DirtonDirt Dispatches
Dispatches: B-Shepp on Last Train to Clarksville
Brandon Sheppard's team. (Tyler Carr)
Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing in late June, including the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series and DIRTcar Summer Nationals among other weekend specials. Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country:
The last train
Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., led nearly all the way Sunday on the Last Train to Clarksville.
Dominating what was billed as the final DIRTcar Summer Nationals appearance at the quarter-mile Clarksville Speedway, the 2013 tour champion raced to a $5,000 victory and collected his first $10,000 weekly title on the tour.
"It's hard to believe that, you know, if you asked me at the beginning of the week which one I was going to win, I wouldn't have said this one for sure,” said Sheppard, who was no worse than third in the week’s five races. “But we're always good here every time we come. We just ... unfortunately it's quite a ways from home, so we don't get to come here very often. I think we won back in 2013 here, so it's cool to come back and get another win.”
While series points leader Jason Feger got the jump from the pole and led the first lap, the 32-year-old Sheppard edged around Feger on the second circuit and led the rest of the 30-lapper, despite struggling a bit in the final laps after the race’s lone caution.
His 28th career tour victory matched Scott Bloomquist on the all-time list and ended Feger's two-race winning streak.
“Man, we’ve had a great car all week long,” Sheppard said, who also thanked his crew, family and sponsors. “I just, for some reason, haven’t been able to put a full night together. Tonight, we were able to do that. Our qualifying efforts have been getting better all week. And the boys have been working very hard, and we appreciate it.”
Sheppard, who fields his family-owned car on the Summer Nationals while piloting the Rocket Chassis house car on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, scored his first Summer Nationals victory since 2021.
“My buddy (Jason) Feger has been winning all these things, so I knew he was going to be tough. Getting (the) outside on the redraw there helped a bunch and just getting a good start, and then of course the longer the race went, (the track surface) kind of started to get clean in the middle there and luckily I was able to get a couple lapped cars there early and then the caution came out late and helped me a bunch,” the winner said. “Right off the caution, I don't even know what happened. I was pushing and and I got tight and then it took me a couple laps to get back going but the bottom really started to clean up more then and it just kind of moved down.” — Series and staff reports
Mr. Norman County
Nick Hoffman seems to have found another place he can call home.
The 33-year-old driver is a native of Belleville, Ill. He lives in Mooresville, N.C. And now he’s made himself comfortable in Ada, Minn., where he’s become the dominator in World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series Series action at the town’s Norman County Raceway.
Hoffman romped to a flag-to-flag victory in the national tour’s 50-lap feature at Norman County, his second win in as many visits to the 3/8-mile oval.
“I might have to change my address to North Dakota,” Hoffman quipped, noting that Norman County sits in northern Minnesota but very close to the border with North Dakota, where he happened to also capture the previous evening’s WoO stop at Grand Forks’s River Cities Speedway.
Hoffman, who lives roughly 20 hours and 1,400 miles from Ada, Minn., led all of Norman County’s headliner from the pole position for a $15,000 payday and his third WoO triumph of 2025. It was a much more thorough performance than his first WoO win at the track a year ago when he inherited the lead late in the race due to some misfortune for the cars in front of him, but he nevertheless “was a little worried” about his chances.
“Drake (Troutman) had a different tire on than we did and he lined up on the front row and I thought he maybe would get the jump on me, but I was able to hold him off,” Hoffman said. “And then, Dan, my stick guy, kind of showed me I needed to get down late in that race, and once I moved down there I was like, ‘Oh, this is what I’ve kind of been missing.’”
Hoffman remarked that he “kind of felt stale with about 20 to go and I was kind of floating around and very vulnerable if somebody could get another lane rolling.” No one threatened him, however, as he beat Ethan Dotson of Bakersfield, Calif., by 1.201 seconds.
The checkered flag marked the first time in Hoffman’s nine career WoO wins that he’s captured back-to-back races. It also continued his especially strong month of June that kicked off with three top-five finishes during the Dream XXXI weekend at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, including a third-place run in the 100-lap finale.
“It’s the best I’ve ever felt in a Late Model,” said Hoffman, whose car owner, Tye Twarog, was absent from the event while on a trip to Canada. “Coming off the Dream, we were kind of riding a high there and then kept carrying it over the last two nights. It’s going really good, and everything’s kind of firing on all eight cylinders.”
Hoffman has even shortened his deficit to Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., in the WoO standings, shaving off 26 points over the past two nights to close within 76 points of the leader, who finished seventh after a flat right-rear tire forced him to relinquish fourth place with eight laps remaining. — Staff and series reports
Feger’s fun night
Jason Feger proclaimed that his Longhorn Chassis “was just on a rail all night long” after he completed a perfect Friday night at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway: fast time, heat win and flag-to-flag victory in the 40-lap DIRTcar Summer Nationals feature.
But there was still something about the machine’s performance that had the 47-year-old driver from Bloomington, Ill., on edge.
“We were a little nervous,” Feger said after fending off Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, in the closing stages for a $10,000 payday. “The motor used a little water today and was pushing a little oil out, so it probably has a cracked block. But we filled it full of Stop-Leak and …”
Feger made it through the entire evening unscathed to score his third triumph of the 2025 Hell Tour.
“Glenn Clements’s House of Power builds one hell of a motor, so it stayed together,” Feger said. “We’ll probably go change motors, but it got the job done tonight, got us 10-grand.”
Feger was in an especially upbeat mood following the triumph, his second in Summer Nationals action at Farmer City but first since 2016. He praised the quarter-mile oval’s prep crew for providing a racy surface.
“Thanks to Farmer City man,” Feger said. “We’ve been on some pretty crappy racetracks, and man, this place was awesome all night long. They didn’t have to do any track prep all night long, so they had this thing on point.
“Obviously this is my favorite place, right down the road from home, a lot of special memories here.”
The best part of Feger’s latest success at Farmer City? Driving around the outside of the bullring after the feature holding the checkered flag out of his car’s window.
“Nothing better than getting to take that big old horse track victory lap on that (outer) half-mile,” Feger said with a smile. — Staff and series reports
Demons exorcised
When Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn., lost the lead to Jason Jameson of Lawrenceburg, Ind., on lap 29 of Friday’s 50-lap Billy Todd Classic at Lake Cumberland Speedway, he naturally found himself thinking back to a particularly frustrating loss last month at the same track in Burnside, Ky.
“That (Schaeffer’s) Spring Nationals race with (series director) Ray (Cook), we literally led lap 35 and then fell back to seventh by lap 53. It just went all to hell,” Hedgecock said of the May 10 event at Lake Cumberland won by Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn. “And we just about did it again.”
Hedgecock stumbled while negotiating slower traffic to cede the top spot he had held from the initial green flag to Jameson on lap 29. But moments later Jameson made contact with a lapped car between turns three and four and slid up the track, opening the door for Hedgecock to regain command on lap 31 and march on to a redeeming $10,000 victory in the event co-sanctioned by the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series and Northern Allstars Late Model Series.
After registering his first-ever Northern Allstars triumph and second career Hunt the Front win, Hedgecock wasn’t quite sure what to make of how he reached the promised land.
“I can’t decide if the rubber saved me or not,” Hedgecock said of the track surface that locked down during the feature’s second half. “The lapped cars, I just couldn’t get by, and (the surface) was starting to clean up and I let Jameson get by me. I appreciate him racing me clean, and then I ran him up the hill whenever he kind of got in a lapped car.”
Added Hedgecock: “Thankfully at that point it rubbed up and then, you know, as long as you just don’t miss the rubber, you know, you’re fine.”
Jameson certainly couldn’t make up for his lapped-traffic misstep that handed the lead back to Hedgecock.
“I got the lead there (when) he got messed up with a lapped car and then I kind of tried to charge and pass the lapped car and I got into him and lost my nose, let him pass me back,” Jameson said after finishing 1.133 seconds behind Hedgecock in the runner-up spot. “And then at that time, it pretty much was kind of rubbered up and locked down and I couldn’t really do nothing with him.”
Hedgecock’s victory was his fourth overall of the 2025 season following a pair of Southern All Star Series scores (Feb. 1 at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn., and April 11 at Alabama’s Penton Raceway) and last weekend’s $10,000 Crate win at I-75. He also broke into the top five of the HTF standings, leaving Lake Cumberland ranked third, 22 points behind leader Zack Mitchell of Enoree, S.C., who finished sixth.
The triumph had the first-time HTF tour regular speaking forcefully after the race while also looking ahead to Saturday’s $20,000-to-win HTF show at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky.
“Everybody that keeps supporting me, thank you,” Hedgecock said. “Everybody that don’t, they can kiss my ass.
“And honestly, there’s a lot of them out there right now and not a lot of people on my side, but I got a lot of people on my side, too, so can’t thank everybody else enough. We’re here, we ain’t going nowhere, and hopefully we can get one at Florence tomorrow. Literally Florence is the one that I’ve had circled the whole year. I love that place. That place is literally the cream of the crop.” — Staff and series reports
Hoffman’s recovery
Earning the pole for Friday’s World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series event at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., put Nick Hoffman in prime position for his second victory of the season the national circuit. Five laps into the 40-lapper, things weren’t looking too promising for the 33-year-old Mooresville, N.C., driver.
Outside front-row starter Ashton Winger got the jump at the outset, then on the fifth lap Hoffman slipped up in turn two, allowing Brian Shirley to grab the second spot.
“Once Brian got by me, I was like, ‘Man, I just gave this deal up here,’ ” Hoffman said.
But a lap-28 restart gave Hoffman a chance to make amends. His outside starting spot on the restart allowed him to roll around Shirley exiting turn two, then he dove under Winger entering turn three to take a lead he’d never give up. He earned $12,000 and on Saturday heads to Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn., where he won on the WoO circuit last season.
“I got a good run off of (turn) two so I had no choice but to slide Winger,” said Hoffman, who finished 12th and 13th in his previous two WoO starts in Grand Forks. “I knew he was kind of opening his entry into (turn) three and that really opened it up for me. So that’s about as elbows up as I’m gonna get. That was really fun.
“Hell, for a guy who’s never finished in the top 10 here, it wasn’t too shabby. I said I’d feel like a real dummy if I drove backwards from the pole here.
“A lot of things played into this feature tonight. Different strategies on tires, what they were gonna do with the race track (preparation). It was obviously a lot faster in the feature than what we heat-raced with. So I wasn’t really sure what to do with the race car, what tires to choose, and it just kind of played out there.” — DIRTVision and staff reports
Upset at Macon
After winning a lead-swapping duel with series points leader Tyler Erb to take command just before halfway, 17-year-old Trey Mills of St. Augustine, Fla., was mostly cruising in Thursday’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals event at Macon Speedway.
But the frequently wild and woolly Herald & Review 100 isn’t over until it’s over, so when tail-starting Brandon Sheppard reached second place in the race’s late stages, Mills felt the pressure.
"I got real nervous about lap 80 when I seen the (No.) B5 get to second because, you know, he’s really good around this part of the country,” the thin as a reed Mills said in victory lane. "(Crew member) Colton (Blair), he was telling me to get down in three and four the whole time. I kept washing out just trying to momentum.”
Sheppard was able to slip underneath Mills to lead the 93rd lap, but Mills never gave up, fighting his way back in front on the 94th circuit. He held on to win by 0.118 of a second in a photo finish at the fifth-mile oval.
"I seen (Sheppard) on my inside coming to the flag,” Mills said. “I almost thought I lost it, but I held on to it.”
Along with earning a career-high $7,500, Mills became the second youngest driver in series history. Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., was 16 years and seven months when he captured his first tour feature at Lincoln, Ill., six months younger than Mills.
Mills also became just the third Floridian to win on the Midwestern-based circuit, following fellow Sunshine State drivers Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville and Kyle Bronson of Brandon, who contended early at Macon and ended up fifth.
Mills last won on June 23, 2023, at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss., in a race co-sanctioned by the Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series and Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series.
"Man, it's been two years since I won a race. It’s been a long time and my guys have stuck with me. You know, Colton and Robbie (Hartley), they've been working their tails off this whole Summer Nationals. Man, I wouldn't be able to do it without them,” Mills said, also thanking his parents back home. "I'm super blessed to be able to do what I do. I've got good guys behind me. It feels really good to finally get a win.”
On March 8, Mills led the first 30 laps of a Hunt the Front event at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn., before fading to fourth. But once he got out front by halfway at Macon, he was determined to win. His early strategy paid off.
“Colton, he told me, you know, just keep the spoiler on it, and I was just kind of riding at the beginning,” Mills said. “I fell back to about fifth. I felt (the track surface) started to take rubber getting into (turn) one, so I just kind of started arcing my corner. And once I got to second, Terbo (Erb) was kind of sliding out once so I could really get a run on him. I kind of threw a couple of sliders at him in (turn) three before I finally got him clear.
“It feels really good, man. It's been a while, but finally got it done.” — DIRTvision and staff reports
Streaming schedule
Among upcoming Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events available via live streaming:
Friday, June 27
• World of Outlaws Real American Late Models at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D. (DIRTVision)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (DIRTVision)
• Hunt the Front-Northern Allstars Late Models at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Ky. (Hunt the Front TV)
• Nutrien Ag Revival Super Dirt Series at WaKeeney (Kan.) Speedway (Start2Finish TV)
Saturday, June 28
• Hunt the Front-Northern Allstars Late Models at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky. (Hunt the Front TV)
• World of Outlaws Real American Late Models at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn. (DIRTVision)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Highland (Ill.) Speedway (DIRTVision)
• Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala. (Hunt the Front TV)
• Ron Zimmerman Tribute Limited Late Models at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• Crate Racin’ USA 604 Series at Dixie Speedway in Woodstock, Ga. (Crate Racin’ USA TV)
• Malvern Bank West Series at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa (Dirt Crown TV)
Sunday, June 29
• World of Outlaws Real American Late Models at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D. (DIRTVision)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Clarksville (Tenn.) Speedway (DIRTVision)
• Karl Chevrolet Pro Late Model Tour at Dubuque (Iowa) Speedway (Done Right TV)
Monday, June 30
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Old No. 1 Speedway in Harrisburg, Ark. (DIRTVision)
