The 2019 IMCA modified champion at Arkansas’ Batesville Motor Speedway, Ashton Wilkey, feels right at home at Tennessee’s Bristol Motor Speedway, where he’s racing in the Bristol Dirt Nationals. Sure, the two tracks have their differences, Wilkey admitted.
“[Bristol] is bigger [than Batesville], and it’s got more banking,” said Wilkey, of Batesville, Arkansas. “At Batesville … you can’t flat-foot it every night you’re there and [at Bristol] you can hold it to the floor pretty much most of the time.”
That’s where the differences end, according to Wilkey.
“Batesville is a smaller version of Bristol,” Wilkey said. “[Batesville] is all about keeping your momentum up, pretty much like this is [at Bristol]. I feel that’s why we’re pretty good right off the bat, because we ran weekly [at Batesville].”
Wilkey finished second in his first heat race during the Bristol Dirt Nationals on Monday and fifth in his feature on Tuesday. It’s a dream come true for the racer whose father, Jason, steered race cars as well. Wilkey also spent much of his childhood at Larry Shaw Race Cars.
“Larry Shaw might as well be the grandpa I don’t have,” said Wilkey. “I’ve been around him since I was tiny. He’s always been there for me and he’s the one who got us into our first modifieds.”
At Shaw’s shop, Wilkey often listened to the stories of its legendary namesake car builder.
“[Bristol] was always something [Larry Shaw] brought up and talked about,” Wilkey said. [He said] it was such a big event. When they said they were going to do it again, we couldn’t miss the opportunity.”
After winning the IMCA modified championship at Legit Speedway Park in West Plains, Missouri, Ashton Wilkey seeks new challenges in 2021.
“We’re going to travel more and go to bigger races,”said Wilkey. “We probably won’t go for points this year.”
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
