Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: Looking toward Charlotte's World Finals
With Tyler Erb repeating at the National 100 and Mason Zeigler wrapping up the Fall Clash title ahead of this weekend’s World Finals, our roundtable checks in for the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
React to a weekend result or recent news item.
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: Tyler Erb has never denied that he’s not a fan of many tracks in the Southeast — and the one he absolutely loved, East Bay Raceway Park, is now gone. But he obviously is developing an affinity for East Alabama Motor Speedway after winning Sunday’s National 100. It’s his second straight victory in the track’s marquee race, and his other three starts in the event have yielded a pair of seconds and a fifth. He admittedly made some mistakes that cost him in the preliminary features, but he was on point in the finale en route to pocketing $30,000, matching his career-best winner’s purse. Side note: disappointing to see the National 100 car count slip to just 22 after it seemed to be on an upswing in 2023 when it drew 40 cars (and paid $49,000-to-win) in its single year of Hunt the Front affiliation. (Turnout fell to 31 cars last year with an XR connection.)
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: To little surprise, Gregg Satterlee and Mason Zeigler closed out Jim Bernheisel’s Fall Clash by sweeping the final two races of the miniseries. For Satterlee, that was outdueling Zeigler for Friday’s $8,000 triumph at Georgetown Speedway. And for Zeigler, that was commanding Saturday’s minitour finale at Potomac Speedway, which also locked up the Fall Clash title for Zeigler, who had an entertaining battle with Trever Feathers throughout the miniseries. I know the car counts for the Fall Clash were modest throughout the duration of the miniseries, with fields ranging from mid-20s to mid-30s from Aug. 29’s opener at Bedford Speedway through Nov. 1’s finale at Potomac. And though it was too bad I couldn’t make it out to one of the races, I do hope Bernheisel and his supporters bring back the miniseries next year.
Spence Smithback, World of Outlaws publicist: I’ll put the spotlight on Michael Leach, who got the job done against a strong field of 604 Late Models at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Sunday afternoon. 2025 has been a trial by fire for the young Montana racer with his most ambitious Late Model schedule to date, so even though it wasn’t in a Super, it was still good to see him finally get a win before the end of the year. Kudos to younger brother Tyler Leach as well, who put together a heat race win and a sixth-place feature finish on the 602 side in his first time racing in the Southeast.
Bryan Ault, DirtonDirt contributor: The National 100 was a rough one for Middleburg, Fla.’s Mark Whitener. After being light at the scales and surrendering Friday’s checkered flag to Jimmy Owens, Whitener was understandably frustrated and Saturday’s 100-lapper won by Tyler Erb saw him post a 19th-place run. I met Mark during the DIRTcar Summer Nationals and found him to be a great interview and quite engaging. Losing in that fashion has to be tough for a regional racer. Whitener has made big strides this season and has been on the fringe of our Top 25 rankings. Hopefully, the 2026 season is even better for the Floridian.
What’s your big-picture preview of the World Finals?
McFadden: Although he’s bound to clinch the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series title before Saturday’s finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Bobby Pierce is primed to triumph at least once this week at the World Finals because there’s extra motivation for him to close out the season with as many wins as possible. He’s at 30 right now, and while that, of course, is a colossal number, the 38-time winner from 2024 isn't satisfied. I also think after losing out on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series title, Ricky Thornton Jr. carries an extra chip on his shoulder this week in Charlotte. Chris Madden and Mike Marlar ought to contend for wins nightly at the 4/10-mile oval, too. As for drivers who aren’t the usual frontrunners to watch for, don’t forget about the Coltman Farms Racing duo of Tanner English, a winner at the 2022 World Finals, and Zack Mitchell, who’s had a stellar season.
Smithback: Bobby Pierce certainly doesn’t need to have a great weekend to lock up his second World of Outlaws championship, but you know that team wants to wrap things up on a high note having not won on the series since August. I’m also keeping an eye on the list of several full-timers with only one victory, including guys like Brian Shirley, Drake Troutman and Dennis Erb Jr., who are each trying to grab one more trophy to cap off an up-and-down year. It’s a particularly important week for Shirley and Erb, who find themselves tied for fifth in points with three races remaining.
Ault: The points chase is locked up with Bobby Pierce having a 124-point lead over Nick Hoffman, but a new season will begin soon. Will anybody on the tour outside of Hoffman pose a serious challenge to Pierce in 2026? Could a national contender on the Lucas Oil series, boosted by confidence in a strong trip to Charlotte, flip and decide to run the WoO tour next season? It’s no secret that Pierce had a rough patch late last summer after struggling to reach victory lane prior to his DTWC victory, so he's apparently human. Maybe this weekend will give us a possible clue.
Kovac: Forget points or payoffs. The World Finals as event is simply a short-track juggernaut, an enormous extravaganza in a hotbed of racing that is a great way to end the World of Outlaws Late Model and Sprint Car and Super DIRTcar Series big-block modified seasons. Aside from the Gateway Dirt Nationals indoor race, there’s no bigger and more successful event involving Dirt Late Models that’s been created over the past two decades. With crowds that push the 20,000 mark, the World Finals sits with Gateway and Eldora’s Dream and World 100 as the Dirt Late Model shows with the highest attendance, which certainly puts it in rarified air.
Who’s a non-WoO driver you have your eye on at Charlotte?
Smithback: Ricky Thornton Jr. has to be at the top of this list. He hasn’t finished worse than fourth in his last five Charlotte starts, three of those victories. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that someone who’s good enough at Eldora to win the World 100 is also fast at Charlotte, given how the list of Charlotte winners is filled with names who are typically at the front at the Big E. If the Late Model doesn’t provide enough of a challenge, it should be interesting to watch if Thornton can back up his impressive USAC debut with the wing on and potentially race his way into his first World of Outlaws sprint feature.
Ault: It’s hard to go against Jonathan Davenport or Ricky Thornton Jr. Both of them took home the checkered flag from 2021-2023 in the Saturday portion of the event for three years, and Davenport ran second to defending race champion Chris Madden last year. J.D. (or Thornton) is likely to be the top non-series contender, and with both drivers falling short at Eldora Speedway’s Dirt Track World Championship, they have plenty of motivation to spoil the fun for a WoO tour regular.
Kovac: Mike Marlar. He’s a driver who’s had some very big moments at Charlotte, including celebrating his World of Outlaws title in 2018 and, in 2023, winning the World Finals opener in his debut run with Skyline Motorsports. This year he’ll unload two weeks removed from sweeping an Iron-Man tour doubleheader at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway for his first victories since going back to racing with longtime car owner Ronnie Delk in mid-October. Marlar won a World Finals feature with Delk in ’22 and I have a feeling the good vibes that are flowing through the pair’s return as a team will continue.
McFadden: Josh Rice. The new JRR Motorsports wheelman hasn’t competed at the World Finals since he was a fresh-faced teenager in 2015, but this week is pivotal for the Crittenden, Ky., driver in continuing to get up to speed with his new team for 2026. Not to set the bar too low for the driver trying to make an impression, but I think qualifying for all three features and coming away with at least one top-10 finish would be a good week for Rice, who still has to adjust to the JRR team’s fleet of Longhorn Chassis and get reacquainted with Charlotte’s 4/10-mile oval.
Detail a WoO driver that overperformed or underperformed in 2026.
Ault: I’ll go with an overperformer: Dennis Erb Jr. finished ninth in the points during a winless 2024, recording just two top-fives. This year, the steady Illinois veteran is tied for fifth heading to Charlotte with a series victory and nine top-five finishes. The past couple of seasons have been a struggle for Erb and he's one of a handful of drivers who runs his own equipment, so to see him run better in the twilight of his career is a welcoming sign.
Smithback: This year will likely go down as the season in which Nick Hoffman went from a “modified guy” to a “Late Model guy.” He’s headed for a career-best second in the standings in his third year on the World of Outlaws tour, and being within 124 points of a driver who has won 30-plus races three years in a row deserves some recognition. And his success has extended beyond the tour as well. If you’d asked folks at season’s start the lone driver who would finish on the podium in both the Dream and the World, I doubt you would have gotten many correct answers.
McFadden: Tim McCreadie absolutely over-performed in his inaugural season for Boom Briggs. I mean, who else overachieved than McCreadie, whose six series victories are second-most this year behind only Bobby Pierce? To outperform Nick Hoffman and Ryan Gustin in the win column this year, should it hold up through Saturday at Charlotte, would be ultra impressive for the 51-year-old who should only build upon this year as he heads toward 2026.
Kovac: While Brian Shirley appears headed toward a better WoO points finish than 2024 — he’s tied for fifth entering the World Finals after finishing seventh last year — I think he’d say that he slightly underperformed this year. He does have more top-fives than ’24 (19 versus 14) and has finished in the top-five in 10 of the last 11 races (including a streak of nine in a row), but he has just a single series victory. That checkered flag was a huge one — July’s Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury — but after winning five times last year there’s no doubt he was expecting more winner’s checks this season.
Predict one of these three (or all three if you wish) at the World Finals: driver that will win at least once, driver most likely to multiple races and driver to win the finale.
Kovac: Three shots at victory in as many nights at the same track means Bobby Pierce is almost a lock to reach victory lane at least once; he broke through with his first Charlotte victory last year and has a comfortable points lead, so he’ll be guns-blazing in search of a win. Ricky Thornton Jr.’s recent success at Charlotte — notably winning two of the three races in 2023 — makes him the odds-on guy to double up, and I’ll put my money on Chris Madden to take the longer-distance, $25,000-to-win Saturday finale as he enters the weekend hot off a strong runner-up outing in Eldora’s Dirt Track World Championship.
Smithback: I like Mike Marlar’s chances to pick up his first national win since returning to Delk Racing. The pairing got off to a sluggish start last month at Boothill, but they’ve kicked things into high gear since with a top 10 in the Dirt Track World Championship and a weekend sweep with the Iron-Man sweep at Atomic. Aside from the 2022 finale when he wrecked in a heat, Marlar has finished sixth or better in nine-straight Charlotte starts dating back to 2019, including two victories and three podiums in his last four starts.
Ault: I’ll pick Chris Madden to win at least once. The veteran driver has shown plenty of speed at recent national events, such his runner-up finish at the Dirt Track World Championship last month and his respectable sixth-place run at Volunteer Speedway during the Castrol FloRacing Night in America series stop. For multiple races, I’ll go with Jonathan Davenport, just given his strong and steady Charlotte finishes in recent years. For the finale, my pick is Pierce in capping off a redemptive season after finishing second in 2024.
McFadden: As I said above, Bobby Pierce is most primed to win at least once this week. Sure, he’ll likely lock up the title before Saturday’s finale, but don’t expect him to be content riding around midpack all week just to play it safe and clinch the title. Because he’s been on the rise recently, and because he has six-straight top-six finishes at the World Finals, Mike Marlar could catch lightning in a bottle and reel off multiple victories in Charlotte this week. Actually, I’ll take Marlar to win the finale aboard his Ronnie Delk No. 157 entry.
