Let’s be clear: The 2022 dirt racing season is not over. Multiple dirt races across the country are scheduled to be contested across the next few weekends.
Having said that, this column marks 49 consecutive weekends of writing this season, and I need a break, if for no other reason than to update my databases and tools to prepare for the 2023 season.
Apologies in advance if any of the racers taking to the track over the next two weeks top any of the accolades awarded in this column.
2022 Paint Scheme of the Year
Losing CJ Rayburn, an inaugural member of the Dirt Late Model Racing Hall of Fame whose chassis won Eldora Speedway’s World 100 a whopping 13 times, was not the way anyone in the community wanted to see the 2022 season start, but Rusty Schlenk’s paint scheme honoring the respected chassis guru was as good as throwback comes. The scheme below ran at the Wild West Shootout and resembled Rayburn’s house car.
One week after C.J. Rayburn’s death, @SchlenkRusty was behind the wheel of his own car that boasted a simple white-and-blue wrap mirroring the look of the famed No. CJ1 house car that Rayburn himself drove decades ago.
Read more: https://t.co/r0z1EdBWUY
📸: Mike Ruefer pic.twitter.com/5f0S52ugZg— DirtonDirt (@DirtonDirt) January 14, 2022
2022 Wreck of the Year
Kasey Kahne’s wreck at Volusia Speedway Park may have been the most violent of the year. Knoxville Raceway boasted larger wrecks with higher hang times. But there was no wreck with more symbolic significance than seeing Brent Marks obliterate a Hoosier Tire billboard at Williams Grove Speedway in the midst of a campaign that saw the Pennsylvania Posse standout take numerous public shots at the primary supplier of sprint car racing rubber.
Brent Marks finding new ways to show his dislike for Hoosier pic.twitter.com/fd6fxKSvYT
— Work Area (@The_Work_Area) October 1, 2022
2022 Races of the Year
5. Aug. 5, 2022
2022 World of Outlaws sprint cars
Where: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 – Pevely, Mo. (streamed on DirtVision)
Winner’s Purse: $10,000
A race of the year candidate shouldn’t be based solely on a finish, but given how short a track I-55 is and how quickly a 30-lap feature can go by at the track, the finish may as well be the race. And in this case, seeing Carson Macedo erase a three-quarter-second lead in one lap to grab a win from the eventual series champion was as striking a pass as the nation’s top sprint car racing series would see…
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