Dirt late model team owner Ronnie Stuckey hasn’t been at the race track this year; Yet, he’s still helping the team win races from home
Last year, Ronnie Stuckey grabbed his Black Diamond machine and restarted his house car program. He signed Earl Pearson Jr on as his driver and they went off to the races with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
You might not have seen Stuckey at the race track last year. But, he was there. Before, after and during the race he’s glued to the shock dyno inside the hauler. He’ll run simulations until he’s blue in the face for the betterment of his race team.
This year, Stuckey hasn’t been at the race track as the #1 hauler navigates up and down the highway.
Earl Pearson Jr on Ronnie Stuckey
“He had a surgery two or two and a half months ago. He had trouble swallowing. So, they went in there and did some work with him,” Earl Pearson Jr explained to RacingNews.co .
“He got back out of the hospital, after the surgery and went home. Then, he had more trouble with it. So, they took him back to Houston.”
“They went in there and did some more work on him.”
Why isn’t Ronnie Stuckey at the race track now?
“They’re holding him there to make sure it all heels right before they let him go all the way back to Shreveport, Louisiana. There ain’t but a certain amount of doctors in the country that do this kind of surgery,” Pearson continued.
“One of them is in Houston. So, they want him to stay close by and make sure everything heels up good.”
So, it’s not that anything’s wrong right now. They’re just making sure nothing goes wrong from here?
“Yeah.”
Black Diamond Race Team
I imagine that’s some big shoes to fill, as far as your crew goes. So, how is that being delegated?
“We went to Arizona on the first part of the year. Me, Garrett Alberson and JC Wright. We wanted to do that because we knew Ronnie Stuckey wasn’t going to be with us for Speedweeks.”
“That gave us the chance to work together out there. But, we worked together good last year. And Ronnie’s been watching the races on race monitor.”
“We still call him. He’s giving us ideas. Do this, do that.”
“So, between me, Garrett and calling him on the phone it ain’t that much different. Ronnie’s always in the hauler. He don’t go out and watch the races a whole lot. He’s always in here working.”
“It’s almost like we lost a man there until he gets back. But, we’re making it work. We’ve all joined hands here.”
On the second race of the 2019 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series season, Earl Pearson Jr drove it to victory lane. That win came on Saturday night in Brunswick, GA.
What did he say after the win at Golden Isles Speedway?
“After things settled down, I called him. That was probably an hour and a half after the race. We talked for about 20 minutes there.”
“He was excited about it. He was still was telling me after watching the video, ‘You need to try this. You might be better if you did that.’ “
That brought laughter from both of us. They already won the damn race! Yet, from the bed rest, Stuckey still had ideas to make the car better.
More
Ronnie Stuckey details spending plans after winning the Dirt Million
Stuckey discusses the operations of his dirt late model team
Earl Pearson Jr signed to drive for Stuckey Enterprises
