One Night of Racing

[KC]

In the world of motorsports, race schedules usually follow the constraints of television coverage, but a few large series do not have complete TV coverage and a lot of racing goes unseen by the TV viewing public. Thw World of Outlaws is one of these series. A full schedule represents 102 nights of racing at the many bullring dirt oval tracsk across America. The season begins February 25th and stretches out to November 1st at over 50 different venues. Some races, like the O'Reilly Sunflower Shootout at Topeka, Kansas, are three day events with three separate A-main features on siccessive nights. While other races appear ont he schedule on back to back nights where a team must travel every morning to a new track. In the month of July, a team will travel thousands of miles to make each of the 17 races scheduled, traveling from Knoxville, Iowa to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvannia to Brandon, South Dakota. This insane schedule is probably the toughest series to compete in every race and yet around 40 regular drivers make it and compete against the fastest the locals have to offer.

Open Wheel magazine spent a day with Tulsa, Oklahoma native son Lance Blevins to see just to see what goes on in a day on the World of Outlaws championship trail. This young crew consists of two mechanics and the driver.

This day begins after getting back to the motel room at approximatley 1:00am.

At 8:00am the two mechanics are at work on the car in the motel parking lot.

Blevins awakes around 8:30am and joins them.

At around 11:00am repairs and maintenance are done and the car is started to check the motor. Blevins is responsible for changing shocks and a damaged hub while the other crewmen replace spark plugs, oil, and fix other nicked or damaged items on the car. After this is done they go to the laundrymat and wash their team uniforms and driver suits.

At around 12:30 noon the three break for lunch and then return to their rooms for a nap before leaving for the track. Thsi day was good, they didn't have to change the motor, in-and-out gear box or rearend.

At around 2:30pm they load up and head for the track, around a 40 mile drive. On the way they stop and pick up cold cut meats and some salads to eat later in the evening for dinner.

After arriving at the track and setting up their pit they split up and go about their respective jobs. One goes and purchases a set of tires and begins mounting them. Another purchases methanol fuel for the night and fuels the car for qualifying. Blevins mets with local sponsors before heading off to the driver's meeting.

At around 6:00pm the car is cleaned and washed after making some hot laps to make it presentable to remove any unwanted weight in mud and dirt.

At 7:30pm, qualifying rounds begin and final tuneup on car is done based on how damp the track is and where the racing line is at.

At 9:00pm the heat races are on and the grid is being decided based upon performance in qualifying heats.

At 10:00pm ther mains are being raced.

At 11:00pm the pits are opening to the fans and drivers sign autographs while the team packs up their gear to leave. More sponsorship sessions are held after the crowd thins out.

At 12:30am the crew finally leaves the track and heads to the car wash to tear down the car and wash off the nights dirt and mud.

At around 1:30am they arrive at the motel and get some sleep.

The alarm clock awakes them at 7:00am to hit the road for the next race.

It does make one wonder when you hear about drivers from this series or that series whining about the amount of races and the amount of travel they do and then you compare them to the Outlaw racers.

[Neil C]

...and with all that, they put on one of the best shows in motorsports. Seeing them on TV doesnt come close to experiencing them at the track. Those guys are gonzo!

Thanks, KC.