Very few sprint car drivers have crossed over to the world of dirt late model racing, and the list of racers who have had success doing so is even shorter.
Tyler Courtney and Donny Schatz each made rocky attempts to invade the dirt late model scene in recent years, but both struggled to succeed against the national-tour crowd of drivers.
As far as competitors who have handled racing in multiple disciplines well, Kyle Larson is the name that comes to mind. He has repeatedly visited victory lane in a sprint car, midget and dirt late model.
Logan Seavey is calling “next.”
The two-time Chili Bowl Nationals winner has elected to try out dirt late model racing this season behind the wheel of the No. 51 Chris Bragg Racing entry. While the Feb. 28 announcement felt a little out of the blue, the truth is that going dirt late model racing has been something on Seavey’s mind for quite some time.
“I’d say really, actually interested, it’s been the last three or four years,” Seavey said.
When the California native first moved to Indiana to run midgets on a full-time basis and compete in a handful of sprint car races, the crossover with dirt late models was extremely rare.
“Over the last few years, it happens a little bit more. I got to test the Rocket1 Racing house car and just be involved more and meet more people who do that style of racing,” Seavey said. “I have a lot of friends that are on that side and stuff like that, so it’ll be cool just to go basically see what they do and see if I can do it with them.”
Seavey will make his dirt late model debut at Spoon River Speedway in Illinois on May 8, as part of Castrol FloRacing Night in America. He’ll follow it up with appearances at Illiniois’ Lincoln Speedway on May 9 and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway on May 12.
Those are the only races set in stone between himself and Chris Bragg Racing, but the 26-year-old expects to put a handful of other dirt late model events on his schedule as the season develops.
“We don’t really have a whole schedule going yet, we’re just trying to get started and then see where it goes from there,” Seavey said. “If we run good, I’m sure we’ll be pretty excited to maybe go out of our way to run some more.”
To prepare for his debut as best he can, Seavey will test the No. 51 Longhorn Chassis car in early April at Rocket Raceway Park in Texas. It won’t be the first time he’s sat in a dirt late model, but it will still be a new experience.
“The last time I tested, it was Brandon Sheppard’s seat, pedals and all that stuff. Obviously, it was good enough to go run some laps, but certainly will be more comfortable once I get a full day to kind of get my own seat in there, get the steering wheel where I want it and the pedals where I want it and things like that,” Seavey said.
During his prior test session, he only ran about 20 laps.
This time around, Seavey’s planning to attack it a bit harder and attempt to get more at ease hustling the full-bodied, 800-horsepower machines around a dirt oval.
“The biggest thing is getting comfortable in the car and making sure I’m happy in there,” Seavey said. “Number two is just getting a bunch of laps when the track’s really heavy and then get some laps when the track gets slick and see how the car reacts differently to all those things.”
The two-time USAC national midget champion and 2023 USAC Silver Crown titlist has proven to be a versatile talent, so his hopes are high for his dirt late model endeavor.
“I like to think it’s going to go well,” Seavey said with a laugh. “I just feel confident about working with Vinny (Guliani) and knowing that he’s gonna have the car really good. So I think it’s gonna be up to me to either figure it out and look good, or not figure it out and look bad.”
Guliani was as a race engineer with Jonathan Davenport during the 2022 season and is working as a consultant for Chris Bragg Racing to help Seavey’s development. Guiliani will be one of many people lending Seavey advice, as the California native is also close friends with dirt late model aficionados Larson, Sheppard and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Though Seavey’s primary focus is on running the trio of USAC series’ — midgets, non-winged sprint cars and Silver Crown — this year, he’s open to the idea of doing more dirt late model racing in the future, so long as it goes well.
“I think long term you never know, since the cars are kind of known for people racing them a lot further along into their careers with a lot of older guys racing late models,” Seavey said. “So I say you never know. If we’re decent at it, maybe one day, might go try it again.”