After year off, two-time national champion using this weekend’s UMP Roundup to get back in the saddle
PEVELY, Mo. – March 21, 2011 – Two-time DIRTcar Late Model national champion Randy “King Kong” Korte is back.
Out for almost all of 2010 with an injury, Korte makes his return to storied I-55 Raceway this weekend in the hugely popular DIRTcar UMP Roundup, better known as the Party in Pevely. While Korte will be seeking his second belt buckle – the unique trophy given to Roundup race winners – hundreds of racers from all eight divisions of DIRTcar UMP Racing will be in competition, including Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Pro Late Models, UMP Sport Modifieds, UMP Sportsman, UMP Stock Cars, Factory Stocks and Sport Compacts. The action kicks off with a 5 p.m. practice on Thursday followed by 7 p.m. heats on Friday and 7 p.m. features and Last Chance Showdowns on Saturday.
“I love seeing other guys get the opportunity to race at I-55,” said Korte, a native of Highland, Ill., who won the 1997 and 2006 DIRTcar UMP Late Model titles. “It’s one of the best racetracks in the country, one that every racer should be able to race on at one point or another. I think the event will be a good deal.”
Korte has years of experience at the 1/3-mile high-banked track that sits just south of St. Louis. In the inaugural Party in Pevely event, Korte earned a victory on the second night of racing and was the runner-up in the finale in one of the most thrilling three-wide battles for the lead in the track’s history. Despite sitting out last year with back trouble, Korte will be one of the drivers to push the envelope at this year’s Party in Pevely.
“Scott Weber ran well in my car last year with the setup I usually run with, and he ran well down there,” Korte said. “I know it works well at I-55 and I don’t see why we shouldn’t run good – I guess that’s the way I look at it. I’ve been around that place so much I think it will be something I’ll be able to get used to quick.”
It was hard for Korte, who also is a regular on the DIRTcar UMP Summer Nationals Hell Tour, to sit on the sidelines in 2010, but he has a whole new outlook heading into this season.
“I’ve been having back problems, which I thought were normal back problems, it just got so bad that I couldn’t get out of the car and it was painful to walk,” Korte said. “We still really don’t know what the hell it was. I had four tumors on my back in different spots and one on my hip. They doctors thought it was a disease called multiple myeloma but every time they took a biopsy it would come back negative. They got rid of the tumors and fixed some of the bones that were messed up in my back. After that they just told me to go live my life.”
After a weekend tune-up at Belle-Clair Speedway, Korte is ready for the Party in Pevely.
“I know it’s going to take a bit to get back into the swing of things,” Korte said. “But I expect to run well at the Roundup.”
To see Korte or one of the hundreds of other DIRTcar racers tackle one of the most exciting racetracks in the country this weekend, call the track at 636-479-3219 or visit www.PartyInPevely.com for a full schedule of events, rules, entry forms and other information.