Print Solutions Magazine, May 2002 -- Off Hours

At the office, Tom Lathen is a suit-and-tie kind of guy. That's why business associates often react in disbelief when they learn about his second job--announcing dirt-track auto races throughout the Midwest for the WORLD Dirt Racing League, a traveling racing series.

"I've had a number of people say to me, 'I just can't picture you out there with those dirt-track racers,'" says Lathen, distributor sales manager of Nevada, Iowa-based manufacturer General Financial Supply, a subsidiary of Ennis Business Forms Inc. "There always has been this misconception that racecar drivers are guys that roll their cigarettes up in their shirt sleeves or have grease under their fingernails."

That's far from the case in dirt-track racing, a sport that's an expensive hobby for many participants, Lathen says. Car owners often spend $20,000 to $35,000 on their engines alone, says Lathen, who also announces races at the Crawford County Speedway, a NASCAR Weekly Racing Series track in Denison, Iowa. "Drivers can tie up as much as $500,000 in their racing operations," he says.

WORLD Dirt Racing League races feature "super late-model" cars--2,400-lb. autos with 700 to 725-horsepower engines and fabricated bodies and chassis. These cars can reach speeds of approximately 130 miles per hour. Races also include "open-wheeled modifieds," smaller, lighter cars that don't have full bodies and, as a result, have exposed front wheels.

Dirt-track races are held mostly on county fairgrounds on semi-banked or high-banked oval tracks composed of dirt and clay, Lathen says. "The exciting thing about dirt-track racing is that the track is constantly changing," Lathen says. Before a race begins, officials wet the track with water, forming a "tacky track." A tacky track allows for good tire grip and high speeds at the beginning of the race. But as the race wears on, the track dries and becomes "as hard as concrete," Lathen says. The resulting "dry slick" track doesn't allow tires to grip well, forcing drivers to maintain lower speeds and anticipate how the track will react to their tires. Feature races are 50 to 100 laps long. Late-model race winners pocket $5,000, and open-wheeled modified race winners pocket $1,200.

Lathen's first taste of dirt-track racing came when he was a teen-ager in Nebraska. A neighbor purchased a 1932 Ford Coupe and planned to race it at the local dirt track. Lathen and others in the neighborhood watched the neighbor rebuild the car. "When May rolled around and it was time for him to try the car at the local racetrack, some of us went to see him make a fool of himself," he says. But Lathen underestimated his neighbor's driving skill as well as the allure of dirt-track racing. "I was hooked," he says.

Although Lathen became a fan of dirt-track racing, his dream was to be the play-by-play announcer for a professional football or baseball team. After graduating from college with a broadcasting degree, he took a job at a local radio station as an on-air announcer and an advertising sales rep. On an advertising sales call to a dirt-track racing venue in Red Cloud, Neb., Lathen chatted with the track owner about his fondness for the sport. "By the time I sold him advertising, he said, 'I need an announcer this year. Have you ever thought about doing stock-car announcing?'" Lathen saw the offer as a green light.

Since starting his announcing career in 1976, Lathen has worked for dirt-track racing venues in the Nebraska towns of Doniphan, Red Cloud and Lexington and the Iowa towns of Alta, Allison and Denison. He introduces drivers and gives play-by-play race commentary. In his current roles as announcer for the WORLD Dirt Racing League and at the Crawford County Speedway, he announces approximately 40 races from late March to early October.

"I love the competition," Lathen says. "More importantly, I really enjoy the people. Some of the best friends I have are people who I met through racing--car owners, racecar drivers, racetrack promoters and race fans."

—Kara S. Carpenter