Steve Francis beat Donnie Moran by inches at the

Steve Francis beat Donnie Moran by inches at the finish line. When you run 100 laps and it’s still a matter of inches at the end, that’s good racing. That’s what the fans like to watch.”

Rick Eckert, a winning driver from York, Pa., agrees and sees an even brighter for dirt racing. “Dirt racing will get much bigger,” he said, “because they’re getting more dirt races on TV. The racing’s too good for it not to be popular.”

Dirt racing is so popular that only 45 minutes away from Hagerstown is its nearest competitor, Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Va. Winchester attracts a crowd of 1,5002,000 to watch dirt late models race on the three-eighths mile track the same night Hagerstown runs.

“It’s very competitive and there’s lots of action in dirt racing, more side-by-side action and passing,” said Winchester promoter Doug Timmons. “It’s kind of a down-home sport. The fans can walk on up and talk to the drivers.”

Glenn Presgraves, a Hagerstown television personality and the announcer at Winchester Speedway, agrees. “It’s what local racing is all about,” he said. “You really have to drive the car. An asphalt car you just point it around the track, but on a dirt track you really have to man-handle the car. It’s true grass-roots racing. I think the fans relate to it more. They like seeing the dirt kicked up and you see more sideby-side racing than on asphalt.”

Terry Butler is a former racer, on both dirt and asphalt. The 43-year-old Maryland resident now runs Speedway Productions, a television production company that produces the cable show Southern Motorsports Hour.

“I think dirt racing’s so popular because the cars don’t run around like a row of geese,” Butler said. “The car’s are sliding through the comers kicking up dirt as the driver’s work the steering t wheel.”