Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: Can we find Cinderella at dirt track?
With Dale McDowell, Mike Marlar and Brandon Overton among winners of a weather-plagued Easter weekend, our roundtable checks in for the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
In 2026, where are Cinderellas scarcer: the men’s NCAA basketball tournament or a national touring Dirt Late Model event?
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: This year’s NCAA tournament didn’t have any monumental upsets, but, like Aaron points out below, there were several notable ones. But at the highest level of Dirt Late Model racing, upsets are very rare. Every national touring series feature winner so far this season has been a well-known, established name, which is why teenager Trey Mills’s near-win in March 7’s Lucas Oil Series Speedweeks finale at Golden Isles — when he flipped out of the ballpark while leading with eight laps left — attracted so much attention. Upsets mean even more when they happen very rarely (think No. 16 seeds beating a No. 1), and that’s where the Dirt Late Model division finds itself as it’s become so competitive.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt managing editor: A dying (or dead?) breed for both, perhaps? It seemed like this year’s hoops tourney tried to pass off major schools as Cinderella simply because of seeding. Bunk. It’s not the same as my alma mater Western Kentucky or another mid-major dazzling with a Sweet 16 run. On the racing side, neither Lucas Oil nor World of Outlaws events had a 2025 winner that wasn't a non-national touring caliber driver, and in full-field events, you have to dig back to Garrett Smith (2022 with Lucas Oil) and Jared Miley (2022 with WoO) for Cinderellas. Dirt Late Model racing formerly sold itself as a series where “the little guy” could compete, but that hasn’t been a thing for a long time now.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: Three straight NCAA Tournaments have now passed without a single team seeded No. 12 or higher reaching the Sweet 16, but Dirt Late Model racing’s gone longer without a true upset in national touring competition. I would say, since Garrett Smith’s DTWC victory in October 2022. That year actually gave us several, with Jared Miley winning a World of Outlaws race at Port Royal, Michael Brown triumphing over WoO regulars at Cherokee and Johnny Scott winning two Lucas Oil features at Wheatland. We haven’t seen regional or upstart drivers break through at that rate, much less at all, since then. Trey Mills came oh-so-close at Golden Isles Speedway, and he would've been the closest to that should he have held on. In college hoops, at least it’s still feasible for a mid-major, I believe, to assemble the right roster in the NIL era and, depending on matchups and offensive structure, get past the tourney’s first weekend. With the growing resource gap in Dirt Late Model racing, I’m sadly more skeptical there. Also appreciate Todd for this question. I used to cover a little college basketball and was courtside reporting on 16-seeded UMBC’s epic upset of No. 1 Virginia in 2018.
Aaron Clay, DirtonDirt weekend editor: Cinderella stories are far more scarce on a national Dirt Late Model tour than in the NCAA tourney and the numbers support that. There were 12 upsets in this year’s tournament, going strictly by each school’s seeded ranking, while there have been only eight first-time national touring series winners in the last two years, three of those being split-field semifeature wins. Drake Troutman captured his first World of Outlaws victory last June at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo. Before that, Ethan Dotson earned his first WoO win in last year's Illini 100 weekend at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway.
Detail a national touring driver who needs a turnaround after the first quarter.
Turner: While Carson Ferguson had a blip of solid runs during Speedweeks, and he’s got the excitement of his upcoming NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at Bristol, the Lincolnton, N.C., youngster needs some good news soon. In his third full-time national touring season, he hasn’t markedly improved and hasn’t developed the consistency to climb the Lucas Oil ranks. Since his last best series run (seventh at Ocala on Feb. 26), he has six finishes of 19th or worse and hasn’t cracked the top 10.
Clay: It feels like Brian Shirley is the obvious answer as he returns home to the Illinois black dirt for this weekend’s Illini 100. Shirley is committed to the Lucas Oil circuit, but has registered just five top-10 finishes among 14 overall feature starts, while still seeking his first top-five result. Shirley is a previous Farmer City winner in July of 2023 (worth $10,000 on the Summer Nationals) and July of 2024 (worth $5,000 in MARS competition). The Chatham, Ill., driver certainly hopes a visit near home brings competitive outings.
Kovac: Garrett Alberson certainly hasn’t been terrible so far this season, but he also hasn’t quite picked up right where he left off in 2025. He made huge strides last year, becoming a multiple-time Lucas Oil Series winner (three victories), rolling up 21 top-five finishes to nearly double his career total on the tour and finishing sixth in the points standings. This season, though, he just seems to be off a bit. He was winless with just two top-fives during Speedweeks (last year he won twice) as he didn’t show that consistent strength and, after two decent but quiet runs at Brownstown and Atomic, he’s eighth in the standings. Alberson and the Roberts Motorsports showed the high level they’re capable of achieving last year. They just need to settle back in and find their rhythm, which I think will be coming.
McFadden: Garrett Alberson also comes to mind for me. Ninth in points on the Lucas Oil tour and yet to contend for a feature victory through 14 series events, I imagine the Roberts Motorsports group is feeling the urgency to find some momentum here before the tour’s northeastern swing at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway, BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway — a race they nearly triumphed last year. I believe Alberson’s heading to Lucas Oil Speedway with the MLRA this weekend before April 17-18’s MARS-sanctioned Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway, a track Alberson won at on the Lucas tour last year. A win these next weekends would be a needed pick-me-up.
Provide a mini-preview of Farmer City’s Illini 100.
McFadden: The Illini 100 sets up exactly how you’d want it with a heavyweight clash between Nick Hoffman and Bobby Pierce as their season-long title fight rolls on. Both know Farmer City Raceway as well as anyone, so another late-race duel between the World of Outlaws top two is very much on the table. I do think Hoffman or Pierce will win Saturday — they’re at least good for a victory this weekend, whether it’s Friday or Saturday. Don’t overlook Brian Shirley, either. He went third and fourth during Illini weekend last year and, despite a 42-race winless stretch (his last coming at the Prairie Dirt Classic), he feels due. This could be one where Shirley cashes in flying under the radar.
Clay: I’m grabbing the low-hanging fruit and predicting Brandon Sheppard picks up his fifth career Illini 100 victory this weekend at Farmer City. Sheppard, aboard the potent Rocket1 house car entry, led the final 24 laps last year to collect the $20,000 top prize, adding to victories in 2015, ’17 and ’19, amassing more than $65,000 in event earnings. Seemingly always strong on a dark Illinois dirt surface, Sheppard also added a $25,000 Farmer City 74 Lucas Oil-sanctioned victory there in May of 2023. It's an easy prediction and bucking the trend of recent first-time winners at the high-banked quarter-mile oval.
Kovac: If the testy early-spring weather in the Land of Lincoln cooperates, the Illini 100 could finally run three consecutive years without a cancellation for the first time since a seven-year stretch from 2012-17. Ugly conditions (and 2020’s Covid year) have sapped momentum from a race that should be the Midwest’s first big, traditional show each year, one that not only represents the first national tour action of the season in Illinois but also brings the season debut of several standouts from the region. This year could be shaping up as (the newly married) Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman show, which would be quite welcome if they produce the type of down-to-the-wire thriller they did in 2024’s preliminary feature won by Hoffman.
Turner: I’m here for Jason Feger’s stateside debut. A three-time winner last season at Farmer City, including in DIRTcar Summer Nationals competition, he’s arguably the best Dirt Late Model driver in the country who has yet to make a 2026 start (at least the in the U.S.; he scored victories in an enjoyable offseason trip to New Zealand and its Super Saloon Series). With the Lucas Oil Series off, and in a Dirt Late Model hotbed with perhaps as many talented drivers as any other state, the Illini 100 often shapes up to be among the most competitive events of the season on a tight track where crazy things can happen exiting turn four.
What’s another upcoming event you have an eye on?
Kovac: This weekend’s Spring Nationals doubleheader at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. — back under MLRA sanction with the tour’s return to competition after being silent in 2024 — has become a sneaky-good early-season event. Last year’s unsanctioned twinbill drew over 40 cars including several big names (Hudson O’Neal swept the weekend), and this weekend figures to be more of the same despite going head-to-head with the WoO’s Illini 100. O’Neal and Jonathan Davenport are among the expected entrants headed to Wheatland seeking laps there before next month’s Show-Me 100.
Turner: I’m intrigued by Volunteer Speedway’s Gauntlet, next week’s unsanctioned action in Bulls Gap, Tenn., with Super Late Models competing Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with a $100,000 bonus on the line if the winner of the finale won earlier in the week. Weeknight racing before school’s out is a challenge, so I’m interested in the draw for spectators and for drivers alike. The lack of Thursday racing seems odd, but perhaps can be a rain date if one of the first two events is scrapped of the unique four-race event that could send a single driver home with more than $160,000. Brandon Overton, Mike Marlar, Dale McDowell, Devin Moran and Jonathan Davenport are among drivers promoter Vic Hill has lured.
McFadden: Vic Hill’s Gauntlet at The Gap at Volunteer Speedway has all the makings to be a must-see event, especially with Jonathan Davenport, Dale McDowell, Devin Moran, Brandon Overton and Chris Madden, among many others, expected to participate. Of course, the four-race event spanning five days hinges on the weather, which is always hit-or-miss this time of year in East Tennessee.
Clay: After a March 7 rainout at Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss., the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series is slated to open its season with this weekend’s doubleheader at Super Bee Speedway in Chatham, La., each night featuring a $4,000-to-win Late Model main event. The Southern-based tour draws names like Brian and Rick Rickman, along with last year’s champ Brandon Carpenter of Coldwater, Miss., and six-time series champ Chad Thrash of Meridian, Miss. The Magnolia State-based series features an eclectic mix of grizzled veterans and young talent on some of the best bullrings in the south.
Is there an official beginning of the “regular season” for Dirt Late Models (and/or is it important to classify races on the calendar?)
Kovac: I still consider the start of the regular season to be the first races after Georgia-Florida Speedweeks. It just feels like the natural line of demarcation. Of course, you can argue that the only “regular season” in the dirt-track world would be when you’re talking about local racing — weekly action starting in March, April or May and continuing through Labor Day with special events that filling the remainder of the calendar — but that’s even sort of a stretch now especially in the Dirt Late Model ranks with touring series so prevalent. There are so many major events now that the word “regular” can essentially be wiped away.
McFadden: I’ve always viewed anything after Speedweeks as the unofficial start of the regular season. By now, both the Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws tours are roughly 14 races into 60-plus race schedules, so we’re pushing a third of the way through already. March and April are typically fragmented by fickle weather and event cancellations. So, of course, the season really hits its stride in May, starting with Illinois Speedweeks. That final month leading into Eldora’s Dream week is when the urgency ramps up. Drivers and teams either find their footing by then, or risk falling behind before the summer even begins.
Clay: Mother Nature won't allow an “official” start to the season, as we may need to wait weeks for settled weather conducive to racing. No question that last weekend’s slated action was stifled by rain, with only seven of 17 scheduled events — according to DirtonDirt’s formula including only $3,000-to-win (or more) and touring series events — but with a whopping 29 races scheduled this upcoming weekend, we’re likely to see more races completed. Upon further reflection, it's quite possible the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is the “official” start of the Dirt Late Model season.
Turner: The regular season kind of feels like it starts in April to me, but geographically plenty of tracks are still weeks (or more than a month) away from opening. Traditionally, I’ve thought of the calendar split up among Georgia-Florida Speedweeks, then with full-bore racing beginning Memorial Day, the busiest summer stretch when school is out, then the fall specials. That’s evolved with our year-round schedule, and feels a little different with school starting much earlier than it did when I was a kid (Labor Day anyone?). Also, with two national tours connected to most of the biggest events, late-season specials aren’t what they were when so many of them were independent. In reality, it doesn’t matter what we call a certain stretch of the season … there’s usually someone racing somewhere 10 or 11 months of the year.
