Racing and winning at The Dirt Track at Charlotte means everything to Austin Holcombe.
It’s the track he calls home during fall. It’s the site of three of the biggest wins of his career. It’s the year-end meeting place for all of his racing friends and family.
And in two weeks’ time, it’s where he’ll go for a fourth triumph in the 11th annual World Short Track Championship, competing in three different divisions.
WORLD SHORT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP REGISTRATION + EVENT INFO
For the past three years, over 450 cars have flocked to the 4/10-mile oval in Concord, NC, seeking victory on one of the grandest stages in all of Southeast dirt track racing. Most drivers only get one chance to taste it over the three-day period, competing with the one car they’ve raced all year.
But Holcombe has built his program different, expanding over the past several years to account for three entries in the event — a DIRTcar UMP Modified, a Mid-East Crate Modified, and a Southeast favorite, the Thunder Bomber. The following weekend, he’ll bring out his Super Late Model to compete with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision in the Dave Smith Motors World Finals at Charlotte, making a grand total of four vehicle types raced over the two-week stretch.
It’s a lot of laps and a lot of work for his family-and-friends crew. So, what drives him to compete with this level of intensity?
“The biggest thing is we don’t get to race Charlotte a whole lot,” said Holcombe, of Elm City, NC. “It’s only a few hours from the house, so I look at Charlotte as a home track to me when they have races there. The last few years, we’ve been trying our hand with the World of Outlaws and our Super Late Model. So, any track time at Charlotte makes it a lot better anytime we can go and race there.”
Holcombe in the pits at a DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals event in 2024. (Tyler Carr Photo)
For one driver to field three cars in a sea of nearly 500, it takes a group effort. The team has had to resort to outside help in getting all three trailers down the highway. But once they’re in the pits, Holcombe and his racing know-how take over.
“It does take a lot running three classes there, but the Thunder Bomber and the Crate Modified don’t really take a whole lot,” Holcombe said. “We go out there and Hot Lap, Qualify, we do Heat Races and then we race, but there aren’t really a whole lot of adjustments that we do. So, it’s not as bad as everybody thinks.
“The biggest thing is just getting all the cars and trailers to the racetrack. That’s what kinda gives us a hard time — getting everything there.”
Holcombe has conquered the Crate Modified division three times during World Short Track Championship, first breaking through in 2021 before posting back-to-back wins in 2023 and 2024. He debuted in the Thunder Bomber division in 2025 and will return to the track this year in search of his first main event start.
However, as a regular of the open-engine Modified ranks dating back to 2015, Holcombe has had visions of a DIRTcar UMP Modified victory at Charlotte on his mind since the inaugural running of the event in 2016. He’s been close before, posting six top-10 finishes in nine Feature starts, notably driving from 23rd on the starting grid to a third-place finish in 2023.
Hoffman. Strickler. Stremme. Dotson. Several of Dirt Modified racing’s 21st century standouts have conquered the field in the Queen City, and Holcombe’s goal is to add his name to that list.
“It’s great to win with the series we’re with, but you go to a track like this — where it kinda combines guys from the Midwest that come this way and the guys from Florida come up — it’s like you get all these drivers together, and if you can show out and get a win there, I feel like it puts a stamp on it,” Holcombe said. “Like, I belong.”
His Prime Electrical Solutions, Lethal/Roush No. 8A has been stout this year. He’s currently ranked No. 37 out of over 1,200 drivers in national DIRTcar UMP Modified points with seven Feature wins thus far. A regular of the West Virginia-based Modified Mafia Tour, Holcombe leads the Series’ points standings with one race remaining in November and a hefty points lead.
In the search for his third regional Modified championship, he’s raced the best-of-the-best on the East Coast and has been an advocate for the skill and competitiveness of his rivals.
Holcombe in Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in 2023 after winning the Crate Modified main event. (Chris Dolack Photo)
“I feel like me, Chris Arnold, Michael Altobelli, the new up-and-comer Blake Tasker, we can take our top five, top 10 guys and go out anywhere in the country,” Holcombe said. “I do travel a little bit, bounce around and go to some of the Hell Tour races, and I feel like I’m competitive everywhere I go.
“I don’t win every race, if that tells you anything — sometimes I finish second and third — but I feel like I have one of the best cars I can have, and I feel like I’m a pretty good driver, and I still don’t win every race. So, the competition shows that these guys are right there with me.”
While the UMP Modified has not been traditional to the weekly racing scenes on the Eastern Seaboard like its Late Model or Stock Car counterparts, Holcombe has long been a supporter of the division and the value in the skills which racing one provides.
“You look at some of these guys coming up through the Late Model ranks now — Ricky Thornton was a Modified guy, Nick Hoffman was a Modified guy and look where he’s at now,” Holcombe said. “I don’t know if I would call it ‘my car’ like that’s the car I want to race the rest of my life, but I feel like it just makes you so much better of a driver because you have the same amount of horsepower as a Late Model with the open motors. You’ve got 700 to 800 horsepower on an eight-inch tire. You really have to learn how to control the car, and they react similar, suspension-wise, the way a Late Model does.”
Most open-engine class racers aren’t typically found competing with the weekly Street Stock-type classes at large events. But Holcombe has found a soft spot for the Thunder Bomber — a popular V8-powered Stock Car class around the Southeast, which has brought no less than 55 entrants to Charlotte in each of the last three years.
This year, he’ll bring his Chris Williams co-owned machine back to Charlotte to mix it up in what is likely to be another sea of the region’s toughest competition.
Holcombe’s No. 8a leading the Crate Modified field around The Dirt Track at Charlotte (ZSK Photography)
“I enjoy that class a lot, even though some people might look at it as a lower-tier class,” Holcombe said. “Normally, that class has about the highest number of cars, and they race them really hard. I think it’s because, to me, I consider it a little like a Crate Modified — all the cars are so much similar in speed because they’re the same type of car. They can’t have but so much motor, they can’t do but so much to the car, so it comes down to more of the driver, and I think that’s why I like those classes.”
For all 31 years of his life, Holcombe has called North Carolina home. It’s where he’s worked Monday–Friday to make a living, raised four children, and prepared the racecars in the garage.
Charlotte is a 200-plus-mile drive west from his home in Elm City, but it’s a small trip to make for a chance to stand in Victory Lane in the biggest dirt track racing bash The Old North State has to offer.
“I don’t care if they race school busses at Charlotte — if I can get a win there in any type of car, it’s a big deal,” Holcombe said. “It’s a big stage; there’s a lot of eyes watching it. I hope we can get a lot more fans involved this year.
“It’s streamed on DIRTVision; always been seen by a lot of people. There are a lot of people at the track, which creates good connections. You get a bunch of accolades when you win, so it’s a neat deal to win there in anything.”
The 11th annual World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte runs Thursday–Saturday, Oct. 29–31. Tickets, registration and rules are available now at WorldShortTrackChampionship.com.
If you can’t be at the track, how can you watch the World Short Track Championship? DIRTVision will have live coverage all weekend.
