One of NASCAR’s youngest racers – 18-year-old Dawson Sutton of Lebanon – has been approved to take on the sport’s biggest and most daunting track: Talladega Superspeedway.
Sutton Tuesday received clearance from NASCAR to compete in Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 Craftsman Truck Series race on the sprawling, high-banked 2.6- mile track. The 3:30 p.m. race will be televised nationally on Fox Sports1.
“I’m excited,” said Sutton, whose biggest track so far has been 1.3-mile Nashville Superspeedway. “Talladega is a special place, and I’ve always wanted to race there. I’ve watched two truck races there from the pits.”
He added, “It’s crazy.”
Retired veteran racer and TV commentator Jeff Burton once said, “Talladega is the one track that keeps me awake at night.”
Last year’s Talladega truck pole speed was 179 mph. Down the long backstretch, speeds approach 200 mph.
“It’s definitely something I’m not used to,” Sutton said, who will drive a new “superspeedway” truck especially designed for the track by his Rackley W.A.R. team. “But I’m looking forward to it.”
Sutton received a text message from NASCAR headquarters Tuesday morning informing him of his Talladega approval. The approval is required for any young racer before he can make his first run on the giant track.
“I expected it (approval),” Sutton said, “because I had run three clean races previously.”
Last Friday at Kansas Speedway Sutton finished 5th after running as high as 3rd in the 34-truck field. Previously he finished 28th in his North Wilkesboro (N.C.) debut and 18th at Fairgrounds Speedway in June.
After Talladega Sutton will run the season’s remaining three truck races at Homestead-Miami, Martinsville (Va.) and Phoenix. He will also run the final two races at Nashville’s Fairgrounds Speedway: Saturday night and Nov. 2, as he closes in on the track championship.
Nashville Fairgrounds –
Jackson Boone of Franklin will drive a car prepared by Scott and Dylan Fetcho in Saturday night’s Fairgrounds Pro Late Model feature.
Dylan, winner of three of the last four track championships, is not competing for another this year in order to run more regional races. He finished 5th last weekend at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL.
