Ricky Weiss and Tyler Bare raced to victories in their respective Late Model classes Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway in the inaugural Bristol Dirt Showcase.
The race featured dirt Late Model racing action in the Steel Block Bandits and American All-Star Series and gave BMS officials a glimpse of their dirt-covered high banks in action a week before the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rolls into town for the Food City Dirt Race, Bush’s Beans Practice Day, Bush’s Beans Qualifying and WEATHER GUARD Truck Race on Dirt, April 7-9.
Bare, from Rockbridge Baths, Va., earned the 30-lap Steel Block Bandits feature victory when he passed the leaders with 14 laps to go. Bare led the rest of the way in his red and black No. B8 machine. Bare, who earned $5,000 for the victory, passed pole-sitter Austin Neely in a three-wide move.
“We had a good car all night but midway through the race I knew we had to do something different because I wasn't going to pass on the bottom,” said Bare about his daring move to take the lead. "I made the move splitting the lapped cars. It probably wasn't good, but it worked out."
Bare, who has earned some lucrative and prestigious wins in his dirt racing career, says winning at iconic Bristol Motor Speedway is a thrill of a lifetime.
“I’ve had some wins on big tracks, but nothing like this one right here," Bare said. "To win here in front of all those people, it just means more.”
Seymour, Tenn.’s Ryan King finished second and Honaker, Va.’s Tyler Arrington claimed third place.
Weiss, from Manitoba Canada, claimed the 30-lap American All-Star Series win in his black and red No. 7W machine. It was Weiss’ second victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, a track where he’s ran well at in the past. He also earned $5,000 for the victory.
Weiss started on the pole and led the majority of the race and finally pulled away in the closing laps to finish in front of Dillon Brown of Gaffney, S.C. and Mount Airy, N.C.’s Benji Hicks, who were second and third respectively.
Racing was halted with a big crash with 10 laps to go. Seven cars were collected in the incident which brought out the red flag as officials cleared the track. Weiss just picked up where he left off when it went back to green.
“It’s huge for me, anytime you can run at a big facility like this and there’s so many people watching it’s great,” said Weiss, who won the Late Model portion of the World of Outlaws Bristol Bash at Bristol one year ago. “I definitely never thought I’d be here, I just thought it was awesome to come down and watch a NASCAR race here. The speed of this place and the G forces bring a different feeling. Talking about having success here, this track just suits my driving style, the high-banked tracks we go to I tend to do super good at.”
Steel Block Bandits Results
- Tyler Bare
- Ryan King
- Tyler Arrington
- Dustin Mitchell
- Austin Neely
- Derick Quade
- Robbie Emory
- Derrick Rankin
- Layne Clifton
- Cody Lear
- Jeff Parsons
- Brad Lowe
- Dan Breuer
- Matt Glanden
- Samuel Bryant
- Jeff King
- Chase King
- Wayne Bryant
- Matt Whitten
- Will Perrell
- Daniel Garrett
- Dale Moore
- Matt Shockley
- Michael Alderman
American All-Star Series Results
- Ricky Weiss
- Dillon Brown
- Benji Hicks
- Logan Wallas
- Jacob Brown
- Bradley Lewelling
- Justin Hudspeth
- Garret Paugh
- Colby Quick
- Tim Maupin
- Duke Lowe
- Derek Fisher
- Joshua Chesney
- Chub Gunter
- Ronnie Martin Jr.
- Jordan Koehler
- Jordan Hedger
- Terry Poore
- Seth Wimpey
- Chase Oliver
- David Grass
- Josh Dietz
- Trey Bayne
- TJ Salango
