By Aaron Fry
On April 8th, the Ti22 Performance Inc. FAST On Dirt tour kicked off the season at Atomic Speedway just south of Chillicothe, Ohio. Former World of Outlaw driver, Brandon Wimmer, from the state of Indiana pulled off the main event win in the locally owned John Shewbrooks number A79. The event started the year off with what has proven to be the highest car count of the year at 39 entries. Now, the 2023 season is set to end right where it began at Atomic.
Evans City, Pennsylvania’s Brandon Spithaler has already clinched the championship, but no doubt he’s looking to end the tour with an exclamation point. He leads the tour with wins at three this season, scoring at Knox Raceway in Pennsylvania, Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio and at Parago Speedway in Indiana. Second place, Ricky Peterson, also has his runner-up spot nailed down, but the Rawson, Ohio pilot would like nothing more than to get a win at Atomic to end a rough season on a high note. He leads the tour in “hard charger” awards passing more cars than any other driver, as bad luck early pinned him with deep starting positions on most nights.
The battle will be for the final podium spot in the points chase as North Port, Florida’s Danny Sams III holds a mere 27 point advantage over Castalia, Ohio’s Jordan Ryan. Sams will be looking to tie Spithaler for the most wins on the tour adding to his victories at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio and at Paragon Speedway in Indiana. Ryan found his stride in the second half of the season, scoring his first tour win on the monster half mile at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway just 3 races back. He was the highest finishing series regular at the April opener.
A pair of Pennsylvania drivers hold the fifth and sixth spots respectively as Jeremy Weaver has a comfortable margin on Jack Sodeman Jr. The balance of the top 10 includes Justin Clark, Mitch Harble, Sean Rayhall and Trey Jacobs.
The program will begin earlier on Saturday in an effort to avoid colder temperatures late in the evening. Pit gates will open at noon with the driver meeting set for 3:45 pm. Engine heat will begin at 4 pm with hot laps / qualifying at 4:30. Racing is slated to begin at 6 pm. It will be “Car Load” night for fans in general admission. The price will be $20 per car load (maximum of 5 people per car). Pit passes will be $35.
For competing teams, all cars must be on the 2022 or 2023 Hoosier winged spec tires. Legal compounds include the D15A, Medium, H15, D12A or H12. You do not need to run the same right rear all night. Wings must be flat top with maximum 2″ wickerbill. Mufflers are NOT required but Raceiver radios ARE required. As always, the FAST tour is one of the few with ZERO membership or entry fees .
The purse for Saturday’s race is as follows: 3000, 1500, 1000, 750, 650, 550, 500, 475, 450, 425, 400, 390, 380, 370, 360, 350, 350, 350, 350, 350. Thanks to our heat race sponsors, heats will pay: 40, 30, 20, 10 and there will be $50 bonus awards for the hard charger and hard luck drivers. We thank NAPA of Fremont, MadTree Brewing, Outsider’s Merchandise & Apparel, Elizabeth Gardner Photography, All Star Performance, E A Home Supply, Indy race Parts and Elite Wings USA for their help.