HURON - Philip native Dustin Arthur got used to the idea of having to drive long distances to race.

Now he's living less than an hour's haul from two racetracks in eastern South Dakota, and liking it, thank you very much.

Arthur is a foreman for East River Electric Cooperative and living in Miller. Just down the road is Miller Speedway, a half-mile dirt oval that runs on Friday nights during the summer.

On Saturday, he tows his No. 21x Wissota Super Stocker 40 miles to Huron's Dakota State Fair Speedway.

"Having a track a mile from my house is perfect," he said of the Miller track, where he won the July 11 Super Stock feature and currently lies fifth in the series point standings.

He makes the trip to Huron less often, but has a runner-up finish to point leader Ross Dixon of Ramona on June 21. Arthur is 13th in points after finishing sixth in the feature on July 5 at DSFS.

That's a far cry from previous years, when the Philip native made the long tow to Rapid City to race at Black Hills Speedway.

After moving to Madison, Arthur continued to race at Rapid City, winning the 2004 Super Stock point title, storing his race car with fellow racers in Philip and making the long drive across the state in his road car.

In spite of not having to travel as far to get his racing fix, Arthur hasn't had the best of years so far. His feature win at Miller last week was his first of the year.

"Miserable," was the word he used to describe overall 2008 campaign. "I've gone through one-and-a-half motors and out of the first six races, I finished two."

Strong fields of Super Stock cars at both Miller and Huron have provided strong competition, he said.

"There's some pretty good racing here," he said. "It's pretty stiff competition."