HARRISBURG, N.C. — During a season in which young sprint car sensations such as Corey Day, Ryan Timms, Chase Randall, Gio Scelzi and Buddy Kofoid thrilled fans and generated headlines, a select group of celebrated open-wheel racers quietly added to their already impressive career statistics.
Reviewing results through the end of September, we discovered that 10 members of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame were among this season’s feature winners. In fact, these veterans combined to win 22 sprint car races, a TQ midget main and a late model feature.
Let’s have a round of applause for the National Sprint Car Hall of Famers who are still building their trophy collections:
Dale Blaney — Hartford, Ohio; age 59; HoF 2016: A former college basketball star with NBA aspirations, the youngest Blaney brother instead went into the family business of racing sprint cars. He’s earned six All Star Circuit of Champions titles.
After multiple seasons of limited appearances, Blaney was elbows up this year. He won four times in nearly 30 starts, visiting victory lane at Sharon Speedway (3) and Clinton Co. Speedway.
Dave Blaney — Hartford, Ohio; age 60; HoF 2014: Following his father, Lou, into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Dave Blaney won 95 World of Outlaws features and claimed the 1995 series championship.
After a successful NASCAR career that concluded in 2014, Blaney returned to the sprint car ranks. This summer, he drove to victory three times at Sharon Speedway, the dirt track he owns in his hometown.
Dave Darland — Lincoln, Ind.; age 57; HoF 2017: Known as “The People’s Champion,” Darland has four titles across USAC’s three premier divisions, and he’s won 106 USAC national series features.
With a 2021 health scare behind him, Darland visited victory lane at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway on Monday night, July 4. He put his No. 36 Curb Records traditional sprint car out front in the closing laps and then held off Colton Cottle.
Darland announced his retirement in September and is scheduled for one final race this Saturday at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway.
Lance Dewease — Fayetteville, Pa.; age 58; HoF 2018: One of the most successful drivers on the central Pennsylvania circuit, Dewease’s credentials include 114 feature victories at legendary Williams Grove Speedway.
Despite the turmoil of an unexpected team change, Dewease won four times this year. He wheeled the No. 69k car to three wins, including a pair of All Star triumphs, and then took the Macri Motorsports entry to the checkered flag on Sept. 22.
Terry Gray — Bartlett, Tenn.; age 65; HoF 2022: The son of open-wheel racer Elmer Gray honed his driving skills on the unforgiving gumbo clay of Riverside Int’l Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., and went on to claim more than 20 sprint car championships.
Gray continued his tradition of visiting victory lane when he notched USCS sprint car feature victory No. 96 on June 10 at Buckshot Speedway in Clanton, Ala.
Terry McCarl — Altoona, Iowa; age 58; HoF 2017: Born into a racing family, McCarl’s résumé includes 59 410 triumphs and seven championships at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
Focusing on the racing careers of sons Austin and Carson, McCarl spent most of the 2023 season in the 360 ranks, recording three victories. Two came with USCS in Florida during February and the other was in September with ASCS at Iowa’s Clay County Fair Speedway.
Tim Shaffer — Aliquippa, Pa.; age 56; HoF 2020: A four-time All Star Circuit of Champions titlist, Shaffer’s biggest victory came in the 50th running of the Knoxville Nationals in 2010.
This year, “The Steel City Outlaw” finished seventh in the All Star point standings and ended a series drought that stretched nearly three years. His triumphant return to victory lane came June 15 when he topped the George Fisher Memorial at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway. Shaffer even picked up a dirt late model victory at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
Danny Smith — Chillicothe, Ohio; age 66; HoF 2015: A second-generation sprint car racer, Smith skipped his high school graduation in 1975 so he could compete in the Little 500 at Indiana’s Anderson Speedway.
Driving his familiar No. 4 entry, Smith started sixth in the Sept. 22 feature at Ohio’s Skyline Speedway and drove around Zeth Sabo coming to the white flag to post the 410 sprint car feature triumph.
Tony Stewart — Columbus, Ind.; age 52; HoF 2022: Stewart stands alone as the only driver to claim titles in both IndyCar and NASCAR. As a car owner, Tony Stewart Racing has earned 27 open-wheel championships.
In 2023, Stewart was a title contender and winner in NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster category. To earn a spot among this group of dirt-slingers, he topped a June 28 TQ midget feature in his hometown.
Sammy Swindell — Bartlett, Tenn.; age 68; HoF 2006: A three-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion, this second-generation wheelman has 394 feature victories and countless miles on the Outlaws trail. He’s also a five-time winner of the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Despite running only a handful of races, Swindell recorded four victories this season. He won a pair of ASCS regional features in April and two POWRi Desert Series dates in September.
This story appeared in the Oct 18, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
