Fast Talk presented by MD3 and Five Star Bodies
Fast Talk: Farmer City recap, regional preview
With Bobby Pierce and Jonathan Davenport among the weekend’s big winners, out roundtable surveys the scene in the weekly feature presented by MD3 and Five Star Race Cars Bodies (edited for clarity and length):
Offer a takeaway on the World of Outlaws Illini 100 weekend at Farmer City.
Kevin Kovac, DirtonDirt senior writer: It’s quite striking how Bobby Pierce and Brandon Sheppard have taken such a stranglehold on the Illini 100 proceedings for the past decade. With Pierce’s $25,000 win in Saturday’s finale, it marks the sixth straight time that the weekend’s headliner has been captured by one of the two Illinois stars — you have to go all the way back to 2016 to find another winner of the finale in Josh Richards. Yes, four Illini 100s have been cancelled during the time frame and four other drivers have won Illini preliminary feature (this year was the first time that Pierce and Sheppard swept the weekend with B-Shepp topping Friday’s A-main), but, over the longer distance in Saturday’s finale, it’s all Pierce and B-Shepp. Their Land of Lincoln bullring expertise translating to ownership of the Illini’s big stage (they have three wins apiece since ’17) is reminiscent of Eldora’s Dream, which has been won by only Jonathan Davenport or Brandon Overton for its last six runnings.
Todd Turner, DirtonDirt managing editor: I wrote about Tyler’s Erb up-and-down weekend, and I’ll stress here I was impressed with his mature decision to put a frustrating heat tangle behind him in the feature and focus on what was a dazzling 24th-to-fifth run in the finale. A night earlier, his judgment wasn’t as good in getting into a spin-trading spat with Brent Larson. Terbo is a compelling competitor, no doubt, and enhancing his reputation for running up front instead of clashing with other drivers is imperative.
Kyle McFadden, DirtonDirt staff reporter: I was foolish to pick against Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce. I felt confident in Brian Shirley on Friday and Nick Hoffman on Saturday, but Sheppard and Pierce are just too good at Farmer City to bet against. Quarter-mile bullrings can be equalizers, but that’s rarely the case there. When those two show up with the best cars, they almost always capitalize. Case in point, they’ve combined to win seven of the last 11 Illini 100 features — including Friday — dating back to 2017. It’ll be hard to bet against them when the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series visits there next month, too.
Spence Smithback, World of Outlaws publicist: In terms of the full-time World of Outlaws roster, there’s Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman — and then everybody else. That was already the case in the opening stretch of the season down south, but a change of scenery didn’t have any major effect on the pecking order. Aside from interloper Brandon Sheppard, the lead duo had to fend off challenges from the likes of Tim McCreadie on Friday and Drake Troutman on Saturday, but they’ve both still got work to do to have those kinds of nights on a more consistent basis. But with Pierce and Hoffman continuing to play hot potato with the points lead 16 races into the season, it’s looking like we’re in for a championship battle that goes all the way down to Charlotte.
Who, or what, else caught your eye during the Illini doubleheader?
Turner: I’ll admit, I was skeptical of the Big Frog-Viper team’s bid to run the WoO circuit with Daulton Wilson. Didn’t think it would last. But Wilson, twice in the top-five at Farmer City, has become one of the dependably consistent tour drivers (along with usual suspects Pierce, Hoffman and McCreadie). In reality, Wilson’s ascendance to fourth in points is partly an indictment of how poorly the rest of the WoO contingent is running. Among drivers sixth-10th in WoO points, over the last five series races, they have a combined three top-five finishes. That’s pitiful.
Smithback: Daulton Wilson and Big Frog-Viper Motorsports continued to prove themselves to be legitimate contenders as his fourth-place runs at Farmer City have him sitting fourth in points. Wilson made headlines two weeks ago by nearly pulling off his first WoO win at East Alabama Motor Speedway, and now he’s just as fast at an Illinois bullring that has virtually nothing in common with Phenix City. It wasn’t long ago when Wilson’s future at the national level was in doubt after his departure from JRR Motorsports, but six months later, Wilson has become a borderline top-10 driver in the country and could be on pace for the best season of his career.
McFadden: Nick Hoffman did exactly what he needed — a pair of podiums — to take over the Outlaws points lead heading into April 24-25 at Talladega Short Track, a track that’s historically one of his weaker stops. Of course, he had some help Friday when Bobby Pierce got tangled up in a wreck running inside the top-five before salvaging a seventh-place finish. Still, Hoffman is producing every single night on tour. That’s nine podiums for him in 16 series events, a place that, should he continue, will keep him toe-to-toe with Pierce all season long.
Kovac: Aside from Drake Troutman leading the first 21 laps of Saturday’s finale (before fading to sixth), Tim McCreadie was the only driver who really gave Pierce, Sheppard and Nick Hoffman (two podium finishes) a run for their money. McCreadie overtook Hoffman for second late in Friday’s 40-lapper and finished there, not right on Sheppard’s back bumper but at least within sight of the victor. T-Mac continues to show that he’s the legitimate No. 3 guy on the WoO trail behind Pierce and Hoffman, but he hasn’t yet been able to string together top-five finishes on the tour since two straight back in January (he was 15th on Saturday after being involved in a tangle).
Discuss a racer whose weekend performance deserves a deeper dive.
McFadden: Kyle Beard pulled off a thrilling Comp Cams Super Dirt Series victory at Old No. 1 Speedway just outside his hometown of Trumann, Ark. Tanner English appeared well on his way to victory until lapped traffic intervened, which in this sport, you have to anticipate being part of the deal. Beard, who picked up his first Comp Cams victory of the season, could make his car work around the top and bottom while English appeared more one dimensional around the bottom. That opened the door for Beard to overtake English in lapped traffic. It was certainly a well-deserved victory for the Arkansan.
Smithback: While Brent Larson was in the spotlight at Farmer City after his run-ins with Tyler Erb on Friday, son Matthew was over at Lucas Oil Speedway quietly having an impressive showing. The Baby Bomber kicked off his MLRA rookie campaign in Wheatland with a fifth-place run Saturday, his second career Super Late Model top-five following a third-place run in a weekly show at I-55 Federated Raceway Park in Pevely, Mo., last season. The 20-year-old has struggled in his scattered WoO appearances over the past year, but some time at the regional level this season should give him the chance to hone his craft before potentially taking over for dad down the line.
Kovac: Another weekend, another Hudson O’Neal win. Rarely have we gone long this season without seeing O’Neal celebrating in victory lane, which he did again after a last-lap triumph in Saturday’s Hunt the Front finale at North Georgia Speedway. That’s a division-leading 11 wins already this year for O’Neal as he rapidly nears his Super Late Model single-season career-high of 15 victories. Saturday was a demonstration of just how formidable he’s become: a two-to-go caution flag gave him a final shot and he seized it, hitting the top side to perfection in sweeping past Ashton Winger and race-long leader Joseph Joiner for the $12,000 checkered flag. And interestingly, he’s now won at eight tracks with all but one of them (Central Arizona) down south. He’s reached double-figures and he’s yet to even win in his native Midwest!
Turner: Caden McWhorter’s Illini 100 weekend virtually ended before it began. A contentious frontstretch collision with Justin Duty halted his opening night bid, and he was an early scratch Saturday. He’s won many races at Farmer City but didn’t get to show much in national touring competition. He’ll take his Doug Curless-owned car to the MARS circuit this weekend. The question is can the 19-year-old match his expectations of regularly outrunning the MARS regulars, among the toughest regional drivers in the country.
Preview this week’s Vic Hill-promoted Gauntlet at Volunteer Speedway.
Smithback: There’s certainly an appetite for high-level Late Model racing at Bulls Gap given the full grandstand at our World of Outlaws stop last month, but attaching that kind of eye-catching purse to a new, somewhat unconventional race is still a gamble no matter how you slice it. It looks like the support from the racers will be strong given the names that are planning to attend, so hopefully the spectator turnout will be equally solid. Particularly for the Tuesday and Wednesday shows, although multiple successful FloRacing Night in America shows at Volunteer in recent years have shown that the east Tennessee faithful are more than willing to show up for some midweek racing.
McFadden: It should be a must-see event, especially with all the heavy hitters making the trip. Jonathan Davenport should have momentum on his side after a clean sweep at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., over the weekend. Dale McDowell is always tough around the Bulls Gap bullring. Back behind the wheel of Vic Hill’s CVR machine, Jimmy Owens I’m sure is eager for better results after a flip ended his night when the World of Outlaws ran there last month. Same with Brandon Overton, who, if you remember, crashed out of the lead in the WoO event at Bull Gap with two laps remaining. Devin Moran. Ricky Thornton Jr., who had a podium in the Outlaws feature at Bulls Gap in March, is flying under the radar, I feel, and of course shouldn’t be left out.
Turner: I’ll agree with Hill — his $100,000 bonus available to any driver that can win one of three prelims along with the finale is quite attainable. So much so that standout drivers are lining up to enter the event. As we’ve mentioned before, the question is what kind of midweek crowds will you get in April. The weather forecast looks promising, so perhaps this unusual format will get a fair chance to prove fruitful.
Kovac: Hill is all-in on creating a buzz-worthy annual, multiday event at Bulls Gap, and, with suitable weather, he has a shot with the Gauntlet. Volunteer is definitely a cool track with those imposing banks and Hill’s surface-prep abilities seem to have made it as racy as it’s ever been, which bodes well for four nights of action. Saturday’s finale could be especially interesting with as many as three drivers (if there’s three different preliminary feature winners) going for the $100,000 bonus for also capturing the week’s big race. Hopefully, though, there’s no collusion among drivers (wink, wink) to ensure one of the eligible racers collects Saturday's bonus.
What do you focus on during weekends — like the upcoming one — when both national tours are idle?
McFadden: It’s a chance for the regional tours to grab the spotlight, opportunities that don’t come around often during the heart of the season when the national tours run seemingly every week. This weekend has a strong mix of marquee races across the country: the Slocum 50 at 34 Raceway opens MARS action in the Midwest, Cochran hosts the Southern Thunder in the Southeast, and Eldora Speedway kicks off its season with the Iron-Man Series in Ohio — where I’ll be. You’ve also got the Northern Allstars at Paragon and Brownstown, which should draw a solid Indiana fields. When you get a lineup of regional events like this, the hope is they’re well-supported across each region, preferably with car counts in the 30s.
Smithback: These are definitely the weekends for the regional tours to shine. Outside of Volunteer's Gauntlet, one of this week’s main attractions will be the season-opening MARS tripleheader at Cedar County Raceway and 34 Raceway. The tour has experienced some solid growth in recent seasons, and 2026 seems poised to continue that trend. In chatting with series staff at Farmer City, I was told roughly 20 teams have expressed their intentions to follow the tour this season. Between the tour’s usual suspects and newcomers like Tanner English and Caden McWhorter, as well as a schedule that takes them to some of the raciest tracks in the country, MARS is shaping up to be appointment viewing all year long.
Turner: In a general sense, I’m interested in how national touring drivers are performing when they go elsewhere. Most specifically, are those midpack WoO and Lucas Oil guys able to show what they’ve learned at the top level and head to a regional race and win, or run up front? They certainly should be if they want to avoid being labelled field-fillers. When I look at the Top 25, I often feel like voters credit (misjudge?) some drivers as better than they are simply because they’re running bigger races.
Kovac: I hope for some good stories to develop among the regional racers for whom victory in national touring series events are rare. It’s their time to grab a larger share of the spotlight with the national circuits not hogging it. But I also keep an eye on where the national tour regulars race; the uncertainty of where a big name might show up adds a little old-school flavor (at least as much as possible in this age of social media typically indicating where drivers are headed). Also, like Todd, I like to note if the guys who seem to be struggling on the national tours are able to pop in and win a regional event, providing evidence of not only how much they’ve learned but also how difficult it is to win at that level.
