Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
After bracing for '25 action, Ebert embraces '26 hopes
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Dan Ebert (heathlawsonphotos.com)
Last season, Dan Ebert spent his maiden touring Dirt Late Model campaign in survival mode — simply trying to stay out of trouble, preserve his equipment and make it to the next race having learned something.
Now, entering the gauntlet of his second summer in the division, the Lake Shore, Minn., driver is embracing the busiest part of his schedule rather than merely bracing for it. Six races in 10 days await on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series beginning Thursday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, and the 38-year-old believes he's more prepared than ever for that kind of workload.
"Bring it on, I'm ready," Ebert said through a grin Saturday at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio — his confidence backed by the resources of his James Trantina-owned No. 60 team. "I feel like our team is in pretty good shape. We're good shape car-wise, engine-wise. I'm like, 'Let's go.' I can't wait."
For the first time in his Dirt Late Model career, Ebert feels like he's strung together consecutive weekends where his race car has shown "true speed" throughout the night — with the strongest evidence coming during Firecracker 100 weekend at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
There, Ebert finished eighth in the 100-lap finale after running as high as second to Brandon Sheppard on lap 48. He also won his Saturday heat race and finished second in a 25-lap split-field semifeature.
"We've gotten a lot better," Ebert said. "That was an awesome weekend at Lernerville, getting a fast time, winning a heat race, battling Shepp for the lead. We showed true speed, I feel like. Up to this point, we've had some flashes, but a consistent, fast weekend where we were a legitimate threat is a recap of how that went. We're hoping to build on it, and hopefully it isn't a one-race fluke deal."
While results haven't fully reflected that progress elsewhere, Ebert believes the speed has been there. He finished 11th Saturday at Muskingum County after starting seventh, using the race as another opportunity to gather valuable notes.
The prior weekend at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn., he posted finishes of 12th and 16th, with his Friday qualifying speed the highlight. Ebert qualified fifth in his group despite drawing a heat race among standouts Garrett Alberson and Ricky Thornton Jr., then lost a position to series points leader Hudson O'Neal that left him starting 14th in the feature.
On Saturday, any chance of improving on that pace vanished when he was swept into a multicar pileup on the opening lap.
Rewind another two weeks to Dream XXXII at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, and Ebert believes that's where his recent up-tick truly began. After charging to third from seventh in his B-main to claim the final transfer spot, he climbed to 11th from 26th in the 100-lap feature. Since then, he feels his program has steadily trended upward.
He shined in June 10's Shale Crescent Dirt Cup, where Lucas Oil and World of Outlaws regulars squared off in the Ryder Cup-style event. Although Ebert slipped from third to 10th in the feature, his 13 points were the fifth-most among Team Lucas drivers in the tour's 117-84 victory.
"Eldora was kind of an eye-opener for me," Ebert said. "We had good speed most of the weekend. I'd had good speed at Eldora before, but to drive forward in that B-main, then start 26th and drive up to 11th in the feature, we stumbled onto some things that worked."
The upcoming Lucas Oil stretch should provide another measuring stick for Ebert. Last season, he struggled at two of the three upcoming venues, finishing 21st at 34 Raceway and 16th at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa, now home of next week's Silver Dollar Nationals. This year, however, he believes those results aren't necessarily indicative of what to expect.
"I didn't run very good last year at Shelby County, but there's a couple places I didn't run well at and I've been better this year," Ebert said.
Lucas Oil Speedway — the site of Friday and Saturday's Diamond Nationals — is the most familiar stop on the swing. The 3/8-mile oval in Wheatland, Mo., was a regular destination during Ebert's days on the United States Modified Touring Series. Even so, it has yet to yield a top-10 finish in eight Lucas Oil starts. He averaged a 16.2 finish there in five starts last season and owns a 16.0 average through three appearances this season.
But on this trip, a top-10 finish is no longer something he hopes to stumble into. Rather, it's a goal he believes his team is capable of producing on a consistent basis.
"You want to win a race, but as a team, we've all been very realistic with our goals," Ebert said. "You have to think back to last year. Thinking we could win a race was super far-fetched. Even if we don't win a race this year, I'm not going to hang my head about it. These guys have been racing longer than I've ever raced a race car. I was racing snowmobiles and dirt bikes and everything else."
Ebert isn't claiming to have everything figured out. Any confidence he's gained has come through, in his words, "slightly incremental" progress rather than bursts — and he knows that momentum can disappear as quickly as it arrives. Still, he's encouraged by the trajectory.
"Again, it all can change in a couple nights, but I feel like we're on offense compared to last year, when we were on defense from the green flag," said Ebert, who has a single top-five finish and five top-10 finishes while standing 13th in Lucas Oil points. "Everything was all new. I was wrecking plenty. But I do feel more confidence than I've ever had. Confidence is huge. That's worth a couple tenths all day long."
Ebert, of course, isn't doing it alone. He credits Jeff McGee — also an employee on Brandon Sheppard's No. B5 team — as a sounding board throughout the learning process.
"He's been a great asset for me to bounce ideas off of," Ebert said. "He's really good at explaining things and watching race cars. I feel like we're learning each other as well."
That collaboration has only reinforced Ebert's optimism about what's ahead.
"I do feel like I'm starting to figure out more of what I need as far as feel and where the platform of the car needs to be," Ebert said. "It's not that I don't have it — I'm just having to learn it. Second year in a Late Model, we're figuring it out."
