CONCORD, N.C. — For the fifth time in his storied career, Kyle Strickler is a World Short Track Champion.
The 43-year-old from Mooresville, N.C., has been one of the brightest talents in Summit Racing Equipment DIRTcar UMP Modified action at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, winning the marquee event four times since its inception in 2016.
Saturday night, he padded his all-time record again, leading the main event flag-to-flag for his fifth World Short Track Championship victory and an $8,000 grand prize.
For a driver who’s won at tracks from Pennsylvania to Florida, to Minnesota and back to “The Old North State,” does winning at home for the fifth time feel as special as it did the first?
“I think it feels more special, actually,” Strickler said. “When you’re getting older and you’re trying to make a name for yourself or whatever, the records and stuff that will last long, it’ll be hard to beat. That’s the stuff that’s really important to me.”
After qualifying halfway down the 27-car field on Thursday, Strickler rebounded for a Heat Race win from the fifth starting spot on Friday to give him an outside front row starting spot for Saturday’s main event.
From the drop of the green, Strickler put on a clinic around the four-tenths-mile oval. He grabbed the lead from polesitter and Thursday’s fast qualifier Logan Roberson on the opening lap and never looked back, leading all 25 circuits and collecting the checkered flag without any serious challenge from his opponents.
“It took a little bit to knock the rust off, and I knew once the racetrack had slowed down, we’d be really good,” Strickler said. “We went back to our notebook and got everything right, and it played out perfect. We didn’t have to deal with a redraw or anything, and winning that second Heat Race I think put me in the preferred groove because when it starts to rubber, you can kinda run down that hill on the start there, and the guy on the inside is almost going uphill. So, I thought that I had the best starting spot.”
Virginia native Roberson crossed the finish line in second to record his best finish in the event, followed by Sportsman of the Year Award winner Chris Arnold in third, two-time Charlotte winner Taylor Cook in fourth and three-time Crate Modified event winner Austin Holcombe rounding out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[2]; 2. 5R-Logan Roberson[1]; 3. 99W-Chris Arnold[4]; 4. 21-Taylor Cook[7]; 5. 8A-Austin Holcombe[9]; 6. 00-Blake Tasker[5]; 7. 99-Cole Hilton[19]; 8. 6-Ryan Ayers[8]; 9. Z77-Austin Self[25]; 10. 46-Matt Crafton[26]; 11. 84-Ryan Toole[10]; 12. 28-Owen Lacey[15]; 13. 2A-Matt Altiers[14]; 14. 11-Troy Loomis[12]; 15. 9T-Mason Canter[27]; 16. 4M-Tim Monroe[17]; 17. 5-Jonathan Taylor[3]; 18. 7T-Evan Taylor[22]; 19. 93-Ken Martin[21]; 20. F5-Richard Clew[20]; 21. 7-Coleton Longwell[6]; 22. 59-Grayson Wells[11]; 23. 114-Jordan Koehler[23]; 24. 22-Russell Erwin[24]; 25. 05-Shannon Slaughter[18]; 26. 45-Cambridge Gann[13]; 27. 05A-Adam Favors[16]
