KANKAKEE, IL — The 37th DIRTcar Summer Nationals and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals are here, meaning it’s time to feel the heat on the trail of the Hell Tour.
Illinois-Iowa Week kicks off the 32-race schedule on June 14 at Kankakee County Speedway, which will be the 34th visit in tour history.
A potential $39,000 late model champion’s check is on the line, should all 32 races be completed by season’s end. The modifieds will chase the traditional $5,000 check.
Tri-City and Fairbury Speedway will stand as the first $10,000-to-win late model shows on the schedule, bringing the competition and racing action to a fever pitch as the tour gets underway.
Here are the top drivers to watch for and storylines to follow this week.
Return To Form
After two seasons with a schedule that stretched late into August, the Summer Nationals returns to a format more like its traditional slate.
There are 32 race dates in 40 calendar days, with drivers racing an average of six days per week.
This will crank up the heat on the competitors, once again offering the challenge the Hell Tour is known for as teams fight to stay in the action night after night and keep their equipment, tempers and patience in check.
Though the schedule reverts to a more traditional timeframe, the points fund will follow the format unveiled in 2021, with an upgraded purse for perfect-attendance drivers.
For each race completed past 25, the champion’s check will increase by $2,000. Positions two through 10 in points will receive prize money increases in different increments as well. Weekly bonuses and the all-new tow money program will also increase incentives for full-timers.
The Champs Are Here
Defending Hell Tour champions Bobby Pierce — the reigning late model champ from Oakwood, Ill. — and Nick Hoffman — last year’s modified champion from Mooresville, N.C. — have made clear their intentions to be in-action during Illinois-Iowa Week and beyond.
Pierce currently has every race through July 3 on his schedule, giving several of the traditional Summer Nationals tracks and their fans the chance to see the four-time champion compete against the best from the region.
Should he decide to divert from the schedule past that point, a new champion could potentially rise to the top by season’s end.
As he has done in each of the past three seasons, Hoffman plans to tackle the majority of the modified schedule, aiming for his fourth straight and fifth career championship.
He’s taking NOS Energy Drink along for the ride with a brand-new sponsorship inked with the beverage brand for his orange-and-blue No. 2 car.
Welcome to Hell, Rook
Multiple late model racers have already made their intentions of following all or most of the entire schedule known, creating an interesting roster of talent tackling the tour for their first time.
Payton Freeman won two features last year in his first full-time season aboard the Southern All Star Racing Series, clinching Rookie of the Year honors and the series championship by over 500 points.
This summer, he faces the biggest challenge of his career against some of the nation’s best dirt late model talent while driving behind the wheel of his Madison County Auto Parts/Freeman Plumbing No. F1.
Preston Luckman is new to the Midwest dirt late model racing scene, but has plenty of experience racing late models around his home tracks in Oregon.
He’s been a dominant force at Coos Bay Speedway and Cottage Grove Speedway in recent seasons.
Brent McKinnon recently announced via social media that his plan is to take on most of the schedule behind the wheel of his Midwest Farm & Land Company No. 26.
McKinnon took his first career super late model race win at Tri-City Speedway last June.
Thunder From Down Under
Two late model veterans have made the trip across the pond and into the states from Australia and New Zealand in order to attempt the full schedule this year, marking the first running of the Hell Tour with drivers from outside the U.S. since 2019.
Paul Stubber, the 63-year-old Aussie champion from Western Australia, is no stranger to the Summer Nationals. He’s contested several races on the schedule from 2017-2019.
Stubber was unable to compete in the states due to travel restrictions from the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but he is taking his recognizable yellow and orange Palice Property Group No. 31AUS back on the Hell Tour trail this year for a return to his favorite summer racing adventure.
Mick Quin, veteran racer from New Zealand, has been racing and winning around the Kiwi circuits of Baypark Speedway and Waikarara Park Speedway in the super saloon division — a late model-like class with similar power and construction, commonly raced in New Zealand.
He’s been highly successful over the past few years racing a U.S.-built Barry Wright ICON chassis against his local competition, and has now loaded up for Kankakee with a brand-new Barry Wright car and Clements engine strapped into his Quin Buildings Direct No. 23NZ.
Roll Call
Several other late model names are projected to join in at various intervals during Illinois-Iowa action, including Mitch McGrath, Jeff Roth, Joe Godsey, Bob Gardner, Dennis Erb Jr., Mark Voigt, Tanner English, Deshawn Gingerich, Justin Duty, Hunt Gossum and Billy Moyer Jr.