DirtonDirt exclusive
Northern, Western Late Model tour previews
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt.com staff reporter
Gregg Satteree was the AMS tour champ last season. (Jason Walls/wrtspeedwerx.com)
With spring just around the corner (we hope), here's a look at developments on more regional tours, two in the North and one in the West, for the 2025 season. The brief capsules, with information primarily from series officials and directors, focus on changes for the upcoming season (listed alphabetically):
Selinsgrove Ford Appalachian Mountain Speedweek
2024 recap: Gregg Satterlee of Indiana, Pa., dominated the miniseries (three wins and five podiums in seven races) en route to the title by 259 points over Middleburg, Pa.’s Dylan Yoder.
2025 opener: June 6 at Clinton County Speedway in Mill Hall, Pa., for a $6,000-to-win program that kicks off eight races in 10 days.
Schedule highlights: The Jim Bernheisel-run and Pennsylvania-based miniseries has eight races at as many racetracks across June 6-15. Three events pay a miniseries-high $6,000-to-win, with June 12 at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway, June 13 at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway and June 15 at Bridgeport (N.J.) Motorsports Park. Bridgeport’s date, which is also the tour’s finale (replacing BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa.), attracts the miniseries to New Jersey for the first time. The miniseries visits national-touring tracks Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (June 7), Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway (June 8) and Bedford (June 13). Monday, June 9 and Wednesday, June 11 are the miniseries off-days.
Rules and/or format changes: American Racer becomes the exclusive tire of the miniseries. The new tire rule is any SD-44 compound or harder from the Indiana, Pa., company. The series will also allow drivers two caution laps to change a flat tire during the feature only (only if the tire is noticeably flat but not if the car is towed to the pits).
Expected regulars: Reigning miniseries champ Gregg Satterlee, Hall of Famer Rick Eckert, 2023 champ Tyler Emory (whose season was limited to 13 races in 2024 because of a back injury), last year’s runner-up Dylan Yoder, last year’s third-place finisher Matt Cosner, Kyle Hardy; Jason Covert (fifth in all-time miniseries wins with four), Coleby Frye, Dan Stone, Hayes Mattern, Andrew Yoder, Bryan Bernheisel, Nathan Long and Danny Snyder, among others. Other possibilities include Trever Feathers, Jamie Lathroum, Kyle Lee, Jakob Piper, Jeff Rine, J.T. Spence and Justin Weaver.
Odds and ends: Selinsgrove Ford returns as miniseries title sponsor. … The point fund totals more than $21,000 (a $4,000 increase from 2024) with $6,000 going to the champion, $3,000 for second. $3,000 for third, $2,000 for fourth, $1,500 for fifth. $1,400 for sixth, $1,200 for seventh, $1,200 for eighth, $1,100 for ninth, $1,000 for 10th, $900 for 11-15th and $800 for 16-20th. … Winner’s shares double should a driver win with a Lazer Chassis. … The Racing Stripes Program returns where drivers are encouraged to paint the sidewalls of right-side tires to identify the tire compound being used. Green for a soft compound, yellow is hard and blue is extra hard. It's not mandatory, but participating teams receive a $40 cash bonus per race for finishing inside the top-10 and enter a drawing to win a free tire at each event. Painting a tire compound’s wrong color warrants disqualification. … Returning miniseries personnel: race director Jeff Gromis, technical director Rick Mease, announcer Steve Inch and photographer Jason Walls. … Contingency awards include: $5,000 for the highest finishing points driver finishing inside the top-five in every event; $200 for fast time courtesy of Superior Homes; $100 for each qualifier winner courtesy of Appalachian Auto and RV, ML Performance, Mike Walls Towing and Panchos Racing Products; $100 Hard Luck Award courtesy of Little Tool Truck; and $100 for the hard charger courtesy Jonestown Bank and Trust. … A drawing will also be conducted at each event for competitors including one free American Racer Tire; three sheets of aluminum from Wieland Metal Services; $1,200 non-qualifier bonuses courses of Bernheisel Race Cars and Selinsgrove Ford. … FloRacing will live-stream events.
Jay’s Automotive United Late Model Series
2024 recap: Michael Lake of Uniontown, Pa., picked up one series victory July 4 at Bradford Speedway in Rew, Pa., and finished inside the top-five 10 of 20 races for the tour’s title by 65 points over Moon Township, Pa.’s Logan Zarin.
2025 opener: April 25-26 at Beckley (W.Va.) Motor Speedway with $4,053- and $15,053-to-win co-sanctioned events alongside the Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals.
Schedule highlights: The tour’s milestone 25th anniversary season is highlighted by three events at revived Pennsboro (W.Va.) Speedway boasting substantial winner’s shares of $20,000 (May 26), $50,000.00 (Sept. 1) and $70,000.00 (Oct. 11 finale). The season opener April 25-26 at Beckley Motor Speedway is the USA 100 co-sanctioned with the Schaeffer’s Spring Nationals. The tour has also put together the new Independence Speedweek on I-86 where more than $100,000 in purse money will be cashed out across four races July 3-6 at The Dirt Track at Genesee in Batavia, N.Y., McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa., Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., and Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa.
Rules and/or format changes: American Racer becomes the exclusive tire of the Trevor Zuver-directed series. Since 2000, the series had allowed both American Racers Tires and Hoosier Racing Tires. The tire rule will be American Racer SD-44 compounds or harder. The series has also revamped its points format. Emergency provisional starters will be awarded feature-finishing payouts instead of only tow money.
Expected regulars: Reigning champ Michael Lake will apparently defend his title. Former Lucas Oil campaigner Mason Zeigler, 2024 RUSH Late Model champion and 14-year-old Brock Pinkerous, Dylan Lewis, Dave Stamm, Nick Peters, Tyler Wyant, Russell Erwin and Ryan Montgomery, among others, are expected to follow the tour as well.
Key question: Can the bolstered series, which boasts nine features paying at least $10,000-to-win, breathe new life into Super Late Model racing in the Northeast and draw more regulars?
Odds and ends: Jay’s Automotive returns as the Carnegie, Pa., tour’s title sponsor. Series point fund to pay $10,000 to the champion and $1,000 for 10th in 2025 with a $13,000 total increase from 2024. … Midseason (July 6 at Eriez) and end-of-season (Oct. 11 at Pennsboro) bonuses will be cashed out to the top-five drivers who have signed the tour’s loyalty program. … The tour will pay nearly $850,000 among purses, points fund and bonus money. … The tour’s Aug. 31 visit to Tyler County Speedway paying $20,000-to-win and dubbed the County Roads 100 unofficially replaces the Hillbilly 100, the sport's longest-running 100-lap Super Late Model event that’s been moved to Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series). The ULMS event at the Middlebourne, W.Va., bullring is also the track’s richest standalone event of 2025. … Series director Trevor Zuver says that live streaming will “possibly make a return to the series” as long as it would “aid the purses and ease the burden on the speedways.”
Coors Light I-5 Silver Bullet I-5 Series
2024 recap: Bricen James of Albany, Ore., won three times and never finished worse than fourth in 10 races en route to his second straight series title.
2025 opener: May 24-25 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., for back-to-back $2,000-to-win programs.
Schedule highlights: The West Coast’s premier Super Late Model tour based in Lebanon, Ore., has 12 race nights once again in 2025, with six those events at third-mile Willamette Speedway (May 24-25, June 7, June 28 and Aug. 30-31’s finale). Grays Harbor Raceway of Elma, Wash., has two series race dates July 18-19 for the first time since 2008. Southern Oregon Speedway of Medford, Ore., is the third and final track on the circuit with multiple dates Aug. 15-16. Douglas County Dirt Track of Roseburg, Ore., on June 27 and Sunset Speedway Park of Banks, Ore., on July 12 also have series dates. All shows pay $2,000-to-win.
Rules and/or format changes: None that have been announced or made known to DirtonDirt.com.
Expected regulars: Back-to-back reigning champ Bricen James, Collen Winebarger (whose nine series wins are tied for second all-time), last year’s runner-up Joey Tanner, last year’s fourth-place finisher Rob Campos, last year’s fifth-place finisher John Duty, and Doug Mott, among others.
Key question: Can the West Coast’s lone open-competition engine circuit build up the Super Late Model class and attract more than five drivers to enter every series race?
Odds and ends: Coors Light returns as the sponsor of the Oregon-based tour now in its third season being revived in 2023 (the tour was dormant from 2012-22). … Bend, Ore.'s Rob Mayea, who entered seven of 10 events last season, is I-5’s all-time leader with 11 victories. … Bricen James and Collen Winebarger of Corbett, Ore., have won 14 of the tour’s 17 events since the tour's relaunching in 2023. Joey Tanner (last August at Willamette and June 2023 at Grays Harbor) and McLain Beaudoin (June 2023) at Southern Oregon are the only other drivers to win I-5 features since 2023. … For more information, visit the Coors Light Silver Bullet I-5 Series Facebook page.
Roundup of other Northern and Western tours
Central Pennsylvania’s Dirt Late Model racing ambassador Jim Bernheisel has launched a new autumn miniseries dubbed the Fall Clash starting Aug. 29 at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway and ending Nov. 1 at Georgetown (Del.) Speedway. A $30,000 points fund for the top 10 points finishers with $10,000 going to the champion buoys the 10-race minitour that will live-stream on FloRacing. The richest event is Oct. 24-25’s Keystone Cup at Bedford Speedway ($25,000-to-win). American Racer is also the exclusive tire of the Fall Clash. ... The Burlile Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series, formerly called the Steel Block Late Model Series, has 20 events spread across Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Twelve events are in Ohio, with Alma’s Atomic Speedway hosting the series seven times. Rossburg’s Eldora Speedway hosts the finale Oct. 17-18 as part of Dirt Track World Championship weekend. The tour’s $5,000-to-win events Aug. 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and Oct. 18 at Eldora are the most lucrative. The season opens April 5 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. The point fund pays $2,500 to the series champion and drivers must be series members for a $100 fee (was $60 before Feb. 28) to be eligible for the points fund. Zach Milbee of Poca, W.Va., is looking for his fifth series title in six years. Select events will be live-streamed on Dirt Rich TV. … The second-year and Colorado-based DIRTcar Tri-State Late Model Region tour has 15 events on its schedule starting May 10 at Lincoln County Raceway in North Platte, Neb., and ending Oct. 11 at El Paso County Raceway in Calhan, Colo. El Paso County hosts a series-high four events on June 20-21, July 18 and Oct. 11. Broomfield, Colo.’s Joe Bellm is the reigning series champion. … The fourth-year Xtreme Late Model tour based of California has 10 events on its schedule. Antioch (Calif.) Speedway hosts a series-high four races (May 3, May 31, Aug. 23 and Sept. 27) with Marysville (Calif.) Raceway hosting the series opener and finale March 29 and Oct. 18. All events pay $1,000-to-win. The tour has adjusted its engine rules in 2025 as four-barrel carburetors and unlimited cubic inches are now legal, thus making IMCA modified motors legal. Placerville (Calif.) Speedway “is willing to make a two-race exception (for the series) to allow a test with (four-barrel carburetors) on a 7200 chip and (two-barrel carburetors) on a 7800 chip,” per the series Facebook. More info can be found on the Xtreme Late Model Series Facebook page.
