The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision kicked off the second half of the 2025 campaign in Minnesota this weekend with the NAPA Auto Parts Gopher 50 at Deer Creek Speedway. There were fireworks, an instant classic battle, points drama, and then, unfortunately, rain.

Ryan Gustin and hometown driver Dustin Sorensen led the field into the weekend on Thursday night, starting 1^st and 2^nd in the opening night prelim feature. Gustin would hold the lead uncontested until being caught by Bobby Pierce on lap 10. For several laps, the two would spar for the lead, slide jobs, crossovers, and sparks flying off the wall in seasonal fashion while Tyler Bruening lurked in the extreme low line, occasionally making a cameo, and undoubtedly with the best show in the house, undoubtedly to his dismay. Pierce would ultimately prevail and hold the lead through the closing laps, despite a late caution for the 3S of Brian Shirley (RR flat) resetting the field with just a few laps remaining. Gustin would hold on for 2^nd, and Nick Hoffman, who sits second in points, would finish 6^th, just missing the top 5.

Night 2 was quite the show as well but in a very different way. Tyler Bruening and Nick Hoffman led the field to green with Bruening holding the lead for two laps before a caution for the 32S of Chris Simpson paused things on lap 3. On the ensuing the restart Hoffman attempted a slide job on Bruening off of turn 4. Bruening tried to turn back down the track to cross the 9 over but snapped loose and spun into the path of the entire field, led by Pierce and McCreadie. The ensuing accident resulted in Pierce resting on his lid and several big names retired from the event. Nick Hoffman led the rest of the way, mostly uncontested minus a few quick attempts by Ryan Gustin in the closing laps. Jake Timm (49) and Brian Shirley had battled for 2nd, but Shirley would eventually spin trying to work around an erratic lapped car late in the event and go on to finish 7th. Gustin and Dennis Erb Jr. would finish 2nd and 3rd. In victory lane, a visibly disappointed Hoffman rehashed the lap three incident: “Yeah, there ain’t much I can do to plead my case in this situation, so there ain’t much I can say. I just hate it for all the other guys who got torn up there, it really sucks. I’ll do whatever I can to make it better as far as helping them guys try to fix their stuff up or whatever.”. He later added “Yeah it sucks. You don’t want to win them this way. It’s probably the worst way to win them.”.

Saturday’s $50k-to-win feature was canceled due to forecasts for heavy rain and thunderstorms most of the day. The big story this weekend will ultimately be Bobby Pierce’s bad luck combined with a one-two finish by Hoffman and Gustin that resulted in the points lead being slimmed to just 50 points over Hoffman and 112 over Gustin. The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision will next be in action for the Battle at the Border at Sharon Speedway on July 11^th and 12^th. If it’s an option, go see these guys in person, or you can watch any World of Outlaws event live on DIRTVision.