Kyle Dudley has changed the narrative about himself in just one year and he hopes to continue to make a splash as he now heads to Motor Mile Speedway.

Dudley, 23, has raced at Motor Mile Speedway for several seasons and has won races in the Limited Sportsman division, but he has never even been a factor in the Late Model Stock Car division.  That could change this year.

No longer is Dudley seen as the guy who can only win at Franklin County Speedway after scoring a victory at Orange County Speedway last season, finishing inside the top-10 at Martinsville Speedway last October and scoring multiple top-five finishes at Caraway Speedway so far this season.

Dudley, who races for his father, Mike Dudley, and John Joyce, attributes much of his recent success to the hard work he and everybody at his team have put into his racecar.

“I really think we’ve got things clicking off really good lately,” Dudley said.  “We worked on these things all winter and it’s paying off.  We’ve been pretty good at Caraway and we’ve been clicking things off real well.  We’re on a pretty high wave right now, we’ll see if we can keep riding it out.  We’ve got a lot of momentum on our side.”

Dudley has yet to win at a NASCAR-sanctioned track but he feels that will change this season.

“We’ve been trying to break the mold lately and we’ve done pretty well,” Dudley stated.  “We haven’t won at a NASCAR track but we’re getting close.  The time is coming and I think people are taking us more seriously now when we show up.  I think we’re going to win a lot of races this year.”

In the past, Dudley has been, for lack of a better term, a backmarker at the New River Valley’s Motor Mile Speedway.  After his strong runs at Martinsville and Caraway, however, Dudley now has more confidence that his car and that he, as a driver, can compete with the Late Model Stock Car racing elites who congregate at Motor Mile.

“I think we can have some strong top-five, top-10 runs,” Dudley remarked.  “You’re up against the best of the best there and we know that going in.  We’re kind of up ahainst it right now because we were supposed to practice this evening and the weather, I don’t know, that will put us in a whole.  We’ve got a good base setup I think.  I think we’ll be pretty good.”

While Dudley expects to finish inside the top-10 in the opener, he really hopes that, as he and his team continue improving throughout the season, he can contend for wins later on in the Motor Mile Speedway regular season.

“I think it’s possible to win,” Dudley commented optimistically.  “If we keep improving, it’s in the realm of possibilities.  You’re up against it but we’ve come against some odds and done some things before so I don’t see why this would be any different.”

If that victory comes, you could expect Dudley to consume a lot of beer that night.  A victory at Motor Mile Speedway is something Dudley has dreamed about ever since he started racing.

“A win would be unreal,” Dudley explained.  “That would be the highlight of my racing career.  I’ve dreamed about winning races up there.  I can’t even hardly describe it.  We’ve won Limited Late Model races there but too win a Late Model race there would be huge.  We’d be celebrating hard.”

With the momentum that is currently on the Roanoke, Virginia driver’s side, that dream may finally be realized this season.