DirtonDirt Dispatches
Dispatches: Glenz relishes first five-figure win
Jesse Glenz in victory lane at Cedar Lake. trackratphotos.vfcfunding.com)
Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing heading into the third weekend in July, including Schaeffer's Southern Nationals and MARS Championship Series (look for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series coverage elsewhere). Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country:
Joining the club
Jesse Glenz was of course thrilled to win Saturday night’s 55-lap Duane Mahder Memorial at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., a special event success that he’s been chasing throughout throughout its nine-year existence.
But the 32-year-old driver from Chippewa Falls, Wis., had to admit that the race’s payoff — a cool $10,555 — put him over the moon about his accomplishment.
“So surreal still to finally break into the 5-digit column!” Glenz excitedly wrote in a Facebook post Sunday morning.
Indeed, it was a milestone triumph for Glenz, whose previous career-high winner’s check was a more modest $5,000, which he earned on three occasions, most recently on July 24, 2021, at Cedar Lake. He put himself into a more exclusive group with a checkered flag that broke the 10-grand mark.
“It’s the biggest win in my career for sure,” Glenz said in victory lane. “It means the world to me. It’s gonna help me out in so many ways.”
While Glenz’s Longhorn Chassis — a machine that sports a green-and-red color scheme and a No. 7x that’s meant to mimic the iconic look of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain — was clearly the race’s standout piece as he led all but six laps of the feature, he didn’t have an uneventful run. He experienced some speed bumps along the way, including when A.J. Diemel of Elk Mound, Wis., slipped past him to lead laps 31-36.
“I felt like I just tried to get a decent lead so I didn’t have anybody pressure me, and then I could try to ride and save my tires and just try to watch the screen, make sure they weren’t like pushing at a different time or anything,” Glenz said. “Then I caught lapped traffic and I was like, ’S—, I’m going through a lot of (helmet shield) tear offs. I should maybe back off’ to make sure I had enough for the second stint (of the race) because I knew if you give these guys a chance when we bunch back up with A.J. and all the guys behind me, you know, it’s like piranhas on blood in the water.
“So I made a little mistake down there. I just didn’t know what the best lane was. I figured it might be the bottom, but it was so rough I thought I’d try to ride the middle a little bit. I slid out and (Diemel) got by me, but luckily the same thing happened to him and I was able to get back by him.”
Glenz won by 1.841 seconds over Nick Anvelink to claim the Duane Mahder Memorial trophy that includes a model of Mahder’s No. 55 Dirt Late Model. He understood the significance of capturing the memorial race, which was a rough-and-tumble affair that ended at 1:15 a.m.
“Since its inception this race has been phenomenal and they keep pushing to make it bigger and better every year,” Glenz wrote on Facebook. “We are so fortunate to have a big show like this in our area that pays so well, and it means so much to honor a legend.” — Staff and track reports
Inevitable breakthrough
It was just a matter of time before Garrett Smith reached victory lane on the Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals. He was just too good throughout the majority of the first six races to go winless on the entire miniseries.
Race No. 7 on Saturday night was finally Smith’s moment. Racing at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. — one of his favorite tracks — the 21-year-old from Madison, Ga., romped to a flag-to-flag victory in the 26th annual Rebel Yell feature.
“I had probably some of the (worst) luck here recently, but man, finally, finally,” Smith said in victory after earning a $10,053 paycheck. “I love this place.”
Smith’s triumph was his first ever on Ray Cook’s two-decade-old summer circuit, though this season marks the first time that he’s chased the entire schedule. He entered 2025 with 12 career Southern Nationals starts over the 2021 and ’23 seasons and just one top-five run, a fourth in 2021 at West Georgia Raceway in Whitesburg, Ga.
The young driver who burst on the national scene with his spectacular $100,000 triumph in the 2022 Dirt Track World Championship has flashed plenty of speed in the first half of this year’s Southern Nationals, contending for wins on multiple occasions. But while he started on the front row of the feature in each of the tour’s first four races, he couldn’t convert the prime position into a checkered flag.
In July 12’s opener at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway, Smith slowed with a flat left-rear tire shortly after taking the lead and finished 16th. He logged two thirds (Wythe and I-75) and two sixths (Volunteer and Senoia) over his next four starts before struggling to a 19th-place run on Friday at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway, an oval he said is “definitely not one of my better racetracks to go to.”
Screven was a different story. He said he raced at the track “quite a bit growing up” and thus knows it well, which helped him master the 3/8-mile layout as he led the entire 53-lap distance and beat Zack Mitchell of Enoree, S.C., to the finish line by a healthy 2.817 seconds.
“At first when we were rolling out there (for the feature), just something about this dirt down here … it just feels greasy feeling all the time,” Smith said. “And with the humidity and everything, it makes the racetrack feel a little greasy, but then you’d hit spots and it’d feel slick.
“(But) we fired off pretty good there. I never would have thought (the primary lane) would have migrated down to the bottom, down here in one or two that early. The top, I guess, was getting blasted there at the beginning of the race, but we had a good car.”
Smith tallied his fourth overall victory of 2025 and recovered well from his Swainsboro outing, which could have doomed his bid for the Southern Nationals points title. He roared back into contention for the crown with points leader Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., finishing eighth after pitting to change a flat tire at Screven, pulling to within just eight points of Owens with four races remaining.
“It’s been hot, really hot,” said Smith, who is bidding to win the Schaeffer’s Spring and Southern Nationals championships in the same season (only Brandon Overton has done that). “We got a week left to go, so hopefully, hopefully we can stick through it and get some more wins before it’s over.” — Staff and series reports
Less is more
Cory Hedgecock of Loudon, Tenn., decided against chasing the entire Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals schedule this year, but the 2022 miniseries champion is still making his mark on Ray Cook’s long-running summer tour.
Two starts. Two wins. That’s great production for the 32-year-old driver, whose latest triumph came in Friday night’s 40-lap series stop at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway.
After capturing Tuesday’s Southern Nationals event at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn. — where Hedgecock has won three of his seven career features on the circuit — he dominated Swainsboro’s caution-free race. Hedgecock started from the pole position and never was seriously challenge en route to grabbing the $7,553 prize by 1.805 seconds over Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga.
“This place has chewed me up and spit me out several times, but, you know, just super tickled to death to get it done,” Hedgecock said.
Hedgecock’s victory was just his second on the Southern Nationals outside his home state of Tennessee, where he also won twice at Seymour’s 411 Motor Speedway (2018 and ’21). His other far-flung checkered flag came in 2022 at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway.
“We were horrible in hot laps,” said Hedgecock, who scored his sixth overall win of 2025, including five in Super Late Model competition. “I mean, like, I was just on top of the racetrack. We threw everything at (his BMG Chassis) but change the driver. We made a good tire choice in qualifying too.”
Hedgecock was pleased to cross the finish line ahead of Winger, the 25-year-old coming off a Southern Nationals victory the previous night at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway. The two drivers are friends and talk often.
“I’m always happy to outrun Ashton over there and everything,” Hedgecock quipped, “so I’m sure curious to see what he’s got to say over here.”
Moments later Hedgecock received a congratulatory handshake from Winger in victory lane and the two briefly rehashed the race, which saw Winger make a late-race charge to take third from Dalton Cook of Salem, Ala., on lap 30 and second from Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, Ga., on lap 35.
“I went harder (on tire choice) than I think everybody except for (10th-place finisher) Michael (Page),” Winger said. “(The surface) just stayed a little too dirty. We just threw crumbs out across the racetrack down here and it was really hard to leave (the corner).
“Cory did a good job. He really did what I didn’t do — he just got qualified better. I would have liked to have started further up front (than sixth), but, you know, we didn’t qualify well, we just didn’t really do what we needed to do.
“So we gambled in tires, and I just felt like it took me like 20 laps to get going,” he added. “And then by the time we got going, it really narrows off over there leaving two, and we got to lapped traffic and I swear, sometimes it’s just better to get to ‘em first, and Cory was able to maneuver a little bit and get going.” — Series and staff reports
Winger’s win
Ashton Winger isn’t shy about making bold moves on the racetrack, or owning up to them afterward. So when the 25-year-old Hampton, Ga., driver let it all hang out in outdueling Sam Seawright to win Thursday’s Schaeffer's Southern Nationals event at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway, he freely admitted he took some chances with high-side runs and diving under Seawright en route to capturing the 44-lap Roscoe Smith Classic.
"When you're stupid like me, kind of slide or die,” he said. “Sometimes it works out.”
Winger was glad to come out on top during a challenging season with only one other victory. He’s abandoned a return to the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series and has bounced between the team’s self-developed Fusion Race Car and the Rocket Chassis he drove at Senoia.
“I've probably not been very fun to be around the last three months,” Winger said in victory lane at Senoia. “We’ve really, really struggled, and to come back to somewhere where we know and have success is awesome.”
He spent most of his time in victory lane thanking Roscoe Smith and family, his father Gary, his crew members and many sponsors. Then paused for a moment.
“That was cool,” he said. “I’m out of breath.”
The back-and-forth battle with Seawright, one of Winger’s buddies who hugged him in victory lane, was a good one with multi-grooved action in lapped traffic, which ended up hampering Seawright.
“The racetrack was so wide. I mean you could round that top if you wanted. You could blitz the bottom and carry your speed, it was so rough leaving (turn) two, it just made for a really good race there,” Winger said. “Sam was better than me. I mean, he had a little bit of front-end damage from the start — I'm not sure what happened — but I felt like really my best chance was I needed to get to lapped traffic. I felt like when we got to lapped traffic, I was able to gap out a little bit.”
Winger’s de facto home track, Senoia has been the site of much of his success during his career. He plans to go for a second straight Southern Nationals victory Friday at Swainsboro (Ga.) Speedway.
"I got my grandma here,” Winger said in concluding his victory lane remarks. “She don't get to see me race a lot. She sure as hell don't get to see me win a lot. It's awesome, and we'll try again tomorrow at Swainsboro.” — Series and staff reports
Streaming schedule
Among upcoming Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events available via live streaming:
Thursday, July 17
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. (FloRacing)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway (FloRacing)
• Malvern Bank West Series prelims at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. (FloRacing)
• Red Clay 602 Crate Late Model Series at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway (FloRacing)
Friday, July 18
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. (FloRacing)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway (FloRacing)
• MARS Championship Series at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (FloRacing)
• Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Okla. (ArrowVision Live)
• Jay’s Automotive United Late Model Series at Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run, Pa. (Dirt Rich TV)
• Ponderosa Speedway 604 Crate Late Models in Junction City, Ky. (Start2Finish TV)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series twin features at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis. (Dirt Race Central)
• Nutrien Ag POWRi Revival Super Dirt Series at Electric City Speedway in Butler, Mo. (Start2Finish TV)
Saturday, July 19
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. (FloRacing)
• Cedar Lake Speedway Duane Mahder Memorial in New Richmond, Wis. (Racin’ Dirt)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. (FloRacing)
• Ultimate Heart of America Series at Richmond (Ky.) Raceway (Pit Row TV)
• Jay’s Automotive United Late Model Series at Latrobe (Pa.) Speedway (Dirt Rich TV)
• MARS Championship Series at I-55 Federated Raceway Park in Pevely, Mo. (FloRacing)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway (Dirt Race Central)
• Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark. (ArrowVision Live)
• Topless Outlaw Late Model Series at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Burnside, Ky. (Mad Speed TV)
• Nutrien Ag POWRi Revival Super Dirt Series at Central Missouri Speedway in Warrensburg, Mo. (Start2Finish TV)
• BMF 604 Crate Late Model Series at Wartburg (Tenn.) Speedway (Dirt Rich TV)
Sunday, July 20
• MARS Championship Series at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway (FloRacing)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Granite City Motor Park in Sauk Rapids, Minn. (Dirt Race Central)
• Karl Chevrolet Pro Late Model Tour at Benton County Speedway in Vinton, Iowa (IMCA TV)
