Yes, we’re talking ‘bout tires.
Still.
2021 saw racing tires one of the many commodities in short supply across the nation as the economy reeled from the COVID-19 pandemic. But sadly, here it is August 2022 and tires, or lack thereof, remains a storyline across dirt racing.
This is sadly as dirty a half dozen as they come.
Selinsgrove Spring Shortage
I thought about starting this article recalling the USAC Winter Dirt Games tire scandal at Bubba Raceway Park in February, but I already wrote a full article on that mess.
Instead, my first real exposure to the ongoing tire shortage having an impact at the track came at Selinsgrove Speedway in April. Selinsgrove, which was hosting an unsanctioned 410 sprint car race in Pennsylvania on a Sunday after the All-Star Circuit of Champions had been in residency in the state, took a blow when ASCoC regulars were reportedly told to stay away from the track after Port Royal Speedway took exception to Selinsgrove hosting their race minus an ASCoC sanctioning fee.
But another blow came to those of us at the track Sunday when it was announced, well into the racing program, that the feature distance was cut from 30 laps to 25 in no small part due to a number of race teams starting even hot laps that night on used rubber.
In the grand scheme of things it didn’t matter much. Anthony Macri and Brent Marks, arguably the two most dominant drivers in 410 sprint car racing this year, decided the feature between themselves. But the tire shortage reared its head, cutting down an advertised distance after thousands of tickets had been sold and rendering the midfield runners all but limping to the finish.
Flo Racing Night in America Falls Victim
Fast forward to this summer, and the tire shortage grabbed one of its biggest scalps of 2022 with the announcement that the Flo Racing Night in America late model series, a high-dollar, high-visibility race at the nationally recognized 34 Raceway in Iowa had been canceled.
Tuesday night’s Castrol FloRacing Night in America event at @34Raceway has been canceled due to the ongoing tire shortage.https://t.co/it2Tz7z0rJ
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 31, 2022
It was probably inevitable given just how much super late model racing has been going on this summer. Super late models in this country are seeing a level of schedule congestion usually reserved for European soccer, with the World of Outlaws, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, DIRTcar Summer Nationals, XR Super Series,…
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