CONCORD, N.C. — The day after the final checkered flag of the year waved at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision wrapped up the year at the World of Outlaws Awards Celebration on Sunday evening.
Drivers, teams, officials and families from the Late Models, as well as the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, gathered at The Revelry North End near uptown Charlotte to honor the champions, hand out several special awards and celebrate another thrilling season of competition.
CHAMPION
After coming up short one year ago, Bobby Pierce entered the 2025 World of Outlaws season with one goal in mind – reclaiming his spot on the championship stage at World of Outlaws World Finals.
That mission propelled him to 11 series wins on the year, 27 top fives, 34 top 10s, and an average finish of 5.8. But the Oakwood, Ill., native’s reign of terror wasn’t limited to the Midwest bullrings that he’s been dominating for years – Pierce won at 10 different tracks in 2025, eight of which he had never won a World of Outlaws race at before, and three he had never been to before.
When the tour rolled into Charlotte for the final weekend of the series, a triple-digit lead in the standings allowed Pierce to take a victory lap before officially being crowned a two-time World of Outlaws champion.
“Just awesome to win our second championship,” Pierce said. “It goes back to childhood, I grew up idolizing the Outlaws Series. I played the video games, all that stuff. When it came boiling down to it and I made my decision, I just thought being an Outlaws champion was at the top. That’s what I decided to do, and hopefully we get a third one next year.”
In addition to the $225,000 payout for his championship, Pierce also received a new Dave Warren Powersports pit bike, $2,500 as the runner-up in the Coltman Farms Racing Cup standings, the Social Ambassador Award, a new Jarrett Rifle for winning the most features in 2025 and the STAKT Body Parts Award for winning the most heat races.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Drake Troutman was already viewed as one of the most talented and dedicated young stars in dirt racing prior to 2025, and that promise reached new heights in his first full campaign with the World of Outlaws.
The Hyndman, Pa., native teamed up with G.R. Smith and Team22 Motorsports in the weeks leading up to the season, and from the first green flag at Volusia Speedway Park, it was clear Troutman was going to be a contender.
His freshman season reached its pinnacle in June at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park, where Troutman picked up his first Series victory to go along with a pair of wins on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals trail. The team went through their share of growing pains in the second half of the year, but a trio of podiums to end the year at Charlotte earned him the MD3 Rookie of the Year Award in commanding fashion and moved him up to sixth in the final standings.
“We started out the year really strong, and then reality hit,” Troutman said. “Sometimes you can’t do anything to make anything right. We started picking it back up there towards the end of the year, and that’s about all we can ask. There’s going to be growing pains building a notebook with a new team. It’s all new, we always owned our own stuff, so racing with G.R., building our notebook back up racing on the Outlaw deal for the first year. Hopefully, next year, we can come back stronger than ever.”
Troutman received $10,000 for his top rookie efforts, as well as a new pit bike from Dave Warren Powersports and a pair of custom ear molds from Racing Electronics.
COLTMAN FARMS CUP
A new prize was on offer in 2025, as the Coltman Farms Racing Cup was created to reward the top drivers at the season’s biggest events.
At the end of 14 Cup races, Nick Hoffman came out on top to claim $7,500 and a one-of-a-kind safe weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds. Hoffman’s two wins at Mississippi Thunder Speedway and Deer Creek Speedway and a Series-leading nine top fives in Cup events were enough to put him 114 points ahead of Pierce in the final tally.
“Those were all the crown-jewel races, and we were really good when those big lights turn on, especially Charlotte there,” Hoffman said. “It’s just really cool for that points deal to give us a little bit of extra incentive at those bigger races, and obviously that paycheck at the end is pretty cool.”
CREW CHIEF
Many competitors have a story about beginning their racing journey with the support of their father, but few of those father-son duos make it as far as Bob and Bobby Pierce.
The elder Pierce did plenty of winning behind the wheel, but once his son began his rise through the ranks, his focus shifted to coaching Bobby and ensuring he had the best machine possible underneath him.
Nearly two decades after his racing career began, Bobby has turned into one of the most successful dirt late model drivers of his generation, and Bob is still right by his side night after night.
“We started this when he was eight years old,” Bob Pierce said. “We just started in Quarter Midgets, started building up through Crates, got into late models pretty early, he was 13 when we did this. We just kept digging and digging trying to figure out where the plateau was going to be, and I didn’t see any plateau. We kept growing and growing, and I started throwing him to the wolves. Next thing you know, here we are.”
ENGINE BUILDER
The class of the field in 2025 was Vic Hill Racing Engines. The Mosheim, Tenn.-based shop powered Pierce to the championship, in addition to servicing several other drivers throughout the pit area.
CHASSIS BUILDER
More than half of the World of Outlaws roster wheeled a Longhorn Chassis in 2025, including Pierce. The No. 32 team switched to Longhorn in 2023 and has collected two championships and 38 World of Outlaws wins in the three seasons since.
FAN FAVORITE
The only award voted on by the fans, the Fan Favorite Award went to Ryan Gustin. The Marshalltown, Iowa, driver has accumulated a passionate fan base in his five years as part of the World of Outlaws, with “Reaper Nation” filling the stands at tracks across the country.
SPORTSMAN AWARD
Gustin wasn’t the only member of Cooney Motorsports to leave the ceremony with some hardware, as crew member Noah Bushman was given the Racing with Jesus Sportsman Award and a $500 prize. One of the most positive members of the dirt late model community, Bushman helped Gustin to a $100,000 victory at the USA Nationals in August as well as four other World of Outlaws victories in 2025.
MOST CARS PASSED
The third pit bike courtesy of Dave Warren Powersports went to Cody Overton, who passed the most cars in feature competition over the course of the season.
HOT LAP AWARD
Tanner English set the pace in hot laps more than anyone in 2025, earning him $500 from Dirt King Simulators.
PILL DRAW
Overton and Jake Timm each received $500 for having the highest and lowest pill draw averages, respectively.
