The next world-beating driver used to be found at a local dirt track or pavement bullring, making his bones by winning feature after feature until someone noticed.

The road hasn’t been easy for Craig Dollansky, but earlier this year he finally got the good news he was hoping for.

There always has been and always will be a connection between the short-track racing that so many of us love and big-time motorsports such as NASCAR and Indy car, but that synergy seems greater now than it has been in years.