A Win for Billy Dunn at the Short Track World Finals at Charlotte (2nd November 2026 BLOG)
It’s that time of year again, when all roads lead to Charlotte as us racing folk say , but this year it was a flight and not a road for me.
The Short Track World Finals were being held on the 29/30/31 of October and the World of Outlaw World Finals were being held, a week later on the 5/6/7 of November.
In the past I’ve always driven down to for the World Finals , but this year I decided to take a quicker and cheaper option
Breeze Airlines who operate out of Ogdensburg Airport NY (where parking is free , and less than an hour from my house) have very reasonable prices direct to Raleigh NC, which is where my daughter Carla and her family live.
Tuesday 27th October MMM
I left home in Cornwall, Ontario at about 9-15 am on Tuesday and by 9-30 I was driving through Massena NY , heading down route 37 to Ogdensburg .
I grabbed a Tim Hortons to go and was sitting in the departure lounge at the Airport by 11-00 . I was a couple of hours earlier than my flight take off , but that’s the way I like to do things.
I watched my plane arrive at the terminal, and was boarding before 1-00 pm .
From take off to landing in Raleigh NC , It was one hour 40 minutes. Carla was waiting , and within half an hour we were at her place in Willow Springs.
Wednesday 28th October.
It was a regular work/school day for the family so most of my day was spent relaxing around the house.
Because I’d chosen to fly down, I was without a car , so had the use of my son in law, Alex’s Mazda
Atter dropping off my Granddaughter Sophia at her School, I headed in to Fuquay Varina , They don’t have a “Tim’s ” as yet , so the Waffle House was my choice.
In the evening, while Carla was at a work function , Alex and I attended Sophia’s Soccer Practice (that’s football , to most of the world )
Thursday 29th October
It was race day, and this was the point where I left the family for a few days to head to Charlotte .
It’s about a two and a half hour drive from Willow Spring.
On the 29/30/31 October it was the World Short Track Championships at the ‘Dirt Track at Charlotte’ .
The high light of this years show for me , was the inclusion of the 358 DIRTcar Modifieds that are the ‘bread and butter’ of dirt racing in my area.
It was something I’d hoped would happen , and finally did.
I was looking forward to it .
I’d booked a room at my usual Rodeway Inn in Kannapolis and arrived there just after 1-00pm .
After throwing a few things in the room, I headed to the track , which is a 15 minute minute drive away .
Once signed in, I took a wander through the pits and one of the first people I bumped into was my friend Jessica P0wer, one of my local drivers.
Another lady friend I met was my friend Rhonda Beck . She is part of the North Carolina media corps, who I met at Charlotte , back in 2010 on my first visit to the track.
Thanks to Rhonda for the pic.
The Short Track World Finals , that precede the World of Outlaw World Finals , the following week , features many of the lesser divisions that miss out on the big headlines.
There were a lot of divisions on the program to get through, the various classes included Late Models , my local 358 Dirt Modifieds , and the traditional North American, DIRTcar Modifieds to name a few.
I attended this event back in 2023 when the Pro Stocks and Sportsman from my area, were on the program. The organizers change the format from year to year.
Most of the on track action on this opening day was for hot laps and time trials but there were two feature races included.
Firstly the 602 Late Models , followed by the 358 Mods which ended the night.
The Late Model race was won by Dalton Jacobs .
Then it was time for the 358 Modifieds to have their big race.
Billy Dunn took the checkers .
Cornwall’s Brian McDonald got second and Kreg Crooker completed the podium.
The opening night was in the books nice and early , Victory Lane pictures were done by 9-15 pm, and there was plenty of time to visit Hooters for a Philly Cheesesteak , before returning to my room.
Friday the 30th of October
After editing my pictures , I still had plenty of time to kill before I needed to head back to the track .
My first port of call was the Morrison Motor Car Museum, that’s located just across the road from the Dirt Track at Charlotte and almost next to the Charlotte Super Speedway .
This was a really good museum and well worth the visit.
Just down the road, I made my second Museum visit of the day , when I took a lookaround the Ford Mustang Owners Club Museum .
They had a good display of cars including this one that was owned by Henry Ford.
They had most of the Mustang models exhibited , with two notable exceptions
They never had a 1977 Mustang II , like I once owned.
FLASHBACK to 1993/94 and my Mustang II .
This model Mustang, was the car made famous in the Charlies Angels TV Series.
The other missing model, which I’m pleased to say, was the latest Electric Mustang . It’s sacrilege that Ford should do such a thing to a marque with such a rich past .
I have no time for Electric cars .
After this I , killed a bit more time at the Panera Bread shop , before heading to the track.
It was day two of the Short Track World Finals and the 358 Modifieds, my principle reason for being in attendance , were only on track for their heat races which were to qualify for the final days big race .
It was the same deal for all the divisions, so it was basically a day of qualifying.
Andrew Buff won the first of the 358 heats
and Billy Dunn the second.
When these were over, I took advantage of a second early night , and headed for another Philly Cheesesteak .
This time I dined at the Twin Peaks eatery , before ending my night editing pics in my room.
Saturday the 31st of October
This was the final night of the Short Track World Finals, and the cars were due on track at midday for an afternoon of Last Chance Qualifiers .
The features were due to begin at 5-00 pm and the 358’s were the second race on the schedule.
That was perfect for me, as I’d be heading back to Raleigh , once that race was over.
I arrived at the track at about 11-30 and watched as the track packers prepped the track .
While I was waiting to cross to the middle , I bumped into Paul Kirkland , the promotor at my local Brockville Ontario Speedway .
The 358’s would not be out on track until the features , as insufficient numbers didn’t warrant an LCQ .
This allowed me plenty of time to be out on the middle getting pics of the other divisions taking part.
Once the LCQ’s were done and dusted , there was a break of about two hours before feature time.
The location of the Victory Lane podium (on the outside of the track beside the slip road from the pits) means you have a choice, of picture taking . Either , stay on the middle for good action shots , or move to the outside near to the podium where the options for action shots are limited.
I chose the latter for both the Late Model, which was up first and the 358 Modified feature that followed, in order to get my Victory Lane shots .
Once the Late Model race was over, the 358’s main event was on track before their Victory lane celebrations had started , so that meant missing out on that one.
Billy Dunn and Chris Curtis started on the front and it was Dunn who shot into the lead with the others chasing .
Lance Willix moved up and passed Curtis who started slipping back .
Johnathan Fergusson also passed Curtis and went to work on Willix .
After a fewlaps of dueling , Fergusson made the pass.
That’s how it stayed for the remaining laps as Billy Dunn claimed his second victory of the weekend.
So, Watertown NY’s Billy Dunn, goes down in the history books by getting the first 358 Modified main event to be held at the Dirt Track at Charlotte
So it was a first , second and third for three of my local drivers with Johnathan Ferrguson 2nd and Lance Willix 3rd .
Victory Lane pictures were done by 6-00pm , and I was soon on my way back to Carla’s place in Willow Springs .
I was back around 9-15 pm and before the family returned home from their ‘Trick or Treating’ , yes it was Halloween night
Sunday 1st of November
We were all up early in the morning to attend Sophia’s Soccer tournament in Apex. (oh I do hate having to call it soccer )
Her team ‘The Dash’ got to the finals, and went on to win the Championship.
Well done Sophia and her team.
Monday 2nd of November
Well this was a nice quiet day in Willow Springs for me, taking the chance of some quality family time before the weekend arrives and my next and final race of the year .