Clint Bowyer returns to the dirt at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Clint Bowyer, who got his start racing on dirt tracks throughout the Midwest before becoming a winner in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, took time to make some laps around The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway ahead of the World of Outlaws World Finals this weekend.

The Stewart-Haas Racing driver  joined 17-year-old iRacing sim-racing Dirt Late Model champion Zach Leonhardi in hot-lapping Charlotte’s four-tenths-mile dirt track before the biggest names in sprint car, late model and big-block modified racing do the same from Thursday to Saturday.

Bowyer’s Clint Bowyer Racing team owns two Late Model machines, driven by Don O’Neal and Darrell Lanigan, which will compete at World Finals in front of a packed crowd of race fans from all 50 states and seven countries – some from as far away as Australia and the Netherlands.

“This is a big, big weekend for dirt racing,” Bowyer said. “Having our drivers, Darrell Lanigan and Don O’Neal, able to battle it out at World Finals is always special with it being in our backyard. The best racing there is is at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.”

Leonhardi said he couldn’t wait to make his first laps at The Dirt Track after spending countless hours racing the virtual version.

“Getting acquainted with Clint and driving the two-seater car was awesome – especially here at Charlotte,” Leonhardi said. “I’d never driven this track in real life. It was cool to go back and forth from the sim to this to see the differences. It’s visually the exact same.”

The World of Outlaws World Finals presented by Can-Am kicks off on tonight.

Watch Bowyer drive around the track: