As the wheel of the Late Model Stock Car engine issues keeps turning with more upgrades and more changes that cost racers money, some drivers aren’t playing the game anymore and are looking to get their racing fix somewhere else.
Three such drivers are Taylor Coffman, Justin Crider and Colby Howard. Howard and Crider will stay on asphalt and are gearing up for a season of Super Late Model racing while Coffman has turned his eye to the dirt tracks and will be competing in a Crate Late Model car.
All three drivers in a recent interview indicated that the constant engine problems in Late Model Stock Car racing was at least a part of their decision if not the main reason for their decision to look elsehwere to race. Coffman was the most vocal about the engine issues saying that they were the reason he made the decision to move to dirt.
“There were a lot of factors that drove us out of Late Model Stock Car racing,” said Coffman. “But the straw that broke us was the recent engine changes. We built a Chevrolet Upgrade engine, which at the time we thought that would finally put us on even ground with the other engine combinations. Then they make another rule change to the manifold intake and now our engine is the least favorable option.”
Another factor for Coffman’s departure was the testing that goes on in asphalt racing.
“We were already considering making the move to dirt before, just because it had become so hard to keep up with all the testing that these guys are doing every week,” continued Coffman. “Asphalt Late Model Stock Car racing has to find a way to keep the little teams in the game and they’re failing miserably at that right now.”
Justin Crider says that the decision to go Super Late Model racing has a lot to do with the current state of the engines in Late Model Stock Car racing.
“As a driver, mainly I needed something different to try, a change of pace,” said Crider. “As a team, we really needed to get away from all the stuff going on lately. There’s always going to be politics in racing and we know that but we needed consistent rules.”
Crider has run the gamot trying to keep up with what the best engine to run would be. He started with a GM 604 Crate engine switched to the Ford in 2016 and went to a Harrington engine this past season. They made these moves knowing that there was a distinct advantage with each move despite being what he considers a ‘low budget family deal’.
“We didn’t really want to go with the Ford when we did but we had to given the advantage it had,” continued Crider. “Then when the Harrington came out we were excited because we’re good friends with Chris Harrington and he does all our engines already. We talked to him throughout the development process and knew that the Harrington was going to be an equal alternative to the Ford crate. I have the horsepower numbers from both our Ford and Harringont to know they were built as equal as possible. Then people started using some specifics in the rules to get way more power from the Harrington and now it’s out of control.”
Howard for his part says that politics at his local track coupled with the engine drama and thinks that he can get away from all of that by running in Super and Pro Late Models because they’re not changing things every week.
“We’re just tired of having to deal with all these rule changes on engines,” said Howard. “From everything I’ve heard and experienced with Pro and Super Late Model racing is so much better. There’s no engine changes, no drama with tracks and there’s no funny business with tach. Everything pretty much runs smoothly.”
Howard plans to run tracks like Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida, Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee and others. Crider will also bounce around in his Super Late Model running some PASS South and CARS Tour races and also possibly traveling to tracks that run Super Late Models.
Coffman’s move to dirt is one he hopes will help his team combat the issues they’ve had in Late Model Stock Car racing from testing to the engines.
“Money will be spent in any form of racing,” said Coffman. “However, moving to Crate Late Models on dirt will remove 90% of the testing that kept us behind the eight-ball on asphalt. Also, it’s one engine for everybody and no other options. We have four to five tracks within an hour and a half of us which is also another bonus.”
That’s three Late Model Stock Car drivers that won’t be fielding a Late Model Stock Car anywhere in 2019. That means three less cars and even if they’re running at different places every week, it doesn’t take long for losing cars to become visible from the grandstands and we already have a car count issue that’s driven fans away. More cars equals more fans in the long run.
We can’t afford to waste anymore time getting the engine issues taken care of and while we’re at it, let’s address testing, tires, shocks and every other component that we can to save money in the long term and make Late Model Stock Car racing great again.
