Iowa driver Brian Birkhofer remembers his first meeting with Forrest Lucas, the president and CEO of Lucas Oil Products, following his first victory at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. Lucas drove up to Birkhofer's pit area in a white pickup, hopped out, introduced himself and congratulated the Iowan on his victory. The former trucker's impression on Birkhofer as a down-to-earth guy is the kind of thing Lucas is glad to hear about after building one of the nation's nicest dirt tracks in western Missouri.

"One thing I told everybody involved in the whole company when we started this thing is, I raced a lot of places myself, and I kind of got treated like they were doing me a favor in letting me come and race," Lucas said Tuesday on the Lucas Oil Motorsports hour. "These (drivers), we couldn't have a race without 'em, and I said this isn't the attitude we're going to have. If these guys come and race with us, we appreciate 'em, and you treat 'em that way."

The state-of-the-art track is definitely showing its appreciation of Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series competitors May 8-10 during the second annual SuperClean Diamond Nationals, a race carrying a $133,000 total purse and paying $40,000 to the winner as Forrest Lucas and his crew try to elevate the event into one of the nation's crown jewel Dirt Late Model events. "It looks like it's headed that way," said Lucas, who expects 100 entries for the event.

The immaculate track features an impressive grandstand and VIP suites, a video scoreboard that lists the top 20 drivers in the running order, a go-kart track and play area for kids, paved pit area and more. Dirt Late Model action gets under way with Thursday night practice followed by Friday time trials and Saturday's 100-lap feature event.

Safety at forefront this weekend

Two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Randy LaJoie will offer his Safer Racer Tour during the Diamond Nationals. He's been on the Safer Racer Tour traveling around the country meeting fans, putting on safety seminars, and promoting his "Joie of Seating" custom fitted seats that are among the strongest and safest in racing. "I've traveled to tracks across the United States and it amazes me to see the complete disregard for safety," LaJoie said. "They have belts with a lot of slack in them, the seats aren't bolted properly. The materials used aren't always the best."

LaJoie's visit is part of a special focus on safety by the Lucas Oil Series following rollover accidents at Florida Speedweeks. "The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is trying to be proactive in safety for not only the drivers that run our series, but for all of racing," said series director Ritchie Lewis. "Having Randy LaJoie coming out to the SuperClean Diamond Nationals shows his commitment to safety concerns, and hopefully the drivers will listen to his suggestions about their own safety equipment that they utilize on a weekly basis and learn from what he has to say."

Pearson bringing special color scheme

Long-time Earl Pearson Jr. fans won't have any problem recognizing their favorite driver at this weekend's Diamond Nationals. The three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion will be back in a red color scheme reminiscent of his days racing for Dunn-Benson Ford when Lucas Oil was his primary sponsor. The Bobby Labonte Motorsports team plans to field the scheme for all events taped for telecast on Speed cable network.

"We've been working on this deal for a while now and were excited to bring back the red car that everyone was familiar with that I drove for so many years," Pearson said in a press release. "Lucas Oil will be the primary sponsor on the red cars with LifeLong Locks as the associate sponsor. When we're not racing the TV events, we will be back in the blue cars with LifeLong Locks as the primary sponsor and Lucas Oil as the associate sponsor."

One of Pearson's Lucas Oil-sponsored cars will also get a place of honor at the new Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Indianapolis Colts will begin play next season. The red car will be among cars featured in a motorsports display area at the track that fans can tour at every stadium event.

Pearson leads the Lucas Oil Series points heading to Wheatland, but he's battling the difficulties of racing with broken right wrist that he suffered April 19. He finished fifth at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway in his first start since suffering the injury. "It was a good finish for us with the circumstances we were under," Pearson said. "It was a little uncomfortable at times in the car trying to drive with the cast, but I was able to get the job done a get a top-five finish."