CONCORD, N.C. — Two of the country’s best sprint car drivers are doing double duty during the Last Call weekend at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Both played significant roles while making rare appearances racing late models.
Kyle Larson, who leads the country with 32 winged sprint car victories this season, and 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion Donny Schatz each showed tremendous speed on the four-tenths-mile oval.
Larson, aboard the Rumley family’s No. 6 Longhorn, set a track record during qualifying with a lap of 14.305 seconds on the track that was resurfaced with fresh clay during the summer. However, he faded quickly in the feature and dropped out midway through the 50-lap run.
Schatz, however, drove his own Rocket No. 15 from 10th starting sport to a fourth-place finish. It was his best WoO LMS run of the season.
Both will be back in action on Thursday, before turning their attention to sprint car competition on the weekend.
• The Last Call weekend puts the lid on Brandon Sheppard’s third World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series championship.
Driving Mark Richards’ familiar No. 1 Rocket House Car, Sheppard has won 14 World of Outlaws features this season. Split between the No. 1 machine and his family owned No. b5, Sheppard has won 31 features this season.
Sheppard had the fastest car on the track at the end of Wednesday’s feature after changing two left-side tires. Sheppard raced from the rear of the field and finished fifth.
It is the seventh World of Outlaws title for Richards, who also won four titles with his son, Josh, behind the wheel.
• World Racing Group Chief Operating Officer Brian Carter addressed competitors on Wednesday night, expressing gratitude for their efforts, flexibility and cooperation in getting the season completed despite the constant and ongoing challenges of the pandemic.
Thursday’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series event will be the 40th and final race of the season for the series.
Carter also told those on hand that a full point fund of a combined $950,000 will be paid to competitors in the Late Model Series and the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series will be paid over the weekend.
Neither series will hold a banquet because of the pandemic.
• Longtime World of Outlaws staffer Chris Dolack, who has served in many roles through the years, addressed the driver’s meeting on Wednesday night.
Dolack was released from the hospital the previous day after his fourth of eight chemotherapy treatments to combat lymphoma, which he was diagnosed with in August.
Competitors and sanctioning body officials have been supporting Dolack’s battle by running stickers and hanging banners with the message #SmilesforDolack.
Dolack thanked everyone for the support he’s received the past three months.
“I got out of the hospital yesterday and I knew I was coming here tonight,” Dolack told the crowd. “My wife (Tina) didn’t even try to stop me. She knew where I needed to be.”
• Kyle Larson and NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer, who owns the dirt late model wheeled by Josh Richards, were seen talking in the late model pit area.
A member of Larson’s Rumley Enterprises crew was heard yelling to Bowyer, “Don’t teach him any bad habits.”
Bowyer is retiring from the NASCAR Cup Series after Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway, while Larson will return to the series next season with Hendrick Motorsports.
• It was certainly an unusual atmosphere during Wednesday’s Last Call at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, especially for those accustomed to attending the World Finals each fall.
Because of COVID-19 restrictions, only one division was in competition instead of the usual three, everyone was required to wear masks and only 1,000 fans were permitted in the 14,200-seat venue.
Health department officials were making the rounds making sure all guidelines were followed and competitors were warned frequently by officials and over the PA system to wear their masks.
Still, some didn’t.
• Kentucky late model racer Tyler Carpenter carried a paint scheme adorned with the No. 4b, paying tribute to longtime dirt-track racer Jackie Boggs, who died last month at the age of 50.
• Fifty-five cars were on hand for the opening night of the late model portion of Last Call, while 47 sprint cars are entered for Friday and Saturday’s events.
• Sixteen-year-old Georgia driver Parker Martin, who has raced primarily crate late models this season, made his World of Outlaws Late Model Series debut and qualified for Wednesday’s feature, finishing 21st.