Thursday's Schaeffer Oil Tarheel Invitational 40 presented by PitStopUSA.com at Tri-County Racetrack in Brasstown, N.C. — the country’s first Dirt Late Model race since the sport was shut down in mid-March by the coronavirus pandemic — was already a unique event bursting with special awards and prizes.

Watch the full replay from the Schaeffer Oil Tarheel Invitational presented by PitStopUSA.com!

Then Carl Moyer turned it into much more.

The 78-year-old owner of Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, Iowa, and longtime racing benefactor was tuned in to the start of the program’s live broadcast on DirtonDirt.com from his residence in Bondurant, Iowa, when he decided he wanted to pump up the intensity level. He called his nephew, Hall of Famer Billy Moyer, and had the legendary driver text DirtonDirt.com’s Michael Rigsby a tantalizing proposition: Uncle Carl would add a $10,000 bonus on top of the 40-lap feature’s posted $4,000 first-place check payable if the polesitter dropped to the rear of the field and then came through the pack to win the race.

There was, of course, already a $3,000 challenge offered to the front-row starters to attempt a victorious charge from the back — Rigsby had put up $2,000 and announcer Chris Tilley threw in $1,000 in hopes of enticing the drivers to give up their prime starting spots — but Moyer turned up the wick. His 10-grand offering set off a wild sequence in which several other racing personalities across the Dirt Late Model landscape joined Moyer with their own last-minute contributions that pushed the potential winner’s take to a staggering $25,500 if any driver starting among the top four would instead roll off from the rear and pull off an amazing triumph.

Moyer couldn’t believe how quickly the bonus escalated as he sat on his couch in the Hawkeye State.

“No kidding!” Moyer said when reached by phone while watching the broadcast. “You know, it really surprised me. But when you air something like this nationally and count the volume of people that are tuned in to your show, it doesn’t really surprise me that much that one thing would lead to another. I think if people have got a little extra change in their pocket, it feels kind of good to see it go to a good use.

“It just shows what can happen when you get these people who are dedicated like I am to dirt track racing and give them something to get excited about,” he added. “The winter’s gone by us and it’s time to go racing (again) and everyone’s just … excited.”

How excited was everyone? In short order seven other backers joined Moyer, Rigsby and Tilley to push what became the Top 4 Challenge to such a huge number, a list that included David Wells, the owner of Brandon Overton’s machine, and Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. ($2,500 each); Illinois-based Budda Bert Transmission and Burwell Motorsports ($1,000 each); and Kentucky Auto Service, Regional Disposal and Metal and All Makes Collision Center ($500 apiece).

“We wanted to make it interesting for the people,” Wells said from his home while watching the action online, and they all certainly did.

The big cash ultimately went unclaimed; the only driver who accepted the challenge was third-starter Michael Chilton of Salvisa, Ky., who fell short with a ninth-place finish but did receive $2,200 in bonuses from an array of people who pledged money to him for his attempt. But triggering a rush of excitement in a Dirt Late Model world that has been quiet for so long satisfied Moyer.

“My wife and I are both quarantined at home — doctor’s orders, we can’t go anywhere — so we’re kind of pinned down here with nothing much to do,” Moyer said. “So we get a chance to watch this race, and I had it on and I was just thinking that it would be kind of cool to be part of it. I’m like to see these people who are creative enough to make something like this happen and I just wanted to get involved.”

Moyer was ready to pay out his hefty chunk of the bonus. He thought expanding the challenge to four drivers would increase the odds of someone claiming the money.

“I don’t want people to think, ‘Well, he’s gambling, but his gamble’s pretty safe,’ ” Moyer said before the start of the feature. “Well, I don’t think it is.”

Alas, Moyer’s offer became more evidence of just how much the sport means to him. Make no mistake — if you’re a racer, you’re special to Uncle Carl.

“I love racing, and I love racers and just being around those people,” said Moyer, who backs his superstar nephew’s racing and still competes himself in a dirt truck at tracks in his home state. “At the (Karl’s Chevrolet) dealership we have special deals for racers, so if anybody wants to come up and see us and they mention they’re in racing, they’ll get taken good care of.”