Sports Illustrated - USA (2021-12)

DECEMBER 2021 65

With f ive top-10 f inishes in his last 11 races this year, the

35-year-old Sprouse entered Portsmouth having already

locked up the Rookie of the Year award for his class. In

the caste system of auto racing, Sprouse has several more

levels to navigate before he can reach his ultimate goal

of dirt track racing’s top rung, the Lucas Oil Late Model

series. “That’s when I can really live the dream,” he says,

as his green eyes widen. To ascend to that level, though,

drivers need sponsors, providing them with the best equip-

ment and the finances to hire full-time crews. Sprouse, in

other words, needs the sides of his car to fill up with ads.

Still, in a sport where careers can last decades and

there are drivers racing competitively into their 60s, he

is, undeniably, an athlete on the rise (even if he finished

a disappointing 19th at Portsmouth). “No question,”

says Tyler Carpenter, 30, a prominent dirt track driver

and fellow West Virginian, “Dustin is a real good dirt

track driver.”

DROPS,

STOPS.

DIRTY WORK

After wrapping up Rookie of the Year honors, Sprouse (in green-

and-white car), finished a disappointing 19th in his classification

in the biggest event of the year, at Portsmouth.

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