Dale McDowell: Change of Fortune

Talk about your breakout seasons. Prior to 1999, Dale McDowell was considered a nominal threat on the national dirt Late Model scene. Having built a reputation as a strong regional campaigner, McDowell, who hails from Rossville, Georgia, a small town just across the state line from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was just beginning to make a name for himself on the Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series, the sport’s most prestigious touring circuit. Now, in the aftermath of the 1999 racing season, all of that has changed. During the course of that year, his third full campaign with the sanctioning group, the 32-year-old leadfoot scored six wins and only finished outside of the top 10 on a half-dozen occasions. McDowell’s consistent string of runs culminated with a resounding win in the season-ending Hav-A-Tampa Shootout at Dixie Speedway, where he picked up a cool $73,000 paycheck.

And while McDowell, who started fifth in the 100-lapper and shot to the front of the field in only 10 laps, had his way with the field at Dixie, a dramatic scenario unfolded in which he topped his close friend and on-track rival, Wendell Wallace, for the series championship. Following a 10-month, back-and-forth title chase, Wallace went into the Shootout with a 31-point advantage over McDowell. But an ill-handling race car caused Wallace to fade to a 12th-place finish late in the race. McDowell waltzed away with a 22-point edge and a $50,000 check for the championship, paid a few weeks later.

"This is a dream come true," McDowell said from Victory Lane. "I didn't think it was possible. We kept plugging all season long and never gave up--and we ended up here. I was the lucky one tonight. "We've had our emotional highs and our emotional lows this season. And this is definitely the highest." As McDowell's post-race comments implied, the championship season was not all checkered flags and trophy queens. In May, just after winning the third of his six series features on the season, McDowell lost the backing of primary sponsor Bob Harris, who had come on board at the end of 1998.

Citing a lack of interest in the amount of travel involved with the Hav-A-Tampa tour, Harris disappeared from the picture, leaving McDowell and brother/crew chief Shane McDowell to pick up the pieces and put together their own program in the midst of a heated title chase. Fortunately for the McDowell brothers, a handful of people stepped forward to aid their homegrown efforts. While the second half of the season didn't yield as many wins as the early season, the team kept their consistency level high and stayed within striking distance of the Hav-A-Tampa title. "We weren't really doing anything differently than we were at the first of the year," McDowell points out.

"But at the first of the year, everything was just going our way." By season's end, things had come full circle and were again going McDowell's way as evidenced by his late-season assault on the Hav-A-Tampa championship. "I didn't really think we had a shot [at the title]," McDowell says. "I knew that I needed to work on my consistency more throughout the year." Although he brings 18 years of experience to the table, McDowell never competed much outside of a 250-mile radius of his hometown until 1997. With numerous dirt tracks located in his region, it was just not economically feasible to chase glory on the national level. "I feel like we're fortunate to be in this area, and to have a lot of tracks to choose from," adds McDowell, whose salt-and-pepper hair belies his relative youth. "But I feel like to be a professional dirt racer and to be at the level of the top guys, you've got to travel. And we'd kinda dodged that. "Instead of going to big races in Illinois or Oklahoma or Eldora (Speedway in Ohio), we'd find a $5,000-to-win or $3,000-to-win race closer to home. Financially, it helped us, but on the experience level it hurt me."

Ironically, McDowell's first opportunities to get out and travel to the larger events came from a pair of the best-known drivers in the game--Billy Moyer and Scott Bloomquist. Through his relationship with car builder Barry Wright, McDowell drove one of Bloomquist's backup cars at Eldora Speedway in 1996. While he failed to make the field for the big show, the trip "kinda opened my eyes and I saw that, if I wanted to step my program up a level, I was going to have to start traveling and be a part of the bigger events." Also that year, McDowell was tabbed by Moyer, who was driving for another team at the time, to drive Moyer's personal car in big shows in Arkansas and Missouri. Although it was his first trip to both tracks, McDowell drove the familiar No. 21 to top-10 showings in the Show-Me 100 at West Plains (Missouri) Motor Speedway and the Topless 100 at Batesville (Arkansas) Speedway.

McDowell’s guest performances helped catch the eye of Hot Springs, Arkansas, businessman O.J. Monday, who was already involved in the sport as sponsor/car owner for Wallace. For the 1997 season, Monday backed a two-pronged attack on the Hav-A-Tampa tour, fielding cars for Wallace and McDowell. "I met with Dale for the first time at the [Hav-A-Tampa] Shootout in 1996," Monday recalls. "He didn’t really have any help at the time, and I thought he was one of the best at getting the job done. So I asked him if he wanted to run with us."

As part of the Monday Trucking team, McDowell hit the road in earnest. In his first full year of roadwork, he picked up one win and one pole award. At season’s end, he was ranked fifth in the overall points standings. From Wallace’s point of view, the pairing was a positive one, and the two competitors have remained close friends despite the intense battle they waged for the 1999 Hav-A-Tampa title.

"I think we learned a lot from each other," Wallace says. "I feel like he helped me in some areas, and maybe I helped him in some areas." Throughout the 1999 campaign, Wallace and McDowell continued to pit next to each other and share information. At the end of the 1998 season, Monday backed off on his involvement, allowing McDowell to hook up with Harris, while keeping Monday’s name on the car as an associate sponsor. In 1999, the McDowell juggernaut came on hard and fast from the start of the season, running strong and winning right out of the box.

"Everything just kinda came together as far as me being more familiar with the racetracks," McDowell says. "With the limited practice time you get at each Hav-A-Tampa event, that's a key factor--knowing the place that you're going to, and really being prepared and knowing what to expect." Although McDowell didn't seem to miss a beat with Harris' late-spring departure, by early summer, there were chinks beginning to show in the armor.

While leading a 75-lap Hav-A-Tampa feature at Rome Speedway, McDowell ran over a piece from a competitor's blown engine on the 74th circuit, cutting a tire and yielding the win to Earl Pearson Jr. In July, while leading the Ironman 100 at Florence Speedway, McDowell suffered a rare mechanical breakdown, scoring his lone DNF of a busy racing season. "We just took it race by race. We decided that was what we were going to do, and if we couldn't afford to run for the championship, then we'd step back and regroup."

Through it all, McDowell admits he couldn't stop hearing the voice in the back of his mind asking, "What am I doing? How am I going to be able to do this?" New assistance came from people such as Larry Clark of Custom Race Engines, who, according to McDowell, "stepped forward at the right time." The summer months were tough on Dale and Shane, who shouldered the burden of maintaining a race team on a grueling touring schedule alone before new crewman Mike Price came on board in August. "I went through some pains and worked some extra hours [to keep the maintenance program on track]," Shane points out. "We're kinda shorthanded, but Mike has made it easier on both of us.

"We fell out of one race all year long out of 50-something shows," says Shane. "We really try to stay on top of maintenance and keeping fresh parts on the car. Because you darned sure can't win a race if you don't finish." Others who went to bat for the McDowell brothers during their rebuilding period were stepfather Joe Dover, whose Dover Cylinder Heads business has been a longtime sponsor, as well as Monday and Joe Garrison, whose GRT chassis have been a mainstays in McDowell's program since 1995. Glenn's Auto Parts, a local business owned by Glenn Hill, also joined on with the McDowell effort late in the summer. "Glenn's son, Mike, who races around this area, is a long-time friend," says McDowell. "So that came about through him. They've been a great help." At the core of the team's success is the close working relationship between the brothers McDowell. "All in all, we have a great relationship," Dale says of his brother. "And that's what makes it all great for what we're doing. I don't even recall the last time we had a cross word. He's kinda quiet, and I go ahead and speak my piece. So he just lets me go ahead and blow off steam, I guess."

Shane, who is eight years younger than his brother, thinks his own short stint behind the wheel helps him communicate with Dale. "I feel like we can relate pretty good," he says. "I drove a little bit, and I feel like that helped me know what to look for as far as just watching him on the track." Further family support provides the backbone of the McDowells' racing operation, says Dale, citing the help provided by mother Renva Dover, stepfather Joe Dover, wife Andrea McDowell, and father Danny McDowell. "We couldn't do what we do without them," he says. Another development for McDowell was his involvement with the Cleveland Speedway Driving School at the Cleveland, Tennessee, speedplant where he started his career. Along with fellow driver Rex Richey, McDowell teaches a two-day course at the track for up-and-coming racers. "I really enjoy helping drivers that come to the school," says McDowell. "I wish I would have had something like this when I was getting started."

Dale admits he is slowly getting used to his place in the dirt Late Model world. "I'm pleased with the progress we've made. I definitely feel more comfortable and more competitive [than in the past]. All any of us can hope for is to try to be in the top five consistently. And that's very tough to do with today's competition level." "I feel fortunate to be where we are," he adds. "I feel like we've had a very successful year." What an understatement.