Second generation driver Dick Dunlevy Jr. has raced and won races and championships in multiple divisions at Kil-Kare. He drove the first race of his now 43-year career at the track in 1968, and won his first ever heat race. He said watching his dad drive the track and studying race action helped him understand how to compete there.

Dunlevy, of New Carlisle, drives a Late Model owned by Eddie Simpson of Beavercreek. Simpson has been racing since 1994 and has owned and driven Late Models since 2000. “Dick’s an icon in racing here and we’re lucky to have him in our car,” Simpson said. “We take a lot of pride in being competitive with some better funded teams. We build our own engines and work on our own cars. The more you work on them the more you learn and know about them.”

Dunlevy has countless feature wins at a number of tracks, including Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway. He and his dad also won a lot of races at the ultra-fast Dayton Speedway, a sometimes treacherous high-banked .500-mile oval that closed in 1982. He counts more than 20 track championships in several divisions. He won five straight Modified titles at Kil-Kare ending in 2000.

One of his most memorable feature wins came at Kil-Kare in 1979 when young hotshot Darrell Waltrip came to race at Kil-Kare. Both drivers were in their prime. Waltrip was contending for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship versus Richard Petty, which Petty won by 11 points. Dunlevy was in the process of winning three track championships in a single season. Waltrip was known to be outspoken, and Dunlevy told everyone that when old D.W. came to town, the local racers would have a home-track advantage. Waltrip put down the fastest qualifying lap and Dunlevy was second fastest. Dunlevy won the fast car dash race, and then sat out the 10 lap heat race to save his tires. Dunlevy won the 75-lap feature over Waltrip in a battle royale. It was a tough race, but Dunlevy upheld the honor of Kil-Kare’s weekly racers. “I didn’t want to have to eat crow,” Dunlevy said.

Dunlevy is one of the last drivers of his generation of Dayton area stars from the 1970s and 1980s still active on a weekly basis. Although he’s enjoyed outstanding successes over the years, Dunlevy is also humble. “I’ve been blessed with a little talent and I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve been able to race on the track with my dad and later with my son Ryan. I don’t know what the future holds. I’m 63 years old. If I had a goal for this year, it would be to win the track championship at Kil-Kare and retire. I’d be able to go out on top.”

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