FAYETTEVILLE — Jerry Dove was a dirt-track racer in the same division for almost a decade.
After deciding to sit out the 2018 season, he came back this year with a new car in a new class called SportModz.
It’s been a case of “so far, so good,” as the Garland resident is the SportModz points leader at Fayetteville Motor Speedway. On Saturday night, the 4/10ths-mile track will host a Sheetz Mid-East Modified Tour race for the first time. The event will pay $750 to the winner.
“It’s still a learning experience,” said Dove, who has worked for Clinton’s Star Communications for 16 years. “It’s different, and there’s nothing like seat time. It’s fun, but I’ve got to get better working on the car and driving the car.
“I ran Super Street (now Sportsman) for eight or nine years and wanted to try something different, and until this class came along, I knew it was out of my league.”
Being an introductory class at Fayetteville, the SportModz division has run a limited schedule. Eric Bentley has won twice, and Josh Fields, Mike Manes and A.J. Belanger have been to Victory Lane.
SportModz entries look virtually identical to those that compete in the track’s weekly Diet Mountain Dew Modified competition. Several key rules are in place to make SportModz a much more affordable alternative, though. The only engine that can be used is the GM602 crate model, which are factory built and sold throughout a network of dealerships. Engine builders are then allowed to disassemble the engine and make technical adjustments that give the product the best possible balance of components under high speed and load.
Teams running the SportModz class are also limited to the use of one specific tire, and the rules are designed to curb spending by limiting the type of shock absorbers that can be used.
“It’s supposed to be a more economical class that you don’t have to dump a bunch of money in,” the 46-year-old Dove said.
“There are still people dumping a bunch of money into them, but they try to keep it down so it’s not the other class with ‘open’ motor rules. That’s supposed to put the fun back into without it being about who’s got the most money.”
Dove, a native of Dublin, never won a track championship in his Super Street car but has finished second or third multiple times. But in 2018, Stedman’s Jerry Johnson won Fayetteville’s track crown driving Dove’s car — a car he eventually purchased.
“I’ve never been able to commit to running every weekend,” Dove said, “but this year, since they don’t run SportModz every week, I try to be there when they do run it because I’m trying to learn my car. It took me a little while to get back in the groove when I started back this year, but I’m getting there.”
Saturday’s race is one of two slated this season at Fayetteville for the Mid-East Modifieds. The series will return in late September for the first of its three playoff races.
Also on the program Saturday night is a doubleheader for the Legends class. The Late Model, Diet Mountain Dew Modified, Renegades, Sportsman and Stingerz classes will also be in action. Pit gates open at 4 p.m. ($30 admission) and grandstand gates at 5 ($20). The drivers’ meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., with hot laps set to get underway at 6:30.
