THE Legend Car Dirt Nationals is regarded as the world’s biggest Legend Car event, and recently at Fayetteville Motor Speedway (North Carolina, America) for the 27th running of the event, Australian driver Glenn Mitchell scored back-to-back INEX Masters Dirt National victories.
After three years of competing over in America in the third largest motorsport sanctioning body in the world, Mitchell, from Sydney in Australia, has now picked two successive Dirt Nationals wins in the Masters category, after he successfully defended his crown in winning style in what was a hard-fought weekend from beginning to end.
“During last year’s Dirt Nationals, I played the points game, as the Masters championship was quite tight heading into the weekend and I got through it and ended up finishing seventh, which was enough for me to secure the championship, so for this year, with the luxury of a handy championship lead, I wanted to go all out, and that’s exactly what I managed to do,” explained the 58-year-old Glenn Mitchell, who dominated proceedings during the 2023 Dirt Nationals weekend by winning Friday night’s preliminary feature race and then Saturday night’s Dirt Nationals deciding feature race.
“To win one Dirt Nationals is pretty special as the Legend Cars are just so competitive, but to do it twice and the way I managed to do it, made it all the more satisfying, as I had to battle hard for the lead throughout the 30-lap feature race and I was thrilled to be able to wrap up this year’s Dirt Nationals in the best possible fashion.”
Mitchell continued on by saying that spending the bulk of the past three years in America has been an amazing experience for him and his supportive wife, Jo.
“When Jo and I decided to pack up and head over to America and compete 40 times a year in Legend Cars around the country back in 2021, I thought we’d only do it for a year and then return back to Australia, and that was it,” he admitted.
“To say that we were blown away by all of the amazing support and experiences during our first year in America would be quite the understatement, and it led to us coming back for the past two years. Jo has been by my side the entire way through our crazy travels chasing race meetings around America, and I simply wouldn’t do it without her.
“The level of racing in the Legend Cars over here is out of this world, as you can pretty much race every second night during the season somewhere in America, and competing over there has certainly helped make me a better driver and my results in the Masters category are proof of that.”
Ahead of this year’s campaign, Mitchell was presented with the opportunity to join the Mooresville, NC based Joe Ryan Racecars team, and it’s taken his racing program to a whole new level.
“I can’t thank everyone at Joe Ryan Racecars enough for all of their support, as they have provided me with some much support to my race car from parts and servicing through to even mentoring me as a driver,” he said.
“The guys at Joe Ryan Racecars are like a family and it has played a massive part in helping me be more competitive, and I’m very grateful for them for inviting me to join their team, and I’m glad I’ve been able to fly the flag for them so successfully in the Masters category around the country.”
Apart from the Joe Ryan Racecars team, Mitchell would like to thank Billy Workman Jnr (dirt racing specialist), up and coming NASCAR driver Landen Lewis, and Hornaday Driver Development driver manager Candace Hornaday for all of their great support.
When it comes to Mitchell’s 2023 achievements on both dirt and tar disciplines, apart from successfully defending his Dirt Nationals crown, it includes a total of 31 feature race wins (eight outright), 47 podiums, and 25 heat race wins.
Looking ahead to 2024, Mitchell already has his plans locked in place.
“I’ll be returning back to Australia in a few weeks’ time for the Christmas period, before Jo and I come back early in the new year to do it all over again,” he concluded.
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