UMP DIRTcar sanctions several different divisions of racing. We caught up with Series Director, Sam Driggers and asked him a few questions about his series:
CI: For those who may not be familiar, what are the basics of your series? (Car type, surface, engine, region)
SD: We are a weekly racing series that mainly sanctions dirt tracks in the Midwestern United States. Our Pro Late Model class is a Late Model class that allows the 604 and the 602 GM Chevy engine.
CI: Tell us how you came to found the weekly series
SD: We are sanctioning weekly races at 108 tracks so far this year, we have always sanctioned Super Late Models and Modified, but over the past 7 years we have added 6 other classes and the Pro Late Models are one of the classes we added.
CI: How do your rules align with other similar series?
SD: Pretty close, Most allow canister shocks, we do not. Our motors have to be original seals or seals that we provide motor builders.
CI: What has been the biggest challenge?
SD: With 108 tracks and over 8000 drivers I could go on all day about that. But really the challenge is trying to keep everyone racing with all the problems of today.
CI: What is the one thing that people misunderstand the most about your role as the Series Director?
SD: I don’t think anyone misunderstands, I think teams want to benefit themselves and I am the guy that decides if I will allow that to happen. I have to not only keep drivers happy, I also have a bunch of promoters to keep happy. Most people know me and most know that I am as fair as anyone can get. They may not like my answer, but they know I will listen and tell them the truth.
CI: What is your view/opinion of the future of Crate Racing?
SD: I think there is a place for it. In the Midwest it still does not have a strong fan base because we still have a lot of Super Late Model tracks around. I think that tracks that do not offer a Super Late Model class, this is a good fit.
CI: What are you most excited about for the 2014 season?
SD: Mainly just to get started racing and seeing what everybody is doing new this year, I also have high hopes that some of the tracks can turn their year around compared to last year.
For more information, you can visit the DIRTcar UMP website at http://www.dirtcarump.com/