DirtonDirt Dispatches
Dispatches: Kohn continues Kansas family tradition
Hunter Kohn (Emily Schwanke/woolms.com)
Among the latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing during the first weekend in October, including World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series action in Kansas (look for Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series coverage from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway elsewhere). Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country:
Kansas legacy
If you know the history of Late Model racing in Kansas, you know the name Larry McDaniels. The Wichita native is an eight-time National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) champion and a member of the 81 Speedway Hall of Fame, amassing hundreds of wins from the 1970s until his retirement from driving in 2013.
Since then, McDaniels has passed the torch to the newest wheelman on the family tree — grandson Hunter Kohn, who will try to make his own history this weekend with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series.
The family now calls North Carolina home, with Kohn cutting his teeth at Millbridge Speedway in outlaw karts and micro sprints. It was only a matter of time until he dove into the Dirt Late Model family tradition, initially in the 602 and 604 Late Model divisions around the Southeast.
After two seasons of Crate racing, Kohn made the leap to Super Late Model in 2025. His campaign has mostly consisted of regional action around the Carolinas, but Kohn also traveled to Fairbury Speedway to make his WoO debut at the Prairie Dirt Classic, followed by September appearances at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga., and Senoia (Ga.) Raceway.
“Our Super program this year honestly hasn’t been what I would want it to be,” Kohn said. “We obviously haven’t run that many races. It takes a lot for us to run the Super motor, and we just haven’t had the greatest of results. We ran decent here around home in North Carolina and stuff, but you go to these big races with the World of Outlaws and you’re way off par. We have been getting better since Fairbury, we improved a lot at Needmore and Senoia, able to keep up a little bit better. It’s all about experience. It’s tough physically and mentally, especially as a driver when you want to go out and show everybody what you can do.”
Luckily for the 18-year-old Super Late Model rookie, he didn’t have to look far to find a crew chief with decades of expertise to lean on. Help came in the form of his grandfather, McDaniels, who took the chance to stay involved in the Late Model world while guiding his grandson’s budding career.
“He basically does it all,” Kohn said. “He’s working in the shop all day, every day. I have a full-time job, so I get there when I’m done with work. He didn’t really lose any experience in it, he just wasn’t keeping up with it when he stopped racing in 2013. Everything is so advanced now, but some of the stuff is still the same. His experience with that, I mean, you talk to many people and they say, ‘Yeah, your grandfather’s right.’ He’s got great experience, he’s obviously one of the best out of Kansas, and it’s really great to have him a part of it.”
With the WoO tour visiting Kansas Oct. 3-4 — first at Humboldt Speedway then at Park City’s 81 Speedway — Kohn decided to try to gather up enough funding to make the trip possible. Two weeks removed from a Facebook post asking for assistance, Kohn is set to make the 1,000-mile trip.
“We got home from the Needmore and Senoia trip with the World of Outlaws, and we were deciding to take a couple weeks off,” Kohn said. “Then about two weeks ago now, they were like, ‘Want to go to Kansas?’ We were going to try and make it out there. We posted some stuff, tried to get some more help to make it out there.”
Along with his grandfather, Kohn will lean on WoO regular Ryan Gustin.
“We’ve known Gustin for two or three years,” Kohn said. “After the World Finals, we told him he could come to the shop because they were heading to Senoia after that. We kind of just became great friends with him. We text and call him all the time asking about stuff. He looked over our stuff at Fairbury, told us to do this and do that, and it really helped. Same thing at Needmore and Senoia, he’s just looking over our car, making sure we’re not bound up or messed up anywhere on the car.”
In addition to his Hall of Fame grandfather, Kohn’s great grandfather and mother also raced around the state, meaning Kohn will become a fourth-generation Kansas Late Model racer this weekend. The gameplan is simple: put together a performance that makes them proud and continues the process toward what he hopes is a successful career behind the wheel.
“My grandfather and mom dad, grandmother, they’re always just like, ‘Bring it home in one piece, make it to the feature, it’ll be fine,’ ” Kohn said. “My personal goals, obviously a racer wants to win. Top 10 would be really nice, and to put on a show for the fans, those are my two goals there.
“For 2026, I do want to travel a lot more than what we did, but it’s just real tough. But hopefully, in the next few years, if I’ve proven myself, I get that call from someone one day.” — Spence Smithback
Streaming schedule
Among upcoming Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events available via live streaming:
Friday, Oct. 3
• World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models at Humboldt (Kan.) Speedway (DIRTVision)
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (FloRacing)
• MARS Championship Series at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• RUSH Crate Late Model Series at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (FloRacing)
• WISSOTA Fall Classic in Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway (Dirt Race Central)
Saturday, Oct. 4
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (FloRacing)
• World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan. (DIRTVision)
• MARS Championship Series at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• RUSH Crate Late Model Series at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (FloRacing)
• Southern Thunder Super Dirt Series at Senoia (Ga.) Raceway (Hunt the Front TV)
• Crate Racin’ USA 604 Series at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala. (Crate Racin’ USA TV)
• Malvern Bank East-West Series at Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa (Dirt Crown TV)
• Jail Breaker Topless Outlaw Series at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth, Ga. (Hunt the Front TV)
• WISSOTA Fall Classic in Ogilvie (Minn.) Raceway (Dirt Race Central)
• 4 State Dirt Late Model Series at Springfield (Mo.) Raceway (RaceON)
• Gulf South Crate Racing Association at Revolution Park in Monroe, La. (RaceON)
