It was a long time coming for Dylan Sharp — 23 years, to be exact. While successful at many other tracks, he just couldn’t win at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. It’s the track where he spread his father’s ashes, but Dylan couldn’t break into victory lane. That is, until last Friday.
“I’ve run second,” Dylan says. “I broke while leading. The track has been my kryptonite.”
Since he was 6 years old, he and his father, Larry, traveled to quarter-midget and kart tracks, eventually moving into modifieds at age 14. Eventually, Larry helped his grandson Jaxxon start racing quarter midgets. However, in 2014, Larry passed away. Dylan kept trying to win at I-55, knowing his father would be proud, but never could manage the feat.
More than a decade later, Jaxxon, now 16, races B mods in one of his father Dylan’s old modifieds. Dylan started the season off on a promising start with a brand-new Gen 4 chassis from Impressive Race Cars.
“We won at Farmington Empire Speedway, finished fifth at I-55 and then wrecked there while running third,” Dylan says. “Things went downhill from there. We just weren’t there in the top five.”
Prior to last Friday’s Fall Frost Classic, Dylan and fellow Gen 4 racer and eight-time DIRTcar modified national champ Mike Harrison stripped down their modifieds with Impressive Race Cars’ Don Jumper. With tape measure in hand, they discovered what may have been plaguing Dylan’s effort.
“I had found a lower control arm mount had moved a quarter inch,” Dylan says. “Could that have been it? We made some minor changes to the front control arms and checked the X in the chassis, and made sure nothing else was bent. Then we both changed shock packages.”
The two drivers’ cars mirrored each other setup wise, with the exception of shocks. Mike went with Bob Harris Enterprises while Dylan elected Abco Performance. Both won, Dylan on Friday, Mike on Saturday.
“For me, to get the first win at I-55 was like winning the World 100,” Dylan says. “To see my wife, Danielle, be so excited running to victory lane made me feel so good. Our Pevely Curse was finally over.”
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.
