FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
8.12.2023 CHARLESTON SPEEDWAY: CHARLESTON, IL
What an exciting night to be at The Charleston Speedway. 110 cars checked in, 34 DIRTcar Modified entries, including DIRTcar Modified National Point leader, Tyler Nicely! Nicely would prove to be the night’s victor, but his win would not be without effort. The event started with qualifying and the Ashmore, IL native, Deece Schwartz, would just miss fast time qualifying with a time of 14.432, to Nicely’s 14.317; with 3rd quick going to Jared Thomas with a time of 14.510. Qualifying finished and it was time for some heat race action. Tyler Nicely would win heat 1, Dustin King won heat 2, but not before a bit of excitement with a mid-race incident caused by Danville, Illinois’, Butch Carnaghi bringing out the red flag by rolling down the back stretch. Carnaghi was uninjured and the race continued after a short delay. Jared Thomas would capture the win in heat 3. The top 5 heat finishers were locked into the Feature event, but with 3 heats, we only had 15 locked in. That meant it was time for the B-main to fill the final 5 positions of the 20 car Feature. The veteran Everett Bradham would hang on to claim victory in the B-main, but he had his hands full fending off the challenge from the youngster out of Vincennes, IN, Cody Kibby. With the B-main over and the rest of the field set, it was time to drop the flag on the fastest 20 DIRTcar Modifieds in the pit area. While under pre-race parade laps of the Feature event, the 63 of Dustin King, who was slated to start front row outside to Nicely; would unexpectedly stop on the front stretch. Infield crews were quick to respond, only to find that mechanical failure would sideline the Charleston, IL native, moving the #50 of Tyler Weiss to start alongside Nicely. The green flag flew on the field, and they were underway. Nicely would jump to an early lead and maintain that lead for the entire event. The 20-lap event would go green to checkered, caution free, and provided TONS of side by side, wheel to wheel, 3 and 4 wide racing throughout the entire field! Nicely set a blistering pace and the 20-lap event was finished in only 5min & 21sec…WOW he was rolling! Current Charleston Speedway point leader Kasey Schrock was able to rally into a 9th place Feature finish and thus maintain his point lead over 2nd place, Kenny Carmichael Sr. The Modified feature was an outstanding race and if you couldn’t attend in person, you can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/i6en0ZLtv2Q
The weather was simply amazing, perfect for taking the family to the Speedway to enjoy some great entertainment. Rain throughout the week provided a unique challenge to Brad Agney and his track prep crew, but he overcame the adversity and provided another PHENOMINAL racing surface for the entire event. It tends to be a bit dusty from time to time, but it is a dirt track after all. Over 500 fans were in attendance, and if the Modified feature wasn’t entertainment enough, the 22 DIRTcar Pro Modified drivers were there to add to it. Both 1st and 2nd place DIRTcar National Point leaders were at the Speedway. Our very own local favorites are 1st and 2nd in National Points and were there to put on a show for the fans. Point leader, Deece Schwartz would qualify with a time of 15.124, which was good enough to be 2nd fast to the time of 14.994 which was laid down by the no. 2 guy in National Points, Brayden Doyle. These 2 youngsters are chasing each other all over the Midwest, doing whatever they can to beat the other! With fast time and second fast time, they would line up in separate heat races and both come out with a heat race victory. With fast time, and a Heat win, Doyle would start P1, while Schwartz, 2nd quick time and Heat win would relegate him to outside front row for the 15-lap feature. When the green flag flew, the fans got yet another treat. Cars running the top, cars running the bottom, cars through the middle…it was crazy and exciting to see. Although starting front row outside is somewhat of a disadvantage, Schwartz was able to capitalize on the top groove and lead the first 6 laps. Doyle, tired of running in Schwartz tire tracks, dropped to the bottom after a restart and found the traction he was looking for. With Schwartz fast on the top, and Doyle holding his own on the bottom, the two would remain wheel to wheel for the rest of the race. Doyle would manage to nudge in front of Schwartz to cross the official timing and scoring loop in P1 for laps 7-11. Unfortunately, due to excessive cautions and the race exceeding the allowable time limit, the 15-lap feature was forced to be shortened to 11. Doyle held onto lead lap 11 and thus claimed the top spot. Deece Schwartz would have to settle for 2nd, while Gabe Menser finished out the podium with his 3rd place finish! These DIRTcar Pro Modified drivers put on an EXCELLENT show and if you couldn’t see it live, or want to relive the experience, you can watch the Pro Modified Feature here:
https://youtu.be/MdvdxFYfhXE
The DIRTcar Hornet division provided quite a bit of excitement this Saturday! Hornet cars rarely are afforded the opportunity to qualify like the other divisions, but Saturday night, they had their chance. Dalton Shafer, driving the #37 car owned by Cole Martz would make the best of his opportunity to qualify by breaking the old track record and set the new one with a blistering time of 17.451! Defending Track Champion, Dee Friar would qualify 2nd quick with a time of 17.547, while Lynn Lash would hold onto 3rd with a time of 17.584. A 3rd place qualifying effort would not be the ONLY excitement in store for Lash. Lap 8 of the Feature, while running 3rd, Lash developed a steering problem and found himself sidelined for the rest of the event. Shafer, while running 4th, would get caught up in Lash’s misfortune, and be sidelined as well. The night would belong to Peoria, Illinois native, Jimmy Dutlinger. While Dutlinger’s 4th quick time might have seemed blasé, his race craft would shine through with his heat win and eventual flag to flag feature victory. Dutlinger is the current DIRTcar National Points leader, and this victory would mark the 17th Feature win of the ‘23 season! Dutlinger has had an incredibly impressive summer and just keeps adding trophies to his case. The entire DIRTcar Hornet division continues to provide exciting racing action, week in and week out! The 10th place Feature finish of Jaekob Durbin allowed him to maintain his Charleston Speedway points lead by a narrow margin of 2. If you want to see some exciting, wheel to wheel racing action, you owe it to yourself to check out the DIRTcar Hornet division, and if you couldn’t see Saturday’s event, you can watch it here:
https://youtu.be/k0Ah2GKU8sY
Some significant changes have been made and we are continuing to work on developing the newly formed DIRTcar Pro Late Model Division. With 14 cars signing in, the fans were guaranteed to get their monies worth! 2 heat races would see Clinton, IL, Blaise Baker picking up the win in heat 1, while Mt. Vernon, IL, Kyle McHahon would take the checkers in heat 2. These victories meant the front row of the Feature was going to have 2 very fast cars starting side by side. Colby Eller finished 2nd in his heat race, from his 5th starting spot, which meant he would start P4 in the feature. Unfortunately, coming to the green flag, the #21K of Jacob Kolwyck, the #51A of Amber Crouch and the #10C of Colby Eller would make contact on the front stretch that would prove enough damage to the Eller machine to cause him to be sidelined. Crouch would eventually succumb to mechanical failure on lap 5, and Kolwyck would hang on to finish 5th. The battle for the top spot was between the #77 of Baker and the #45 of McMahon. Lap after lap, back and forth, all while #55 of Anthony Tucker was right on their heels. Exciting racing from the beginning to the very end! Baker led lap 1 and apparently, he liked that so much, he decided he’d lead the remaining 14 and led every lap! McMahon gave it his all, but just didn’t quite have the speed to dispatch with Baker. This was Baker’s first visit to the speedway in ‘23, he stopped by in ‘22 and won that night as well. So, Baker has yet to be beaten at The Charleston Speedway. I know several Pro Late Model competitors hope this one visit will not be his only for ‘23, as they’d like another chance at him; but for now, he will remain undefeated. Charleston, Illinois, Anthony Tucker finished a strong 3rd, his highest finish this season, and it was good enough for him to hang onto The Charleston Speedway Points lead, by 15 over Jammie Wilson. DIRTcar Pro Late Models are always exciting to watch at The Charleston Speedway and if you want to see what you missed, click to watch the Feature here:
https://youtu.be/88mLR_zREhQ
As the season is winding down, we want to encourage you that if you haven’t been to the Speedway this season, or it’s been awhile since you’ve been there….make plans NOW to join us before it’s too late! We only have 7 more races scheduled. With Driver Appreciation night up next, August 19th. Also, DO NOT FORGET; We have a Monster Truck Event scheduled for September 9th, so if you’re into Monster Trucks…DON’T MISS THIS EVENT! Tickets are available online. Check our Facebook page for details, or click here to order tickets now:
http://tickets.monstertruckchallenge.live
Here is your fast time qualifiers;
DIRTcar Modified, #25 Tyler Nicely; 14.317
DIRTcar Pro Modified, #2 Bryden Doyle; 14.994
DIRTcar Street Stock, #55 Zane Reitz; 15.646
DIRTcar Hornet, #37, Dalton Shafer; 17.451
NEW TRACK RECORD
Your run down of Heat Race winners for August 12, 2023
DIRTcar Modified: #25 Tyler Nicely & #63 Dustin King & #43 Jared Thomas
DIRTcar Pro Modified: #2 Brayden Doyle & #121 Deece Schwartz
DIRTcar Street Stock: #99K Jerrad Krick
DIRTcar Factory Stock: #X Randy Smyser & #68W Damion Wilmoth
DIRTcar Pro Late Model: #77 Blaise Baker & #45 Kyle McMahon
DIRTcar Hornet: #37 Dalton Shafer & #28 Jimmy Dutlinger
Here are the Feature Winners from the Summer Shootout:
DIRTcar Modified #25 Tyler Nicely
DIRTcar Pro Modified #2 Brayden Doyle
DIRTcar Street Stock #99K Jerrad Krick
DIRTcar Pro Late Model #77 Blaise Baker
DIRTcar Factory Stock #X Randy Smyser
DIRTcar Hornets #28 Jimmy Dutlinger
DIRTcar Factory Stock Feature can be watched here:
https://youtu.be/Xr32ngY1-X8
DIRTcar Street Stock Feature can be watched here:
https://youtu.be/sxCfHsi3Qv8
ALL video credit to Zack Carter.
Be sure to check out, and purchase a few of the MANY photos that were taken at the Speedway right here:
https://srldesigns.smugmug.com/CHARLESTON-2023/8-12-2023/
ALL photo credit to SRL Designs.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON…………..AT THE CHARLESTON SPEEDWAY!!!
#chuckvegas