Dotson Scores First World of Outlaws Victory on Night One of Illini 100

 

Farmer City, ILL  (April 11, 2025) – Ethan Dotson and ASD Motorsports joined forces last May with one goal in mind – win races at the highest level of dirt Late Model racing.

They did just that Friday at Farmer City Raceway, as the Bakersfield, CA native became the 103rd different winner in the history of the World of Outlaws Late Models.

“There were a lot of times I thought about quitting,” Dotson said in Victory Lane. “Super glad I didn’t. Grateful for everybody that helped me along the way. There’s a lot of good people that, without them, I wouldn’t be here.”

Dotson’s charge to victory started in the ninth spot while Jason Feger and Ryan Gustin led the field to green in the Feature. A rash of early yellows plagued the start of the race, including one for Feger after he spun out of the lead in Turn 4 on the opening lap.

A poor restart for Gustin handed the lead over to Devin Moran while Drake Troutman waited in the wings for his chance to pounce from second. Soon after, Moran would become the second race leader to have trouble, as Tristan Chamberlain spun on Lap 14 and left Moran with nowhere to go, forcing the No. 99 to the rear for his involvement in the caution.

That put Troutman on top for the restart with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Dotson in tow. The No. 74X nailed the restart from the outside of Row 2 to get alongside Troutman before pulling ahead in the battle of the MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders.

With eight circuits remaining, Troutman’s solid night came to an end when he cut a right-rear tire and brought out the caution. That gave the field one more shot at Dotson, and while Thornton remained on Dotson’s tail throughout the final dash to the checkers, Dotson didn’t let him get close enough to make a move.

As if a World of Outlaws win could ever come at a bad time, Dotson’s triumph came right when the ASD Motorsports crew needed a morale boost. The team got off to a solid start at Volusia Speedway Park, but failed to finish better than ninth in March between Smoky Mountain Speedway and Swainsboro Raceway. With the win, Dotson now finds himself atop the rookie standings and fourth in the overall points.

“I kind of had some bad stuff, I wrecked the car and we kind of just kept racing it,” Dotson said. “It just put us behind, we were chasing our tail and stuff. Just finally got one of my good cars that I wrecked back and everything just went as planned.”

Thornton continued to establish himself as one of the hottest drivers in the country on Friday, as his second-place run was his fourth-straight runner-up in Late Model action and 14th podium of 2025.

“Ethan was really good,” Thornton said. “I should have picked the top on one restart that I didn’t. Troutman got in way slower than I thought and I about wrecked both of us. That let Ethan drive around both of us, and he was really good in traffic too. I feel like we can work on our stuff, get a little bit better for tomorrow. Honestly, we didn’t change anything all night. Our car’s really good, driver needs to be a little bit better.”

Rounding out the podium was the local hero Brian Shirley with his best World of Outlaws finish of the season. “Squirrel” knew he had to get his season back on track at home after a seven-race top-10 drought, and he put his local knowledge to good use to bring the No. 3S home third.

“I definitely felt comfortable in the car,” Shirley said. “Wasn’t sure who was behind me, I just knew where the track would end up there. It always ends up around the wall in Turns 3 and 4. Tried to give myself a shot without costing myself a spot.”

34 entries
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[2]; 2. 18L-Michael Long[6]; 3. 09-Michael Ledford[8]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger[1]; 5. 66-Cole Falloway[4]; 6. 45H-Chase Holland[3]; 7. 25-Tyler Nicely[12]; 8. 0-Damian Kiefer[10]; 9. 98-Zeke McKenzie[7]; 10. 12-Jeff Curl[9]; 11. 3-Carson Friedman[5]; 12. 89-Austin Friedman[11]; 13. 05-Dave Wietholder[21]; 14. 27D-Beau DeYoung[14]; 15. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[17]; 16. 777-Trevor Neville[19]; 17. Z24-Zach Taylor[18]; 18. 2D-Brayden Doyle[15]; 19. B5-Matthew Baker[22]; 20. 5B-Steven Brooks[20]; 21. (DNF) 45-Kyle Hammer[13]; 22. (DNF) C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[16]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[2]; 2. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 3. J24-Jeremy Nichols[1]; 4. 73-Mark Rhoades[4]; 5. (DNS) 58R-Ryan Hamilton; 6. (DNS) 27-Kyle Barker; 7. (DNS) 05-Dave Wietholder; 8. (DNS) 97C-Jason Crose; 9. (DNS) 98V-Shawn Vaughn

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. Z24-Zach Taylor[1]; 2. 5B-Steven Brooks[3]; 3. 88S-Alan Stipp[7]; 4. B5-Matthew Baker[6]; 5. 10-Michael Mennel[2]; 6. 2M-Scott McDonald[4]; 7. 2-Wes Harms[9]; 8. (DNF) 23-Billy Justice[5]; 9. (DNS) 67-Austin Seets

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 45H-Chase Holland[2]; 2. 3-Carson Friedman[1]; 3. 12-Jeff Curl[4]; 4. 45-Kyle Hammer[9]; 5. J24-Jeremy Nichols[6]; 6. 777-Trevor Neville[3]; 7. 58R-Ryan Hamilton[5]; 8. (DNF) 05-Dave Wietholder[7]; 9. (DNS) 98V-Shawn Vaughn

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[1]; 2. 98-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 3. 89-Austin Friedman[5]; 4. 2D-Brayden Doyle[3]; 5. 21-Lyndon Whitfill[2]; 6. 73-Mark Rhoades[6]; 7. (DNF) 27-Kyle Barker[7]; 8. (DNF) 97C-Jason Crose[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 66-Cole Falloway[1]; 2. 18L-Michael Long[2]; 3. 0-Damian Kiefer[3]; 4. 27D-Beau DeYoung[5]; 5. Z24-Zach Taylor[4]; 6. 5B-Steven Brooks[6]; 7. 23-Billy Justice[8]; 8. 88S-Alan Stipp[7]; 9. 2-Wes Harms[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Ray Bollinger[2]; 2. 09-Michael Ledford[1]; 3. 25-Tyler Nicely[3]; 4. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr[6]; 5. 10-Michael Mennel[7]; 6. 2M-Scott McDonald[8]; 7. (DNF) B5-Matthew Baker[4]; 8. (DNF) 67-Austin Seets[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 3-Carson Friedman, 00:14.098[17]; 2. 96M-Mike McKinney, 00:14.110[9]; 3. 45H-Chase Holland, 00:14.111[13]; 4. 21-Lyndon Whitfill, 00:14.209[6]; 5. 777-Trevor Neville, 00:14.216[5]; 6. 2D-Brayden Doyle, 00:14.273[14]; 7. 12-Jeff Curl, 00:14.382[7]; 8. 98-Zeke McKenzie, 00:14.421[10]; 9. 58R-Ryan Hamilton, 00:14.435[12]; 10. 89-Austin Friedman, 00:14.528[1]; 11. J24-Jeremy Nichols, 00:14.621[16]; 12. 73-Mark Rhoades, 00:14.683[8]; 13. 05-Dave Wietholder, 00:14.837[3]; 14. 27-Kyle Barker, 00:14.912[15]; 15. 98V-Shawn Vaughn, 00:15.576[11]; 16. 97C-Jason Crose, 00:16.759[2]; 17. 45-Kyle Hammer, 01:00.000[4]

Qualifying 2: 1. 66-Cole Falloway, 00:14.070[2]; 2. 09-Michael Ledford, 00:14.139[4]; 3. 18L-Michael Long, 00:14.180[16]; 4. 77-Ray Bollinger, 00:14.196[5]; 5. 0-Damian Kiefer, 00:14.237[7]; 6. 25-Tyler Nicely, 00:14.423[1]; 7. Z24-Zach Taylor, 00:14.428[17]; 8. B5-Matthew Baker, 00:14.469[13]; 9. 27D-Beau DeYoung, 00:14.561[15]; 10. 67-Austin Seets, 00:14.585[6]; 11. 5B-Steven Brooks, 00:14.588[14]; 12. C40-Mike Chasteen Jr, 00:14.652[11]; 13. 88S-Alan Stipp, 00:14.815[9]; 14. 10-Michael Mennel, 00:14.965[10]; 15. 23-Billy Justice, 00:15.044[3]; 16. 2M-Scott McDonald, 00:15.386[12]; 17. 2-Wes Harms, 00:15.417[8]

42 entries
Dirt Super Late Models
WoO Late Model Feature (40 Laps): 1. 74X-Ethan Dotson[9]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[13]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[12]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce[15]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[11]; 9. 111-Max Blair[7]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson[20]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[22]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 13. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 14. 2-Cody Overton[23]; 15. 16-Tyler Bruening[16]; 16. 22*-Drake Troutman[5]; 17. 19-Dustin Sorensen[25]; 18. 96-Tanner English[21]; 19. 75-Daniel Adam[14]; 20. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[26]; 21. 9M-Tim McCreadie[24]; 22. 99W-Mckay Wenger[18]; 23. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 24. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 25. 18-Shannon Babb[17]; 26. 20-Jimmy Owens[19]

Landa Pressure Washers LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[3]; 3. 96-Tanner English[2]; 4. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 5. 84-Myles Moos[6]; 6. 11-Austin Smith[10]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[5]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[7]; 9. 8-Matthew Larson[12]; 10. 49-Jake Timm[13]; 11. 15-Justin Duty[8]; 12. 33H-Roben Huffman[11]; 13. (DNS) 25W-Allen Weisser

Landa Pressure Washers LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 99W-Mckay Wenger[2]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[4]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 4. 89-Mike Spatola[6]; 5. 19-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 6. 60-Dan Ebert[7]; 7. 24-Ryan Unzicker[5]; 8. 2-Cody Overton[9]; 9. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[8]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[11]; 11. 62-Randy Shuman[10]; 12. (DNS) 122-Timmy Dick; 13. (DNS) 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr

WoO Late Model Heat Race 1 (8 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 3. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 5. 18-Shannon Babb[9]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[8]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[6]; 9. 25W-Allen Weisser[10]; 10. 33H-Roben Huffman[11]; 11. 49-Jake Timm[7]

STAKT Products Heat Race 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Devin Moran[2]; 2. 111-Max Blair[1]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[7]; 5. 96-Tanner English[5]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 7. 84-Myles Moos[6]; 8. 15-Justin Duty[9]; 9. 11-Austin Smith[8]; 10. 8-Matthew Larson[10]

Keyser Mfg Heat Race 3 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 75-Daniel Adam[4]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 7. 24-Ryan Unzicker[8]; 8. 60-Dan Ebert[10]; 9. 2-Cody Overton[11]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[7]; 11. 122-Timmy Dick[9]

Jarrett Rifles Heat Race 4 (8 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[2]; 3. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[7]; 5. 99W-Mckay Wenger[5]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 7. 89-Mike Spatola[4]; 8. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr[8]; 9. 62-Randy Shuman[9]; 10. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[10]

Group A Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:12.687[13]; 2. 111-Max Blair, 00:12.697[16]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:12.712[6]; 4. 99-Devin Moran, 00:12.743[8]; 5. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:12.808[2]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:12.845[9]; 7. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:12.853[11]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:12.872[5]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:12.898[4]; 10. 96-Tanner English, 00:12.933[20]; 11. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:12.935[19]; 12. 84-Myles Moos, 00:12.949[17]; 13. 49-Jake Timm, 00:12.961[21]; 14. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:12.975[3]; 15. 9M-Tim McCreadie, 00:13.122[18]; 16. 11-Austin Smith, 00:13.129[10]; 17. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.134[15]; 18. 15-Justin Duty, 00:13.155[7]; 19. 25W-Allen Weisser, 00:13.216[14]; 20. 8-Matthew Larson, 00:13.436[1]; 21. 33H-Roben Huffman, 00:13.615[12]

Group B Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:12.613[5]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:12.643[9]; 3. 25-Jason Feger, 00:12.688[17]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman, 00:12.707[3]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:12.803[12]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:12.804[19]; 7. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:12.850[16]; 8. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:12.869[2]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:12.891[21]; 10. 99W-Mckay Wenger, 00:12.931[10]; 11. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:12.964[18]; 12. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:13.028[20]; 13. B1-Brent Larson, 00:13.067[14]; 14. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:13.140[8]; 15. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:13.150[13]; 16. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr, 00:13.207[7]; 17. 122-Timmy Dick, 00:13.500[11]; 18. 62-Randy Shuman, 00:13.588[1]; 19. 60-Dan Ebert, 00:13.845[15]; 20. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:13.845[4]; 21. (DQ) 2-Cody Overton, 00:12.727[6]

DIRT King Simulator Laps: 1. 75-Daniel Adam, 00:12.976[37]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:13.048[42]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:13.086[39]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert, 00:13.106[36]; 5. 22*-Drake Troutman, 00:13.155[24]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:13.191[40]; 7. 25-Jason Feger, 00:13.218[38]; 8. 2-Cody Overton, 00:13.242[27]; 9. 99W-Mckay Wenger, 00:13.306[31]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:13.324[41]; 11. 11-Austin Smith, 00:13.387[10]; 12. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:13.448[33]; 13. 99-Devin Moran, 00:13.489[8]; 14. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:13.510[26]; 15. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:13.532[34]; 16. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:13.544[30]; 17. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:13.557[29]; 18. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:13.625[23]; 19. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:13.649[6]; 20. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.714[13]; 21. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:13.732[9]; 22. 5S-Steve Sheppard Jr, 00:13.754[28]; 23. 84-Myles Moos, 00:13.758[17]; 24. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:13.867[5]; 25. B1-Brent Larson, 00:13.871[35]; 26. 111-Max Blair, 00:13.901[16]; 27. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.942[3]; 28. 49-Jake Timm, 00:13.964[21]; 29. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:14.021[4]; 30. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:14.088[15]; 31. 9M-Tim McCreadie, 00:14.112[18]; 32. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:14.117[2]; 33. 25W-Allen Weisser, 00:14.144[14]; 34. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:14.150[19]; 35. 96-Tanner English, 00:14.250[20]; 36. 15-Justin Duty, 00:14.284[7]; 37. 122-Timmy Dick, 00:14.427[32]; 38. 8-Matthew Larson, 00:14.491[1]; 39. 62-Randy Shuman, 00:14.716[22]; 40. 33H-Roben Huffman, 00:14.883[12]; 41. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:14.883[11]; 42. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:14.883[25]

27 entries
Midgets
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 67-Jacob Denney[2]; 2. 5D-Zach Daum[5]; 3. 21K-Karter Sarff[8]; 4. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[3]; 5. 40-Chase McDermand[6]; 6. 9U-Kameron Key[13]; 7. 5U-Michael Faccinto[11]; 8. 67K-Colton Robinson[14]; 9. 55-Trevor Cline[16]; 10. 98K-Brandon Carr[7]; 11. 56E-Tyler Edwards[20]; 12. 97-Gavin Miller[9]; 13. 72-Alex Karpowicz[12]; 14. 63-Cale Coons[15]; 15. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[4]; 16. 50-Daniel Adler[18]; 17. 16C-David Camfield Jr[26]; 18. 16TH-Kevin Newton[19]; 19. 94-Hayden Wise[22]; 20. 12-Corbin Gurley[23]; 21. 17C-Devin Camfield[24]; 22. 20-Cody Weisensel[25]; 23. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[10]; 24. 51-Zach Boden[17]; 25. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[21]; 26. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[1]; 27. (DNS) 56X-Mark Chisholm

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5D-Zach Daum[1]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[5]; 3. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[2]; 4. 97-Gavin Miller[4]; 5. 72-Alex Karpowicz[3]; 6. 51-Zach Boden[6]; 7. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[7]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield[8]; 9. (DNS) 56X-Mark Chisholm

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 98K-Brandon Carr[1]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff[9]; 3. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg[4]; 4. 5U-Michael Faccinto[2]; 5. 63-Cale Coons[5]; 6. 16TH-Kevin Newton[6]; 7. 55-Trevor Cline[3]; 8. 12-Corbin Gurley[7]; 9. 20-Cody Weisensel[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7X-Thomas Meseraull[2]; 2. 67-Jacob Denney[3]; 3. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[4]; 4. 9U-Kameron Key[5]; 5. 67K-Colton Robinson[1]; 6. 50-Daniel Adler[8]; 7. 56E-Tyler Edwards[7]; 8. 94-Hayden Wise[6]; 9. 16C-David Camfield Jr[9]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 97-Gavin Miller, 00:13.331[4]; 2. 72-Alex Karpowicz, 00:13.405[6]; 3. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 00:13.446[9]; 4. 5D-Zach Daum, 00:13.489[5]; 5. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:13.531[2]; 6. 51-Zach Boden, 00:13.633[8]; 7. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 00:14.129[7]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield, 00:14.715[1]; 9. 56X-Mark Chisholm, 01:00.000[3]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 00:13.155[8]; 2. 55-Trevor Cline, 00:13.243[7]; 3. 5U-Michael Faccinto, 00:13.585[5]; 4. 98K-Brandon Carr, 00:13.616[2]; 5. 63-Cale Coons, 00:13.729[4]; 6. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:13.923[6]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:14.138[3]; 8. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:14.863[1]; 9. 21K-Karter Sarff, 01:00.000[9]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh, 00:13.211[2]; 2. 67-Jacob Denney, 00:13.258[7]; 3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull, 00:13.288[3]; 4. 67K-Colton Robinson, 00:13.420[5]; 5. 9U-Kameron Key, 00:13.499[1]; 6. 94-Hayden Wise, 00:13.594[6]; 7. 56E-Tyler Edwards, 00:13.629[9]; 8. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:13.647[4]; 9. 16C-David Camfield Jr, 00:13.887[8]

Hot Laps 1: 1. 97-Gavin Miller, 00:13.443[4]; 2. 5D-Zach Daum, 00:13.447[5]; 3. 72-Alex Karpowicz, 00:13.451[6]; 4. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:13.745[2]; 5. 51-Zach Boden, 00:13.803[8]; 6. 19M-Ethan Mitchell, 00:13.978[9]; 7. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 00:14.741[7]; 8. 17C-Devin Camfield, 00:14.978[1]; 9. 56X-Mark Chisholm, 00:15.257[3]

Hot Laps 2: 1. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg, 00:13.554[8]; 2. 98K-Brandon Carr, 00:13.567[2]; 3. 55-Trevor Cline, 00:13.695[7]; 4. 63-Cale Coons, 00:13.819[4]; 5. 5U-Michael Faccinto, 00:13.918[5]; 6. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:14.115[3]; 7. 16TH-Kevin Newton, 00:14.711[6]; 8. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:15.063[1]; 9. 21K-Karter Sarff, 00:15.063[9]

Hot Laps 3: 1. 7X-Thomas Meseraull, 00:13.467[3]; 2. 56E-Tyler Edwards, 00:13.638[9]; 3. 67-Jacob Denney, 00:13.658[7]; 4. 9U-Kameron Key, 00:13.823[1]; 5. 71K-Cannon McIntosh, 00:13.828[2]; 6. 67K-Colton Robinson, 00:13.842[5]; 7. 50-Daniel Adler, 00:13.888[4]; 8. 94-Hayden Wise, 00:14.317[6]; 9. 16C-David Camfield Jr, 00:14.437[8]

 

 

Category: Farmer City, Illinois