RPW Exclusive: Luke Horning Had The ’23 DIRTcar Pro Stock Season Many Only Dream About

Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – SYRACUSE, NY – Luke Horning had an absolutely dominant season in 2023 and that never more prevalent than on the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series.

It seemed that anywhere the division was racing, if Horning’s #2H was in the pit area, he was the odd-on favorite to take the checkered flag.

On tour, that’s exactly what he did, winning every single Series race but one, a seventh at Lebanon Valley Speedway in August in the “Old Buzzard 30,” an event in memory of Jimmy Langenback. That race was won by Nick Hilt Jr.

“I’ve really been lobbying to get Lebanon Valley off the Series,” Horning joked. “Our car was really good this year.”

In total, the Glove City Transportation machine was victorious in four Series races. In addition to “W’s” at Albany-Saratoga, Glen Ridge and Brewerton, Horning nailed down his first career triumph during Super DIRT Week at Oswego, taking the 50-lap championship event.

“How ‘bout that,” he told RPW back in October after taking the victory. “Glen Ridge Motorsports Park produced a Super DIRT Week Champion.”

A lot of Horning’s success this season is due in part to the Playfab Chassis, a collaboration between himself and good friend Shane Playford, who is also a fellow competitor.

The chassis’ good fortune in 2023 was on full display this season, capped off by a top three showing at Oswego for Horning, Playford and third place finisher Devon Camenga.

“We build our own cars because we didn’t like the way things were going,” he said. “The only way you can control that is by offering somebody an option. To have the cars running the way they have been is very good for us.”

Horning captured 20 victories overall this season with 16 of them coming in DIRTcar competition. That included weekly races, his Series success but also a victory in the All-Star Invitational at Charlotte during the World Short Track Championship in late October.

That’s proof that Horning was a driver who could do no wrong in 2023.

“We try to race as much as we can, and that helps,” he said. “We had been to Charlotte before and most of the field hadn’t.”

However, experience on track isn’t always the key. You need a total team effort and that’s the type of program that Horning put together this past season.

“We seem to stay up-to-date with stuff for these cars,” he said. “We’ve got a shock guy. We’ve got guys that help with tires and such. We look at what Rocky Warner and Marc Johnson are doing at Malta. That helps, seeing what they’re doing with their tires. I believe all of that helps.”

In addition to their near-perfect season on the Series, Horning also captured the DIRTcar Weekly Championship, taking 10 victories, 17 top 5’s and only finishing outside the top 10 on two occasions.

That good fortune was thanks to some dedicated people and support the #2H had all season.

“Glove City Taxi takes care of everything we need, financially,” he said. “They provide us with the truck, the trailer, the fuel and such,” he said. “We’ve always had stuff to get to the races, but we’ve never had brand new stuff like that. The people from Paul’s Self Storage travel with us to races. I also have to thank Classic Muscle Parts, Glen Ridge, Playfab Chassis, of course my team and everyone else on the car. It’s just a laundry list of people that help out and I can’t thank them enough.”