CONCORD, N.C. — To reach the top, you’ll have some hell to face.
Sam Driggers, who has been DIRTcar director for 22 years, is no different. As a veteran of the industry, he is an instrumental figure in the rise of dirt racing’s current stars while keeping longstanding relationships with the owners, promoters, and legends of dirt track racing.
His earliest memories included attending dirt tracks across his home state of Florida with his family. The most prominent of the facilities Driggers visited was Volusia Speedway Park, after owners Benny Corbin and Dick Murphy noticed his work in the grandstands and offered him a job to become the track’s head scorer.
“When I was about 12 years old, I started sitting in the grandstands and making a list of all the cars,” Driggers said. “It kind of glued me into the sport, just doing it because it was fun. Murphy called me and said, ‘Can you come over here and help?’ and Benny Corbin called me and said, ‘Can you come over and help score this race?’ After that, I never left and did scoring around Florida and Georgia until I was 22.”
Through his time scoring at the Barberville, FL racetrack, he gained the respect of the two track owners while making connections across the industry for his desired future in dirt racing.
“I loved Benny and Dickie, they were the coolest guys in the world to work for,” Driggers said. “Dickie was hard, but once you got the job done, he knew who you were and what you were about. You couldn’t do no wrong with Dickie Murphy, he was the best guy I’d known.”
Driggers moved away from Florida to California at 22, but traveled back to the “Sunshine State” to continue scoring races at Volusia. His work at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” caught the eye of Bob Memmer, the founding father of United Midwestern Promoters (UMP).
While Driggers was scoring at Volusia during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, Memmer asked him if he could read a measuring tape. From that moment, Driggers joined the fold of UMP officials as he learned the new environment he was going to face.
“My parents took really good care of us growing up,” Driggers recalled. “It occurred to me one day that I was gonna get in trouble with my dad about jobs, and they wouldn’t let me figure it out on my own, so I ran away from home at 22 and went to San Francisco.
“At that point, Murphy called and said, ‘You’re going to come help me, right?’ So, I would fly in every February and then go back to California. Then, I remember meeting Bob in the tower, and he asked me if I wanted to come tech race cars. I said, ‘I really don’t know a lot about that kind of stuff.’ He said, ‘Well, do you know how to read a tape measure?’ I said, ‘I can do that.’ And he said, ‘You can do this job.’ So, I went out there and never left.”
When Driggers began working for UMP, his tasks included creating a weekly newsletter that included point updates and helping Memmer in areas that needed assistance. On the weekends, Driggers traveled to UMP-sanctioned events to tech race cars.
“(Bob) immediately took me under his wing right there,” Driggers said. “I helped him look for results during the year. We’d put out a weekly newsletter with all the points, and step in with memberships through the week. Then, on the weekends, he would have me at the racetracks everywhere teching guys.”
Before the Floridian moved to the Midwest, he did not know much about the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. Once Driggers began touring the schedule in the 1990s, he was hooked from the start, drawn by the daily racing at 1/4-mile and 1/2-mile facilities.
“I knew there were a lot of races in the Midwest, but I didn’t know anything about Summer Nationals or what it was,” Driggers said. “When I got up here, the thing I figured out really quickly was that the racing was 10 times better than the South, only because the tracks are so big down there that unless you had a lot of cars, there was not a whole lot going on sometimes. So, when I got into these little bullrings, I thought ‘This is the coolest thing I have ever seen,’ and I loved it.”
Memmer’s overarching impact when he formed UMP steered the course to regulate costs and keep dirt racing as affordable as possible. Known as the “friend of the little guy” throughout his leadership, he was involved in the business until his passing on July 8, 2004.
“The first thing you have to know about Bob Memmer, he was a very difficult man to work for,” Driggers admitted. “He pushed himself so hard, and that’s what he had to do because he didn’t have enough people. He’d always come into the office, and that place was his home. He showed me everything, told me everything as I’d go to the Summer Nationals races with him.”
While Driggers began to familiarize himself with the drivers that competed on the Summer Nationals and in UMP events, he developed a mutual respect with one of the sport’s all-time greatest drivers: Mooresburg, TN’s Scott Bloomquist.
“Scott Bloomquist was always an interesting character,” Driggers said. “I told Scott a long time ago, ‘I don’t like the way you do things, but I believe you.’ He was always a character. (One time) he tried to get out of the race car after winning at Eldora, and got all the mud piled over his shoes and the car to pass the scales.”
During his time working for Memmer, Driggers saw how he made the multi-week grind help entice drivers from national, regional, and local ranks to chase a hard-earned championship and gain value in following the Hell Tour.
“That was the beauty of the Summer Nationals, what we did and what we’re doing,” Driggers said. “Jeep Van Wormer and a couple other guys, their first year of Late Models was on the Summer Nationals. To learn how to set up the car, get it ready, and maintain it while you’re going down the road is that challenge you face.
“When you see a lot of these guys that would come in the last couple of years, they were getting seat time. It was always interesting because you never knew who was going to win any night because you’d have five guys following you and another 10 guys that could show up and win. They’re all my drivers, so it doesn’t matter who wins it.”
Growing up in Florida, Driggers had a special place for Modifieds in the way that Memmer cared for dirt Late Models. In 2012, he formed the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, becoming an affordable challenge for UMP Modified drivers to travel to select races alongside the Summer Nationals.
“Once we got the (Summit Racing Equipment) sponsorship, it really all came together,” Driggers said. “We knew no guys could race every single night for that many days, but we had to do it right where we counted so many races. Those guys deserve to race as much as anybody else does. So that’s when it came about, we put it together, and it’s been pretty good ever since.”
Driggers has also seen the Summer Nationals become a key spot in driver development for several of dirt racing’s top stars. Amongst the former champions that currently race on a national touring series are Dennis Erb Jr (2007-2009), Brian Shirley (2012, 2018-2020), Brandon Sheppard (2013), Bobby Pierce (2015-2017, 2021-2022), Tyler Erb (2024), and Summit Modified champion Nick Hoffman (2016, 2019-2022).
“I’ve seen a few guys be able to develop their driving through Summer Nationals,” Driggers said. “Several guys have told me the stuff you learn on this tour will make you 10 times better and 10 times faster. Because you’re racing every night, you don’t have time to think, you just got to do it and got to get there, and that’s what it’s all about.
“I’ll still get guys that will show off and on (the tour), and I think the fans enjoy seeing those guys that show up or they don’t expect to be there necessarily. When you get them on the Summer Nationals to race and get better, that’s always a good thing.”
Heading into the 40th anniversary season of the Summer Nationals, the tour will face 33 races in 34 days for the 2026 showcase. While keeping longstanding relations with staple tracks on the schedule, Driggers has kept room to welcome new tracks and reintroduce other facilities that clamor for a Hell Tour date.
“A lot of these tracks in the area, their one big race of the year is the Summer Nationals,” Driggers said. “A Summer Nationals race for a promoter is an affordable race. You can pay a $5,000-to-win show, and you can make money off of that. They still want to have that race because of its history.
“You want to go to at least a couple of new tracks every year that you haven’t been. The local tracks like Fairbury, Farmer City, and I-55 are the staples. They know what they are, and they’ll be just fine. A lot of these places out west don’t mind having a weekday race, and it works geographically, so that’s what we do.”
In August, Driggers will be inducted into the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame for his contributions to the sport through DIRTcar and UMP. While honored to receive the award, he knew it was a moment that would come his way.
“The good news is I got it before I died,” Driggers said with a chuckle. “I don’t mean this to sound arrogant, but the truth is that I deserve it. I know I do because I busted my tail at this for a long, long, long time. So, I’m pleased, I surely am. I wasn’t really surprised about it; I knew it was going to come around sooner or later.”
Driggers will gear up for the 2026 edition of the Summer Nationals and Summit Modified Nationals when it opens at the Brownstown Bullring on Tuesday, June 9.
