The World of Outlaws Real American beer Late Model Series presented by DirtVision spent the last two nights battling it out on a pair of bullrings in Illinois. Plus, Donny Schatz has a new home for the next seven weeks, and it’s pretty cool.
Header Image: Tanner English in victory lane at Highland Speedway: Clay Guthrie/ Seriously Fast Media
On Wednesday night, the late models raced in front of a packed house at Highland Speedway. It was the second-ever visit to Highland, a 0.2-mile track built on what used to be a high school football field. Tanner English spent the entire feature fending off Shannon Babb to pick up his first win of the 2025 campaign. Shannon Babb and Dustin Sorensen rounded out the top 3. Points leader Bobby Pierce finished 4th, and Hoffman wound up 8th, but Gustin (19th) and McCreadie (20th) were likely both ready to leave Highland after rough nights.
On Thursday night, the series pivoted to Spoon River Speedway in Lewistown, IL. Dennis Erb Jr. led the field to green and led the first 3 laps until Brian Shirley snagged the lead away on lap 4. Shirley would hold the lead until lap 26 when Pierce powered around him on the low line. Pierce would lead the rest of the way and claim his 8th victory of the 2025 season. Jason Feger, who finished 2nd for his best run of the season, and Brian Shirley rounded out the podium.
Bobby Pierce outran his points competitors on both nights to grow his lead to 90 points over Hoffman and 182 over Gustin, who may never want to come back to Illinois again. McCreadie rebounded to finish 4th on Thursday and is now 298 points out as the series heads to Maquoketa, Iowa, for the next two nights.
Donny Schatz’s new ride
The biggest news of the week, maybe the decade, was Donny Schatz and Tony Stewart Racing parting ways after eighteen years together in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car series. As expected, Schatz wasn’t unemployed long and announced that he will drive the next seven races for Big Game Motorsports. This pairing creates a bit of a super team with the ten-time series champion now being teammates with defending series champ David Gravel. Big Game owner Tod Quiring gave an interview to DirtVision where he said the deal was mainly to help out a friend in need. He also said that the timing worked out well because the seven races were all logistically feasible for the team without extra trucks being needed. When asked by Conner Wade about the possibility of the deal lasting longer, Quiring said that it wasn’t likely just because of the logistics of getting race cars to the track, as the series heads west for races in New Mexico and California immediately after these seven races. His goal was to give Schatz time to put together what’s next for 2025. Personally, I’d love to see Schatz in a Big Game car for 2026. Schatz and the Big Game 15 team will be in action tonight at Ogilvie Raceway in Minnesota. As always, watch any World of Outlaws race on DirtVision.