By Jonathon Masters

The Dirt Late Model is a strange beast.

It looks like nothing else that races on circle tracks with its relatively flat doors, an open back, and sloping wedge-like nose. It is unique among race cars. Even the asphalt cars that share the name of Late Model are far removed from the legendary dirt speed machines. How did we get here from the relatively "stock" bodies of yesteryear? Why was there such a dramatic leap in the evolution of these cars?

This is not an in-depth look at the suspension and interwork of Dirt Late Models. That would require two or three columns in itself and is better left for another day. This is about the body and look of what my college professor Randy Cox at Rowan-Cabarrus' Motorsports Management Program called Cheese Wedge Cars.

Today you can see their influence everywhere. Dirt Modifieds, Super Stocks, and several other divisions have adopted components of the Dirt Late Model's look, but what started this iconic shape?

If we are going to look into what makes them what they are today, first we have to look at the stock-bodied cars of old. 

There was a time when the division known as Dirt Late Model began when most cars were running a mostly fiberglass body, and the cars truly looked like stock cars. That era lasted decades until a variety of factors all clashed, and everything started to progress very quickly. The first big move to the current Dirt Late Model can be attributed to one element.

Literally.

That element is aluminum. The rising costs associated with the old bodies and affordability of the readily available product sheet aluminum allowed racers to make their own bodies cheaper and faster than purchasing the old style bodies. Cars were changing quickly. The evolution was not slowed by complicated rules packages, as almost every dirt track was running outlaw and the guidelines were less constricting than today. There was a Wild West period when body rules were almost at a "run-what-you-brung" state.

The rapid progress and innovation made its inevitable conclusion with the creation of the famous wedge car. The bodies of these cars were massive and the aerodynamics of these behemoths would make one of today's wind tunnel technicians curl up under a desk and cry. Iconic and cool as these cars may have been, many overlook that this step in the evolution of the Dirt Late Model was almost its last.



The wedge car nearly killed Dirt Late Model racing. 

The wedge car was big, bulky, and expensive. The bodies were out of control, and they were taking more aluminum, more horsepower, more tires, and more material than ever before. The aluminum bodies that originally were a saving grace in terms of cost had become much worse than the fiberglass bodies they replaced. Car counts were way down, track promoters were discontinuing the class, and the end seemed near. At that point, one man stepped in to make a lasting impact that would not only save the sport but also shape it and its cars for decades to come.

In the mid-1980s, Bob Memmer started United Midwest Promoters as a way to unify the rules of tracks and racers. Memmer championed the little guy and wanted to keep racing as affordable as possible for the racers. He adopted a lot of rules set by the National Dirt Racing Association and Robert Smawley with the vision that UMP racers could take the same cars they race weekly to NDRA events. A meeting was held in Southern Indiana by Memmer that brought together tracks and manufactures from across the region. At that meeting, a rules package was adopted that created that cemented the modern Dirt Late Model.

In the rules package, the body was streamlined and smaller. The success was apparent as the number of entries rose and involvement would see an all-time high throughout the late 1980s and 1990s.

Minor changes would progress from innovation. The one-piece roofs have made several changes throughout the years, and noses have gradually changed during the past two decades. It is important to note that the big thing that kept the look of Late Models changing in the years since that important day in the 1980s is that innovation was still possible within the confines of the rules set of that day. We have had the unique chance to innovate while still in the confines of a standard guideline that kept our sport thriving for over 30 years.

- Jonathon Masters has a lifelong connection with dirt racing. His family has owned and operated MasterSbilt Race Cars manufacturing dirt late model chassis for 35 years. He attended college in North Carolina for motor sports management and has written for various industry publications. Jonathon was an account executive at The International Motorsports Industry Show, founder of the Heartland Auto Racing Show, and has been a racing industry professional for over a decade. 

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