Kelly Carlton Shares The Secret To His Ultimate Success

Kelly Carlton Shares The Secret To His Ultimate Success

Kelley Carlton tells us the secret to the success of the Ultimate Series and why there have been so many different winners this season.

Oct 4, 2017 by Dan Beaver
Kelly Carlton Shares The Secret To His Ultimate Success

Each race weekend, the Ultimate Super Late Model series finds itself in a different part of the Southeastern region to face heavy competition from track regulars. They are not only fighting each other for point position and wins but also a host of hungry locals.

Series director Kelley Carlton told us what makes the Ultimate Series successful with racers and race fans alike as FloRacing gears up to stream LIVE coverage from Dublin Motor Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 7.

“We go to different parts of the region and there are competitive guys in all those different pockets,” Carlton said. “I think our rule packages lends itself to being very fair and allowing everyone the opportunity to win. Our tire rule in particular has been very successful for us.”

The Ultimate rule package is focused on creating fair competition between locals and series regulars. That has contributed to 14 winners in 17 races.

“We have a two-compound tire rule,” Carlton explained. “Which only allows the choice between two different tires to race on: Hoosier and American Racer. I think that really levels the playing field. You don't have drivers making guesses on what tires to run. 

"Sometimes the guessing game wins and sometimes the more knowledgeable guys get the advantage. With the two-compound rule it’s usually a no-brainer about which one they will run, and it takes that decision out of the process to level the playing field.”

The Ultimate series runs up and down the same roads as the Carolina Clash — another regional touring series. Since both are based in the late model-centric Southeast, they found that unrestricted competition between one other hurt both groups. In an effort to fix this the two series sat down and planned their seasons with the other in mind — providing more competition on a weekly basis.

“We did two companion races this year, and we worked together on the schedule to make sure we didn't schedule against each other,” Carlton said. “We compete in much of the same region. At the beginning of the year we connected with one of the owners of the Carolina Clash. He and I have been friends for years. We got together and realized it was time for us to work together instead of against each other for the betterment of the racers and the race fans in the region. It's better if we work together. That way you can see races from both.”

By combining shows, it contributes to larger fields with greater experience as the points leaders from each vie for the top spots on the podium.

“We don't pull competitors from them and (they) don't pull from us — or fans for that matter,” Carlton continued. “We hashed out our schedules at the beginning of the year and also worked on rules together. Their tire rule was slightly different than ours at the beginning of the year, and they actually changed their tire rule to match ours. Most of the other rules were already the same because they’re a Late Model division. 

"It worked out very well, we like to use the Darrell Waltrip term ‘cooper-tition’ you know, cooperating competition. It's ended up working really well for the both of us.”


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