They used to have the Budweiser I-5 Late Model Series but that went away some years back. The have some tracks in Oregon & Washington that run supers but that’s about it.
Nathan Stephens
Next Race - 5/25 Shadyhill
2024 Season: 7 - Brownstown (IN) 1, Fairbury (IL) 2, Farmer City (IL) 1, Grundy Co (IL) 1, Kankakee (IL) 1, & Shadyhill (IN) 1
Used to run 'Late Model' in the mid 70's, 80's and early 90's- Skagit and Gray's Harbor. Got out of hand in the wedge car years, by the late 80's it was 410 fuel injected sprint motors no weight rule sideboards etc. and died out. Don't recall there ever being a series, just big money races at various tracks.
There are a few defunct series listed on the DirtonDirt History page:
California Clash Super Late Model Series - 2004
Coors Light I-5 Silver Bullet Series - 2001-2009,2011
West Coast Late Model Shootout - 2009-2016
Western Allstars Late Model Series - 1999
Western Allstars Late Model Series (DIRTcar) - 2006-2011
Western Dirt Late Model Tour - 1997-2006
Educatio est omnium efficacissima forma rebellionis
Usually I'll tune into a California track once the even I'm watching is over. Reminds me of being a kid watching the hockey game and then getting to watch a west coast game after it was over.
Oregon has the last bastion of full blown Late Models on the left coast. Willamette Speedway, near the top of the state has long been a stock car track and a hardcore group of LM's keeps it going with a few further south joints like Cottage Grove and Medford running them on occasion.
The Extreme Late Models in NorCal is sort of a misnomer in that the cars are Limited Lates w/crate 604s or steel 406s on a 2 barrel with Extreme Scaffolding Company the series sponsor. Nevada has nothing LM related any more and Arizona had a couple of dying pockets but don't know if they still exist.
A lot of different varieties of Sprint cars seem to be the current flavor favorite. IMCA has a strong presence with all their cookie cutter classes. Takes a $25-35K Sport Mod or Stock Car to run up front. No thanks.
When the stock stub LM class morphed into the full blown factory chassis in the early '90s it spelled the end of a ton of west coast places to run and the POSSE wedge cars, that were probably the most fun to run things I drove, died we built a Modified to get my son started. Two years of that was enough and we've been in Pro/Super Stocks since. Closest thing to a LM we are still capable of building the chassis and engines for. We are front runners most places without going broke just writing checks for "factory" stuff. Building our own stuff has always been a big part of the racing for us. Still miss the old hardtops I started in back in the late '50s though.
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