CONCORD, N.C. — Plenty of uncharted territory awaits the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision this week.
The second half of the tour’s Iowa swing brings it to a trio of “Hawkeye State” tracks for the first time. First up is Southern Iowa Speedway on Wednesday, Aug. 26, followed by Adams County Speedway on Friday, Aug. 28, and Shelby County Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Plenty of cash will be up for grabs all week long, with $12,000 going to the winner at Southern Iowa and $20,000 on the line at Adams County and Shelby County.
Iowa’s famous IMCA weekly divisions will be in action alongside the Late Models on all three nights, as the Late Models will be joined by the Modifieds, Stock Cars and Hobby Stocks at Southern Iowa, Stock Cars and Sport Mods at Adams County and Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts at Shelby County.
WHY STOP THERE
Last weekend, Maquoketa Speedway’s Hawkeye 100 concluded with Bobby Pierce’s 19th World of Outlaws victory of the season, breaking the series’ single-season win record.
With a dozen races remaining in 2026, Pierce’s goal for the rest of the season is to set a mark that seems impossible for future competitors to match.
That mission starts at Southern Iowa, a track Pierce has never turned a lap on. A lack of experience didn’t keep him out of victory lane earlier this season though, as his wins at Hendry County Motorsports Park and Georgetown Speedway came in his debut at those facilities.
While Pierce has never been to Adams County or Shelby County in World of Outlaws competition, he is a former winner at both tracks. He won his Adams County debut last month in the Half Mile Hustle, and did the same last summer at Shelby County before returning this season and finishing third in the Silver Dollar Nationals.
HOMESTAND CONTINUES
Two nights outside the top five at Maquoketa didn’t give Ryan Gustin the start to the Iowa swing that he had in mind.
That leaves three more chances this week for the Marshalltown, Iowa, native to win his first home-state World of Outlaws race. He’ll have the upper hand in experience all week long, but especially at Southern Iowa, where he’ll be one of a small handful of drivers with any previous track time under their belt.
Gustin’s 11 United States Modified Touring Series starts in Oskaloosa netted him two wins and six top fives. The “Reaper” also made a pair of starts with the Midwest Late Model Racing Association early in his Late Model career, scoring a best finish of sixth in 2014.
Down the road at Adams County, Gustin’s record includes two top fives with MLRA and one more with USMTS. All of his Shelby County laps have come in the past two seasons, highlighted by his performance in the Thursday portion of this year’s Silver Dollar Nationals in which Gustin and Devin Moran threw haymakers nearly every corner in a Race of the Year candidate.
BACK ON TOP
Daulton Wilson briefly lost the MD3 Rookie of the Year lead to Trey Mills by a single point following the USA Nationals. But a pair of seventh-place runs at Maquoketa has the season-long leader back in command.
Those two showings were just what the Big Frog/Viper Motorsports team needed after a rough pair of crown jewels, with Wilson failing to crack the top 10 at either the Prairie Dirt Classic or the USA Nationals.
But Wilson’s consistency combined with a sluggish weekend at Maquoketa for Mills has Wilson in front again by 33 points ahead of Southern Iowa.
The first two stops of the week will both be new for Wilson, but he does have a pair of starts at Shelby County to look back on during his time with JRR Motorsports. “Big Perm” finished sixth in his first trip to Harlan in 2024 and returned with an 11th-place result in 2025.
RIGHTED THE SHIP
Dennis Erb Jr. also falls into the category of drivers who needed to get their season back on track at Maquoketa and did so successfully.
A 10th-place run on Friday followed by an eighth on Saturday was the kind of rebound Erb needed after two disappointing weekends at Fairbury Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway.
A few more top 10s this week could lead to a move up the points table from Erb’s current ninth spot, as both Wilson in seventh and Mills in eighth are within 47 points.
Erb will be making his first appearance at Southern Iowa on Wednesday, something the 30-year Late Model veteran rarely gets to do at this stage of his career.
Last month’s Half Mile Hustle was his first Adams County appearance since a Hav-A-Tampa race in 2000, although Erb parked the No. 28 early in the feature and was scored 24th.
The 2022 World of Outlaws champion finished eighth in the Kosiski Family 53 last year at Shelby County and 10th in Silver Dollar Nationals prelim action last month, but failed to qualify for the main event on Saturday night.
MURTY MANIA
Iowa’s Dallon Murty looks to have all the makings of a future star of the national Late Model scene, and this week presents another opportunity to continue turning heads.
In his first season with Skyline Motorsports as a teammate to Tyler Bruening, Murty has already collected a pair of World of Outlaws top 10s at 141 Speedway and Ogilvie Raceway, plus a sixth-place run in crown-jewel competition at the North-South 100.
