Blaze Burwell explains why he was disqualified from Summer Nationals competition during the season opener at Brownstown Bullring.

Burwell shared in a post to Facebook, “Theres a first for everything…. I ran my first summer nationals race in 2017, and have ran it to some extent every year since. Tire rule has always been the same, RR 2 with 3/4 option, with that being said, its noones fault but my own for not checking myself, but the other day I asked a fellow competitor what the rule is, he said he checked the website and it said 2, with 3/4 option. Never questioned it or thought to check myself, (it was not intentional he got DQed tonight as well).”

“We qualified 3rd in group 2 tonight, which would have set us up for a solid night… but we were informed at tech after qualifying we had the wrong tire on and were dqed,” he explained. ” I hate it for my sponsors, friends and family watching on tv, and especially my guys who busted ass to get everything ready to rip tonight, but theres noone to blame besides ourselves for not double checking. Be home early tonight!”

Additionally, in the comments Kiersten Howes, the wife of Austin Howes shared, “We would’ve been right there with you if we would’ve been there. When I looked up the rules 10 days ago it showed 2,3,4 option and that’s what I have ready to go when we get a motor…”

Burwell replied, “that sounds about right, he said he checked last week when he bought tires for the trip.”

The other driver that was disqualified according to MyRacePass was Matthew Larson.

The Summer Nationals series states that the right rear has to either be a Hoosier NLMT3 or Hoosier NLMT4. The left rear and right front have to be a Hoosier NLMT2 while the left front can be any Hoosier tire.

However, in the series rulebook it does say a 2 is allowed as well, “Only Hoosier (92) NLMT2, (92) NLMT3, (92) NLMT4 will be selected for the right rear.”

While Burwell received the disqualification from qualifying he was able to compete the rest of the night albeit he would have to start from the rear of the second heat race. He explained why he chose not to pull out for the heat race, “1 lane racetrack at the moment, start 10th taking 5, not worth wasting time and money.” Additionally, he did not start the consolation race either.

As for Larson he started 9th in his heat race and advanced to 8th. He then started 9th in the consolation race and advanced to 6th, but not enough to get into a transfer position. Only the top three finishers advanced. 

StockCarReport.com has reached out to DIRTcar and the Summer Nationals about the tire rules.

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