NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — Wisconsin’s biggest dirt racing event is back this weekend.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision is set to contest its second crown jewel in as many weeks with Cedar Lake Speedway’s signature event, the USA Nationals. The race was born in 1988 as part of the inaugural season of the series, and in the 38 years since, it has been conquered by a variety of Hall of Famers and legends. Names such as Billy Moyer, Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens and Jonathan Davenport highlight the winners list, one that Ryan Gustin added his name to last season.
Gustin became the first driver to earn $100,000 for his USA Nationals victory, and that staggering top prize is back again in 2026. Whether it’s the money, the incredible on-track product or the all-night parties back in the campground, Cedar Lake has something for everyone.
REAPER’S RICHES
Ryan Gustin is returning to the site of the biggest night of his racing career.
The Marshalltown, Iowa, native became a first-time crown jewel winner in the 2025 USA Nationals after driving a flawless race and holding off some of the best in the sport at the end, including Hudson O’Neal, Mike Marlar and Brandon Sheppard.
That race ignited Gustin’s reputation as someone who shines when big money is on the line, considering his last three World of Outlaws wins dating back to Cedar Lake last year have all been worth $40,000 or more.
Gustin rolls into New Richmond in search of his first World of Outlaws win in three months, but that win came at another Wisconsin facility, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, on the final night of the Dairyland Showdown.
While he hasn’t been winning as often as he’d like, Gustin has been logging solid finishes night in and night out, as his ninth-place run in the Prairie Dirt Classic was his ninth-straight top 10.
GOING FOR THREE
When Gustin took the checkered flag one year ago, he ended Bobby Pierce’s mission to win three in a row.
The two-time World of Outlaws champion was victorious in the USA Nationals in 2023 and 2024, making him one of 10 drivers who have won the event more than once. Pierce also won on Thursday night on both occasions, bringing him to four World of Outlaws wins at Cedar Lake.
This season’s winner of the Show-Me 100 and the Dirt Late Model Dream will try to make the USA Nationals his third crown jewel triumph of 2026, one week after coming up two spots short in the PDC.
Pierce also has history on the table – he’s one win away from tying the World of Outlaws single-season win record of 18, a number achieved by Josh Richards in 2016 and Brandon Sheppard in 2017 and 2019.
MILLS MANIA
Trey Mills has gotten good at stealing the spotlight on Late Model racing’s biggest nights.
The 18-year-old started on the pole at the Dream and the PDC and led a combined 87 laps between the two crown jewels.
Mills has the speed early in the night, and his next challenge is learning how to balance driving hard enough to stay up front while keeping his tires fresh enough to finish the job in the closing laps.
He’ll get another chance to run 100 laps against the best this weekend in his first USA Nationals appearance. It’s also another opportunity to make up ground on Daulton Wilson in the MD3 Rookie of the Year hunt, in which Mills has slashed a nearly 200-point deficit earlier in the season down to 53 entering the weekend.
BACK ON TOP
Brandon Sheppard took down the series regulars last weekend to win his fourth Prairie Dirt Classic, and now the task becomes winning his second crown jewel in as many weeks.
Ever since Sheppard reunited with Rocket1 Racing in 2025, it seemed like it was a matter of when, not if, the pairing would win one of the sport’s biggest races.
They checked that box at Fairbury Speedway, which may have been the most likely scenario given Sheppard’s tenacity at the Illinois bullrings.
Could they pull off a repeat seven hours up the road at Cedar Lake? It can’t be ruled out, especially given Mark Richards’ record at the track. Sheppard’s USA Nationals victory in 2018 made him the third different driver to win the event in the Rocket house car, joining his predecessors Davey Johnson (2000) and Josh Richards (2011, 2016).
USA NATS 101
Three busy nights of racing await teams on their way to Saturday’s $100,000 prize.
The weekend starts on Thursday, which features a 30-lap World of Outlaws main event with $10,000 on the line. Thursday is a standard-format, points-paying series race with no implications on the rest of the weekend.
Friday brings the most unique night of the weekend. World of Outlaws drivers will compete in qualifying and heat races, with the top three finishers in each heat race earning a spot in Saturday’s 100-lapper.
Additionally, the heat race winners will run a dash on Friday night, which will determine the first three rows of Saturday’s feature lineup. Friday’s schedule will be capped off by the FANS Fund Dash, which will see drivers voted on by the fans battle for a guaranteed starting spot in the USA Nationals feature.
It all builds toward Saturday, when the drivers who did not transfer out of their heat races on Friday will compete in one of two Last Chance Showdowns, which will both send the top two finishers to the feature. For drivers who still don’t have a spot in the big dance, their final opportunity to get in comes in the Last Chance Qualifier, which sends two more cars to the back of the starting lineup.
Once the starting grid is set, the only thing separating drivers from a six-figure paycheck will be 100 grueling laps around the high banks of Cedar Lake.
