When you’re a young racer like Tanner VanDoren, you’re always looking for more opportunities for seat time. What better way to do that than race the Super DIRTcar Series 200-lapper during Super DIRT Week at Oswego Speedway in New York?
The weekend started with VanDoren looking to make the DIRTcar 358 modified feature.
“On Thursday, with four laps to go in the qualifier, a fuel fitting broke and Tanner coasted off the track,” said Tanner’s father, Jason VanDoren.
Tanner tried to make the feature through the Last Chance Showdown, but a 16th starting spot in that was too much to overcome. He finished eighth, and out of a transfer spot.
Rather than go home, the VanDorens had another idea.
“The next day, Dad and I looked at our lap times in the small-block modified,” Tanner, 14, of Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, said. “We saw our times were comparable. So, we registered our small block as a big block. At that point we were up against 70 modifieds for one of 41 spots in the field.”
Tanner qualified his modified through his heat race to start 30th in the feature. He completed all 200 laps and finished 19th.
“I knew it would be hard to compete in the big block division,” said Tanner. “The track was like a superspeedway, and I didn’t get off the gas much.”
Tanner also had to overcome live pit stops, a challenge for Tanner, his father, and two other crew members.
“We had five-gallon cans with a funnel,” Tanner said. “The other guys had NASCAR-type quick fuel cans.”
Tanner VanDoren now sets his sights on the Eastern States Weekend, October 21–23, at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York. He already owns two wins at the event, both in the sportsman class, with victories in 2020 and 2021. This year, he’ll look to win again, with entries in both the 358 modified and modified classes.
(For more on Tanner VanDoren, read “Tanner VanDoren: A Racer Beyond His Years”.)
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
