francis, while Kinser dueled Danny Lasoski to the checkered flag in a match race that brought back memories of their battles through the years.
Another interesting aspect of the World Finals was that it wasn’t the only event in town, or on the LMS property for that matter.
The fifth annual North-South Shootout, which featured modifieds and supermodifieds at nearby Concord Motorsport Park (approximately 15 miles from LMS), drew the largest crowd in the history of the half-mile oval. The World Karting Ass’n hosted its annual GT Machine Grand Nationals in the Lowe’s Motor Speedway infield, while the annual Spooktacular 300 for bandolero cars was held on the fifth-mile asphalt oval at LMS.
Clearly the number of auto racing options gave race fans in the Charlotte area plenty to choose from. All that was missing was a drag race. Maybe next year.