What won the race: Making a 12-hour drive after competing the previous three nights at Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City, Wis., polesitter Drake Troutman of Hyndman, Pa., led 40 laps unchallenged at Sunday's Mark Balzano Memorial at West Virginia Motor Speedway. Troutman beat Luke Morey to the checkers by 1.628 seconds for the $10,000 payday, his first win of the 2026 season and first career Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series victory.

Quotable: “First off, we got a really good car. I gotta give a huge shoutout to my boys, we drove 12 hours from Wisconsin last night and I think it just goes to show you how much of a team we got,” Troutman said. “To come here after driving all night long and everyone was up all night. (My team) works their asses off. I’m just happy we could get them one.”

Key notes: Troutman became the 179th Iron-Man Series winner in tallying his first victory since last June 21 at I-55 Federated Raceway Park in Pevely, Mo., worth $20,000 in World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Summer Nationals co-sanctioned action. ... Luke Morey grabbed second from Freddie Carpenter on a lap-34 restart and trailed Troutman the final seven laps; Carpenter settled for third after pursuing Troutman from laps 18-33. ... Eleventh-starting Devin Moran finished fourth after reclaiming the spot on the lap-34 restart. ... Tyler Carpenter, a two-time feature winner at WVMS since they reconfigured the track to its current 3/8-mile layout, ran as high as second between laps 15-17 before slipping to seventh on the late-race restart and eventually fading to 10th with body damage, the final starter to complete 40 laps. ... The race was slowed by eight cautions, most notably when reigning series champ Colten Burdette slowed on the backstretch; he soldiered to a 16th-place finish. ... Caiden Black, winner of April 11's Iron-Man season opener at Ohio's Atomic Speedway, made heavy turn-four wall contact and slowed on the 25th lap. ... Tenth-running Mason Zeigler, Saturday's ULMS winner at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va., retired before the lap-25 caution. ... Top-five contender Henry Hornsby III hit the frontstretch wall on lap 31. ... Zack Dohm slowed from 12th and retired for the initial lap-34 stoppage. ... Benji Hicks, who held fourth for the opening 24 laps, slowed after hitting the backstretch fence. ... The event honored Mark Balzano of Parkersburg, W.Va., the elder brother of Hall of Fame driver Mike Balzano, a successful racer before dying tragically in 1982 at the age of 22. ... The 40-lapper lasted 30 minutes with 18 starters running at the finish.

On the move: R.J. Conley of Wheelersburg, Ohio, started 20th and finished ninth.

Winner's sponsors: Troutman‘s Team 22 Inc. Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Cornett Engine and sponsored by Victory Circle Auto Sales, Gambler Transport, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Brick House Tavern, Jerry’s Siding and Roofing, RFI Resources, Shaffer Construction, Shoe’s Diesel Performance, VP Racing Fuels, Bilstein Shocks, STAKT Racing Products and Dirt King Apparel.

Points chase: Before WVMS: 1. Caiden Black (80); 2. Adam Stricker (75); 3. Rod Conley (70); 4. R.J. Conley (65); 5. Kyle Moore (60).

Current weather: Clear, 59°F

Car count: 41

Fast qualifier: Drake Troutman

Time: 14.012 seconds

Polesitter: Drake Troutman

Heat race winners: Drake Troutman, Freddie Carpenter, Henry Hornsby III, Luke Morey

Consolation race winners: Ryan Markham, Colten Burdette

Provisional starters: Rod Conley, Miles Cook II, Seth Daniels, Todd Brennan, Travis Carr

Next series race: May 9, Atomic Speedway (Alma, OH) $5,000