ASA STARS drivers excited for Dominion the facility, wary for the race

There was a shared consensus amongst those racing with the ASA STARS National Super Late Model Tour after practice at Dominion Raceway on Friday night.

• I’ve never seen the place
• It’s a really wonderful facility
• This could be a messy race for Super Late Models

For example, Bubba Pollard says he is hoping that everyone can get to Lap 250 on Saturday and make it on to their next stop relatively unscathed.

“It’s going to be tough to race,” Pollard said. “I just hope everyone uses their head and races smart and understands the situation with this racetrack and how it’s going to race. Hopefully we’re all smart and can save our stuff and live to race another day.”

For the most part, this track is an unknown to everyone because while it has remained a mainstay for Late Model Stock Cars over its first decade of existence, there have only been a handful of Super Late Model races at the Woodford, Virginia bullring.

Those were all CARS Tour sanctioned and no one in the field participated in them.

What they’ve learned today is that, especially on the Hoosier ST1/ST3 tire combination, Dominion will be one lane around the bottom and it will encourage some potentially perilous decisions.

Jake Garcia said not to expect a lot of passing in the traditional sense.

“The tires are not wearing out a lot,” Garcia said. “It’s a 250-lap race and there’s four tires laying in the pits so that goes to show you just how little tire wear there is. And the second groove, it’s bad, because even in practice when you would go up top to pass slower guys, there is little to no grip.

“If you try to go up there to pass someone, or someone gets you off the bottom, you’re just going to go straight to the back unless you can get someone to let you in.”

CARS Late Model Stock Tour races at Dominion has featured side-by-side moments and even a handful of photo finishes but the Matt Craig says the power-to-weight ratio of a Super will not lend itself to that on Saturday.

“I hope we can have that because I like good hard racing but I think tomorrow is going to be one groove, bottom dominant,” Craig said. “These cars, the tires being so much harder than they’ve ever been is kind of hurting the racing more than ever.

“Like at Pensacola, it’s just so slick and everyone is just hanging on and when you’re hanging on like that, you can’t race anyone. You’re just racing the track more than you are anything else. … We were having all those issues (with the ST2s) but like anything else in racing, we’ve created another issue when we went to fix the issue. These tires are so hard that we just can’t race.”

Pollard says the quicker pace of the Super compared to the Late Model Stock will make this a completely different experience.

“I mean, we’re running a half second faster and that’s a lot for a place this small,” Pollard said. “Like, when you get cars out there and you try to pinch someone down, everyone is just going to have to be really on their toes and be super focused tomorrow.

“Can we put on a good race? That’s very possible but it’s going to be tough.”

And then there’s Landon Pembleton, who not only has raced at Dominion before but also won a Late Model Stock track championship, not that it means anything this weekend driving a Super for the Craig family.

“This is a totally different ballgame,” Pembleton said. “But this practice session today is the most fun I have ever had in a race car. The sense of speed is totally different from the Late Model Stock with the rack and pinion, totally different car. …

“You drive this track the same way you would in a Late Model (Stock) but it’s like qualifying every lap, which says a lot about the grip in these cars and motor too. It’s just totally different in terms of the sense of speed but the way you approach getting around here is pretty much the same.”

With that said, Pembleton agrees with Pollard about the potential perils for Saturday night.

“You can ride around on the top in a Late Model (Stock) but these cars are all about momentum so it’s going to be super hard to pass,” he said. “I’ve been working on a car that can wrap that line around the bottom and driving off it straight.”

On the other hand, Stephen Nasse thinks the end of the race will see the track widen out.

“I’ve heard Dominion is one lane and after practicing today, I can see that,” Nasse said. “But I think tire wear will play a factor and once you get these tires hot, they’ll start sliding around and it won’t be too hard to get by if your car is driving right but we’ll see how it plays out.”

Beyond the expected racing product, everyone involved praised Dominion Raceway as one of the nicest short tracks in the country. Opened in 2016, it’s also one of the newest and features a tremendous hospitality area, suites and a road course that also doubles as a Friday night street racing drag strip.

ASA points leader Gavan Boschele didn’t mince words.

“This place is really nice and I take a lot of pride in being able to race at places, and I’ll just say it, that aren’t dumps,” Boschele said.

Pollard, who is also a track operator himself, offered high praise.

“It’s for sure nice to go to nice places and this is what we try to do at Senoia too,” Pollard said. “We want people to come here and enjoy it, have a good time, and enjoy a nice atmosphere. The facility is super nice here and whoever designed it did a hell of a job with all things they have going on.

“It’s just the new pavement that’s tripping us up. It’s going to be a different produce of racing and we have to go to work to figure it out. But other than that, everything else is super nice and they’re doing a great job around here.”

Nasse called it one of the three nicest tracks he’s been to.

“The track itself is fast, new pavement, just a little bit of character,” he said. “There’s more banking than you realize. The suites up there looks nice. I’m about to head up and check some of the amenities out, the bar. It all looks top notch and I’m excited to be here.”

Derek Thorn said he was really surprised.

“It has everything,” Thorn said. “This is one of the coolest sports and entertainment setups that I’ve seen in my career. The track is freaking awesome. It kind of reminds me of the (Las) Vegas (Bullring) in terms of picking that track up and moving it somewhere else. This is a lot like it.

“I really like what they’re doing.”