Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: The Southeast, weekend recap and more
As the fall specials beckon, our weekly roundtable considers all the latest action for the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
In earlier eras, Southeastern tracks were the heart of NDRA and Hav-A-Tampa schedules, but the region is rarely visited by current national tours. Why?
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: I feel like back in the heyday of NDRA (early- to mid-‘80s) and HAT (‘90s to early 2000s), the Southeast was more of an epicenter for the division. Both tours, in fact, were born in the region. But now the strongest areas, specifically for Super Late Model racing, have shifted more to the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. The Southeast losing some key tracks (Atomic, Cleveland, Kingsport, Metrolina and Concord immediately come to mind) has contributed to the drain of national events, and I’m not going to lie: the majority of national touring teams aren’t overly thrilled about racing on too many Southern tracks, largely due to the racing surfaces in the region that just are inherently dustier, more abrasive and inclined to rubber up. If there were more tracks considered “racy” in the Southeast, I think the national tours would likely trek there more often.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt managing editor: To be sure, if you don’t count Speedweeks or Smoky Mountain Speedway being on both the Lucas Oil and WoO schedules, it’s slim pickings in the Southeast in 2025. Those earlier “national tours” were certainly more provincial, and running in that region meant weather provided for a longer season, and kept races closer to proximity to series regulars. These days, a wider-ranging national schedule spreads the brands, and most would argue the quality of racing elsewhere, particularly the Midwest, is superior. It’s also partly financial in that top-level tracks in the Southeast haven’t kept up, failing to meet higher standards set elsewhere (The Dirt Track at Charlotte is an outlier in this case). It is interesting that the Southeast is rife with regional Super Late Models tours — some better than others — which, you could argue, makes the national touring absence less noticeable. Whatever the case, it’s certainly a generational change in Super Late Model racing.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: It’s definitely a question worth asking. Perhaps there are more racetracks in the Midwest and Northern states that are pushing for more nationally races. Promoters have to be willing to put on nationally touring events, too. The Southeast is well-represented by regional tours, and maybe those tracks at large are content with rare visits from national tours. I will say, the World of Outlaws have nine non-Speedweeks races in the Southeast this year (counting Louisiana and Alabama), so that’s noteworthy. Lucas Oil, meanwhile, only has four. Based in Ohio whereas WoO’s based in North Carolina, you expect Lucas Oil to race less in the Southeast.
Richard Allen, Motorsports Report: There are a variety of factors that have played into the fact that Southeastern tracks have become less of a part of the national schedules. The tours themselves have sought to expand their reach by getting into previously untapped markets in other parts of the country and that expansion has come at the expense of more traditional tracks. Also, the newer venues are more modern and have the amenities that series, fans, and teams want and need. Some of the older properties have been allowed to deteriorate over time without necessary upgrades. And, at least in my home area of East Tennessee, there has been a rash of closures over the past few years, so there simply are not as many places to race.
What weekend winner intrigued you?
Turner: I was impressed that Ashton Winger rose to the occasion with his World of Outlaws victory at Senoia. When everyone knows it’s your home track and your best track, there’s a fair bit of pressure, particularly when some of the sport’s best drivers come to town. Winger is to Senoia as Rice is to Florence, or Davenport is to Eldora. He’s on the Senoia short list every time.
Allen: Jason Feger has put together a nice season and his sweep of the MARS races in Davenport, Iowa, over the weekend just added to that. That pair of victories were his seventh and eighth on that regional tour and extended his points lead. The Highside Hustler has for several years been one of those top regional racers that is always tough in his part of the country whether it be with a regional series or even when the national tours roll into the Midwest.
Kovac: I’ll dip down away from the Super Late Model class to the Limited ranks and Saturday’s Chevrolet Performance 525 Nationals at Harris Speedway in Rutherfordton, N.C., where Matt Long won the 65-lap feature for a $5,000 payday. Long is an interesting Dirt Late Model competitor in that his full-time job is the vice president of corporate sales at Charlotte Motor Speedway and he runs Crate and 525 events when his schedule permits. He also happens to have some deep Dirt Late Model bloodlines as the son of Tye Long, a former division standout from Cambridge, Ohio, whose resume includes winning the first two Pittsburgher events in 1980-81. Nice to see Matt get a special event triumph.
McFadden: Ashton Winger’s World of Outlaws victory Saturday at his home track, Senoia. One of the reasons the Georgian didn’t show to Eldora Speedway’s World 100 last weekend is because his father, Gary, mentioned that Ashton’s had been carefully picking his races only having available one car and one motor. The Wingers knew they’d be real contenders to win the WoO’s visit to Senoia the following weekend, so why risk going to Eldora? It paid off. After a tumultuous start to 2025 that forced him off the WoO tour, Winger’s been one of the most consistent drivers of late, racking up five victories and eight podiums his last 11 races. I’d like to see him back on a national tour next year, so hopefully this is the start of that.
And a non-winner who intrigued you?
McFadden: Richard mentions more of him in our final question, but Cory Hedgecock giving the nationally touring contingent a run for their money Thursday at Volunteer Speedway was entertaining to watch until he cut down a tire running third on lap 15. Only one regionally-focused driver (Dale McDowell at Tri-County Racetrack in October 2022) has won a FloRacing Night in America event, which have been owned by nationally touring teams since the miniseries launched in 2021.
Allen: It probably came as no surprise that Jonathan Davenport and Hudson O’Neal placed first and second in Thursday’s FloRacing Night in America feature at Volunteer Speedway. But what might have been a bit unexpected for some observers from outside of the Tennessee-Kentucky area was the podium result posted by Camaron Marlar. The Winfield, Tenn., native, the youngest member of a successful racing family, was the winner of last year’s inaugural Scott Bloomquist Memorial at the same track, but that race was unsanctioned and didn't have the star-studded field of 2025. The No. 57 team had their struggles during the first part of the season but showed last week that they can compete with the best.
Kovac: For more than half of Saturday’s 40-lap MARS-sanctioned Corn State Nationals finale at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway, it appeared that Blair Nothdurft was headed to the biggest victory of his career. The 24-year-old from Renner, S.D., was leading the $10,000-to-win event and looking strong, but a wild last 10 laps that included several restarts — and a stirring charge by winner Jason Feger — shuffled him back to a fourth-place finish. It was a heartbreaker for Nothdurft, a friendly youngster who over the past decade has become a familiar entrant in Speedweeks action and upper Midwest special events. He’s won 15 times on the limited-engine Tri-State Late Model Series and once on the Malvern Bank circuit but has yet to break through for a checkered flag on a regional or national Super Late Model tour. He’s close to knocking down that door.
Turner: How about Hayes Mattern leading most of Selinsgrove’s National Open before Mason Zeigler found a way past late for a five-figure payday? The Beavertown, Pa., driver ended up third in his quest for what would’ve been his richest payday. Mattern has continued racing in the midst of a difficult year for his family with June’s passing of his infant daughter Kynlee.
Preview the Knoxville Late Model Nationals or another upcoming event.
Kovac: Knoxville is absolutely one of my favorite Dirt Late Model crown jewels of the season just because it has a different vibe than the others. It’s obviously never going to match the standing-room-only heights of Knoxville’s Sprint Car Nationals, but being at the historic track, while not being amid a huge throng of people like for the sprint car week (though the Late Model Nationals still draws a relatively big crowd), gives you a big-race feel but in a more laid-back way. The half-mile racing action is always spectacular, too. I feel like Ricky Thornton Jr.’s string of major-money wins (plus his half-mile aptitude this season and Knoxville victory in 2023) stamps him as this weekend’s favorite, but Bobby Pierce, for one, is going to be especially hungry to repeat his win last year after a quiet World 100 outing.
Allen: The names of the last four winners of the Knoxville Late Model Nationals have been Pierce, Thornton, Davenport and Marlar. Going into this year’s running, which now pays $75,000-to-win, it would seem logical to call those drivers the favorites to collect the big payday as is the case in most major shows. The stature of this venue in the world of motorsports makes it a place where more than just sprint cars should compete in the same way that Eldora Speedway is more than a place where just Late Models should compete. Having been here since 2004 and with the increase in payout from the $50,000 of previous years, this has become a crown jewel in every sense of the word. And with that being the case, the drivers and teams who always contend for wins in those big races will most likely be up front again.
McFadden: The Knoxville Late Model Nationals is one of the more underrated events I think on the Dirt Late Model calendar. It’s produced memorable finishes over the years and there’s been multiple lead changes every year since the event began in 2004. There’s never been a flag-to-flag winner. That’s something worth bragging about. Fresh off his World 100 victory and 10 victories on half-miles this year, all signs are pointing toward Ricky Thornton Jr. collecting another Knoxville Nationals title. Brian Shirley, last year’s Knoxville runner-up, shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Turner: After a misfire at Eldora’s World 100, we get another crack at a Bobby Pierce-Jonathan Davenport showdown at Knoxville. Or is that a three-way showdown with Ricky Thornton Jr. in the mix? However it turns out, Knoxville is no place for pretenders. Every winner since 2015 owns a national touring title.
Detail a recent under-the-radar blurb that deserves a wider audience.
McFadden: Mansfield Speedway is officially reopening for racing next May 2 with a strong lineup that’ll feature Super Late Models, 410 sprint cars and modifieds. All three are well represented in mid-Ohio, so a hat tip to new owner Matt Tifft for giving the revived racetrack a strong chance at turning out a solid car count. I sure hope Mansfield can find its place again amid Ohio's busy racing scene. I remember writing on here not too long ago that the place still has potential to thrive again and that it just needed the right owners to make it happen. Tifft is definitely giving all he has for Mansfield’s comeback.
Allen: Being that I am from the same region of the country he is, the move by Cory Hedgecock to a Longhorn Chassis has been noticed near his Loudon, Tenn., home, but I’m not sure how widely known the change from his own BMF Race Cars has been covered nationally. The No. 23 has been fast right out of the gate since the change as he topped his qualifying group in FloRacing Night in America time trials at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. Following a heat race win, Hedgecock led the early portion of the feature before dropping out of contention. That success came just after a fast time effort in a Friday preliminary for the World 100 where he scored a podium finish at Eldora Speedway.
Turner: How about Hall of Fame driver Randy Korte coming out of retirement for a weekend to compete at I-55 Federated Raceway Park in Pevely, Mo.? The St. Louis-area racer with a national pedigree whose long battle with multiple myeloma shortened his career wasn’t just making a gimmicky appearance. The 62-year-old racing consultant turned in a solid performance in the weekend finale, finishing fifth in the Pepsi Nationals.
Kovac: I don’t feel like a lot of people are talking about it, but Hall of Famer Billy Moyer sits just five races away from winning the 2025 Comp Cams Super Dirt Series championship. A runner-up finish Saturday at Louisiana’s Revolution Park gives him a hefty 275-point lead over Morgan Bagley heading down the homestretch. This is a Dirt Late Model GOAT I’m mentioning here, but still, if Moyer can close this out at his age — he’ll turn 67 one week before the tour’s scheduled Oct. 24-25 finale at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Okla., it should be considered one of the stories of the year.
