Pavement vs. Dirt Racing

Pavement vs. Dirt racing…which surface provides better racing for fans and drivers?

This debate has been going on for quite a long time. I should know, because I grew up in asphalt racing country in southeastern Michigan and now I’m working in the dirt-track industry. I’ve heard – and seen – both sides of the argument.

Growing up, I lived five miles from Flat Rock (Mich.) Speedway and 30 miles from Toledo (Ohio) Speedway. Both venues were owned and run by the late John Marcum and the ARCA sanctioning body. At the time, Late Model racing on asphalt was the best around as drivers like Joy Fair, Bob Senneker, Junior Hanley, Butch Miller and Mike Eddy were just some of the big dogs to watch. The racing was side-by-side and exciting.

Then one day I ventured to a little dirt track in northwestern Ohio called Oakshade Raceway, and as the saying goes, the rest is history. The next thing I knew, I was announcing there and another Ohio dirt track, Limaland Motorsports Park. My love for dirt racing soon grew into an obsession; I was totally hooked on dirt racing and remain so to this day.

Don’t get me wrong – I still visit the paved venues when feasible, but the dirt is still where it’s at for me. Case in point: I got the chance at the end of August to go back to my old stomping grounds of Toledo Speedway for their season championships. The weather was perfect and the crowd was really good as well. The racing was pretty much how I remembered it, as there was a lot of speed and some decent passing too. All in all, I had a good time (the Figure 8 feature was, as always, terrific!), and I will continue to hit a few pavement races when possible. But I prefer the dirt…so that I can continue to live my ‘Life As An Outlaw.’