DirtonDirt Dispatches
Dispatches: Sobbing tops big Boone showdown
Jesse Sobbing (99) repels Zach Zeitner (76). (photofinishphotos.com)
Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing during Labor Day weekend (look coverage of Lucas Oil's Hillbilly Hundred at Lernerville and Fall Clash action at Bedford elsewhere). Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country
Boone battle
Jesse Sobbing of Malvern, Iowa, led laps 4-50 of Monday’s Late Model feature of IMCA’s Speedway Motors Super Nationals, grabbing a $3,000 victory at Boone (Iowa) Speedway. But Sobbing rarely had a lap when polesitter Zach Zeitner or a charging Clay Thompson weren’t trying to go under him or around him.
“I kept seeing ‘em on the bottom and I was trying to not overshoot the top,” Sobbing said. “Hell, you can’t be a cowboy if you don’t do cowboy (stuff), right? This race, the nostalgia of this race, winning this race, it means a lot. I don’t know if they would have spun me around, I probably would have tried the same damn thing to try to win it, too.”
Zeitner, the Bellevue, Neb., driver leading IMCA’s overall points, led only the first lap but stole second from Thompson on the last circuit after chasing Sobbing most of the way.
“Halfway through he's running the top, I’m on the bottom and I’m just like, ‘This is pretty fun.’ I’m waiting to catch lapped traffic and then a caution would come out right when we catch him,” Zeitner said. “And I think that’s probably where I maybe could have got him, but I would have loved to have seen how that would have played out if we could have caught a lapped traffic and raced through it.”
A victory would’ve been great, but with the “year we’re having, I can’t hang my head on this,” Zeitner said. “So just hats off to everybody that helps me, all my sponsors, just everybody that backs me. I mean, we’re having a good year, good finish tonight.”
Thompson, the modified ace from Sioux City, Iowa, who had been wheeling a Late Model the past month, won a consolation race and roared into contention in the main event. He was giving it his all, once diving under Sobbing to briefly pull ahead with eight laps remaining. Engine woes struck in the final laps.
“I was running out of fuel there and it was cutting in and out and I was trying to stay with him, and I was pulling more tearoffs for antifreeze and stuff coming out of the radiator. It’s really hot right there,” Thompson said, adding that the battle with Sobbing was a good one. “That's part of it when you’re an exchanging sliders like that. You’re going big or you’re going home, and I wanted to win and I know he did, too.” — IMCA reports
Hall of Famer fun
An old pro celebrated in victory lane for the first time in long time as Late Model Hall of Famer Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., held off Taylor Carver for a $1,000 super stock victory Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
The 64-year-old Frye, driving a car owned by regular-season super stock champion Tim Brown, led all but the opening lap. The former MLRA and MARS champion was driving the car to help his longtime friend Brown dial it in for the Big Buck 50 presented by Whitetail Trophy Oct. 10-12.
“I think the last race I won was a motorcycle hare scramble,” a laughing Frye said in victory lane. He added that his car felt “to me, just like a Late Model. Man, it felt just like one. It’s been 40 years since I really drove a street stock and I don’t remember it being nothing like this.
“This is a lot better car than I had. I want to thank Tim and Staci Brown for the opportunity to do this. I tried to back out of it and he kept begging. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll come do this’ and I’m so glad I did.”
Frye was seventh on Friday in the feature, his first action since driving one event in a Late Model in 2022. Prior to that, he had last raced in 2019 in the modified division.
Frye’s victory came on the undercard of Chris Simpson’s $20,000-plus sweep on the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series. — Lyndal Scranton
Feger’s 200th
Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., was in the middle of his winner’s interview after Sunday night’s 40-lap MARS Late Model Championship Series feature at Spoon River Speedway in Banner, Ill., when he posed his own question to announcer Mike Norris.
“Is this my 200th win?” Feger asked.
Norris paused, and then remembered that Feger’s $5,000 success was indeed a personal milestone.
“Your mother was telling me about that,” Norris said before congratulating the 47-year-old veteran.
Now in his 23rd season of Dirt Late Model competition, Feger reached the 200-win mark in his career with a typically gritty effort in his Longhorn Chassis. He fell to third from his outside pole starting spot for laps 6-10 but roared back, overtaking Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga., for second on lap 11 and then chasing down Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., to pull a deciding slider for the lead on lap 30.
Feger remarked that he couldn’t “think of a better place” to win his 200th race than Spoon River, a high-banked bullring that he considers one of his favorites tracks. His victory came in his fifth start of the season at the third-mile oval, where just over two weeks ago he finished second in a World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series event.
The big moment also put Feger in a bit of a sentimental mood.
“I’m still this little boy in the trailer park racing his BMX around my trailer,” said Feger, who registered his sixth MARS triumph and 13th overall checkered flag of 2025. “To think I’d ever win a Late Model race is crazy, let alone 200 of them. It’s just mind-blowing.”
Hitting 200 victories added another flourish to a career renaissance for Feger, who captured 16 features in 2023 and 17 in ’24 while claiming MARS and DIRTcar weekly championships both seasons. He’s leading both points races again this year and, with four more wins, will push his three-season victory total to a cool 50. — Staff and series reports
Simpson's sweep
Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, polished off a flawless weekend on Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., completing a sweep of the 11th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial.
Simpson backed his Friday victory with another Comp Cams Super Dirt Series feature win, this time leading the final 30 of 40 laps, outdistancing Clay Stuckey. Simpson earned $12,000 for the win, which included a $2,000 bonus courtesy of Mary Jenkins Holt in honor of the late Ron Jenkins, builder and owner of the original Lucas Oil Speedway.
Including a pair of $500 fast-time bonus awards plus a $100 series bonus each night for fast time, Simpson took home more than $20,000 for the two nights.
"I just want to thank everybody at Lucas Oil and the Jenkins family for the extra money they put up," Simpson said. "It means a lot. I go to work every day, from 7 until 3:30 and go out and work on my car afterward.
"I don't do this for a living. To be able to come down here ... I've had one other week when I brought home $20,000 close to home."
Daniel Adam beat Simpson to the lead at the start, the first time in two nights that Simpson had not set the pace. Adam rolled away to nearly a one-second lead before Simpson began to reel him in, drawing within .215 seconds by lap 10 with Terry Phillips another 1.2 seconds behind in third.
Simpson took the lead on lap 11, sliding past Adam on the inside coming off turn four. Just five laps later, Simpson had sped away to a two-second command over Adam with Clay Stuckey taking third away from Phillips.
"The top was better. I could see that and he had a pretty good cushion," Simpson said of Adam's early lead. "I knew I had to get out there and ride and just follow him. I tried to keep the car a little straighter than he was so I wouldn't burn up the right rear."
As action remained caution-free and the track took on rubber, Simpson upped his cushion to 2.4 seconds by the halfway mark on lap 20. Adam was able to cut into the margin a bit, but Simpson continued to sail along with a comfortable margin.
The first caution came on lap 33 as fourth-running Phillips slowed in turn four. That took away Simpson’s 1.8-second lead over Adam with seven to go, putting some mystery into the late stages of the event. Simpson had a flawless restart and Adam slipped a bit, allowing Stuckey to get into second and R.C. Whitwell went to third. But Simpson finished off the victory, beating Stuckey by .793 seconds at the finish. Whitwell was third with Cole Wells of Aurora fourth and Mason Oberkramer fifth after starting 14th. — Lyndal Scranton
Illinois adoptee?
Ashton Winger cut his teeth on the Southeast’s hallmark red clay, but his love for Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway’s black dirt and tight quarters runs deep.
That was evident following his first-ever Fairbury victory Saturday when the Hampton, Ga., native prevailed over a stout MARS Championship Series field for the $10,000 payday in the Illinois Dirt Shootout — a feature which he outdueled feel-good Prairie Dirt Classic champion Brian Shirley.
"It's one of my favorite places. I hate we didn't come here for the PDC," the 25-year-old Winger said in victory lane. "We've just been, you know, it's been a trying year. I can't seem to quit tearing stuff up, so we didn't get to come. Man, this place is awesome. I tell everybody, man, I'm from Georgia, but, man, if I could, I'd let Illinois adopt me.”
Winger’s brazen driving style made the difference Saturday where a series of sliders propelled him around Shirley, the early pacesetter, to lead the final 18 of 50 laps. What also helped Winger is Shirley’s pace slowed the last half of the feature, the downfall of his hard contact with lapped car Mike Spatola on lap 28.
“My car was really good there. I really don't know if I would have had a shot there, the racetrack for pretty close to one there around the time I got to the lead,” said Winger, who trailed by as many as 3.3 seconds Saturday. “Squirrel and a lapped car got together, and I seen it knocked his right door off.”
Entering turn three on lap 30, Winger pulled the trigger on the first of three slider attempts that eventually landed him the lead. Well, the latter two slider moves were planned, at least.
“The first time I slid him, I really didn’t mean to. I was just trying to show him my nose, you know, to let him know I was there,” Winger said. “He turned back left and drove back by me. And then he pushed one time down here leaving (turns) three and four, and I was like, ‘Man, I know it’s cleaning up. If I’m gonna go, I go.’”
Winger unleashed his next slider entering turn one on lap 32, a bold move that launched him so far up the banking, his right-rear bounced off turn two’s concrete wall.
“I probably slid way too far, and I see the fence coming,” Winger said. “I just made sure, whenever I hit it, I wheeled left and wheel-spinning pretty hard to go back forward.”
Shirley fended off Winger’s first two slider attempts, but Winger put him away in the following set of corners on lap 32, driving in deep entering turn three and generating the run needed to take command of the high groove come lap 33.
With the victory Winger became the 200th different Late Model feature winner at Fairbury, according to track and series announcer Mike Norris.
“My car is really good. I’m really blessed to have the people that I have. I’m really thankful,” Winger said. “Honestly my car is so good, probably anybody could do it.” — Staff reports
Labor intensive
Mason Zeigler’s made a habit out of winning so frequently at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway he felt compelled to deliver a message to Friday’s Turk Burket Tribute Labor Day 55 attendees in the event that opened Jim Bernheisel’s inaugural Fall Clash, the nine-race miniseries across the Northeast.
“Oh man, I love this place,” said Zeigler after he picked up his eighth victory at the half-mile over his last 11 feature starts dating back to May 2023 with Friday’s flag-to-flag triumph at the fairgrounds facility. “Thank you, fans, for coming out. You guys, at some point, I hope you guys don't start to hate us. You know, we work really hard on this thing, and I promise you, we don't win for a lack of effort. We really work hard and I think my team deserves it.”
With Friday’s $12,355 victory (counting $300 in bonuses for fast time and his dash win), Zeigler’s total winnings at Bedford the past two-and-a-half years are now more than $86,665 (not counting July 25’s fourth-place finish at the half-mile). That includes last September’s D.J. Troutman Memorial victory in the modified. Zeigler’s cashed more than $18,000 at Bedford this year alone, adding to his $6,000 victory in this past June’s Appalachian Mountain Speedweek event at the half-mile.
The Chalk Hill, Pa., driver who’s won three straight Labor Day 55s might have even turned in his most dominant Bedford performance to date Friday. He set overall fast time, won the miniseries dash handedly and went unchallenged all 55 laps from the pole.
“The car was flawless. I mean, (crew chief) Bryan (Liverman) did an incredible job,” Zeigler said. “He made a tire call there (before the race) that I really didn't agree with. It ended up being the right call. And I didn't put a scratch on it until I was pulling off the racetrack right there. I didn't realize that guy was turning in and I was coming around to the scales, but it got the quarterpanel a little bit. But no, what a heck of a race car, man.”
Friday’s victory even impressed Zeigler more than usual because "this motor's got probably 1,000 laps on it easy right now, so for it to run around here and set fast time and still be that healthy, I'm really ecstatic about that.
“Again hats off to everybody that's part of this thing, my whole crew … the car, it really just drives itself around there.” — Staff reports
Not so different
It wasn’t the same sanctioning body, but it was same winning results Friday for Chris Simpson at the 11th annual Ron Jenkins Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
Simpson, of Oxford, Iowa, led all 30 laps to capture the opener of the weekend Comp Cams Super Dirt Series doubleheader. It was a year ago that Simpson also won Labor Day weekend’s opening feature on the now-shuttered Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association.
Simpson earned $7,500 for his night's work, which included a $2,000 bonus for the win and $500 fast-time bonus courtesy of Mary Jenkins Holt in honor of the late Ron Jenkins, builder of the original Lucas Oil Speedway. The event drew a solid 45 cars.
"We were good. This was a brand new car and we were gonna go to Illinois and race, then I was like ‘Why don't we get the new car out and go to Wheatland?' Good choice," Simpson said in victory lane. "We run good here and we love coming here and the track is always racy.”
After setting fast qualifying time earlier and winning his heat race, Simpson started on the pole and roared to a 3.8-second lead over fellow front-row starter Gordy Gundaker by lap five. The first caution few one lap later for a spinning Kayden Clatt, after Simpson’s cushion had reached 4.1 seconds.
Simpson sprinted away again after the restart, rolling to a three-second lead over Gundaker by the race's midpoint on lap 15, while in the midst of lapped traffic. Gundaker was able to slice into the lead as the duo navigated slower cars, pulling within two seconds by lap 19. Simpson then regained his rhythm, opening up by 3.3 seconds by lap 25.
"I knew that bottom would be good, so I knew if I got a good start on Gordy and he didn't beat me into (turn) one that I could kind of roll that bottom," Simpson said of the rae's start. "The part I was worried about was when I ran up on lapped traffic, if I could move out and get by those guys, otherwise that would bring Gordy right back to me."
Simpson poured it on late as the race stayed caution-free, beating Gundaker by 4.5 seconds at the finish.
"Chris was the class of the field all night," Gundaker said. "You could tell from when they unloaded. We're parked right next to each other and I could tell he was confident. But when you get in lapped traffic, you never know what is going to happen.
The stakes are higher Saturday with a $10,000-to-win feature and Mary Jenkins Holt adding a $2,000 bonus to the winner, plus another $500 fast-time qualifier bonus. — Lyndal Scranton
Hot holiday start
Tyler Bruening of Decorah, Iowa, got the busy Labor Day weekend off to a successful start Thursday with a victory on the Malvern Bank East-West tours at Cresco Speedway.
The national touring regular enjoyed a race near home, overtaking polesitter Dylan Thornton on the fourth of 40 laps and leading the rest of the Blue Ribbon Classic for a $5,000 payday with rookie Dallon Murty trailing him to the checkers.
“We had a little tough start there, I thought maybe my left-front wheel was a little bent, but just kinda found the top early before Dylan (Thornton) got up there,” Bruening said. "It got hairy when we caught lapped traffic. They were running so low at the bottom of the racetrack that they were clouds of dust would come up and you just could not see anything.”
Murty ran second the last dozen laps, but never seriously threatened Bruening, whose previous victory in a Malvern Bank touring event came in 2021.
"I could hear (Murty) a little bit behind me and I tried the bottom the middle a couple few times and it just I felt like I lost so much speed down there,” Bruening said. “I couldn't see him getting by me unless I screwed up on the top. So really just tried to hit my marks, make consistent good laps, and the car was really good tonight.”
Bruening’s work and family commitments will tentatively prevent him from racing in Friday’s tour action at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., on Friday, but he plans to attend Saturday’s $7,000-to-win finale.
He enjoyed a relatively rare event at Cresco, just 20 or so miles from home.
“I could point out and pick out my fans and my people in the stands,” Bruening said. “That was really cool.” — Mike Ruefer
Numbers game
They say if you want to be the best, beat the best. On the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series recently, that’s meant finding a way around the red No. 32.
Bobby Pierce is putting together another season for the history books, with the end goal of a second World of Outlaws championship on the horizon. The last three years have been a dream for the Oakwood, Ill., driver, and he doesn’t plan on waking up anytime soon.
Let’s dive into some of the numbers this season or Pierce, who is on a break of WoO action until Georgia’s Sept. 12-13 weekend at Norman Park’s Needmore Speedway and Senoia Raceway:
4: WoO victories in a row for Pierce heading to Georgia. It’s his longest streak of the season and second-longest of his career (he won six in a row between Deer Creek Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway last season). That’s tied with Darrell Lanigan’s six-victory streak in 2012 as the all-time best in tour history.
5: Pierce's average finish through 34 WOO races of the season. He’s on pace to beat his previous two averages of 5.3 in 2023 and 5.7 in 2024.
10: Tracks where Pierce has won a World of Outlaws race at this year, with Arrowhead Speedway in Colcord, Okla., the lone oval he’s conquered more than once. Several victories have come outside his Midwestern comfort zone in like Tennessee, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.
11: Pierce’s victory tally, his third straight WoO season in double digits. putting him alongside Darrell Lanigan (2012-2014) and Brandon Sheppard (2017-2020) as the only drivers to accomplish that feat.
18: Consecutive top-10 finishes Pierce strung together earlier this season, the longest of his WoO career. He had no finishes worse than seventh between Volusia Speedway Park’s finale in February and the opening night of the NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 on Fourth of July weekend at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn.
24: Heat race victories, already more than either of the previous two seasons. That’s helped him to a career-best average feature starting spot of 5.4, compared to 6.4 in 2023 and 5.7 in 2024.
29: Pierce’s total Late Model victories, tops nationally. He’s one win shy of 30 for the third straight season. His 29th win of 2023 came during World 100 weekend on Sept. 8, and he reached that mark last year on Aug. 21 at Lernerville Speedway.
32: Pierce’s win percentage with the World of Outlaws, ranking below 2023 (36 percent) and 2024 (34).
39: Pierce’s overall win percentage, higher than his past two marks 36 percent and 37 percent..
42: Career WoO victories, tied with Billy Moyer for fifth on the all-time list. He reached that mark in a shorter stretch than any other driver.
108: Pierce’s lead in the points standings. That’s the exact same margin Pierce had over Chris Madden on the same date in 2023 en route to winning the title. — Spence Smithback
Streaming schedule
Among upcoming Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events available via live streaming:
Thursday, Aug. 28
• Malvern Bank East-West Series at Cresco (Iowa) Speedway (Dirt Crown TV)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Proctor (Minn.) Speedway (Dirt Race Central)
Friday, Aug. 29
• Bernheisel Racing Components Fall Clash Series at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (FloRacing)
• Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (ArrowVision Live)
• Ultimate Heart of America Series at 191 Speedway in Campton, Ky. (Pit Row TV)
• MARS Championship Series at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway (FloRacing)
• Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park (FloRacing)
• Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series at Lavonia (Ga.) Speedway (Hunt the Front TV)
• RUSH Crate Late Model Series at Tri-City Raceway Park in Franklin, Pa. (The Cushion)
• Malvern Bank East-West Series at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. (Dirt Crown TV)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Grand Rapids (Minn.) Speedway (Dirt Race Central)
• Burlile Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (FloRacing)
• Country Roads prelim night at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Hunt the Front TV)
Saturday, Aug. 30
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (FloRacing)
• Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (ArrowVision Live)
• MARS Championship Series at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• Butch Renninger Memorial at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• Ultimate Heart of America Series at 191 Speedway in Campton, Ky. (Pit Row TV)
• Malvern Bank East-West Series at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn. (Dirt Crown TV)
• American All-Star Crate Series presented by PPM at Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway (Dirt Rich TV)
• Burlile Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (FloRacing)
• Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. (The Thrill TV)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Hibbing (Minn.) Speedway (XR Events Plus)
• Fast Five Shootout at County Line Raceway in Elm City, N.C. (Sports Action TV)
• Big Buck Nationals at Brown County Speedway in Aberdeen, S.D. (Dirt Race Central)
• Country Roads prelim night at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Hunt the Front TV)
• American Crate Late Model Series at Rocket Raceway Park in Petty, Texas (RaceON)
Sunday, Aug. 31
• Country Roads 100 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Hunt the Front TV)
• American All-Star Crate Series presented by PPM at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va. (Dirt Rich TV)
• Comp Cams Super Dirt Series at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway (RaceON)
• MARS Championship Series at Spoon River Speedway in Banner, Ill. (FloRacing)
• Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (FloRacing)
• RUSH Crate Late Model Series at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Hunt the Front TV)
• Structural Buildings WISSOTA Challenge Series at Hibbing (Minn.) Speedway (XR Events Plus)
• American Crate Late Model Series at Grayson County Speedway in Sherman, Texas (RaceON)
• Monday, Sept. 1
• IMCA Super Nationals at Boone (Iowa) Speedway (IMCA TV)
