RPW Exclusive: Dalton Slack Continues To Turn Heads After Solid Outing At Port Royal Speedway

Column By: DYLAN FRIEBEL / RPW – PORT ROYAL, PA – When you start your first ever Short Track Super Series event and you’re not a “super star,” driving up to sixth place is not something you should expect to see.

However that’s exactly what 20 year old Dalton Slack did on Saturday at Port Royal en route to a 12th place finish against the best the Modified world has to offer.

The youngster from Ontario, Canada has been turning heads since the end of last season after some good runs in the end of the year events then and now Saturday Evening.

Western New York and just over the border in Canada is a 358 Small Block Modified hotbed from drivers such as Mat Williamson & Stewart Friesen being from our neighbors from the north. It was at one point last season that Dalton & his team made the switch to try out some Big Blocks which are about 100% more powerful than its Small Block counterpart.

At the start of the 2024 season they decided to switch it up even more when 50,000 large ones were on the line at the Port Royal Speedway for the rained out 2023 Speed Showcase on the Short Track Super Series tour.

The trip down means a switch to American Racer tires & bigger doors, something Slack has never done

“There’s a lot more grip with Racers.” Slack said. “They are a lot softer than Hoosiers. Then you get the two inch taller doors and at a place like Port (Royal) it makes a difference with the aerodynamics because of how fast you are going. It’s crazy the difference and there’s good and bad to both combinations”

It wasn’t by fluke that Slack was able to make the switch so well even at the young age he is as he has made friends with another rising star in the northeast scene.

“I made friends with Alex Yankowski.” He said. “He’s around the same age as me. While we live six hours away and are at the total opposite ends of the racing world, he runs different tracks from us. Big high banked red clay tracks that are fast with (American) Racers. I run dead slick ice tracks with Hoosiers.”

It was on Friday that the qualifying races happened and it was Slacks goal just to make the 75 lap main event with the talent that was in attendance he knew it would be tough.

“I kidded with Alex on the way home. I told him I didn’t think I would be good with racers. All I wanted to do was make the event. The goal was no different then when we went to Dirt Week. I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence with how the track was on Friday.”

Slack and his team ended up qualifying 16th after finishing fourth the last lock-in spot in the first heat race of Friday night, however after a long night by the Port Royal crew and practice on Saturday he knew he had something.

“It was completely different on Saturday. We went out to practice and I was ninth or 10th quick. It gave me confidence for the feature.”

He was not the only driver praising the work of Razor Steve from Port Royal for his turn around on the track. However, being a Slack, his family ran Eldora Speedway for Tony Stewart for many years.

“Hats off to the whole Port Royal crew for the turnaround. Steve took me out on his golf cart on Thursday and we rode around. He showed me everything and we talked. The grounds were beautiful, from the grandstands to the people at the track, it reminds me of Eldora and the turn around from one day to another.”

Once the feature started for Slack he knew he needed to bite his time, however a full track rework from the 50 lap Sportsman Feature made it a guessing game on tires for everyone, especially because they put all the feature cars on pit road in the infield prior to the rework.

“The tire decision was a little difficult.” He said. “We were on the infield and while we were allowed to change tires we didn’t know what they were gonna do to the track. When they say track prep they mean they could have went out and watered the top but they tilled it and disc’d it. With how the track was during the day I knew it was hard underneath and it was not going to stay for long. We went with the harder compound but I also know some guys went with the softer compound. The decision was made for me because of my inexperience with American Racers and I wanted to last longer.”

It was not however the tire choice that made the Young Slack fall back outside of the top 10 by the checkered flag. The amount of fuel in the car is what bit him in the butt.

“The last restart we had, I was running out of fuel. I would get pressure in the corners but down the straights I couldn’t put my foot all the way down like I wanted to.” Slack said. “I was dropping spots fast at that point. It was the best race track I’ve ever run on. Not a single ripple, multiple grooves and smooth from top to bottom.”

While a 12th place finish from 16th might not seem impressive, he turned some heads by even getting up to sixth and it may open him up for more Short Track Super Series races and even a big paying event such as the Fonda 200

“We have nothing set in stone for this year other than Ransomville on Fridays with the small block and Land of Legends on Saturday with the Big Block.” Slack said. “I was a little disappointed on the six hour ride home about where we finished but it gave me confidence to run American Racers. Fonda is a different animal. Port is more forgiving and Fonda has been Stew’s (Stewart Friesen) playground for a while now because he runs so much there but the door is open. We have great sponsors such as Integra and great equipment in Bicknell. Kevlar builds our big block and I also can’t thank Rob & Kevin enough as well. The door is open though for more runs.”

For his first time on American Racers, Bigger doors and getting his feet more wet in the big money races, the last two $50,000 to win races Dalton Slack has run has turned some heads, Saturday at Port Royal only confirmed what happened in October last year.