CLARKSVILLE, TN – An eight-week break in the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series National Tour has given the series officials an opportunity to hit the road in an effort to service the series’ latest endeavor, the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series. The 24-week series began on March 31, and will run through October 1.
The nucleus of the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series and the Weekly Racing Series is the GM Performance Crate Engine. This power plant is built and sealed at the GM factories, and distributed through GM Dealers nationwide. This engine can be used for dirt late model racing for one-tenth of the cost of the most potent unlimited engine.
The aluminum-head GM Performance “604” Crate Engine costs just under $5,000, and the steel-head “602” costs just under $3,000. According to crate late model drivers that have moved up from some of the entry-level divisions at local weekly tracks, either engine costs less than a Street Stock engine. The 602 also gets a 150 pound weight break to the 604.
The National Tour began last season running throughout the Southeast as Crate Racing USA, and Denny Slayton of Rossville, GA was the champion. In December of 2005, StormPay.com, a globally recognized online auction company based out of Clarksville, TN came onboard to not only sponsor the series, but became a partner in the series.
Series Founder Mike Vaughn now had what he needed to expand Crate Racin’ USA, which was rechristened the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series Powered By Crate Racin’ USA. Vaughn envisioned a series for weekly drivers that may not be able to afford traveling throughout the Southeast on the 24-event National Tour, which consists of 40 to 100 lap events paying $2,000 to $10,000-to-win.
The idea was borrowed from what NASCAR has done for 20 years, and from what race promoter Mike Swims attempted in 1997 with the United Dirt Track Racing Association. That concept is to have a group of weekly race tracks that are under a sanction with a common set of rules and award points not only for the track, but also at the regional and national levels.
Promoters liked the cost-effectiveness of crate late model racing on the weekly level in that they didn’t have to pay a big purse to the competitors, which was needed to service their engines, which costs over five figures. But, since its beginnings over three years ago, talk of the engines’ seals being broken and the engines being cheated with high-dollar components became common-place.
Vaughn, a dirt late model car owner himself, felt the integrity of the crate engine needed to be protected.
“As a car owner, I believed in the Crate Engine program because I could buy four 604 engines from a GM Dealer for what I could buy one super late model engine from an engine builder,” Vaughn said. “I had competed in another series, but they allowed competitors to build their own versions of the crate engine, and I felt that defeated the whole purpose.”
So Vaughn decided to form Crate Racin’ USA in an effort to keep the crate engine “pure” and went to work with GM Performance, which was working hard behind the scenes to keep the “bolt tampering” at bay.
“While I was a car owner, I saw there were a lot of tech issues that needed to be addressed, in that the inspectors weren’t educated enough, and didn’t have the proper equipment to catch a lot of rules infractions with the crate engines,” Vaughn said. “GM Performance has the technology, and the equipment to enforce the rules, but there needed to be a sanctioning body that could properly and efficiently pass down this technology and equipment.”
This is the foundation of the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series; to get the tracks the right technical equipment, train the tech inspectors on how to use it, and to mediate any technical issues that might arise. Vaughn has hired Jodie Howard, an engine builder with vast experience of working with the GM Performance Crate Engine, to be the Technical Director for the series.
“We gathered the technical equipment needed to police the crate engines, wrote a technical manual on the teching of the engines, and made it available to our Weekly Racing Series tracks,” Vaughn said. “We then scheduled three technical seminars for our Weekly Racing Series tracks, and Jodie showed the technical inspectors of the tracks how to utilize the equipment to scrutinize the engines.”
The Technical Seminars were held in Clarksville, TN on March 11, Atlanta, GA on March 18, and Jackson, MS on March 22. These seminars were well-attended by the Weekly Racing Series track promoters and technical inspectors.
“We had a good mix of veteran promoters, like Johnny Stokes at Columbus Speedway and Magnolia Motor Speedway, veteran technical inspectors like Tim Waters, who works at many different tracks, and new promoters like Rodney Wing at Whynot Speedway, attend the seminars,” Vaughn said. “They all were very attentive, and asked a lot of good questions. It’s this kind of communication that really makes this program strong and speaks volumes about protecting the integrity of the crate engine.”
Howard showed those at the seminars things about the crate engine and its built in features that discourage any cheating of the engine. This dispelled many rumors about counterfeit sealing bolts.
“The way these bolts are manufactured by GM Performance makes them impossible to duplicate, and we showed the technical inspectors and the promoters what to look for,” Howard said. “We have seen a lot of different variations of attempts to duplicate these bolts, but so far, it has been very easy to tell they weren’t produced by GM Performance. In talking to the tracks, we have yet to find any of these bolts during an actual inspection.”
The StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series actually controls the replacement GM sealing bolts, and the rebuilding process for the Weekly Racing Series tracks. The tracks can only get the bolts from the series, and the series also designates the certified engine rebuilders.
Vaughn and his staff even went one step further in working with the Weekly Racing Series tracks in that they took advantage of the break in the National Touring schedule to hit the road, and are in the process of visiting the Weekly Racing Tracks during their weekly shows.
“We purposely created a break in the National Tour so we could visit the Weekly Racing Tracks in an effort to join them in the trenches of the actual weekly competition, and help them handle any issues that will arise in the heat of battle,” Vaughn said. “We not only brought in Jodie Howard to handle technical issues, but we also brought our President of Operations and Communications Roby Helm to help with administrative issues of registration and media relations, and StormPay Racing General Manager Bryan Baggett to handle marketing issues.”
On April 14 and 15, the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series “Road Show” visited Camden Speedway in Camden, TN, Thunderhill Speedway in Lawrenceburg, TN, and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Fyffe, AL. More visits to other Weekly Racing Series tracks have been scheduled for future weeks.
“It’s always great to work with the track personnel and the competitors on a one-on-one basis at the tracks because there are always going to be questions about how this thing works that weren’t covered at the seminars,” Helm said. “So far, our track visits have been very productive, and well-received. It’s our way of letting the tracks and their competitors know that we’re here for them, and we’re willing to go the extra mile to support them any way we can.”
Helm said that during his visits to the tracks, there has been a lot of new interest in the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series from competitors in other Divisions.
“It makes a big difference when you can talk to competitors face-to-face, and explain the benefits of the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series because they get a better understanding of what its all about,” Helm said. “Then when they see how strong these engines are on the track, it just drives the point home even further.”
Vaughn said two things that stand out during the visits to the Weekly Racing Series tracks are close competition, and growing interest.
“One thing we’re seeing during our visits to the weekly tracks is close competition with the crate late models,” Vaughn said. “The weekly competitors are seeing that they can compete evenly with the National Touring drivers, and they always will have a chance to win a National event when we bring that series to their track. A lot of our weekly tracks are doing away with the high dollar super late models and moving the crates up as their featured division because of the close competition.”
That drives home the point Vaughn was trying to make when he started the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series. It is providing affordable racing with close competition. This makes weekly racing better for the competitors, promoters and fans alike.
The nucleus of the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series and the Weekly Racing Series is the GM Performance Crate Engine. This power plant is built and sealed at the GM factories, and distributed through GM Dealers nationwide. This engine can be used for dirt late model racing for one-tenth of the cost of the most potent unlimited engine.
The aluminum-head GM Performance “604” Crate Engine costs just under $5,000, and the steel-head “602” costs just under $3,000. According to crate late model drivers that have moved up from some of the entry-level divisions at local weekly tracks, either engine costs less than a Street Stock engine. The 602 also gets a 150 pound weight break to the 604.
The National Tour began last season running throughout the Southeast as Crate Racing USA, and Denny Slayton of Rossville, GA was the champion. In December of 2005, StormPay.com, a globally recognized online auction company based out of Clarksville, TN came onboard to not only sponsor the series, but became a partner in the series.
Series Founder Mike Vaughn now had what he needed to expand Crate Racin’ USA, which was rechristened the StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series Powered By Crate Racin’ USA. Vaughn envisioned a series for weekly drivers that may not be able to afford traveling throughout the Southeast on the 24-event National Tour, which consists of 40 to 100 lap events paying $2,000 to $10,000-to-win.
The idea was borrowed from what NASCAR has done for 20 years, and from what race promoter Mike Swims attempted in 1997 with the United Dirt Track Racing Association. That concept is to have a group of weekly race tracks that are under a sanction with a common set of rules and award points not only for the track, but also at the regional and national levels.
Promoters liked the cost-effectiveness of crate late model racing on the weekly level in that they didn’t have to pay a big purse to the competitors, which was needed to service their engines, which costs over five figures. But, since its beginnings over three years ago, talk of the engines’ seals being broken and the engines being cheated with high-dollar components became common-place.
Vaughn, a dirt late model car owner himself, felt the integrity of the crate engine needed to be protected.
“As a car owner, I believed in the Crate Engine program because I could buy four 604 engines from a GM Dealer for what I could buy one super late model engine from an engine builder,” Vaughn said. “I had competed in another series, but they allowed competitors to build their own versions of the crate engine, and I felt that defeated the whole purpose.”
So Vaughn decided to form Crate Racin’ USA in an effort to keep the crate engine “pure” and went to work with GM Performance, which was working hard behind the scenes to keep the “bolt tampering” at bay.
“While I was a car owner, I saw there were a lot of tech issues that needed to be addressed, in that the inspectors weren’t educated enough, and didn’t have the proper equipment to catch a lot of rules infractions with the crate engines,” Vaughn said. “GM Performance has the technology, and the equipment to enforce the rules, but there needed to be a sanctioning body that could properly and efficiently pass down this technology and equipment.”
This is the foundation of the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series; to get the tracks the right technical equipment, train the tech inspectors on how to use it, and to mediate any technical issues that might arise. Vaughn has hired Jodie Howard, an engine builder with vast experience of working with the GM Performance Crate Engine, to be the Technical Director for the series.
“We gathered the technical equipment needed to police the crate engines, wrote a technical manual on the teching of the engines, and made it available to our Weekly Racing Series tracks,” Vaughn said. “We then scheduled three technical seminars for our Weekly Racing Series tracks, and Jodie showed the technical inspectors of the tracks how to utilize the equipment to scrutinize the engines.”
The Technical Seminars were held in Clarksville, TN on March 11, Atlanta, GA on March 18, and Jackson, MS on March 22. These seminars were well-attended by the Weekly Racing Series track promoters and technical inspectors.
“We had a good mix of veteran promoters, like Johnny Stokes at Columbus Speedway and Magnolia Motor Speedway, veteran technical inspectors like Tim Waters, who works at many different tracks, and new promoters like Rodney Wing at Whynot Speedway, attend the seminars,” Vaughn said. “They all were very attentive, and asked a lot of good questions. It’s this kind of communication that really makes this program strong and speaks volumes about protecting the integrity of the crate engine.”
Howard showed those at the seminars things about the crate engine and its built in features that discourage any cheating of the engine. This dispelled many rumors about counterfeit sealing bolts.
“The way these bolts are manufactured by GM Performance makes them impossible to duplicate, and we showed the technical inspectors and the promoters what to look for,” Howard said. “We have seen a lot of different variations of attempts to duplicate these bolts, but so far, it has been very easy to tell they weren’t produced by GM Performance. In talking to the tracks, we have yet to find any of these bolts during an actual inspection.”
The StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series actually controls the replacement GM sealing bolts, and the rebuilding process for the Weekly Racing Series tracks. The tracks can only get the bolts from the series, and the series also designates the certified engine rebuilders.
Vaughn and his staff even went one step further in working with the Weekly Racing Series tracks in that they took advantage of the break in the National Touring schedule to hit the road, and are in the process of visiting the Weekly Racing Tracks during their weekly shows.
“We purposely created a break in the National Tour so we could visit the Weekly Racing Tracks in an effort to join them in the trenches of the actual weekly competition, and help them handle any issues that will arise in the heat of battle,” Vaughn said. “We not only brought in Jodie Howard to handle technical issues, but we also brought our President of Operations and Communications Roby Helm to help with administrative issues of registration and media relations, and StormPay Racing General Manager Bryan Baggett to handle marketing issues.”
On April 14 and 15, the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series “Road Show” visited Camden Speedway in Camden, TN, Thunderhill Speedway in Lawrenceburg, TN, and Thunder Mountain Speedway in Fyffe, AL. More visits to other Weekly Racing Series tracks have been scheduled for future weeks.
“It’s always great to work with the track personnel and the competitors on a one-on-one basis at the tracks because there are always going to be questions about how this thing works that weren’t covered at the seminars,” Helm said. “So far, our track visits have been very productive, and well-received. It’s our way of letting the tracks and their competitors know that we’re here for them, and we’re willing to go the extra mile to support them any way we can.”
Helm said that during his visits to the tracks, there has been a lot of new interest in the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series from competitors in other Divisions.
“It makes a big difference when you can talk to competitors face-to-face, and explain the benefits of the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series because they get a better understanding of what its all about,” Helm said. “Then when they see how strong these engines are on the track, it just drives the point home even further.”
Vaughn said two things that stand out during the visits to the Weekly Racing Series tracks are close competition, and growing interest.
“One thing we’re seeing during our visits to the weekly tracks is close competition with the crate late models,” Vaughn said. “The weekly competitors are seeing that they can compete evenly with the National Touring drivers, and they always will have a chance to win a National event when we bring that series to their track. A lot of our weekly tracks are doing away with the high dollar super late models and moving the crates up as their featured division because of the close competition.”
That drives home the point Vaughn was trying to make when he started the StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series. It is providing affordable racing with close competition. This makes weekly racing better for the competitors, promoters and fans alike.
