Not everyone likes Little Rock's I-30 Speedway.
With its tight racing quarters, high-banked turns and sometimes quirky track surface, the quick, quarter-mile clay oval located just north of the Pulaski-Saline county line is tough for many racers to adapt to. Some never do.
Batesville's Billy Moyer Jr. said he likes I-30 just fine, but he's never won there entering tonight's World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at the track.
"Nope. Not once," Moyer said earlier this week. "I guess I've won at just about every track in the state -- Batesville, Beebe, Crawford County, West Memphis."
Moyer's father, Hall of Famer Billy Moyer, has taken numerous victories at the track, including in the Outlaws' most recent visit in March 2014. His son has never won there, although he has been competitive in almost every visit.
"He's come pretty close," I-30 track promoter Tracey Clay said. "But after the race, Junior always says, 'Before I die, I'm winning a race here.' "
"It's an ongoing job for me to win a race down there," Moyer said. "I've ran well just about every time I've unloaded there, whether it was early on in my career or recently with the [Comp Cams Super Dirt Series]. I've just never been able to seal the deal.
"I've started 15th and raced up to third before. I've also started up front and led a bunch of laps, only to have someone pass me for the lead late."
Moyer's 2017 season started with less than stellar results. He mostly struggled during Florida-Georgia Speedweeks in February. In 11 events, his only top-five finishes were a fifth a Lake City, Fla., and a pair of thirds in Outlaws events in Sylvania, Ga., and Barberville, Fla.
The final strong showing came in the final race of the Southeastern swing. After taking a couple of weeks off, Moyer continued his upswing last weekend, finishing fifth in an unsanctioned race in Vivian, La., and earning his first victory of the season -- the 54th of his career -- in a Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series event in Byram, Miss.
Entering Friday night's event at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss., Moyer was 11th in the Outlaws driver standings, 42 points behind leader Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill.
"We just need to go there, qualify well and get a good finish in our heat race," Moyer said. "Then we'll have a good starting spot in the feature and we can go race. There will be a lot of good cars there. For us to win, it won't be a shock by any means, but we'll have to be on top of everything."
Moyer's father is also scheduled to compete at tonight's event. It was widely reported that the elder Moyer, who has more than 800 career victories, was retiring after last season.
"Actually, that was everybody putting words in his mouth," Moyer Jr. said. "He's still building and selling his cars, and sometimes he'll head to the track to help him stay on top of things. He might race two weeks in a row and then skip a couple months. But he's still racing."
Sports on 03/25/2017