MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Knoxville may have gone quiet, but a packed month of dirt racing in Iowa is far from over.
The rest of August belongs to the Late Models, with five races at four different tracks across the “Hawkeye State” coming up over the next two weeks. The fun begins this weekend with Maquoketa Speedway’s biggest event of the year, the Hawkeye 100.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision will be returning to the eastern Iowa facility for the third-straight year in 2026.
A practice night kicks off the weekend on Thursday, Aug. 20, when the grandstands will be open to fans free of charge. Racing begins on Friday, Aug. 21, with a $12,000-to-win World of Outlaws Feature before the $25,000-to-win finale on Saturday, Aug. 22.
HISTORY’S DOORSTEP
Bobby Pierce’s USA Nationals victory was his 18th of the season with the World of Outlaws. A 19th win would pit him in uncharted territory.
Maquoketa will present Pierce’s first opportunity to set a new World of Outlaws single-season win record, breaking his current tie with Josh Richards, who won 18 races in 2016, and Brandon Sheppard, who reached that mark in 2017 and 2019.
With 14 races remaining on the schedule in 2026, Pierce could potentially smash that target if he keeps rattling off wins at his current pace. His 18 wins in 40 races so far give him a win percentage of 45%, and since 141 Speedway on June 20, Pierce has won eight out of 11 races for a 72% win rate.
Iowa has been one of Pierce’s best states throughout his World of Outlaws career, as he’s won nine times across six tracks in Series competition.
At Maquoketa specifically, Pierce has one win in last year’s Hawkeye 100 and three more on Nippy 50 weekend, the track’s springtime tradition.
HAWKEYE HOMECOMING
Ryan Gustin’s most anticipated stretch of the season is upon him.
Most national-touring drivers are lucky to get one or two chances per year to race in front of their home fans, but Gustin gets to spend the next two weeks racing across his native Iowa. Located about two hours east of his hometown of Marshalltown, Iowa, Maquoketa has been one of Gustin’s most consistently strong tracks anywhere in the country. He’s finished seventh or better in eight of his nine career Late Model starts there, and two of his three World of Outlaws starts have been top fives.
A win this weekend would be Gustin’s first at Maquoketa and his first home-state triumph in World of Outlaws competition.
NEEDS ONE BAD
If Nick Hoffman wants to keep any glimmer of hope for a championship alive, he’s going to need a very fruitful Iowa trip.
The fourth-year Outlaw led the first 53 laps at Cedar Lake, and a potential USA Nationals win would have done wonders in turning the momentum in the title chase back in Hoffman’s favor. Instead, Pierce won while Hoffman faded all the way back to 18th, leaving him 96 points out of the lead leaving Wisconsin.
Since Hoffman’s last win at Mansfield Speedway at the end of May, he’s ran in the top five 10 times in 13 races. But nothing short of wins will help you gain ground on Pierce in his current form, and Hoffman knows that better than anyone. Winning is something Hoffman has yet to do in his first three Maquoketa starts, although he earned a spot on the podium in the last two.
WELCOME TO THE HALL
Tim McCreadie spent part of the break in the World of Outlaws schedule receiving one of the greatest honors of his career.
Last weekend, McCreadie joined his father, “Barefoot” Bob McCreadie as a member of the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame. “T-Mac” also took the opportunity to return to the seat of the cars that launched his career, driving a Vinny Vitale-owned Big Block Modified in the Hall of Fame 100 on Sunday night at Weedsport Speedway.
McCreadie’s first Super DIRTcar Series appearance in nearly three years didn’t go quite how he planned though, as he was caught in a crash 36 laps in and finished 23rd.
A return to his day job awaits McCreadie this weekend at Maquoketa, where he finished seventh in his track debut a year ago.
FERTILE SOIL
Ethan Dotson may call California home, but his racing career wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for the success he had in Iowa.
Dotson is a former champion of Iowa’s biggest fendered race, the IMCA Super Nationals, which brings more than 1,000 cars to Boone Speedway every September for a weeklong extravaganza.
That performance, along with many other IMCA Modified wins across Iowa and beyond made the Super Late Model world take notice, sending Dotson down a path that eventually led him to his current home at ASD Motorsports as a full-time Outlaw.
Dotson’s first Late Model start at Maquoketa last year saw him win his heat, lead laps in the Feature and finish fifth. He’ll return for round two on the upswing fresh off a third-place run in the USA Nationals main event, the best crown-jewel result of his career.
