MINERAL WELLS, W. Va. — “Mountain State” fans rejoice, because late models are returning to the hills of West Virginia.
The World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision has contested 16 races across three different tracks in the state – I-77 Raceway Park, Tyler County Speedway, and West Virginia Motor Speedway. The latter is the site of this weekend’s action, although it now looks nothing like it did when the World of Outlaws were last there in 2013.
After an eight-year closure, the five-eighths-mile WVMS reopened in 2021 and operated through 2023 until the facility went on hiatus once again. Soon after, the decision was made to reconstruct the track into a three-eighths-mile layout with the goal of producing better racing for fans while not punishing racers’ equipment to the extent of the old layout.
West Virginia has received praise from both groups at the regional events they’ve hosted since reopening in October 2025 ahead of the track’s return to the national spotlight this weekend. The return of the RACEFEST Summer Championship will include two nights of racing co-sanctioned by the World of Outlaws and the Valvoline American Late Model Iron Man Series, with $12,000 up for grabs on Friday, June 12, ahead of the $30,000-to-win finale on Saturday, June 13.
DREAM COME TRUE
At long last, Bobby Pierce is heading to West Virginia with a new line on his resume – Dirt Late Model Dream champion.
For the driver with two World of Outlaws championships, two World 100 victories, a Prairie Dirt Classic title, and wins in nearly every other marquee event the sport has to offer, the Dream was the biggest hole in his trophy cabinet that still needed filling.
With that accomplishment out of the way, Pierce’s focus will now turn back to his tight battle for a third World of Outlaws title.
The man sitting only nine points behind him, Nick Hoffman, has remained right with Pierce in recent weeks. He came home third in the Dream, one week after collecting a $100,000 payday of his own one week prior at Mansfield Speedway.
RACEFEST is another event with no clear favorite between the two, as neither of them have turned a lap on the new layout. Pierce has been to Mineral Wells once before in memorable fashion, as he drove Austin Hubbard’s backup car to a 13th-place finish in 2013 after his hauler broke down on the way to the track.
NIGHT TO REMEMBER
Before Pierce made his way to the front at Eldora Speedway and rolled into victory lane, another Outlaw was busy putting on a show.
MD3 Rookie of the Year candidate Trey Mills held off Devin Moran in his heat to earn the pole on one of the sport’s biggest nights. The 18-year-old held his own once the green flag waved in the Feature, leading the first 24 laps of the 100-lap contest.
But the monumental upset wasn’t meant to be, as Mills lost the lead to Brandon Sheppard and eventually faded to 17th at the finish.
That level of success in his first Eldora crown jewel start was enough for Mills to make plenty of new fans and build his own confidence on his rise to late model stardom. While he’ll continue to chase his first national victory this weekend in his first appearance at West Virginia, Mills has a close points battle to think about as well. He recently overtook Dennis Erb Jr. for the last spot in the top 10, but Erb remains 27 points back with plenty of time left to make a run.
HEATING UP
With 15 World of Outlaws races coming up over the next five weeks, early summer is the perfect time for a team to start heating up. And that’s exactly what Tyler Erb and Best Performance Motorsports are doing.
“Terbo” made headlines for his career-high $100,000 win at Mansfield, but that win should have come as no surprise.
In the last 13 World of Outlaws races dating back to Farmer City Raceway on April 10, Erb has only missed the top 10 once, with seven of those starts being top fives. Outside of Series competition, Erb won an Iron Man Series race at I-96 on May 22, and was running as high as second in the Dream until a flat left-rear tire with 21 laps to go ended his chance at Eldora glory.
That consistency has Erb up to third in points entering RACEFEST. While the gap to Pierce and Hoffman at the top is more than 200 points, Erb also has a 40-point cushion between himself and his closest challenger in Drake Troutman.
Much like most drivers competing this weekend, Erb has never seen the new-and-improved WVMS. He’ll be looking for similar results to the ones he had on the old layout, which included a pair of Historic 100 top 10s in 2021 and 2022.
A LEG UP
Speaking of Troutman, the Pennsylvanian is both the only Series regular to race on the new West Virginia configuration and the only one to win on it.
Upon loading up after the final night of the Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway on May 2, the G.R. Smith Motorsports team hit the road for a 13-hour drive to West Virginia for the Mark Balzano Memorial the next day. If Troutman was sleep deprived, he didn’t show it, as he set quick time, won his heat and led all 40 laps of the feature.
The weeks since then have been fruitful, as Troutman has finished in the top five in five of his last 11 World of Outlaws starts as he continues his pursuit of his first series win of 2026.
MOUNTAIN MEN
West Virginia is home to plenty of people who have shaped the history of late model racing, and many of them will be in attendance this weekend looking to defend their state’s signature track.
Located 80 miles west of Mineral Wells is Shinnston, W. Va., home of Mark Richards and the winningest chassis manufacturer in the history of the sport, Rocket Chassis.
Richards’ Rocket1 Racing team won the last World of Outlaws race at West Virginia in 2013 with son Josh behind the wheel, and the team will be back for RACEFEST with Brandon Sheppard in the seat.
Rocket isn’t the only West Virginia-based chassis brand producing late models, as Kryptonite Race Cars is based seven miles from the track in Parkersburg, W. Va. Kryptonite founder Freddie Carpenter will be in action in his No. C4 at the place where he’s finished on the podium in all three races contested on the new three-eighths-mile configuration.
Joining him this weekend will be his son, Tyler, the driver best known for his pair of Gateway Dirt Nationals victories in 2019 and 2021.
The younger Carpenter knows how to win outdoors as well, and he has done so in regional action this year at Ohio Valley Speedway, Tyler County Speedway, Muskingum County Speedway, Elkins Raceway and WVMS, where he beat the Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series on April 11.
Other “Mountain State” standouts expected to attend include Zack Dohm, Ryan Montgomery and Colten Burdette, plus national stars Hudson O’Neal, Devin Moran, Dan Ebert and more.
