FAIRBURY, IL (July 15, 2026) – When Daulton Wilson took the checkers at Stateline Speedway, it was more than his first win with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. It was the fulfillment of a promise.
Big Frog/Viper Motorsports brought Wilson into the fold for one primary reason – they believed in his ability to make them winners at the highest level of dirt Late Model racing. For the past several years, the No. 58 has been a revolving door of short-term drivers. Everyone from Tim McCreadie to Jimmy Owens, Drake Troutman, Ross Bailes, Ashton Winger, Tyler Clem and even Super DIRTcar Series star Matt Sheppard have made appearances in the Big Frog car in the past half-decade.
Wilson became the latest addition to that list last fall when he joined the team for a few races after departing JRR Motorsports in October. But Wilson soon began to hit it off with team owners Augie Burttram, Shawn Martin and the rest of the crew, and by the end of the year, the team realized that Wilson might be the driver they could build around long-term that they had been looking for.
By mid-January, the deal was done for Wilson to drive the car for the full 2026 season on tour with the World of Outlaws, and that mutual commitment paid off on their perfect night in New York.
“It’s a pretty big relief,” Wilson said. “We’ve been in position and had a few that kind of slipped through. You wonder when that breakthrough’s going to happen. To finally get that win is definitely a big relief and a big sense of satisfaction for everybody. That’s what we set out to do, and we were finally able to get one. Hopefully we can get us some more.”
As Wilson alluded to, the first win could have come much earlier in the season had things gone differently on a couple of occasions. The most notable examples were East Alabama Motor Speedway, where Wilson jumped the cushion when he was two laps from victory and let Nick Hoffman get by, and Bedford Speedway, where he led the first 29 laps before Mason Zeigler passed him and went on to win.
However, those weren’t the only two commendable showings from the MD3 Rookie of the Year contender in the first half of the season. In the 18 races between Hendry County Motorsports Park in February and Marion Center Raceway in May, Wilson had seven top fives and only missed the top 10 five times.
But as spring turned to summer, the No. 58V team’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Prior to Stateline, Wilson cracked the top 10 only twice in 11 races. He rolled into Busti, NY in dire need of a momentum shift, and it came in the form of a trophy and a $15,000 check.
“You know, it’s racing. We’ve had a lot of bad luck,” Wilson said. “The early spring there was some racetracks that I had been to, and then we went through a stretch there where we went to places that were totally new to me and all of us. Just a combination of everything. Everything’s so close now, if you’re off just a little bit, you run 10th. We’ve had a good car, and Stateline, everything just went our way, we did everything right and it all worked out.”
After following up his win in 13th in his debut at Sharon Speedway, Wilson’s attention has turned to the biggest weekend of the season, the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway (Friday-Saturday, July 24-25). For a North Carolinian who enjoys the red clay 1/2-miles across the southeast, “Big Perm” has been a formidable challenger at Illinois’ signature bullring.
The 2024 PDC will always be remembered for Bobby Pierce’s last-lap pass on Hoffman to score his first win in the event, but it’s easy to forget that the driver lurking behind both of them in third that night was Wilson. That run stood as his World of Outlaws career best before he joined the tour full-time in 2026, and it was far from a fluke. Wilson has finished in the top five in all three Friday Showdown Features he’s competed in, and he also ran second at Fairbury as part of Illinois Speedweek in 2023.
“That place, the atmosphere and everything is just completely different there,” Wilson said. “That is one of the races that we’ve gone to in previous years even though we weren’t full-time. It’s one of those places that we enjoy going to, and it seems to fit me pretty good. I’ve never won there, but I’ve had some really good runs there.”
Once the party wraps up in Fairbury, Wilson will set sail for the next destination of New Richmond, WI, for the second of back-to-back crown jewels. Wilson has only been to Cedar Lake Speedway once for the 2023 USA Nationals and finished 25th in the 100-lapper, but the contagious energy alone was enough to make him excited to return this season.
“That place is cool,” Wilson said. “It’s really fun and a really good racetrack. In the past, we always tried to go, and it only worked out for us to go that one time. But at least having been there one time, it still gives us a little bit of an idea for what we’re in for.”
Now that Wilson’s first World of Outlaws triumph is in the books, winning one of the sport’s crown jewels has become the next item on his career agenda. Last year, Ryan Gustin checked that box at Cedar Lake with his first USA Nationals victory. Whether it’s at Fairbury, Cedar Lake or somewhere else down the line, Wilson is confident that his turn is coming.
“We’ve been close at the PDC before,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, and that’s kind of where we’re getting our feet under us. Definitely, I’d love to win one of them, any of them. Any race is a big deal, but a crown jewel, that’s the goal for sure.”
Wilson will continue his season with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision in the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway on Friday and Saturday, July 24-25. General admission tickets will be available at the gate.
Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.
Newest World of Outlaws Winner Wilson Chasing First Taste of Crown Jewel Glory at Fairbury, Cedar Lake
FAIRBURY, IL (July 15, 2026) – When Daulton Wilson took the checkers at Stateline Speedway, it was more than his first win with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision. It was the fulfillment of a promise.
Big Frog/Viper Motorsports brought Wilson into the fold for one primary reason – they believed in his ability to make them winners at the highest level of dirt Late Model racing. For the past several years, the No. 58 has been a revolving door of short-term drivers. Everyone from Tim McCreadie to Jimmy Owens, Drake Troutman, Ross Bailes, Ashton Winger, Tyler Clem and even Super DIRTcar Series star Matt Sheppard have made appearances in the Big Frog car in the past half-decade.
Wilson became the latest addition to that list last fall when he joined the team for a few races after departing JRR Motorsports in October. But Wilson soon began to hit it off with team owners Augie Burttram, Shawn Martin and the rest of the crew, and by the end of the year, the team realized that Wilson might be the driver they could build around long-term that they had been looking for.
By mid-January, the deal was done for Wilson to drive the car for the full 2026 season on tour with the World of Outlaws, and that mutual commitment paid off on their perfect night in New York.
“It’s a pretty big relief,” Wilson said. “We’ve been in position and had a few that kind of slipped through. You wonder when that breakthrough’s going to happen. To finally get that win is definitely a big relief and a big sense of satisfaction for everybody. That’s what we set out to do, and we were finally able to get one. Hopefully we can get us some more.”
As Wilson alluded to, the first win could have come much earlier in the season had things gone differently on a couple of occasions. The most notable examples were East Alabama Motor Speedway, where Wilson jumped the cushion when he was two laps from victory and let Nick Hoffman get by, and Bedford Speedway, where he led the first 29 laps before Mason Zeigler passed him and went on to win.
However, those weren’t the only two commendable showings from the MD3 Rookie of the Year contender in the first half of the season. In the 18 races between Hendry County Motorsports Park in February and Marion Center Raceway in May, Wilson had seven top fives and only missed the top 10 five times.
But as spring turned to summer, the No. 58V team’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Prior to Stateline, Wilson cracked the top 10 only twice in 11 races. He rolled into Busti, NY in dire need of a momentum shift, and it came in the form of a trophy and a $15,000 check.
“You know, it’s racing. We’ve had a lot of bad luck,” Wilson said. “The early spring there was some racetracks that I had been to, and then we went through a stretch there where we went to places that were totally new to me and all of us. Just a combination of everything. Everything’s so close now, if you’re off just a little bit, you run 10th. We’ve had a good car, and Stateline, everything just went our way, we did everything right and it all worked out.”
After following up his win in 13th in his debut at Sharon Speedway, Wilson’s attention has turned to the biggest weekend of the season, the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway (Friday-Saturday, July 24-25). For a North Carolinian who enjoys the red clay 1/2-miles across the southeast, “Big Perm” has been a formidable challenger at Illinois’ signature bullring.
The 2024 PDC will always be remembered for Bobby Pierce’s last-lap pass on Hoffman to score his first win in the event, but it’s easy to forget that the driver lurking behind both of them in third that night was Wilson. That run stood as his World of Outlaws career best before he joined the tour full-time in 2026, and it was far from a fluke. Wilson has finished in the top five in all three Friday Showdown Features he’s competed in, and he also ran second at Fairbury as part of Illinois Speedweek in 2023.
“That place, the atmosphere and everything is just completely different there,” Wilson said. “That is one of the races that we’ve gone to in previous years even though we weren’t full-time. It’s one of those places that we enjoy going to, and it seems to fit me pretty good. I’ve never won there, but I’ve had some really good runs there.”
Once the party wraps up in Fairbury, Wilson will set sail for the next destination of New Richmond, WI, for the second of back-to-back crown jewels. Wilson has only been to Cedar Lake Speedway once for the 2023 USA Nationals and finished 25th in the 100-lapper, but the contagious energy alone was enough to make him excited to return this season.
“That place is cool,” Wilson said. “It’s really fun and a really good racetrack. In the past, we always tried to go, and it only worked out for us to go that one time. But at least having been there one time, it still gives us a little bit of an idea for what we’re in for.”
Now that Wilson’s first World of Outlaws triumph is in the books, winning one of the sport’s crown jewels has become the next item on his career agenda. Last year, Ryan Gustin checked that box at Cedar Lake with his first USA Nationals victory. Whether it’s at Fairbury, Cedar Lake or somewhere else down the line, Wilson is confident that his turn is coming.
“We’ve been close at the PDC before,” Wilson said. “You’ve got to crawl before you can walk, and that’s kind of where we’re getting our feet under us. Definitely, I’d love to win one of them, any of them. Any race is a big deal, but a crown jewel, that’s the goal for sure.”
Wilson will continue his season with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision in the Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury Speedway on Friday and Saturday, July 24-25. General admission tickets will be available at the gate.
Want to watch the World of Outlaws? Stream every race live on DIRTVision.