Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: English to enjoy backing from Riggs Fiber
Tanner English (Zach Yost photo)
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: As Tanner English of Benton, Ky., plots his 2026 season campaigning self-owned equipment following his December departure from Coltman Farms Racing, he told DirtonDirt’s Kyle McFadden on Tuesday night that his Super Late Model program will include backing from Riggs Motorsports. Responding to circulating rumors that he would be rekindling his 2020-22 stint driving full-time for the Scott Riggs-owned team, the 32-year-old racer clarified that he would just be receiving sponsorship assistance from his former car owner — in the form of Riggs Fiber — and continues looking for additional financial support for his effort based out of a shop in Benton, Ill. English plans to make his 2026 debut in March 14’s $10,000-to-win Northern Allstars Late Model event at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway and will announce his complete plans for the season in the coming weeks.
No. 2: With time off before this weekend’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned Swamp Cabbage 100 at Hendry County Motorsports Park in Clewiston, Fla., teammates Boom Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., spent their Tuesday afternoons as special guests of the Westside Elementary School near the track. They brought their race cars along to show off — they even received a police escort as they drove them up to the school — and spoke to a large group third- to fifth-grade students. The kids proved to be a rapt audience for the racers, who answered questions, distributed autograph cards and drove off after their appearance with the children waving WoO-branded checkered flags. One of the school’s teachers has also been invited to wave the green flag for a race over the weekend, adding to the great promotion seeking to drum up local interest in the WoO tour’s first-ever visit to Hendry County, a track that’s close to the Clewiston residence that Briggs owns and visits often.
No. 3: With extra days off Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, many racers are spending time fishing. Just this week already I’ve noticed photos of several Dirt Late Model personalities displaying catches they’ve made on fishing excursions. Among the group was Rocket1’s Brandon Sheppard and Danny White, who went out in northern Florida before this weekend’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series opener at All-Tech Raceway in Ellisville, Fla., and a bunch of WoO regulars who on Wednesday participated in the Swamp Cabbage 100 bass-fishing tournament on Lake Okeechobee, including McCreadie, Tyler Erb, Brent Larson and Jake Timm.
No. 4: Speaking of Hendry County Motorsports Park, I saw a photo on social media of the welcome sign that sits on the facility’s property and proclaims the speedway as “The fastest sand pit in the South!” Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that’s the best slogan for a dirt track. I think I’d avoid any mention of the word “sand” considering the connotation it has for dirt racers. I’d suggest the best tagline for Hendry County would seem to be sitting right there: “The Southernmost dirt track in the United States.”
No. 5: After Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., was revealed Tuesday as the No. 1 driver in the first DirtonDirt Top 25 power rankings of 2026, his car owner, Tye Twarog, jokingly texted to me, “You sure we are the #1 team?” Twarog went on to add that it’s “crazy to think about” how the driver he gave a shot to run his equipment in 2023 has risen to such a lofty height. “I was almost ready to walk away from the sport,” Twarog noted of his mindset following the 2022 season after Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, departed his team and he was unsure if he wanted to hire another driver to press on.
