I am a hard-core race fan.  I love all kinds of racing, but dirt track racing is my passion.  NASCAR's Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, and Craftsman Trucks receive ample coverage from newsstand magazines like NASCAR Illustrated, Speedway Illustrated, and Stock Car Racing.  There is no shortage of magazines featuring IRL drivers.  But what about the rest of racing, the local, grassroots, Saturday night racing?

 

A magazine I write for, Dirt Late Model, does a wonderful job of covering national tours like the World of Outlaws, the Lucas Oil Dirt Series, and the UMP Summer Series.   Regional tours like the WDRL, MLRA, MARS, NALMS, SAS, are well represented.  Flat Out magazine does a great job of covering sprint car and midget racing, and open wheel mega-events like the Knoxville Nationals, and the Chili Bowl. And, Three Wide Media's newest magazine Dirt Modified is on the scene for all the important modified races such as the Fall Jamboree at Deer Creek Speedway, and the IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, IA. 

I am proud to say that both Dirt Late Model and Dirt Modified, magazines I write for, go out of their way to find good stories on racers.  Every story is not about Scott Bloomquist or Billy Moyer or Kelly Shryock, or other name drivers.  But one magazine covers late models, and the other one modifieds.  Other than results, and once a year specials, no magazine or racing paper covers hobby stocks, stock cars, street stocks, pure stocks, pro stocks, or sport compacts. 

There are 1,000 dirt ovals in the United States. Tracks like Rattlesnake Raceway and Devils Bowl Speedway are great stories, just for their names.   Every dirt oval has at least one class, usually two or three supporting its feature class.  There are thousands of great racing stories that have never been told.  The rest of the dirt wants to tell these stories.

 If you are a driver of a hobby stock, the rest of the dirt is a site you will want to visit often.  If you are a crew member of an IMCA stock car, the rest of the dirt is a site you will want to bookmark.  Any family member or fan of a low buck race team will love the rest of the dirt. Drivers who buy and race on used tires have names.  The unsung heroes of auto racing deserve a site to call their own.  And now they have one.

Welcome to the rest of the dirt.

Ron Meyer