Devin Dixon will close out his 2017 season at a familiar spot. After traveling outside the state of Florida for the first time in his Super Late Model with the NeSmith Late Model Series, Dixon returns to his home track of East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida, for the second annual running of the Dalton Myers Memorial, which will stream LIVE on FloRacing December 16.

Dixon’s first year traveling with a Late Model touring series went well. While Dixon and the No. 58 car were not able to bring home a NeSmith touring series win, their consistency from weekend to weekend landed them both the rookie of the year title and the points championship.

“It was the first time that I’ve been outside of the state of Florida racing Super Late Models,” Dixon said. “I’ve always raced at East Bay and Volusia, [and] Lake City. So every race track we went to this year was new for the team. The crew chief had been to some of the places, but as the driver it was the first time I saw those tracks. We didn’t win a race in the series but we were so consistent with our finishes. We had a couple of DNFs when we broke a motor or something, but for the most part all of our finishes we’re second, third, fourth. The consistency part of it is what won the championship for us in NeSmith.”

While Dixon doesn’t have a win so far this season, East Bay could be the chance for him to go out on a high note. Last year he crossed the line second in the Dalton Myers Memorial and claimed a topless victory in the Donnie Tanner Memorial the week before.

“We started around eighth and were passing for the lead at one point in time,” Dixon said of last year’s feature. “We fell back a little bit and on the final restart but were able to pass a couple of cars to end up second.”

Local drivers have a definite advantage at East Bay as the track races unlike any other. While there are Southern tracks that mirror it in size or shape, it’s a track that you have to race on to truly believe.

“East Bay, to be honest, it’s such a weird place it’s really one of its own,” Dixon said, “I went to a lot of tracks this year traveling and I couldn’t tell you if there was one that is remotely close. There are some that are the same shape, same size, but the layout and the footprint of it is totally different than anything I’ve seen this year. I don’t think there’s a track out there that is comparable.”

East Bay, provided the conditions are right, should see a lot of passing by track regulars as they all jockey for the win, thanks to the track’s wide corners and a well-developed groove.

“At some point in time during a race — and it depends how the track is that day — but there’s definitely enough groove to race in the corners maybe three or four wide," Dixon said. "The back straightaway is pretty wide, the front is a little bit more narrow but both sets of corners make it so you can definitely go three-wide with the right surface.”

The Dalton Myers Memorial is not only the last race of the season for East Bay but also the precursor for the Winter Nationals that start a month later. Dixon has two big victories in the event, winning the open wheel modified portion in both 2006 and 2012. This year, the Modifieds, Sprint Cars, and Crate Late Models will all stream LIVE on Flo as well.