The 45th installment of Super DIRT Week is underway in a new home.
The event, which is put on by World Racing Group from Oct. 2 through Oct. 9, moved to the Oswego Speedway this year after 44 consecutive successful events held at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. This year’s edition was initially set to be held at the Central New York Raceway Park, but that plan never materialized due to construction delays.
“Oswego was [Super DIRT Week’s] plan B,” said Rob Yetman, the driver of the No. 7 Lazzoro’s Auto Body car.
The historic five-eighths-mile asphalt oval track has seen a major overhaul to prepare for the change of scenery. Crews have dumped 500 truckloads of clay onto the track, created spaces for campgrounds, roadways for pit areas, water, sewage and electricity hookup and also renovated the Gary Witter Memorial Rear Grandstands to full capacity of 6,222 seats.
Despite the changes to accommodate fans and campers, the drivers are most concerned about how the track will hold up throughout each race after just recently being completed.
“When you put fresh dirt down on top of pavement like that usually it’s done in the fall for the upcoming season,” Yetman said. “That part, I’m a little confused on how it’s not going to tear up. When I walked it I felt some spongey spots. I just don’t know what to expect.”
The crews working on the track are the “best in the business” according to Jeff Hachmann, the director of events for World Racing Group. He believes the track conditions will be able to withstand the races throughout the week.
“When we get cars on the track on Wednesday we’ll know what we have to deal with and we have the best team in the business in grooming a track,” Hachmann said. “They’ll be ready for the curveball and hit it out of the park.”
As of now, the forecast for this weekend looks clear except for a chance of showers on Saturday. This is another unknown in a long list for the drivers, even for Yetman, who was able to get an early look at the new-look track last Friday afternoon.
“Everybody is going up there blind,” Yetman said. “So we walked it, we measured it, just trying to get any info out of it that I could. We got a good combination in the car that I think is going to be good there, but there is just a lot of unknown right now.”
Aside from all of the questions surrounding the track, fans are still flocking to the event, surprisingly even more so than the final race at the Fairgrounds in 2015.
“I can tell you [tickets sales are] up from last year a couple percent, which is pretty incredible because last year was the finale at the Fairgrounds, which was probably the biggest crowd ever at Super DIRT Week,” Hachmann said. “The trend of being up in tickets is pretty exciting.”
This does not come as that much of a surprise to many because the following for Super DIRT Week is always fantastic. The fans are hungry to see “racing’s biggest party” being held at the renovated Oswego Speedway.
“It’s Super DIRT Week, it’s the Super Bowl of dirt car modified racing,” Hachmann said. “It’s electric just in that aspect and now you throw in the storied history of Oswego Speedway. We’re a sunshine day away from just one great event.”
Yetman, who has won three straight Pro Stock Series Championships at Super DIRT Week, knows how big this stage is. He is heading into this weekend without real concrete expectations, but feels he has the right tools to be near the top of the pack come the end of his 50-lap race on Sunday afternoon.
“I’m excited,” Yetman said. “I got a combination in the car of the past two tracks I was at. I’m going in like everybody else right now, not really knowing everything but hoping we got the right setup.”
Yetman admits he was not in favor of the race moving to Oswego, along with many others who were opposed to the demolition of the New York State Fair grandstands.
“There was nothing that matched up to Syracuse on that mile,” Yetman said. “It still baffles me to this day that it got torn down like it did and that ground is serving no other purpose over there.”
The Castleton, New York native was not that excited about this race to begin with, but his enthusiasm surrounding the event as his race inches closer is swaying him the other way.
“As late as August, I’m gonna be perfectly honest with you, I was not excited at all,” Yetman said. “But, the closer we got, especially we have two wins that we’re coming off of, I’m excited about that.”
The driver of the bright yellow Lazzaro’s pro stock car still has fond memories of his victory from a year ago at Super DIRT Week. Yetman was able to pass Adam Francois of St. Pie, Quebec, Canada, late in the race to three-peat at the Fairgrounds grandstand.
“The most incredible thing was to get to stand on the car and look at all those people,” Yetman said. “Those stands, I never saw them so packed and I never heard people roar like they did. So, it meant a lot.”
The veteran driver will be participating in his first race at Oswego hopeful he will see the checkered flag first yet again.
“To kick off this and win it for Super DIRT Week would be pretty awesome,” Yetman said. “I’m putting both barrels forward for this one.”
The atmosphere of the grandstand will surely be missed, but the event staff has worked tirelessly to put together Super DIRT Week for the 45th year. The grounds crew finished converting the track in under 80 days, even though similar tasks may take an upwards of a year to complete, according to World Racing Group.
If there is one thing that the home for the 2016 Super DIRT Week will not have, it is the nostalgia that the New York State Fairgrounds brought.
“For an event that I’ve been going to since 1976 as a kid and then having the opportunity to be a part of a great team that puts on this event,” Hachmann said. “Last year, to see the excitement and the electricity around that finale was a tear-jerker. It was awesome. It’s our championship, it’s not just the driver’s championship.”
