Don’t call Trae Kirk the last man standing after winning the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series feature last Saturday. He used his years of experience at Winder Barrow Speedway to earn his first series win.
Kirk started in the fourth spot. After a first-lap skirmish between the leaders, he restarted second, which played into his favor.
“I knew the track would be top dominant early in the 50-lap feature,” Kirk, of Monroe, Georgia, said. “I got the lead coming off of turn two and rode it out.”
Kirk didn’t see what was going on behind him. After the first start crash, there was a second, and then a third crash wadding up half of the 20-car field.
“I came around turn two and saw the whole track was blocked,” Kirk said. “I guess it pays to be fast. I’m glad I did not end up in that wreck. If I had started in my original fourth spot, I would probably have been right in the middle of it.”
Nearly all the surviving cars raced with some damage. Kenny Collins, who also made it through the wreck later closed in on Kirk. Collins operates Collins Signs, who wrapped Kirk’s car.
“My spotter signaled me that Kenny was there,” Kirk said. “We are good buddies so I knew he wouldn’t drive me rough. My spotter signaled Kenny was down low and catching me. So I moved down and won the race.”
While Trae Kirk won the biggest race of his career, he still remained humble.
“I never have been a part of super late model racing,” Kirk said. “No one knows who I am. My name has never been out there. I don’t know when I will race my super late model again. All I can say is that winning a race that big is what you dream about as a local driver.”
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.
