BOONE, Iowa — Fresh off the heels of the Prairie Dirt Classic, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late models continue their Summer of Money with four races in five days.
The week starts with a return to Boone Speedway for the 50-lap, $15,000-to-win, Hawkeye 50 tonight (Aug. 1).
Then, the series spends three days at the prestigious Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., for the 36th annual USA Nationals. Drivers will battle in a new format in 2023, with three nights of points-paying races on tap for the first time.
On Thursday, Aug. 3, and Friday Aug. 4, competitors will wage war in 30-lap, $6,000-to-win features. An “every lap matters” format will be used as drivers accumulate points over the first two nights. The 16 drivers with the most points after Friday’s Feature will line up in the first eight rows of the 100-lap, $50,000-to-win, USA Nationals finale on Saturday, Aug. 5.
Here’s a look at the storylines entering this week’s action:
A Boone Variety
The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models have raced four times at Boone Speedway in the last two seasons, and four drivers have reached Victory Lane.
In the three races that ran at the one-third-mile oval in 2021, Cade Dillard and Shannon Babb split twin features on the first night before Bobby Pierce earned his then-second career World of Outlaws win on night two.
Last season, Jonathan Davenport led every lap of the inaugural Hawkeye 50, holding off defending series champion Dennis Erb Jr. for the win.
Smooth In Iowa
Along with his win at Boone in 2021, Pierce has already succeeded in Iowa this season. In the lone stop in the Hawkeye State in 2023, the Oakwood, Ill. driver earned a win at Mason City Motor Speedway.
Pierce enters Boone with five World of Outlaws feature wins this season and a 68-point lead in the standings over Ryan Gustin after his runner-up finish in the Prairie Dirt Classic. The “Smooth Operator” has also been a master of consistency lately, finishing in the top five in eight of his last 10 races, and has three consecutive podiums.
However, that streak could be tested this weekend at Cedar Lake. Despite four top fives in the USA Nationals, Pierce hasn’t finished fifth or better since he did it three straight times from 2016-2018.
The Reaper Rises
Even though he lost points to Pierce in the battle for the championship at Fairbury, Gustin moved past Chris Madden to second in points after his third-place finish.
The Marshalltown, IA, driver returns to his home state this week but hasn’t finished in the top five in four starts. That’s also the case at Cedar Lake, where he’s failed to crack the top 10 in two starts at the three-eighths-mile track.
A win for Gustin this weekend would be his fourth series win of 2023 and sixth overall.
A Smokey Rebound
Madden dropped to third in the standings, 76 points behind Pierce after a 12th-place finish in the Prairie Dirt Classic.
However, the good news for the Gray Court, S.C. driver is that he’s going to two tracks this week where he’s had past success. In three starts at Boone, “Smokey” has finished fourth, sixth, and 19th. But at Cedar Lake, he’s already tasted victory.
Madden won the USA Nationals in 2019 and has three top fives in six starts, including a second to Jonathan Davenport last year.
He hopes to earn his third World of Outlaws win of 2023 this season—the previous two coming at Sharon Speedway, a track similar in size to Cedar Lake.
Superman Returns
The 36th annual USA Nationals means the return of Jonathan Davenport, the three-time and defending winner.
It’ll be the first time he’s raced with the series since Talladega Short Track, where he finished fourth.
The Blairsville, Ga. driver enters the weekend with 11 victories, including a $129,000 payday in the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora.
A win by Davenport on any of the three nights would be his 15th series win, breaking a four-way tie between Davenport, Erb, Dale McDowell and Tim Fuller.