In one of the most amazing...
In one of the most amazing displays of driver displeasure Michael Simko went after Don St. Dennis after St. Dennis dumped him into the Toledo Ohio wall two years ago. While this kind of display is rare in the Outlaw SLM, it gained the division national fame as the 2007 incident was caught on tape and broadcast across the country.
Jack Landis is probably one of the best known Outlaw racers with a reputation to show up at any time, any place racing between 40 and 50 times per season. He'll run his traditional-template body as well as his Outlaw-bodied car. A former winner of the Summer Sizzler and the Glass City 200, as well as the first-ever Stan Perry Memorial, Landis is very familiar with the Outlaw Super Late car. "The Outlaw Super Late offered many more options in my area when I first started racing Late Models, versus the template-body cars. It was a lot of hard work and gaining the experience was a unique process as time went on. It used to be a lot of power, speed, and some really good sticky tires."
Landis says that the spec tire rule changed all that. "Now it seems you need to use a lot of finesse as a driver and not quite as much engine. The tires are a lot harder (compound) now than they used to be and that takes a little more driver. As far as the future of the Outlaw car goes, you always wish it could be better. The key is getting and keeping fans in the seats to keep the purse money up."
Outlaw-Bodied Future The future of the Outlaw-bodied Super Late Model is a tricky answer. Just as the economy is struggling so are many of the weekly local bullrings. Everyone seems to have an idea of how to make it better for the Super Lates, but in reality these economic issues are the same for every division.
In the past few years, there have been some great races in the Outlaw SLM division with tons of passing and great competition. This has translated into a class that has very solid support from both fans and racers, thanks in large part to the appearance and signature sound of an Outlaw SLM which sets it apart from its cousin, the ABC-bodied, crate engine car.
Perhaps the future success of the Outlaw SLMs lies within that open engine rule, keeping the creativity of the division alive will keep the competition high and the fans in the stands. If that happens, the Outlaw-bodied cars will do just fine as a marquee draw at the local track or with the traveling MERS group. Either way their fast paced Super Late groupies will no doubt continue to support their local heroes, the backbone of American motorsports.