Last Saturday, Dale McDowell scored $100,000 a win. The victory came during the XR Super Series’ Spring Thaw at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tennessee. What does $100,000 do for a regional race team, such as McDowell’s?
“It obviously helps a race team’s budget greatly when it wins a $100,000 race,” said McDowell, of Chickamauga, Georgia. “If you win any time in the year, it is important, but to win at the beginning of the year gives you momentum and ability to do more through the season. Me and my brother’s team have a schedule of 35 or so races this year, but anytime you win this much you can do more. Maybe we’ll do 45 races this year.”
This isn’t the first time McDowell has won $100,000. Nor is it his second. It’s his third. He won that amount for The Dream at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in 2014. Before that, he scored $120,000 total, with bonuses for a Hav-A-Tampa race at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Georgia.
While the money’s nice, McDowell doesn’t want to necessarily see a bevy of $100K-to-win races.
“Sure, winning the $100,000 is great for us,” McDowell said. “Marquee events are good, but let’s take that money and spread it through the field [and] help a greater number of teams. Maybe pay $50,000 to win and $5,000 to start. We will have better competition and grow the sport if we do so.”
Nevertheless, Dale McDowell appreciates the efforts of XR. They initially intended for the Spring Thaw to be a two-day show. However, weather reduced it to a single day. Despite less days, Volunteer Speedway packed the stands with a sellout crowd.
“One-day events are the way of the future,” said McDowell. “Historically, two- or three-day events were needed to generate enough income to cover the purses. Maybe it’s time to refocus. People have so much to do these days. Maybe the one-day show is the way to go.”
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.
