Dale Welty defied odds by fending off the Short Track Super Series crate 602 Sportsman series invaders on his home turf. He won the race by using his many years of experience at the tricky 1/3-mile Woodhull Raceway in New York.
“The track is unique and unusual,” said Welty, of Montour Falls, New York. “The turns are almost parabolic. Visiting drivers try to overdrive the track. You shouldn’t get the car sideways. You want to roll through the middle of the turn like it is asphalt. I’m easy on the gas, but I want a shallow corner entry in order to run the bottom.”
Woodhull Raceway’s surface provides another challenge.
“It is soft like a sponge, yet it glosses over like it is polished during the feature,” Welty said. “It is so shiny you could see the cars reflect in the surface.”
The Short Track Super Series crate 602 sportsman victory is Welty’s second at Woodhull Raceway this year. Welty started his career back in 1975. In 46 years, he has won 121 features, eight series championships, and nine track crowns among four different speedways. Welty’s brother Darrell owns the car he drives.
“Darrell, who is retired, does 95% of the work on the car,” said Welty, who earns a living as a commercial tire sales manager. “I show up to do some welding or to prepare tires after working 10 hours a day.”
Dale Welty manages to race three nights a week in New York. They spend Fridays at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee. On Saturday, they race at Woodhull Raceway. Then, the two wrap up the weekend at Skyline Raceway in Cortland, New York.
“Our race team is the lowest of the low-budget teams,” Welty said. “We have a single, small sponsor — CPE Interlink — that helps us with tires. Most of the time, we’re picking up tires discarded by the modified teams so we can grind them and get another race from them.”
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected Dale Welty’s number of career wins (2021-08-18).
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.
