Tag: world of outlaws

Thrilling Three-Way Championship Battle to Conclude World of Outlaws Late Model Season at World Finals

World of Outlaws Late Models at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

World of Outlaws Late Models at The Dirt Track at Charlotte

The 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models season reaches its pinnacle at the World of Outlaws World Finals.

This four-day event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, running from Nov. 6-9, will bring an epic season to a close with a thrilling championship showdown. Three contenders—Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, and Nick Hoffman—are within 50 points of each other in the battle for the title, marking the 20th anniversary of the tour’s revival with a race fans won’t want to miss.

On-track action kicks off Wednesday, Nov. 6, with Sea Foam Qualifying Night, setting the stage for Thursday and Friday’s racing programs, featuring 35-lap races with a $15,000 winner’s prize.

The high-stakes “every-lap matters” points format will be in effect Thursday and Friday to secure spots for the top 16 points earners in Saturday’s finale—a 50-lap showdown offering a $25,000 payout at the 4/10-mile dirt track.

The World of Outlaws Late Models will race alongside the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars and the Super DIRTcar Series Big Block Modifieds each night of the event.

Here are some of the top storylines to watch:

Drive for Five: Four-time World of Outlaws champion Brandon Sheppard from New Berlin, IL, has focused on consistency throughout the season, which has paid off as he enters the World Finals as the Series points leader. He’s held the top spot since June, boosted by wins at Thunderhill Raceway, Ponderosa Speedway, and Deer Creek Speedway.

Although Sheppard has two wins at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, he hasn’t cracked the top 10 there since his third-place finish in his 2021 title campaign. With Bobby Pierce just 44 points behind and Nick Hoffman only 50 points back, Sheppard will need to build momentum from the start to defend his lead.

Smooth Comeback: Bobby Pierce has powered his way back into contention for a second straight title, amassing 12 Series wins, 25 top-five finishes, and 26 top-10s in 35 races. The Oakwood, IL, native had a career-defining year in his No.32 Low Voltage Solutions car, winning 36 Super Late Model races in 2024, including crown jewels like the NAPA Gopher 50, Prairie Dirt Classic, USA Nationals, World 100, Late Model Knoxville Nationals, and the Dirt Track World Championship.

Trailing Sheppard by 44 points, Pierce is looking to bring his winning momentum to the World Finals. If the “Smooth Operator” clinches the title, he’ll join Billy Moyer and Josh Richards as the only drivers to win their first two World of Outlaws titles back-to-back.

Here to Stay: Nick Hoffman has proven he’s a strong contender for a dirt Late Model title as the driver of the Tye Twarog Racing No. 9, trailing by just 50 points in the championship race.

The Mooresville, NC, racer had a breakout season in 2024, capturing five Series wins and challenging Sheppard and Pierce throughout his sophomore year with the “Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.” Hoffman brings significant experience to the Concord, NC track, with five World Short Track Championship Feature wins in his No. 2 DIRTcar UMP Modified, and he secured a seventh-place finish in the 2023 World Finals finale.

One Last Chance: While all eyes are on Sheppard, Pierce, and Hoffman in the championship race, intense points battles within the top 10 could still shake up the standings by Saturday night.

Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, IA, moved into fourth place in Series points for the first time this season after his September Bayou Classic win at Boothill Speedway. However, he has three drivers within striking distance—Kyle Bronson from Brandon, FL, Cade Dillard from Robeline, LA, and Brian Shirley from Chatham, IL, who trails by only 62 points. Shirley enters the World Finals as the driver on the hottest streak, with five Series wins and 14 top-10 finishes in his last 15 races.

With a $50,000 difference in the points fund between fourth and seventh, these battles could have a big impact on the final standings.

World Finals Outlanders: Following last year’s massive turnout of over 70 drivers, top talent in Super Late Model racing returns to challenge the World of Outlaws at Charlotte.

Ricky Thornton Jr., fresh off his first national Super Late Model title, is aiming for a three-peat after winning the last two Features at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Despite limited experience on this track, he’s proven he can dominate here. Thornton will also pull double duty, racing with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars as well.

Hunt The Front Super Dirt Series champion Brandon Overton, who earned his first World Finals win in 2020, is back to add another victory to his title-winning season.

Other past Charlotte winners joining the field include 2018 World of Outlaws champion Mike Marlar, six-time Charlotte victor Jonathan Davenport—reuniting with Kevin Rumley in the No. 6 Late Model—six-time World Finals winner Jimmy Owens, two-time event winner Chris Madden, and 2024 DIRTcar UMP Modified World Short Track Champion Kyle Strickler.

The Dirt Track at Charlotte is a 4/10-mile semi-banked oval located in Concord, North Carolina. The track record is 14.183 seconds, set by Kyle Larson on November 5, 2020.

iRacing Announces 2020 World of Outlaws Championship Series Qualifier

~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

iRacing shared details on the 2020 WoO Super Late Model Series Qualifier today. This is the sole qualifying series for entry into the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Championship Series. The series will run as the standard Super Late Model Series during 2020 Season 2.

  • The qualifying series is open to drivers who have obtained a Class C 4.0 dirt license or higher.
  • The series will run every two hours and score the best eight of twelve weeks.
  • Races may have multiple splits based on iRating.
  • Heat races will be utilized.
  • This will be a standard twelve week season.
  • Grid positions will be determined by qualifying.
  • Qualifying will be attached to the race session.
  • The top twenty in points who aren’t already qualified and have a Class A dirt license will be considered for a Pro/WC license and entry into the World of Outlaws Late Model Championship Series.
  • In the event that a driver that is in the top twenty in points but is not eligible for any reason, the spot will go to the next available points position.

That’s it Late Model drivers. Tighten up and go for it!

Every WoO Sprint Car Series Race to Have Live Video Coverage in 2018

~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

Here’s a press release from DIRTVision:

CONCORD, NC – January 31, 2018 – It is with great excitement that the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series announces that all 88 events will feature live streaming video to the public in 2018. DIRTVision.com, which has provided live audio of every World of Outlaws race since 2005, in addition to live streaming select events, will expand its offering in 2018 to include all World of Outlaws-sanctioned Sprint Car events not previously streamed.

DIRTVision pioneered live dirt track video streaming in 2004 with the ultimate goal of streaming content on a nightly basis. Now, 14 years later, that goal will become a reality. Current World of Outlaws Director of Broadcast, Brian Dunlap, was involved in the initial broadcast and has spearheaded the latest advancement. “When DIRTVision originally launched, live video streaming was almost unheard of,” said Dunlap. “We have continued to push the envelope of new technologies with this goal in mind. It’s great to have the opportunity to bring DIRTVision full circle and provide fans the ability to watch The Greatest Show on Dirt every night live from coast to coast.”

“This is a monumental step for dirt track racing and the World of Outlaws. Having every race broadcast live will provide increased exposure and, in turn, more marketing opportunities for our drivers, teams, tracks and Series,” said World of Outlaws Chief Executive Officer Brian Carter.

Fans aren’t the only ones thrilled about the live video; NASCAR star and current World of Outlaws team owner Kyle Larson expressed his gratitude to DIRTVision and will be a frequent viewer.

“This is really exciting news! As a car owner who would love to be at the track every night but can’t, this will really help me follow along and help out from a distance when I can. I see a lot more cookouts at the bus happening on NASCAR weekends now,” Larson said with a sizable smile.

DIRTVision will kick off the 2018 season at DIRTcar Nationals with live video coverage of the 12 consecutive nights of racing at Volusia Speedway Park. Sprint Car fans can purchase the entire first week (Sprint Week) at DIRTVision.com for $79.99. Further information about subscription packages will be available soon. Be sure to keep up with the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series (@WorldofOutlaws) and DIRTVision (@DIRTVision) on all social media channels for up to the minute news.

Big Ant Drives for Dirt Track Racing Simulation

~ Jeff Kendrick ~ 19 Comments
Ratbag Games Logo
Ratbag Logo

If you have been around the sim racing community for at least ten years, you are most likely familiar with Ratbag Games, an Australian company that released several dirt track racing simulations and games for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.

Ratbag Games, initially known as Emergent Games, was founded in Adelaide, Australia in 1993. Their first title, released in 1996, was a futuristic arcade racing game called Powerslide. They utilized their own highly advanced rendering system (for its time) called the Difference Engine, that allowed up to 300,000 polygons on the screen at once.

Before Ratbag was acquired by Midway Games, the company released a total of nine racing games, and became type cast as a racing game and simulation developer. The games released were:

  • Powerslide – Windows
  • Dirt Track Racing – Windows
  • Dirt Track Racing: Sprint Cars – Windows
  • Dirt Track Racing 2 – Windows
  • Leadfoot – Windows
  • Holden Dirt Track Racing Australia – Windows
  • World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars 2002 – PS2
  • Saturday Night Speedway – PS2, Windows
  • The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee – PS2, Xbox

Midway games acquired Ratbag in August of 2005, then promptly closed the Ratbag operation in December, putting about 75 people out of work with little notice. Krome Studios hired many of the Ratbag Games staff and established Krome Studios Adelaide. Krome Studios never attempted to create any type of racing game or simulation. Ratbag was dead.

Dirt Track Racing 2 continued to be used in online multiplayer league racing despite its quirky bugs and ten player limit until at least 2014, however the community is tiny. It seems ten slots is about all that’s needed, as that is about how many were still playing the game at that time.  Gamespy drove the final nail in the Dirt Track Racing 2 coffin May 31, 2014 when they took their multiplayer matchmaking/browser server offline. DTR2 was dead.

I’ve played Dirt Track Racing 2 as recently as 2014. While it was a great dirt racing simulation for its time, it did have some bugs that never got patched despite the fact that Ratbag remained in operation for two years after its release.

The Difference Engine was considered great at that time, and maybe it was, but NASCAR Racing 2003 Season came out during the same year and had better physics and better graphics. The graphics never looked very realistic in the Ratbag titles, and the physics felt like you were driving on asphalt. There was no power sliding, even in the Late Models. You lost too much momentum. It was pretty much an asphalt driving experience.

Fast forward to today. Big Ant Studios with Ratbag’s Mark Bracken as Executive Vice President is looking to fund a new Dirt Track Racing game using a Kickstarter campaign. The project will only be funded if they raise at least $266,000. As of this writing, half of the time has elapsed and the pledges stand at only $52,278.

But hold on just a minute. First of all, Mark Bracken was a marketing guy at Ratbag, not a game developer. His official title was Vice President of Marketing and Business Development, which is a fancy name for a salesman.

Then we see TeamVLR listed as a consultant. Seriously? Is this supposed to impress me? TeamVLR is a guy who ran a Dirt Track Racing 2 league for a few years. There’s nothing wrong with that, but he has no game development experience. It’s starting to sound a lot like name dropping. Ratbag. TeamVLR. DirtWorks Designs.

Okay hold on just another minute. DirtWorks Designs does get my attention. That’s a name I recognize as the leading developer of mods for various dirt racing simulations, primarily rFactor. I really liked the DWD Stocks and Super Stocks. This is a plus.

As you read the details of the project, the $266,000 only covers a base package that does not include any other chassis, and, most importantly, will not support online multiplayer racing. To get the good stuff, Bracken is looking to raise $830,000. I thought $266,000 was ambitious for a 30 day campaign, but $830,000 is nothing short of ridiculous. Anybody can look at the numbers and see that. They’ve raised 50k in 15 days. There is no way in hell they’re going to raise almost 800k in 15 days.

Now that I’ve said that and it’s settled, I will say this: If Big Ant Studios somehow gets close to the $830,000 mark, I’ll contribute enough to make it happen. But it’s just not going to happen. This Kickstarter campaign is DOA.