There is not many things out there besides weather (and a pandemic) that is capable of postponing entire race weekends in the United States.
But when the reason for cancellation becomes the availability, or lack thereof, tires to race with, it doesn’t feel good for anybody.
“I’ve been with Hoosier for 17 years and it’s the most stressful year I’ve ever had working for the company,” Dirt Late Model Product Manager for Hoosier Tire Midwest, Brian Zulauf, said.
The current nationwide tire shortage going on in dirt late model racing has forced the cancelation of a multitude of races.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series was planning on racing at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska a day before the Knoxville Late Model Nationals. It was canceled.
This week, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series announced the cancelation of two races at Revolution Park in Louisiana.
That’s just the start of the issues.
“We’re throwing probably all of our used tires in the trailer just in case,” driver of the No. 7 Drydene Sniper Chassis car Ricky Weiss said. “To come out here with the best of the best, you’re going to lineup against them with brand new stuff. It’s tough. It limits you to how many tires you can run a night.”
There isn’t one unique thing that points to the root cause of the shortage.
It’s the perfect storm of a pandemic, work shortage, and material deficit that all came seemingly at once.
“The amount of people we have at the factory, the materials (we have there), and then just the part of not being able to get caught back up,” Zulauf said. “Once all the ducks are in a room… now they’re just so far behind that we can’t catch up.”
Nonetheless, it doesn’t solve the issue.
Drivers and teams are showing up to the track and sometimes scrambling to get what they need to compete at the highest level possible.
“It’s been a struggle and it’s a lot on the tire guy when you get to the race track,” driver of the No. 8 Longhorn Chassis car Kyle Strickler said. “We usually do all of our tire work when we get to the track. The tire rule we used this weekend I really liked, because you’re not burning them up as much. Eldora was really hard on tires and then you’ve only got a certain amount. If something happens, it becomes a scramble.”
Zulauf said that at the start when Hoosier noticed the shortage and first alerted drivers about it, it was rough.
However, as they do in dirt track racing, teams started coming together.
“The drivers started out a little rough, but they’ve all worked together and that way we can continue to still race,” Zulauf said. “It’s been a struggle, but it’s starting to turn in the opposite direction.”
Despite the struggles, drivers are trying to help one another.
Along with the tires that Weiss keeps in his trailer, he has a sign advertising to those that pass by that his used tires are available for sale.
“It just makes it real tough on the racer,” Weiss said. “For a guy like me who tries to show up at the track with a set of tires or two sets prepared. We’ve got enough work to do on the car and throughout the night to try and get it ready. Rather than showing up at the track at 5 p.m. banging on the Hoosier trailer door. It is what it is and I hope it gets better and we can work from here.”
And, Hoosier really is doing everything the company can.
There’s been a multitude of races where tire rules were changed to something that Hoosier had a plentiful stock of. They’re doing what they can to mitigate the shortage and the process starts or restarts every Monday morning.
“We start with Hoosier Corporate (on Monday) and see what we have in stock, what we can use,” Zulauf said. “Then it’s getting contacts out to whether it be Lucas Oil, World of Outlaws, or some of the smaller traveling series. They get back to us and say what they’re going to do to make it work.”
Hoosier is working to right the ship.
Just recently, they’ve seen the return of their employees that they need to begin on that path.
“Now the employees are back,” Zulauf said. “Everything’s rolling the way it should. It’s just time to get caught back up.”
But there’s no guarantee that it will all be okay or will return to normal with the flip of a switch.
There’s a lot that needs to be done.
“That’s a tough one to answer,” Zulauf said. “I know Hoosier is doing everything they possibly can to get caught back up, but that’s still a tough question.”
Whether they get it rectified completely or are only able to manage part of the shortage before the 2022 season, the thing that remains certain will be drivers and teams working together.
It’s the same thing that has gotten everyone through COVID and the better half of this season, and it will remain important as everything goes on.
