CONCORD, NC (May 14, 2025) – Dirt track racers have earned a reputation of being the busiest drivers in motorsports, but few of them have an itinerary that holds a candle to that of Drake Troutman.
The MD3 Rookie of the Year contender on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision has already contested 55 races in the first four and a half months of 2025. If everything goes to plan, Troutman could hit the century mark as soon as August.
He’s only taken one weekend off since New Year’s Day, and parts of his schedule are what some would deem downright impossible. Case in point: after loading up at Talladega Short Track following the Alabama Gang 100 on April 26, the Team22 Motorsports crew drove 13 hours through the night from Alabama to Pennsylvania, dealt with hauler trouble along the way and made it to Port Royal Speedway in time to race in front of their home fans the next day.
Why would anyone voluntarily subject themselves to that much work? For Troutman, the answer is simple – racers race.
“Anytime you can race anything, it just makes you a better driver,” Troutman said. “Racing that much, we went to a lot of tracks that I’ve never even been to before this year, so just getting seat time on those types of racetracks, trying to go to tracks that the Outlaws race at later in the season I feel like will help us. We went down all the way to Boothill [Speedway] for a race down there. We just went down there to get ready for later in the year, so we have an idea of what the place is going to be like.
“I think there’s a lot of pros to it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it can hurt you sometimes. By racing so much, you might not always be as prepared as what you want. But in the long run, I think it works out for you.”
All those extra laps have been turned with one goal in mind – becoming a World of Outlaws winner. Troutman has come close multiple times this year, as he’s won Heat Races, sat on the pole and led the second-most laps in Feature action through the first 13 races. He knows he has all the pieces he needs to succeed, and he’ll have four chances this week to put them together in a winning combination.
“Everything’s going pretty good,” Troutman said. “Some nights we had a bad night obviously, but that’s part of the deal, so we’ve just got to cut those out as much as we can. I feel like now, we’re getting to the point where we’re going to racetracks that I like a lot more. So I’m excited to get back out around Pennsylvania and race at some of my local tracks. I think we’ve got a really good program, I’ve just got to do a little bit better of a job behind the wheel of the car to capitalize on some of these nights when we start up front.”
The Ohio-Pennsylvania swing kicks off at Raceway 7 on Thursday, May 15 – a place Troutman has already proven he can contend at with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet. His 11th-place finish in last year’s Great Lake Showdown was his career-best World of Outlaws result at the time, and he’s in position to reset that mark once again this season.
“Last year we went there and we were still pretty green,” Troutman said. “Didn’t have a whole lot of experience in a Late Model at that point, so I think more experience is going to help us out. I feel like we’ve got a way better program now, racing for G.R. [Smith] and his wife Stacey. They gave us much better equipment, so hopefully we go back there and it’s a lot better.”
From there, Troutman will turn his attention to Marion Center Raceway for the two-night Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. While Troutman struggled against the Outlaws last year, Team22 ran top 10 with Max McLaughlin in the seat, giving the team a notebook he hopes will put him on the right track this time around.
“I’m excited to get back, I really don’t get to race up there that much,” Troutman said. “I’ve probably only been up there a handful of times at most. Going back there, it’s not like I go up there every weekend, so I’m excited to get back. Last year we kind of messed up on tire decisions, but G.R. and them ran good last year there at Marion Center, so his input will be helpful on what I need to do better in the Feature.”
While Troutman has been looking forward to Raceway 7 and Marion Center since the start of the season, he’s been looking forward to Bedford Speedway’s Billy Winn Classic on Sunday, May 18, since the day he became a race fan. The 5/8-mile oval is right down the road from Troutman’s Hyndman, PA home, and he spent his childhood watching the stars of dirt Late Model racing from the grandstands, dreaming of one day joining them. That dream will become reality this weekend when Troutman makes his first World of Outlaws start at his home track.
“Man, I’m excited,” Troutman said. “Last time I was even at an Outlaw race [at Bedford], I was just a little kid, that was back in 2009 or something. So, it’ll be really cool to see. That’s where I cut my teeth at, was at Bedford. Honestly, I really don’t run that great there, but I’m excited to go and see everyone. It’ll be cool.”
The 2025 World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season continues this week with stops at Raceway 7 (Thursday, May 15), Marion Center Raceway (Friday-Saturday, May 16-17) and Bedford Speedway (Sunday, May 18). Tickets will be available at the gate on all four nights.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.




LARSON CONTINUES TO BE A FORCE ON INTERMEDIATES Intermediate ovals continue to be a strong suit for Kyle Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team. In three of four races contested at non-drafting intermediate ovals, Larson has garnered finishes no worse that ninth, including his first trip to victory lane of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Those results came with a strong overall points day for the team, earning top-five points in each stage of those events, including two of his series-best six stage wins (Las Vegas and Texas). The 32-year-old California native has also led laps in each of those three events, including a race-high 61 laps led at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 90 laps led at Texas Motor Speedway.
DILLON EXTENDS TOP-10 STREAKRichard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon is hitting a steady stride towards the NASCAR Cup Series’ playoff cutline, with the No. 3 Chevrolet team bringing home their season-best finish of seventh at Texas Motor Speedway. The result marks the 35-year-old North Carolina native’s third-straight top-10 finish. The streak comes from results at three distinctly different race track configurations, with the Chevrolet driver’s Texas result being accompanied by a 10th-place finish at both Bristol Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Over the trio of strong outings, Dillon has made the jump from 27th to 21st in the points standings and now just 28-points below the playoff cutline. Kansas Speedway is yet another good opportunity for Dillon to continue to chip away at the points standings, with the Chevrolet driver earning top-15 finishes in 12 of his 23 career starts at the track, including a streak of five-straight recorded between Oct. 2020 – May 2023.
HEMRIC HITTING STEADY GAINSFalling just short of his second trip to victory lane, Daniel Hemric and the No. 19 Chevrolet team led the Bowtie brigade with a runner-up result at Texas Motor Speedway. The 34-year-old North Carolina native has already seen steady gains at his new home of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing – recording top-fives in half of his starts with the Chevrolet organization this season. Among those results include podium finishes in three of the past four races, dating back to his win at Martinsville Speedway in March. A pair of fourth-place stage points and a second-place finish in the Lone Star State was enough to move Hemric up one position to third in the series’ points standings to lead the Chevrolet camp heading into the Kansas race weekend.
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 11 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 12 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 8 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete:
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