NASCAR’s trip to COTA was about as far away from an oval as racing gets, which may explain why NASCAR’s representation in the dirt ranks was quieter this weekend, both in and out of the Lone Star State.
Joe Aramendia
Aramendia was a former Xfinity Series competitor in a very limited sense, but given NASCAR was in the state of Texas this past weekend he makes the cut.
Aramendia had a strong finish in the limited modified feature at I-37 Speedway in Pleasanton, Texas, Saturday night (March 25), coming home as the runner-up in a seven-car field. The result didn’t come without incident though; according to a post in the Rebs Race Report Facebook group, Aramendia got the better end of contact in a battle for second on a mid-race restart that saw three competitors crash and a red flag hit the speedway.
Kyle Busch
The Cup Series regular did not race on dirt this week, but still mades news in the dirt ranks with the announcement that he’ll be racing a super late model as part of the upcoming Kyle Larson Late Model Challenge at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. on April 6, the Thursday prior to the Bristol Dirt Race.
For those that don’t remember this event a year ago, the race was the single most-watched stream in Flo Racing history last spring.
Kasey Kahne
The former Cup Series regular had, if anything, a steady weekend as the World of Outlaws went to the Deep South, and that had to be a welcome result after Kahne found trouble early in the series’ last stop at Lincoln Speedway.
Kahne scored his second top-10 finish of the WoO season Friday night at the reconfigured Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala.
Kahne the driver followed that up with an 11th-place finish the following evening at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Mississippi. Kahne the owner, however, had a banner night at the Mag, with driver Brad Sweet scoring his 80th career WoO victory behind the wheel of the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49 car.
Austin Wayne Self
The former Truck Series regular ran his 602 modified as part of the Mid-East Modified Nationals Friday and Saturday night at the Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.
Self appeared poised to contend for the $5,000 win after finishing third in his heat race Friday and posting a top-five in Saturday’s hot lap session. However, despite starting eighth, Self would finish a distant 16th in the feature event.