The Racing Report is a five-part photo essay shot at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that runs in Farm and Dairy through the summer and fall. The fifth and final installation finds photojournalist Matthew Chasney in West Virginia at the Dirt Track World Championship
Tyler Carpenter’s late model is being pushed off the track with smoke billowing from the engine compartment, and he couldn’t be happier. Neither could the crowd at West Virginia Motor Speedway, who got to watch the 35-year-old Parkersburg native win his heat race in the prestigious Dirt Track World Championship race. This would ensure he started on the pole of the feature race, but first he needed to fix his car.
Back in the pits, Carpenter leaps into the engine compartment to diagnose the problem. It turns out a broken $300 fan blade caused a hose to blow off, and his motor overheated. A gaggle of crew members, friends and family gather around the smoking front end of the car, holding flashlights and passing Carpenter wrenches as he tries to get the car in shape for the feature race.
While the touring teams with multi-million dollar budgets were contending for the Lucas Oil Late Model Series championship, Carpenter was there to play spoiler, a role that he relishes. Carpenter specializes in racing on short, tight, quarter-mile tracks where driver skill supersedes technological advantages.
He came into the national spotlight in 2019 when he won the Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis. His aggressive, elbows-up style of racing got under the skin of competitors and immediately endeared him to fans, especially in his home state. He has become a folk hero of sorts in West Virginia, where fans have watched him ply his trade since he was a teenager.
“Man, it’s just awesome to know that you can hold your own here in your own backyard”, Carpenter said.
Carpenter is a second-generation driver; his father Freddie has been racing since the 90s. Tyler and his brother Chris grew up playing with diecast cars in the pits at Tyler County Speedway and the now-defunct Hilltop Speedway. Tyler’s first race car was a four-cylinder Eagle Talon; by the time he was 16, he was racing late models.
In 2013, the family founded Kryptonite Race Cars because they couldn’t afford to buy top-grade chassis, so in true Mountaineer fashion, they decided to do it themselves. Kryptonite builds between 20 and 50 cars a year, along with racing components.
A replacement fan and a few welds got the number 28 car back on track, starting ahead of championship contender Devin Moran. Carpenter held his own, fending off attacks from Moran and Ricky Thornton Jr. until a wreck ended his night.
Back in the hauler, the mood is light. Carpenter blasts the heat, and he takes time to meet fans and sign autographs. They’ll have another shot at it on night two.
As the season winds down, Carpenter will race at Gateway in early December, and then it’s time to focus on his day job at Kryptonite. Winter is their busy season.
