LOCUST GROVE, Ark. — Dan Ebert picked a great time to earn the first Super Late Model victory of his career, as the Lake Shore, Minnesota, driver won the 34th Annual Ace Doran Hauling and Rigging Topless 100 Presented by Big River Steel on Saturday night at Batesville Motor Speedway.
The former snowmobile and open-wheel modified standout, who is in just his second year of Super Late Model competition, became the 18th different winner of the crown jewel event, which began in 1993.
Ebert took home $50,000 and also earned his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory.
Ebert also entered the event as a Steering Buddy Darkhorse, making his breakthrough victory even more notable. The label proved fitting on Saturday night as Ebert emerged from a deep field of established stars to capture one of dirt late model racing’s marquee events.
Ebert crossed the finish line 4.984 seconds ahead of two-time Topless 100 winners Dale McDowell and Jonathan Davenport. Clay Stuckey earned his best career finish in a crown jewel event with a fourth-place run, while Brandon Sheppard rounded out the top five.
Ricky Thornton Jr. fired from the pole and led the first 52 laps virtually unchallenged despite several restarts.
The car on the move was last week’s Sunoco Race Fuels North-South 100 champion, Josh Rice, who came from 22nd to second in his first Topless 100. Rice hounded Thornton for the lead before taking the top spot on lap 53.
Rice then extended his lead to more than four seconds over Thornton before a caution came out on lap 58. On the restart, Thornton retook the lead from Rice, but it was short-lived as Rice stormed back past Thornton on lap 60.
Rice then looked like the car to beat, leading through lap 88 before misfortune struck. As he exited turn four to complete lap 89, his right-rear tire went down, forcing a caution.
On the lap-89 restart, Ebert, who had been running second to Rice after pitting during a caution on lap 38, inherited the lead and paced the final 12 laps to score the stunning victory.
“This is unbelievable, really, to win our first Super Late Model race. We won that dash last week (at Florence), and we have had speed here. To win one of the biggest, hardest races to win is unbelievable. I am just speechless. It’s just incredible, the crowd here. You know, we ran good here last year, and I just had a good feel for it, and we built on the setups since then,” said Ebert, who led the final 12 laps of the race.
“It’s just so hard to know, particularly with all the tire trouble that was happening yesterday. It’s just kind of the luck of it, honestly. You know, I tried to be as nice as I could and not slide, but we ended up having a tire go down, which probably was a blessing because we probably had something to race with at the end. I was just able to get the middle groove working on some of those restarts. It was a little touchy for sure. This is just unbelievable. This is just crazy. I am just speechless to be where I am for a year and a half, basically, driving a Super Late Model. I have come a long way. James Trantina, my car owner, took a chance on me and my team. A lot of blood and tears went into this.”
McDowell, who brought out the first caution of the race with 15 laps scored when his car ended up on the Jersey barrier in turn four, rallied through the field to finish second and earn $20,000.
“We had some right-rear tire left. I had a right-front tire flat, so it started to get a little wheel spin down the straightaway,” McDowell said. “We were maybe one of the only ones who didn’t pit. I was trying to be conservative on tires, and when I wheel-spun, Dan got by me. But those guys pitted about lap 34 or 35, I think, so they just had a little better tire. It was a good run for us. I got into trouble there early on. I got all boxed up and turned around. I was just being patient, and I was just racing my way back up through there. The car was really good in the middle, so I knew I really wasn’t hurting tires as bad.”
Davenport, the 2025 winner, was looking to become the first driver to win the Topless 100 in back-to-back years.
“We just played the cards we were dealt there,” Davenport said. “I felt like we had a really good car there, thanks to my team. They did an excellent job battling through the heat, and especially thanks to these fans. It’s tough sitting out there in the sun. I felt like I was really patient and that we had a car that could win. I was just kind of easing around there at the beginning and making sure I didn’t go too hard. I didn’t run the top much, really. I think I went there one time because I pushed up there. It’s just a part of Batesville with the tires, you know. It’s bit a lot of people, and some it hasn’t.”
34th Annual Ace Doran Topless 100 Presented by Big River Steel | Feature Finish (100 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 11 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $50,900
2 – 9 – 17M – Dale McDowell – Chickamauga, GA – $20,000
3 – 5 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $10,000
4 – 15 – 15 – Clay Stuckey – Shreveport, LA – $8,000
5 – 18 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $8,000
6 – 1 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $7,200
7 – 4 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $5,700
8 – 17 – 22F – Chris Ferguson – Mt. Holly, NC – $4,000
9 – 8 – 17SS – Brenden Smith – Dade City, FL – $4,700
10 – 7 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $4,500
11 – 12 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $4,300
12 – 16 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $4,400
13 – 23 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $4,000
14 – 22 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $3,400
15 – 3 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $3,300
16 – 6 – 2 – Charlie Cole – Wynne, AR – $2,300
17 – 13 – 75 – Terry Phillips – Springfield, MO – $2,200
18 – 20 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $3,000
19 – 21 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $2,900
20 – 19 – 16S – Sam Seawright – Fort Payne, AL – $2,000
21 – 10 – 74X – Ethan Dotson – Bakersfield, CA – $2,000
22 – 14 – 86 – Kyle Beard – Trumann, AR – $2,000
23 – 24 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $2,900
24 – 2 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $2,900
