FARMER CITY, Ill. — April has arrived, and that means race season is here in the “Land of Lincoln.”
As it has for the past two decades, the Illini 100 is back as the first major dirt-track event of the year in Illinois and the first Midwest stop of the season for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
A practice night on Thursday, April 9, will give teams a chance to get acclimated to the black-dirt quarter-mile before racing begins on Friday, April 10. A $12,000 prize will be up for grabs in the 40-lap lid lifter ahead of the finale on Saturday, April 11, which pays $25,000 to the winner of the 60-lap contest.
In addition to the World of Outlaws, the Illini 100 will also play host to the season opener for the MARS Modified Championship.
SEPARATED BY THREE
The margin at the top of the points table remains razor thin entering the first Illinois bullring battle of the year.
Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman had already established themselves as the top two drivers in tour prior to the last weekend of racing at East Alabama Motor Speedway and Senoia Raceway, and they further proved that point by the end of the southern doubleheader.
Hoffman took command late to pick up his fourth win of the year at East Alabama before Pierce matched him one night later at Senoia.
One glance at the stat sheet tells the story – Pierce and Hoffman’s average finishes of 3.7 and 3.5, respectively, are both more than six spots better than anyone else. They’ve combined to lead 233 laps in features, more than double the rest of the full-time roster combined. They’re also the only two drivers to clear six figures in race winnings, while the next closest competitor is Tim McCreadie at $55,000.
This weekend’s visit to Farmer City is a special one for both drivers. The track is less than an hour away from Pierce’s home in Oakwood, Ill., while Hoffman grew up a few hours down the road in Belleville, Ill., prior to moving to North Carolina, and has experienced plenty of Farmer City success in late models and modifieds.
Both men are former World of Outlaws winners at the track, and they were the two main characters in one of Farmer City’s most thrilling moments in 2024 when Hoffman went sliding off the track to beat Pierce to the line.
WIN INCOMING?
Few would have predicted that 14 races into the season, Ryan Gustin would still be searching for his first victory.
The Marshalltown, Iowa, driver hasn’t had a bad season to this point. His four top fives and eight top 10s have him fourth in points entering Farmer City, 137 markers behind Pierce out front and 21 back from McCreadie in third. Gustin has won four heat races this year, which has translated to a 9.36 average starting spot that is the second-best in the Series behind Hoffman. His only issue has been staying up front, as his 10.29 average finish means he’s the only driver in the top 10 in points with a negative feature plus/minus.
If this is going to be the weekend Gustin breaks into victory lane, he’ll need a big turnaround from his past results at Farmer City. A fifth-place run in 2023 is his only top five in seven World of Outlaws starts there, and his last four starts have yielded finishes of 16th, 21st, 12th and 14th.
SO CLOSE
One of the highlights of the tour’s last weekend of competition was Daulton Wilson nearly becoming the 105th different winner in World of Outlaws history.
“Big Perm” made all the right moves at East Alabama to keep Hoffman behind him until he jumped the cushion in Turn 4 coming to the two-to-go signal, giving Hoffman the room he needed to squeeze past and delay Wilson’s maiden victory to another day.
That run, along with several more like it, has him fifth in the standings, one point clear of Tyler Erb in the battle for the last spot in the top five.
Despite growing up in Fayetteville, N.C., Wilson has grown fond of the Illinois bullrings in recent years. Prior to his runner-up at East Alabama, Wilson’s World of Outlaws career best was third on four occasions, one of them being the 2024 Prairie Dirt Classic at nearby Fairbury Speedway.
Back at Farmer City, Wilson will be making his first World of Outlaws start at the track this weekend, but has a pair of top 10s to his credit from the track’s Illinois Speedweek date in 2023 and with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals in 2025.
BACK FOR MORE
If Wilson can get the job done this weekend, it wouldn’t be out of line for the Illini 100. Three drivers have won their first World of Outlaws race at Farmer City – Pierce and Mike Spatola on back-to-back nights in 2021, then Ethan Dotson last year.
Twelve months later, the driver of the ASD Motorsports No. 74x is still chasing win number two. There have been a few close calls, including a trio of podiums at Norman County Raceway and Senoia Raceway last season and at Hendry County Motorsports Park in February. However, he did score a win at Central Arizona Raceway during the Wild West Shootout.
Outside of Dotson’s highlight reel run-ins with Kyle Strickler, the opening weeks of the season have seen him be a consistent presence toward the front of the field with six top 10s in the last eight races dating back to his Hendry County runner-up.
That leaves Dotson seventh in points ahead of Farmer City, due in large part to his 79 positions gained in Features, the second-best mark in the series behind Pierce at +93.
FIGHTING ILLINI
Illinois is known for having one of the toughest contingents of regional Late Model racers in the country, many of whom will hit the track for the first time this season.
Leading the way is Bloomington’s Jason Feger, who earned the Midwest triple crown last season with titles from the Summer Nationals, MARS Late Model Championship and the DIRTcar national standings. He’s already done some racing in 2026 down under in New Zealand, but will make his first North American start of the season at Farmer City.
One of the state’s most popular drivers, Shannon Babb, is also set to bring his offseason to an end. The Moweaqua, Ill., driver is coming off a two-win 2025 campaign and is a two-time World of Outlaws winner at Farmer City in 2007 and 2014.
Other Illinois favorites expected this weekend include Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley, Ryan Unzicker, Frank Heckenast Jr., McKay Wenger and more.