Inaugural Steve Heintz Tribute Race at Carolina Speedway is a Success; Blake Craft Wins Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models Main Event

Inaugural Steve Heintz Tribute Race at Carolina Speedway is a Success; Blake Craft Wins Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models Main Event

By Rhonda Beck 3-17-2023

Family and friends were on hand to honor the late Steve Heintz at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, N.C. March 9-10, 2023. As co-owner of Heintz Bros. Performance in Statesville, N.C., Steve and his brother Mike helped many racers in all levels of motorsports over the years. Heintz is especially remembered for the role he played in dirt racing.

Jason Smoot, owner and promoter of the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models series, talked about the significance of the weekend’s race. He said Heintz was responsible for helping his series grow and be where it is today.

“Yeah, it’s very emotional. Steve’s the one that helped me start this whole deal. And for Carolina--as Bruce (Arrants) told me today--this is going to be a yearly thing, as long as he’s got the track. For the tribute to Steve,” said Smoot.

Humpy Wheeler, renowned motorsports promoter and Gaston County native, commented on Steve Heintz and his contributions to the advancements in motorsports.

“Steve Heintz is a racer’s racer. In the evolution of stock car racing, we went from the junkyard car of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s to the speed shop racer. No longer did you just go to the junkyard and pick up a Rocket ’88 Olds. Now highly refined engines and accessories, shocks, sway bars, etc. came from speed shops--and Steve had the best. And there is no telling how many young drivers with sparse funds that he helped,” said Humpy Wheeler.

Before the night’s race on Saturday, the Heintz family was honored down in front of the grandstands. His son, Scott Heintz, talked about his dad and uncle’s early involvement in drag racing (Steve and Mike Heintz were named to the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2013) and the move to Statesville, N.C. where the business was started in the 1970’s.

“They were racers, and they took the knowledge and transferred it to the business,” said Scott Heintz.

He said his father went to different businesses and got to know everybody.

“He never met a stranger; he was always smiling. That’s just how he was.”

Carolina Speedway’s announcer Mark Abernethy asked Heintz about his father’s role as a family man. Heintz paid a special tribute to his mother and thanked his sisters Stephanie Wood and Sarah Morrow as well as other family members.

“Well, they say behind every great man is an even greater woman, and this woman right here, my mama, Shirley Heintz, I want you guys to give it up for her. 85 years old. Three-time cancer survivor. She supported my dad; did everything he did. She might not have always liked it because there was a lot of sacrifice on her part and our part as a family for him to do what he did and be who he was.

“As you can see, we’re up here because we’re following in the footsteps of him. People say, ‘You’ve got big shoes to fill.’ And I’m not even going to try to fill those shoes. Those shoes won’t be filled by anyone. Can I pattern my footsteps in that way? I sure can. I’m 55 years old. I started working for him when I was 12. So I know just about everything about him both personally and professionally. Like I said, we miss him every day. There’ll be nobody else like him. Nobody did for dirt track racing, what my dad did. So it’s an honor and a privilege.

“He worked, but also, he was a great man. He took care of us. We still vacation as a family. Every year for 45 years straight we go as a family to the beach in June and we hang out and we just enjoy each other. And his love for God--if you didn’t know, he was a very strong Christian man. He loved the Lord and anything he did, he gave the praise and honor to him. So that’s what we’re doing tonight, honoring him. And honoring God our Savior. And just excited to be here. It’s been a pleasure,” said Heintz.

Smoot also talked about the weekend’s activities and some of the things the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models Series has been doing to get fans and children involved at their races.

“We started our Kids Fan Zone this week. It’ll be at every race. It’s sponsored by Sanders Brothers Construction and we had Elliott up there, which is the owner of Sanders Brothers today and his car, and a car he sponsors, Scott Shirey. And every event we’ll have two cars up front, at least two. I just think it’ll be good for the fans and the drivers and the kids to get to know each other before the event. To give the kids something to look at and the fans somebody to pull for.”

Smoot was happy with the number of cars that showed up at Carolina Speedway for an early March race.

“We had 22 last night. We’ve had another new one come in today, and I got another one on the way, so that’ll put us at 24. But we did lose a couple last night with engine troubles. So that’ll put us back at 22. But I’m very pleased with the car count for this early in the year too. Yeah, we’re very happy.”

On Friday night, Mark Greene won the series’ Dash race and Smoot talked about how the qualifying is set at each race.

“It’s a 6-shooter race. We do that at all the events for the top 6 qualifiers. Sometimes they have to redraw. It all depends on who is the highest finisher from the race before, what he draws when they draw for qualifying. If he draws an odd number, that means they’ll redraw. If he draws an even number, they line up the Dash to the way they qualified. So you never know. And it’s up to them; it ain’t up to me,” said Smoot.

Timbo Mangum won the pole on Friday night and finished second in the feature on Saturday. Smoot emphasized how racers like Mangum can compete and do well, even if plans change due to equipment failures.

“Timbo wasn’t even coming because they blowed their super motor up. They decided Thursday night at 6:30 to pull the super street motor out of the street stock car, put it in the late model, and he sits on the pole here last night with a street stocks motor. So that’s how good we have the rule package. You don’t have to have a big motor. You just gotta get everything to make the car work. You ain’t gotta have to spend lots of money to win,” said Smoot.

Saturday night’s big winner for the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models inaugural Steve Heintz Tribute Race was Lavonia, Ga.’s Blake Craft. The 40-lap feature finally ran green after several cautions came out after the initial start to the race. After the mid-way point Concord’s Matt Long took the lead until some lap traffic played a part in lane choices on the track. Craft wound up getting by Long, while Timbo Mangum moved into the second spot. Craft was never caught and took the checkered flag. Mangum came home in second and Long was third. Scott Shirey finished fourth and Nick Deitz rounded out the top five.

The drivers were grateful to be part of the Steve Heintz Tribute race weekend and Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models announcer Hunter Weaver said that he first met Steve Heintz after he started working for the Series.

“I believe it was at East Lincoln (Speedway). I can hear him saying over and over again, ‘What are you doing, boy?’ Basically anytime whenever he’d see you walk up, that’s exactly what he would say. He said the same thing the last time I seen him—he said, ‘Hey, Boy,’” said Weaver.

After Saturday’s victory lane pictures and interviews with Jack Craig, Weaver did more interviews with the top three finishers. (Complete coverage of these interviews can be found on the Blue Ridge Outlaws Facebook page.)

Winner Blake Craft thanked Benji Cole for the opportunity to drive the Train house car and was appreciative of all of his sponsors and supporters. He said how lap traffic helped him.

“We started out with a pretty good year so far and them lap cars, I guess, helped me. I’ve been on the other side of the fence and somebody else wins, but I’ll take them anyway they come. I noticed the lap cars. I was paying attention to them real good and I know they was just going crazy all over the track. It was just a gamble, I guess. I had on my mind I was going to take the outside again and it paid off,” said Craft.

Craft said that his win last week at Cherokee Speedway and now this victory contribute to his week-to-week ability to be at the track.

“Every little penny that we win helps. We’ve got full-time jobs and then at night, we get all our stuff going. So winning and doing good keeps the car going,” said Craft.

Timbo Mangum was happy with the opportunity to race in the inaugural Steve Heintz Tribute race and was pleased with his second-place run.

“I felt fast all weekend. Like I said, we got our little motor in here. We done good all weekend. We just come up a little short, but we still had a good race,” said Mangum.

Mangum also discussed the lap traffic.

“That was one of those races where?you see what’s going on when you get to that point. Like Matt, he got caught up in it. Just one of them deals. Just make a decision and see what you’re going to do and go with it,” said Mangum.

Mangum knew Steve Heintz for many years and paid tribute him.

“He was a great guy and he helped us out a lot. I know the guy’s going to be missed a lot in racing,” said Mangum.

Third-place finisher, Matt Long, has known the Heintz family for a long time and has carried the Heintz sponsorship on his car over the years. He would have liked to have claimed the win, but was happy with the overall event.

“Listen. I told my guys and everybody here before the race that lap traffic would be the hardest part of this race. I just feel bad; I wanted to win this one probably worse than any other race I’ve ran. Steve was part of our family. I started racing and he helped me along the way, just like he helped a lot of people. We had a real good relationship.

“But anyway, we had a fast car all weekend. I just messed up a little bit in lap traffic. It is what it is. We were fast and they had a good surface tonight. They had a good crowd. It was a good event. And all the Heintz family was here. There was 20-some people up in that suite. I told them--the Heintz sponsorship--we’ll get some new earbuds so we can make sure we hear the RACEceiver,” said Long.

Long congratulated his competitors and plans to race more when he can in the future.

“Congrats to Blake; he had a good car. And Timbo too. We raced hard. It was a lot of fun. We learned a lot. We’ve only run these tires twice. We’ll be at more races this year. My schedule’s pretty tight at work, so we don’t get to come to everything and everywhere. We’ll run some Blue Ridge and Steel Block Bandits,” said Long.

Winners in the other divisions for March 10-11, 2023 at Carolina Speedway included: Double-winner Scott Cloninger in Hornets on Friday and Saturday night; Shorty Lacey in Crown Vics; Cody Barber in Pro 4; Hunter Funderburke in Thunder Bomber; Bailey Loftin in Super Sportsman; and Luke Eidson in Thunder Sportsman.

Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model Series Results: 1. Blake Craft 2. Timbo Mangum 3. Matt Long 4. Scott Shirey 5. Nick Deitz 6. David Minton 7. Mark Greene 8. Elliott Sanders 9. Justin Sims 10. Doug Sanders 11. Colton Stanley 12. Colt Smith 13. Nathan Walker 14. Gary Mabe 15. Robbie Bailey 16. Brandon Hall 17. Banks Johnson 18. Justin Norman 19. Will Harris 20. Mike Clark.

More photos and interviews by the Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Model series staff can be found on their Facebook page and website at blueridgeolm.com. Carolina Speedway’s results can be found at www.carolinaspeedway.net. Thanks to Rodney and Stephanie Poston of Vision Ministries for their work at the track and updates and results posted on the Carolina Facebook page as well. See new driver interviews by Mark Abernethy in “Behind The Suit” on Carolina’s Facebook page, including the first one with Hunter Funderburke, Saturday’s Thunder Bomber winner.

Next up: The Blue Ridge Outlaw Late Models will be racing at East Lincoln Speedway on March 25, 2022.