Austin Kirkpatrick

[nc mudcat]

He should be the talk of the town. That car was bad fast, and the driver did a great job, even though he was humble enough to not take credit for the driving part. He never lost his cool or his rhythm, and job got the job done against one of the best in the business. He deserves a lot of praise for this performance. Are the T-shirts out yet?

[Hustle2win]

There will be a lot of eyes on this car now.Take it as a compliment mr Kirkpatrick.Fans,racers,tech officials,will all say "man he has figured something out".Yes he has figured something out it's called hard work.Congrats to you sir.

[thexfactor0210]

Honestly this is one of the biggest stories of the year in late model racing in my opinion. An underfunded guy who designs his own chassis in his garage comes to Cherokee and dominates some stout drivers, including one of the top three drivers of the year in Brandon Overton. I wish we would see him run more. I asked him when his next race is and he said Magnolia in a couple weeks for their big race.

[MRM]

He probably had the best car at Smoky Mtn the night before too.

Yeah, I think if he hadn't started as far back as he did, he would have won that race too.

[racincowboy02]

If yall watched the race on speed 51 or where there in person did yall notice the rear of the car and how low to the ground it was. I couldn't get over how easy it looked for him to drive that car in the corners. To me it looked like the rear end would move instead of how a late model typically enters the corner and the left rear jack up transfer all of the weight to the right rear.

Whatever he has figured out is pretty freaking cool. Yea he was at that race and he was there a couple of other times getting some practice in after the races were over

[Jking24]

The car has shown a ton of speed whenever it's been out for nearly two years now this weekend was no surprise to those know what their looking at

[racincowboy02]

I just thought the rear of the car was different especially from anything that i have ever seen. I guess it just goes to show old fashion hard work and determination can work in the world of dirt late models. I loved in the interview that he said he could drive it 1 handed through the corners i thought that spoke volumes on how the car worked

That was only his 2nd race in the car right he raced at Smoky Mtn and then Cherokee right

[MasterSbilt_Racer]

I just thought the rear of the car was different especially from anything that i have ever seen. I guess it just goes to show old fashion hard work and determination can work in the world of dirt late models. I loved in the interview that he said he could drive it 1 handed through the corners i thought that spoke volumes on how the car worked

That was only his 2nd race in the car right he raced at Smoky Mtn and then Cherokee right

It's been out a few times this year. Always had stuff break. I know he won a heat at Cherokee earlier this year.

[TS FAN]

IMO this is still the story of the year. Anybody that couldn't cheer this young man accomplishment, is not a real DML fan. Here is hoping that all of us appreciate what transpired. Saw the race, saw the interview. Great night all the way around

[formercrewguy]

Innovation is what makes racing great!!

[TerryM]

IMO this is still the story of the year. Anybody that couldn't cheer this young man accomplishment, is not a real DML fan. Here is hoping that all of us appreciate what transpired. Saw the race, saw the interview. Great night all the way around

That's exactly what I posted on his Facebook page. He's right up ttere with that Larson guy for DLM story of the year.

[racincowboy02]

Terry M and TS Fan I couldn't agree more with what yall are saying

[bb14]

rumor is this car is a little different. radiator placement and shock placement. heard he had a lever that allowed him to move the body laterally earlier this year and was told to remove it.

i wasn’t there and didn’t see it but drivers are talking about it. still a great story.

anyone talking about the new longhorn rear shock location?

[weatherman85]

My fear is that the larger chassis builders get together and pick it apart to the point were they outlaw the innovation if it is radically different.

I know an instance a few years back (5-6) I think were a driver ran a custom built engine in one of the regional Limited series that used a ton of after market parts that put the engine in the range of $7,000-$8,000. A lot of the bigger local engine builders protested saying it would kill their business if other drivers went to it because they had so much invested already to build the more expensive engines. They ended up not allowing the cheaper engine being ran.

Hope something similar doesn't come of this deal.

[racincowboy02]

Wouldn't it be kind of funny if the bigger chassis brands tried to mimic his design or copied his design? I tell you one thing that is for sure the kid is smarter than your average bear so to speak. My only question about this whole 2 year process is why if he is from florida would he travel all the way to Cherokee to test a couple of times this year instead of finding tracks down that way from FL and the bottom or GA to test on