CONCORD, NC (May 28, 2025) – This year’s list of newcomers to the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision was billed as one of the best in recent memory.

Sixteen races into the season, the quartet of MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders have been living up to those expectations since the drop of the green flag in January.

Hailing from four different corners of the United States, each of them has been on their own unique path to the pinnacle of dirt Late Model racing, and they’re each on their way to becoming household names with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.

Here’s a look at where each rookie stands four months into the year:

Drake Troutman – 1st in rookie points, 4th in overall points: After joining forces over the winter, Drake Troutman and Team22 Motorsports have both reached new levels of competitiveness in the first portion of 2025.

The pairing burst onto the scene by nearly winning the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals finale at Volusia Speedway Park. Troutman led the first 39 laps of the Feature before coming up one spot short in a fierce battle against one of the all-time greats in Jonathan Davenport.

A pair of top fives at Swainsboro Raceway a month later further cemented Troutman’s status as a regular at the front of the field. At the next stop on tour at Farmer City Raceway, Troutman experienced a bit of déjà vu from Volusia, as he led the first half of the Illini 100 before it was ripped out of his hands late in the going, this time by five-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard.

If Troutman wants to close the gap to the likes of Bobby Pierce, Nick Hoffman and Ryan Gustin in the coming months, the name of the game will need to be consistency. While he’s collected five top fives, Troutman has also finished 13th or worse nine times. That will require plenty of learning on the fly in the coming weeks, as I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park is the only one of the next seven tracks on the schedule Troutman has raced a Late Model at before.

Ethan Dotson – 2nd in rookie points, 8th in overall points: For the first time in two years, a rookie has already gone to World of Outlaws Victory Lane in 2025 thanks to Ethan Dotson’s performance at Farmer City Raceway.

The Californian’s first Series triumph was the culmination of a year’s worth of effort since he teamed up with ASD Motorsports in May of 2024. The No. 74X team won four times at the regional level in the second half of last season to give themselves a head of steam entering their first full World of Outlaws campaign, and they didn’t let off the gas once the calendar turned to 2025. Dotson picked up two top fives at Volusia to put himself atop the rookie table leaving Florida, and while he stumbled a bit with some tough nights in March, his Farmer City score thrusted him right back into the Rookie of the Year conversation.

Three top fives in the seven World of Outlaws races since then may not have been the stat line Dotson was aiming for, but things are trending back in the right direction. A fifth-place run at Marion Center Raceway was Dotson’s best finish since the win, and he followed that up with a runner-up in regional action at East Alabama Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend.

Much like Troutman, Dotson is also new to the upcoming tracks on the June schedule. But once he gets through that stretch, July brings some places Dotson knows his way around – he’s a former Modified winner at both Deer Creek Speedway and Fairbury Speedway.

Jake Timm – 3rd in rookie points, 15th in overall points: Jake Timm knew he was in for a challenge taking on the entire World of Outlaws schedule in his first full season in the Late Model ranks, but confidence is growing by the week in the No. 49 camp.

The former United States Modified Touring Series star experienced his fair share of growing pains in the opening weeks of the year at tracks that were all brand new to him, only making the Feature three times in the first 10 races. The Dairyland Showdown at Timm’s home track of Mississippi Thunder Speedway was supposed to be a get-healthy weekend, but a flat tire on Friday and a spin on Saturday knocked him down to 19th and 20th, respectively.

Timm notched his best run of the season when he finished 11th in his first visit to Marion Center, and he’ll be chasing more solid showings during the Midwest swing that features multiple tracks he’s familiar with. Timm has raced at I-94 emr Speedway three times in USMTS competition, and he has two USMTS wins and plenty more local success an hour from home at Deer Creek.

Austin Smith – 4th in rookie points, 17th in overall points: Rounding out the rookie class is Austin Smith, who is chasing the World of Outlaws tour with the support of 2015 Series champion Shane Clanton and the Capital Race Cars team behind him.

After a rough start to the season, the No. 11 team turned a corner during the Ohio-Pennsylvania swing. Smith finished top 20 in back-to-back races for the first time at Raceway 7 and Marion Center before rounding out the weekend in 11th at Bedford Speedway, matching his performance at Weedsport Speedway in 2016 as his career best with the World of Outlaws.

Smith will continue his chase for his first top 10 as the season wears on, and there’s one track in particular he has circled on the calendar – Fairbury. Last season, in his first Prairie Dirt Classic appearance in eight years, Smith finished third in his Showdown Feature on Friday night to lock down a spot in the 100-lapper on Saturday, and he’ll be looking to build on that run in his first PDC as a full-time World of Outlaws driver.

Troutman, Dotson, Timm, and Smith will resume their World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision rookie campaigns at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff on Friday and Saturday, June 20-21. Click here to get your tickets today.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.