Kirk Lawson lost his left-front wheel and the feature win along with it. The incident occurred in the Little Lincolns class at Georgetown Speedway in Delaware.
“I was going for the lead, and I was pretty sure I would have gotten it,” Lawson, 52, of Harbeson, Delaware, said. “It was a golden opportunity, but it always seems something can go wrong when you least expect it.”
Lawson believes either loose lug nuts or worn-out studs caused the problem. The rules require stock hubs, with 5/8″ studs. Luckily, the car incurred damage only to its left-front hub and shock.
The Little Lincolns class does not derive its name from the cars in the class. As you may have recognized, Lawson steers a 1957 Chevrolet. Instead, the division’s name references the defunct Lincoln Speedway in Delaware.
“It is a true vintage car,” said Lawson. “The body has to match the frame in this division. The car weighs in at 3,450 lb.”
Donald McIlvain owns Lawson’s car. Its number, “X,” pays homage to Delaware driver George Harrison, who once drove for McIlvain.
As with McIlvain, Lawson and his family have a long history in the sport. His maternal grandfather, Melvin L. Joseph, oversaw the construction of Georgetown Speedway, Dover International Speedway in Delaware, and Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee. He also owned cars for NASCAR drivers, such as Bobby Allison, Banjo Matthews, Ralph Moody, and Curtis Turner. In fact, it was in Joseph’s NASCAR Grand American car, a Ford Mustang, that Allison scored the disputed victory at the 1971 NASCAR Cup Series race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The two NASCAR series ran a combined event, but NASCAR did not recognize the triumph as a Cup Series win.
Lawson’s paternal grandfather, Clifford Lawson, served as president of the Delmarva Drivers Association. Lawson’s father, Bill Lawson, waved the flags at Georgetown and Lawson followed in his footsteps to the flag stand. Lawson then got the urge to race, and he found the perfect home in the Little Lincolns.
“It’s a fun class to drive in,” Lawson said. “Being a support class, it doesn’t run every week, which gives us a chance to travel. My dad and my son have packed up for trips with me and I have raced in Virginia, Maryland, and New York.”
Lawson’s son Robby, 14, represents the fourth generation in the family to enjoy the sport. Robby works on the team as does Robby’s 14-year-old friend, Mark Wilkins Jr.; Wilkins’ father, Mark Sr.; and friend Allen Larson.
“This is no exhibition class,” said Kirk Lawson of the Little Lincolns. “It’s all-out racing just to get a trophy. There’s plenty of contact. I was lucky to be out of the show with just a broken hub.”
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.
