The family racing lineage for Jacob Perry runs predominantly through asphalt Modified racing.
But the Pawcatuck driver has been doing his best to branch out and find racing rides in varied disciplines, from the Northeast to the South and from asphalt racing even to dirt competition.
Over his career Perry has found victory lane in everything from Legends to Mini Stocks to Trucks to Modifieds, all on asphalt. Saturday he got to add a dirt victory to that resume.
Perry has been dabbling selectively in the Sportsman division in recent years at Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. and the efforts paid off this weekend.
Perry added his name to the record books at the historic facility by winning the 15-lap Limited Sportsman feature Saturday at the half-mile high-banked dirt circuit.
“It’s huge to be able to finally get that first dirt win out of the way, especially at the Valley, which is pretty much our home dirt track,” Perry said. “I have more laps there than I do anywhere else. I’ve only ever been to three dirt tracks, so it’s pretty cool to finally get that one out of the way and finally put our name in the record books at the Valley of Speed. It’s a really cool opportunity they’re putting on with the Limited Sportsman division and I’m really glad to be a part of it.”
Perry has run selected events at Lebanon Valley since 2020. He was making his 12th feature start at the track Saturday.
that’s really cool to win on both dirt an asphalt. great job
Anyone know where to find results from Lebanon Valley?
Modfan,
They don’t seem to be readily available very soon after events.
To clarify, he won the limited sportsman feature. The starter division for the sportsman cars, it had ten starters with 90% of the field rookies or racers just entering their teens. So essentially, he won a heat race against kids.
Lebanon Valley Speedway used to be on Race monitor. It doesn’t look like they are posting results on the page this year. According to posts on a NY dirt racing forum in which they are discussing lower car counts at LVS there were 10 cars in the limited sportsman division that night. 19 cars in the regular sportsman division, so 29 total sportsman. This is the first year of the split division. The limited division has the same rules as the sportsman but is primarily for rookie and inexperienced drivers. After 3 wins in the limited division you get promoted to the regular sportsman division. Kind of like the old dare stock Stafford rules only there was no division to promote them too with the same car. They just disqualified you from the win forcing drivers running for points to try to finish second after they secured their win total for the year. The post reported additional car counts of 21 big block mods 22 small blocks 10 prostocks and 19 street stocks. Not great by their standards but not horrible though it is a big track. The thought on the lower car counts is its a big motor track and available part shortages should someone lose and need to replace an engines. Drivers are choosing to run smaller tracks perceived to be easier on equipment.
I am wondering if Jacob decides to concentrate in dirt racing. There is certainly more opportunity in dirt racing these days. We have seen Jimmy Blewitt dabble in the dirt mods, It seems to be where a lot of the cup teams find their up and coming drivers. I hate to see talented drivers leave the pavement modifieds but it makes sense if you want to do racing for a living.
Follow Mike Mallett on Twitter. He post all of the dirt Modified results in the region.
Is that a trend? CUP drivers coming from dirt racing? Or is it just a few including Larson who’s dirt exploits shine so brightly. I don’t know the answer to that. In my mind Super Late Models are the best place for an aspiring driver to get noticed but I don’t know that’s true. Drivers seem to come from all over the country with varied backgrounds. Dirt part of numerous drivers resumes but who are in CUP mainly for having notable success on asphalt. Well that and piles of money.
Long time journeyman modified driver Jeff Gallup now dabbling in dirt as well but for a different reason. He just is not that competitive on asphalt. His words not mine.
Jacob Perry is a friend of this site and his exploits well documented but I find his involvement in racing perplexing. As a fan I’ve got all my cubby holes for drivers neatly organized. Whether it’s the big gun Hirschman, Kyle Soper at Riverhead, Stephen Kopcik in SK’s and tour mods, the 7ny’s appearances in all sorts of tour mod events with different drivers or Street Stockers L’Etoile and Meyer onto SK Lights and LM’s respectively it see the flow. Committing, learning, racing and winning makes sense. Perry I have no idea what that young man is all about with regard to racing, what his goals are or where racing stands in his basic life plan.
The more I read about him the more frustrating it gets. One thing that stuck was him saying how he got back from a much needed vacation then it was back to racing as he headed off for his adventure at the Chile Bowl. As a fan the daily accounts were very interesting but the fact remained he was off to an event where he was completely over his head. And the owner of the car knew he was over his head yet still wanted him in the drivers seat and was willing to accept any negative consequences from the lack of experience and as it turned out there were.
Let’s see going back only a hand full of years what types of racing has young Perry been involved in. Mini stocks at Waterford, Granite State Pro Stock Series, various Super Late Model races down south for Reedy Racing, SK Lights at Waterford, tour mods, a NWMT event at Loudon and of course the dirt experience here. On Unmuffled a lot chatting about the latest exploits and/or plans with one constant. That being nothing is consistent.
That’s not strictly true there is one anchor and that would be driving for Jack Bateman in the MRS series and doing well on occasion. Oh wait, stop the presses. Bateman and Perry off to race in the northern swing of the NWMT events in New Hampshire and Perry also running selective MMTTS and Stafford opens for cousin Norm Perry.
Jacob Perry is a destroyer of my cubby hole system. I didn’t count them up but I’d guess he has the most appearances on Unmuffled and why not. He’s personable, accessible, enthusiastic and charismatic. Yet unlike most racing personalities I can’t remember most anything he’s said because his focus changes with each appearance.
It’s really quite the racing life Jacob Perry has had. Remarkable in many respects. I’d like to see him stick with one thing I can better fit in one of my cubby holes. To learn and grow in one racing discipline becoming a force over time instantly recognized and maybe a little feared by competitors he’s racing with. Tour mods would be ideal. On the other hand it is his life and racing is ultimately an entertainment choice for the overwhelming majority of local drivers. If that’s the case Perry must be having a ball.