Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Big night for Delaware standout
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Trevor Collins (WRTSpeedwerx/SDS Photography)
Trevor Collins has found success in Super and Crate Late Model competition over the last several seasons, but the 27-year-old Seaford, Del., driver has never started a season as good as this one.
Along with a $3,026 Super Late Model victory at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway in the Mark “Coot” Williams Memorial, he has a pair Crate victories at Delmar’s Delaware International Speedway and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway, all in his first four starts overall.
“It’s not a bad way to start out the year,” Collins said of his three consecutive victorious weekends.
It’s also a great way to head into Friday’s action, one of his biggest racing nights of the season. Not only is the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series invading the Georgetown oval, but it’s the season opener for the RUSH Crate Late Model Series, and Collins plans to compete in both divisions.
In the national touring event, Collins hopes to improve on his 22nd-to-10th performance last season, and in the Crate division he’ll be launching what he plans to be a season-long pursuit on the RUSH circuit.
"Last year we did a little bit more Super racing, but this year it's looking like we're doing a little bit more Crate racing,” Collins said, anticipating his first career run on a series. “It's something that we've wanted to do and just something different. You get to go to different places and see different places. It’s just something we've wanted to do, and I feel like right now we've got good speed I feel like it's now is the time we need to do it if we're gonna do it.”
Georgetown’s two-division action starts a busy weekend for Collins, who on Saturday will head to the second RUSH event at Winchester (Va.) Speedway before rejoining the Lucas Oil circuit Sunday at Hagerstown.
Collins can’t pinpoint what’s made his Rocket Chassis cars so successful early this season (Trevor and his father Alan own the Super Late Model while Wes and Prudy Clifton own his Crate car).
"We really haven't done much different it don't seem like,” Collins said. “It just feels like we're heading in the right direction. We've had really good speed everywhere we went. And really, it's been different types of racetracks like Hagerstown and Georgetown and Delmar. We've unloaded really good at all three.”
Collins has been racing most of his life, starting on the NASCAR tract in the bandoleros and legends car division. After journeying to North Carolina for several years, including a brief run in asphalt Late Models, he transitioned to dirt in 2015 to run closer to home, first in the modified division and then in Late Models.
"I think that was probably the best decision we ever made,” Collins said.
He’s collected nearly 20 Late Model victories, track titles at Georgetown and Delmar, and has home-state victories in Camp Barnes Benefit and Delaware State Dirt Track Championship events. He’s also scored significant paydays in recent seasons at Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md., winning the $3,022 Ernie Jones Memorial and Huey Wilcoxon Memorial for a career-high $4,000.
Modestly saying that “we’re just a small team from Delaware,” Collins plans to branch out from weekly racing this season on the RUSH circuit, a Crate Late Model tour that has averaged as many as 40 cars per event. He’s confident he can compete.
"I would like to say we should be top five in points. We should have a really good shot at Rookie of the Year,” Collins said. “Hopefully, we could start out the whole deal with a win at Georgetown, but we'll see when we get here.”
While he’s familiar with a few series tracks, Collins will have to adjust to many new-to-him ovals and make trips as long as nearly 500 miles (to Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.). Along with Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania, the series visits tracks in New York and Ohio, too.
Maintaining two race cars — his Super Late Model is the No. 11ac (a tribute to his late mother, Angie Collins) and his Crate Late Model is the No. 72 — is a challenge, but Collins and the team try to prepare both ahead of time at the Cliftons’ Gumboro, Del., shop.
"I try to,” he said, “but it always seems to be a last-minute scramble at times.”
He’s ready for Georgetown’s big weekend, where he expects to learn a lot competing against national standouts like reigning Lucas Oil champ Devin Moran, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Thornton Jr. and more.
"I feel like the bigger shows that we run, the more we learn and it kind of helps us translate it back to home,” Collins said. “I mean, when you're running with the Lucas guys, you learn so much in such a short time because you're just so behind all the time and you gotta get better if you're gonna run with them.”
While Collins runs well on cushion-ringed tracks, “I feel like I really need to get better in the slick, especially with the Supers,” he said. “It’s a lot of finesse with them to get them hooked up, and I feel like that's the spot that I'm struggling with. But when there’s a lip or something like that, I can get up there and get on it pretty good.”
On the RUSH circuit, “we've gotta get better at those places (with slick surfaces), I feel like,” he added. "I think we're gonna have to. We’re gonna have to get used to it pretty quickly if we're gonna run good on that deal.”
Along with his Crate touring action, Collins plans frequent starts in the Super Late Model, including more national touring action when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series visits Georgetown and two Pennsylvania tracks next month.
Collins hopes his three-victory start to the season is a sign of more victories to come.
"I feel like last year we were always right there, but it was just little things that would happen that would put us behind or something like that,” he said. “It just seems like this year we're having good luck and everything's going our way so far.
“It's hard to get these wins anymore, so to win three in the first four races, I feel like it's starting out pretty good. Hopefully we can keep it going.”
Weekly highlights
• Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., won twice in Super Late Model action on the April 17-18 weekend, earning $5,000 at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway and $4,000 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway.
• Hometown driver Kenton Sanders, who finished third in track points last season, captured April 18’s Route 66 Motor Speedway season opener in Amarillo, Texas.
• Taking advantage when Devin Weyandt got into the wall late in the race, Gunnar Walls of Chambersburg, Pa., captured April 17’s Limited Late Model feature at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway, the second of his career at the track and first since 2024.
• In capturing an April 11 street stock victory at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway, hometown driver Clyde Overholt became the first driver in track history with feature victories in six divisions: Limited Late Model, Crate Late Model, sportsman, modified street, pure street and street stock.
• Winning his second Ohio race of April, Mike VanderMark Jr. of Cedar Springs, Mich., captured April 17’s Super Late Model feature at Attica Raceway Park, his first at the track. Ryan Missler of Bellevue, Ohio, escaped serious injury in a rollover accident when his car slipped over the turn-three banking while running second to VanderMark early in the feature.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• Winning April 17 at Big South Fork Raceway in Huntsville, Tenn., Chad Alley of Clinton, Tenn., grabbed his first Late Model victory.
Weekly news briefs
• After confusion (and a disqualification) in the Limited Late Model division on April 18, Thunderhill Raceway in Summertown, Tenn., has instituted a rule requiring Late Models to explicitly list the claimed weight requirement (according to type of engine) on the race car. Any car that doesn’t list the weight requirement will be disqualified or start on the tail of the next race. The track took responsibility for allowing a competitor to cross the scales in time trials without meeting the correct weight. The error was caught after the feature’s conclusion at the scale, and Grayson Brewer was awarded the victory over flagged winner Dusty Quillen, who was disqualified.
• Friendship Motor Speedway in Elkin, N.C., will host its first weekly Super Late Model event in more than 20 years with a $2,000-to-win event scheduled for May 2. The division will follow Carolina Clash rules and the highest finisher with a Limited Late Model powerplant will earn a $300 bonus.
• TNT Speedway in Three Lakes, Wis., has added an unsanctioned Limited Late Model division following the USRA rules package. Promoters plan to gauge interest of competitors and will build on the class if it's successful. The track, which has a May 30 season opener, ran two USRA Late Model events in 2025.
• The Save A Lot American All-Star organization has a total of eight tracks running weekly points, including the addition of Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C., for 2026. Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway also runs weekly All-Star points along with six Kentucky tracks: 191 Speedway, 201 Speedway, Hidden Hollow Speedway, Ponderosa Speedway, Rockcastle Speedway and Willard Speedway.
• A.J. Diemel of Elk Mound, Wis., will drive a No. 89 MB Customs Late Model owned by Dale and Tammy White at area specials and occasional events at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., and Red Cedar Speedway in Menomonie, Wis. Diemel will also drive the team's modified. Dale White previously fielded a Late Model for driver Tony Bahr beginning in 2005.
• Highway 72 Speedway in Corinth, Miss., is continuing improvements ahead of reopening for the 2026 season. Among other changes, the Robert Moore-owned track is adding a new pit area fence and a new fence for turns one and two. The track also plans to install a new PA system before the season. The track plans to announce its opening date soon.
• Tyler Ritchey, a 33-year-old from Woodbury, Pa., who beat the odds to become a winning Dirt Late Model driver at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway after suffering a paralyzing injury at the age of 18, died April 20 at a Johnston, Pa., hospital. Ritchey was found unresponsive four days earlier and diagnosed with multiple blood clots in his lungs and legs. He was in the intensive care unit for several days undergoing treatment but remained unresponsive before passing away. Ritchey used hand controls in his race cars to become a winning driver, including with his first Super Late Model victory in August at Bedford, Pa. Bedford Speedway posted that he was “an inspiration for all who knew him, a tough competitor, and an all-around amazing person." Ritchey is survived his wife Taylor and their 2-year-old son, Wyatt.
• Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., is restricting spectators crew members from standing in the infield between turns three and four. Citing safety concerns, only track officials and media members are allowed in that space, effective immediately.
• Devils Lake Speedway in Crary, N.D., is seeking donations of fuel gift cards to distribute to teams at drivers’ meetings prior to weekly racing programs. Businesses, families or individuals can donate fuel cards that will go to directly to the drivers. Names will be drawn at the drivers’ meeting until all the cards are handed out. See the track’s Facebook page for details.
• Camden (Tenn.) Speedway is mourning the passing of Billy Rushing, who assisted with track preparation. The Camden resident was 84. “Mr. Billy took the Russell family under his wings and truly taught us the track,” promoters posted on the Facebook page. “He was also one of the best grader and track prep men. Joel and I could have never learned what we did with out Mr. Billy Rushing.”
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., has 240 points to lead Tyler Erb (215) and Ryan Gustin (205).
IMCA (Limiteds): Jesse Sobbing of Malvern, Iowa, and Zach Zeitner of Bellevue, Neb., are tied with 77 points with Jordan Krug (74) in third.
American All-Stars (Crates): Logan Walls of Junction City, Ky., has 232 points to lead Tyler Hoy (152) and John Ruggiero Jr. (132).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Covy Parsons of Iuka, Miss., has 235 points to lead Allen Edwards (222) and Spencer Moore (212).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): Shannon Lee of Lumberton, Miss., has 328 points to lead Ben Davis (289) and Christopher Reid (270).
Ultimate (Crates): A.J. Spagnuolo of Shinnston, W.Va., has 35 points to lead Brian Nethers (34) and Dalton Adkins (33).
(Some organizations have yet to have points races)
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
Rockcastle Speedway, Mount Vernon, Ky. (April 24): Crate Late Models chase a $3,500-to-win purse sponsored by Mac's Mobile Home Supply; American All-Star weekly rules.
Highway 39 Speedway, Denison, Iowa (April 26): The newly renamed track (formerly Crawford County Speedway) launches the season with a $1,000-to-win IMCA Late Model event.
