It’s without a doubt public knowledge that the decision to run the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, aptly called the “Hell Tour” is not for the weak. The 2022 schedule throws back to a more traditional format of its early years and has teams chasing 32 races in just 40 days. For most of the tour, that is racing six nights a week while maintaining both maintenance on the car, rigs, travel to and fr...
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IT’S NO SECRET that grassroots racing takes a village behind the scenes to get to the track each weekend. Deep in Texas where some of the nearest tracks for drivers are a three-hour commute, the commitment and dedication by teams runs deep through their village. For young Beau Begnaud, it’s taken balancing not just work but at times school, family support from sacrifices to becoming crew members,...
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THERE ARE MANY aspects about the state of New Jersey that result in the world happening inside the state lines to be overlooked and underestimated. It’s not often fans hear about lucrative purses or exciting racing action in the abundant headlines surrounding dirt track racing. Overlooked and underestimated have not only defined the location but also New Jersey driver Ryan Simmons.Coming from a r...
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FRANK COATES, of Hodges, South Carolina, may not be known by fans and competitors throughout the country but he has been a force at speedways in the Palmetto State for over four decades. At any dirt track in the state of South Carolina, when his red and white 21 Ford rolls through the gate everyone knows he will be in the hunt for the win. Pride of South Carolina Now 66 years old, Coates ha...
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IF YOU’RE A MAINSTAY of the local racing scene, odds are that you just love to race. Jason Fusselman is one of those guys. He enjoys racing, he enjoys the fans and he enjoys the other racers. After the races you will usually see a large group of fans gathered around Fusselman’s number 55 Hobby Stock. Pictures are taken, kids sign their name on the trunk lid of his race car and he hands out hero c...
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BACK IN 2015, I-80 Speedway Promoter Joe Kosiski created the Bragging Rights Series by teaming with other area tracks to create a series for Grand National/Limited Late Model type cars. Eventually, I-80 changed the name of their Grand National class to the Bragging Rights Late Models. Jacob Brown grew up around racing hanging out with the likes of Steve Kosiski, Dave Doll and Craig Preble, so t...
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By Ashley Zimmerman Photo by Devin Mayo We wanted to know a little bit more about our Issue 6 cover subject, Dominic Scelzi, and got him to go a bit off script – not a hard thing to do with such a big personality – as we learned more about the career, life and philosophy of the 2021 NARC champion and King of California. Dirt Empire: What is your earliest racing memory? Dominic Scelzi:...
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For a good chunk of the 2020 season, it looked like a 23-year-old from Arizona was in line to win the prestigious IMCA Modified National Title. In the end, when all the points were counted and races were won, Chaz Baca ended up finishing sixth while winning the IMCA West Region and the Arizona State IMCA Modified points. Baca was disappointed that he was not able to hold onto the lead an...
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In the Golden State, raceways are plentiful but few have the history of Petaluma Speedway. Last year, the track celebrated 60 years of racing but it has been seen at the site for much longer - 84 years in fact. The first recorded automobile race at the site where the speedway sits was in 1936 when local racing legend Ed Normi won the 30-lap race held at Kenilworth Park's one-mile horse r...
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