It’s not too often the best drivers in Sprint Car and Dirt Late Model racing compete together on the same nightly program.

But when they do like at this week’s Deuces Wild event converging the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and High Limit Racing at Golden Isles Speedway, it’s certainly a topic of conversation among dirt racing’s premier national divisions.

That said, we thought it’d be a fun idea to pinpoint and highlight five Dirt Late Model drivers that’d make good Sprint Car racers. Without further ado, here are the handful of Dirt Late Model drivers whose abilities would likely translate to Sprint Car racing well if given the opportunity.

Bobby Pierce

The Smooth Operator’s skillset has pretty much everything that makes an effective Sprint Car racer. When he’s setting his pace and controlling the tempo of a race, he’s incredibly tough to defeat. While he races exceptionally hard and has a knack for taking over races on the cushion, they don’t call him The Smooth Operator for nothing. His car control and background racing Illinois’s tight bullrings would translate to Sprint Car racing without issue.

Hudson O’Neal

His background — a gas-masher from Indiana — suggests that O’Neal is an inborn Sprint Car racer. Perhaps if he wasn’t raised in a diehard Dirt Late Model racing family (his father Don is a National Dirt Late Model Hall of Famer), maybe O’Neal would’ve gone the Sprint Car route. His driving style, like many of today’s emerging Dirt Late Model racers, would blend into the open-wheel racing game seamlessly.

Nick Hoffman

On the level of versatility, The Thrill from Mooresville is one of the more underrated drivers in dirt racing. His UMP Modified track record could very well make him the GOAT of the discipline. He’s already a multi-time winner in his sophomore campaign with the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series. And even in limited experience in a Midget car, he’s contended for wins at the Gateway Dirt Nationals, when the open-wheel discipline was on the St. Louis spectacle’s undercard.

Ricky Thornton Jr.

If asking RTJ when he could make his quote-unquote Sprint Car debut, he’d likely say that’s already happened (he raced once with the USAC Southwest Sprint Car Series in 2017). Of course, Indiana natives rightfully claim that their wingless machines are true Sprint Cars. But in this case, we’re talking about High Limit Racing’s winged Sprint Cars, an endeavor that RTJ has yet to tap into. Based off his gaudy Modified win records, his Lucas Oil Series single-season wins record, and ability to get up to speed quickly in a Midget car, all signs point to RTJ fitting well into a Sprint Car.

Tyler Erb

Mentality alone, Terbo’s fearless and spirited nature would characteristically make him the perfect Sprint Car driver. He’s never shy to throw a slider to advance positions. When a cushion is available to lean on, he’s one of the toughest drivers to pass. Anyone who knows a thing about a Sprint Car race knows the relentless type stay at the top of the leaderboard. Terbo very much fits that bill.