CONCORD, N.C. — The “North Pole Nightmare” is back for more with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, feeling more prepared than ever before.
After a stellar sophomore season, Bill Balog will hit the road with The Greatest Show on Dirt for a third consecutive year.
The 2025 campaign brought plenty of highlights for the 46-year-old. Following a winless 2024, Balog got a victory out of the way early by topping the season’s seventh race at Talladega Short Track. He also won at Huset’s Speedway in June, part of a nearly $100,000 week for the Hartland, WI driver. Leading flag-to-flag at Perris Auto Speedway in September made it a trio of triumphs for Balog.
The statistics improved across the board for Balog on his way to a seventh-place result in the standings, a one-spot climb over his rookie year.
“Definitely better than I thought,” Balog said of his 2025 season. “We had a good year. It was pretty rewarding to make it that far. Didn’t expect to run that good at some of those races. Definitely happy with how all of that went, just getting to reflect on it a little bit over the winter here. Didn’t get to think about it too much at the time during those weeks. You just stay so busy.”
Little time remains to reflect on last year as the 2026 campaign is on the horizon. The off-season wraps up in two weeks, and it’ll be time for Balog to fire off his third year. He feels more prepared than ever.
“We can start off now with Dennis (Gregg) and Kevin (Ingle), so we’ve got an extra guy than we normally would with Kevin so that’s nice,” Balog said. “Hopefully we can just hammer away and get out of Volusia clean, leave there decent in points. Then we’ve just got to do a few things to get rid of some of those bad finishes. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and keep plugging away at it.”
