Wheatland, Missouri (March 23, 2023) – For Dustin Hodges, the 2023 race season is about to take on an all-new look when the Lucas Oil MLRA hits the track next weekend for the 10th Annual “Spring Nationals” at the Lucas Oil Speedway. While the track for the opener may look familiar to the Centralia, Missouri driver the car will not, as he makes the jump from being a highly successful USRA Modified ace, to a contender for MLRA’s Sunoco Race Fuel Rookie of the Year.
At 34 years of age, Hodges is coming off one of his most successful seasons to date. A season of racing that netted his team nine A-Feature victories, a track championship at the Callaway Raceway in Fulton, MO, a runner-up points finish at the Lucas Oil Speedway, and a third-place finish in USRA Modified National Points. It’s that success that made for a difficult off-season decision— continue being a dominate force in the modified ranks or seize an opportunity and live out a dream of racing Super Late Models.
“One of the biggest hurdles has been deciding. Do we just try to get our feet wet this season and just try to learn the car and bounce to a few of the tracks to build a little bit of a notebook? Do we drive both cars and play with the late model some, but still focus mainly on the modified? But then knowing that we have all of the fresh equipment this year, and will we even be able to do it again next year. This deals just kind of came together to where I felt like I needed to make the leap and go for it.”
Hodges will begin his MLRA campaign behind the wheel of a new 2021 Rocket XR-1 Chassis with Cornett horsepower. “We’ve just kind of been holding onto it,” noted Hodges of the chassis which he recently tested on the dirt for the first time at the Lucas Oil Speedway.
“A gentleman that races around here locally Rick Kimberling, bought the car and pretty much told me that he was getting up there in age a little to be able to do it anymore and seen somebody with the drive to make it happen. So he just approached me and asked if I would be willing to take it and try to make something happen with it. I don’t think we will ever have a better opportunity than we do now with the equipment that we have, so I think it’s time,” commented Hodges.
This will not be Hodge’s first go-around in the late model ranks, quite the opposite actually for the two-time ULMA Late Model Series Champion. “Zack VanderBeek is a really good friend of mine, so getting rid of the VanderBuilt (Chassis) stuff and back into the late model was a tough decision. We won the ULMA deal in 2016 & decided to chase it again in 2018 and won it again. That’s also when the VanderBuilt stuff was getting big, so we jumped back into a modified.”
“Getting into one of his cars just made sense at the time, and of course now this opportunity presented itself and my ultimate dream has always been to get to drive a 900-horsepower super late model, so I just couldn’t pass this up. I feel like if I look back in ten years and tell myself I had the chance, I wonder what would have become of it. I want to know what that outcome will be.”
With what he describes as a “get up on the wheel” driving style, Hodges is eager to return to the late model ranks, but acknowledges that a re-learning curve awaits. “One of the biggest challenges I’m feeling is obviously the power difference of having 200 more horse on top of what I used to have. And not only the power difference, but getting used to driving off the right front, that’s something that’s going to present a learning curve again.”
When the MLRA season finale rolls around in October the driver of the #22H is hopeful his name will still be very much in the conversation for Sunoco Rookie honors, and hopefully more. “I have to be competitive. If at the end of the season I’m not competing to ultimately running up front with everybody then I’m not going to be satisfied. There is just too much time and effort and money that goes into this deal.”
“I didn’t grow up around racing, I didn’t have family in this sport, so I have kind of had to just learn things one step at a time and ultimately, I’ve never had the funds myself to be able to do it. I’m blessed to have the career I have and to make the money I do to take care of my family. But without the help of my sponsors and especially Rick Kimberling doing this deal and providing the car and one of the motors, there is no way I would be doing this deal this year. I’m just extremely grateful to the people that allow me to represent them in racing and just blessed to be given this opportunity.”