Dystany Spurlock made history last weekend as the first Black woman to compete in the ARCA Menards Series East when she strapped in at Hickory Motor Speedway.
The veteran motorcycle drag racer delivered a smooth, calculated performance for MBM Motorsports to secure a top-10 finish on the lead lap. She now faces an entirely different animal at Rockingham Speedway.
Dystany Spurlock’s Stunning Shift to Stock Cars
Spurlock spent years mastering straight-line speed in professional motorcycle drag racing. She set world records in the XDA Motorcycle Drag Racing Series and dominated the Real Street class.
Stock car racing demands a completely different physical and mental toolkit. Drivers must manage heavy tire wear and navigate dense lapped traffic while handling the raw weight of a heavy stock car over long, grueling runs.
Her debut at Hickory proved she could adapt to those challenges quickly. Spurlock kept her Chevrolet clean for all 200 laps on one of the most punishing short tracks in the Southeast.
“The goal was to finish in one piece, and then after that I said, OK, let’s finish top 10,” Spurlock told reporters after the race. “So, my team definitely had my car exactly where it needed to be and I just, and then after that, listened and drove the car.”
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Saturday’s 125-lap showdown at Rockingham presents new and aggressive variables. The high-banked, one-mile oval carries significantly more speed than Hickory and is notorious for being a tire shredder. Managing Goodyear rubber over long green-flag runs will test her racecraft.
Spurlock understands the steep learning curve ahead. She brings valuable road-course experience from Formula 4 and karting. However, she acknowledges that heavy stock cars require a unique approach to momentum and braking.
“The realistic goal is to finish, seriously, because I have so much to learn,” Spurlock said. “I’m just ready to learn all that I can, feel what some drafting feels like, and keep the car in one piece.”
Rockingham holds deep personal significance for the Virginia native. Her path to stock cars began just across the street at Rockingham Dragway. That dragstrip served as the launching pad for her highly successful motorcycle racing career.
Returning to the historic facility to race on the paved oval creates a surreal backdrop for her second ARCA start.
“It’s also amazing to be here because when I started drag racing motorcycles, I was at Rockingham Dragway, right across the street,” Spurlock noted. “So, it’s like where I started in drag racing, there, I’m starting here in cars.”
Her development schedule accelerates rapidly after this weekend. Spurlock heads to Kansas Speedway later this month for a crucial open test. Lapping the 1.5-mile intermediate track will mark her first experience on a true superspeedway layout.
That seat time prepares her for the Tide 150 on April 18. The Kansas race will serve as her debut on the national ARCA Menards Series platform. The jump from short tracks to intermediate ovals separates contenders from the rest of the pack in developmental series.
“Being the first was never the ultimate goal,” she said. “The ultimate goal was for me to race in NASCAR. The vision for it, for me, has always been for the kids. Because so many kids don’t know this exists.”
Her partnership with Carl Long and MBM Motorsports provides a stable foundation for this transition. The team has a long history of helping drivers log valuable laps and gain approval for higher series. Spurlock still feels the surreal nature of the journey.
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“It doesn’t feel real yet,” she said. “It’s like I’m in a simulation right now. But I think it’ll probably hit me at Kansas.”
Spurlock has already proven she belongs on the track. The focus now shifts to logging laps, mastering racecraft, and climbing the developmental ladder. Her transition from two wheels to four is just getting started.
