TDN's 2018 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Preview

John Stivason Photo

Hey there race fans, starting Wednesday night, the World Of Outlaws Late model Series regulars start their points season. This season should be pretty interesting because there's been an influx of some new (and some not so new) talent to the series to replace regulars that they've lost. There's also been some pretty cool additions to the schedule.

The big news about the series came in the offseason. Last year's series director Chris Dolack moved up the corporate ladder at WoO parent company WRG to become director of marketing, and was replaced by Matt Curl, who was previously promoter at Fairbury American Legion Speedway (more commonly known as FALS). Curl is one of the very best in the country at utilizing social media as a means of promotion, and has built FALS into one of the strongest brands in dirt late model racing. I see no reason why he can't breath the same kind of life into the WoO going into the future.

The schedule looks pretty similar to previous versions of the WoO slate with a few new additions. It can been seen here. Tickets for series events can generally be procured right from the schedule link I provided.

But let's be serious here, before you buy any ticket's you're going to want to know which drivers you'll be seeing. As I mentioned before, there are a few new regulars on tour, and some names lost. Right now, there's 18 drivers who have announced intentions to run the series. Which 18 drivers, you ask?

1 Brandon Sheppard https://www.rocket1racing.com/
1 Rusty Schlenk https://www.facebook.com/RustySchlenkRacing/
B1 Brent Larson http://www.brentlarsonmotorsports.com/
3S Brian Shirley  http://brianshirleyracing.com/
7 Rick Eckert http://rickeckertracing.com/
C8 Timothy Culp http://www.timothyculp.com/
9 Devin Moran http://devinmoranracing.com/
 18 Chase Jughans http://www.chasejunghans.com/
21JR Billy Moyer Jr. http://billymoyerjr.com/
22 Chris Ferguson http://chrisferguson22.com/index.html
25 Shane Clanton http://www.shaneclanton25.com/
31 Tyler Millwood http://tylermillwood.com/
44 Chris Madden http://www.chrismadden44.com/
54 David Breazeale https://www.facebook.com/fiftyfourmotorsports/
75 Colton Flinner https://www.facebook.com/CFR75
91 Tyler Erb http://www.tylererb.com/
116 Brandon Overton http://randyweaverracing.com/
157 Mike Marlar https://www.facebook.com/Mike-Marlar-Racing-308745086342/

That's quite robust field.As you can see, the series lost Chub Frank, Morgan Bagley, and Frankie Heckenast as series regulars for 2018, but gained Rusty Schlenk , Brent Larson, Timothy Culp, Chase Jughans (who returns to the series after a year off of it), Billy Moyer Jr (who also previously ran the series a couple years ago), Chris Ferguson, Tyler Millwood, David Breazeale, Collton Flinner, Brandon Overton (another guy who previously ran the tour) and Mike Marlar (who has started on tour a couple times before, but never ran the whole schedule). I'd say a net gain of 8 drivers is a plus.

Aaron Clay Photo. 

As far as predictions, I'd have to say the favorite to win the title would be Brandon Sheppard. Last year was his first full year on tour and he won the title going away. He's only going to be better this year with a second look at the tracks on tour. However, the additions of Overton and Marlar are likely to make it more interesting down the stretch.

The RoY contenders look to be Larson, Schlenk, Culp, Ferguson, Millwood Breazeale, and Flinner. Given that group and having seen results from previous seasons,I'll have to go with Timothy Culp as my predicted RoY.

All in all, I look for the season to be the most exciting tilt in a few years, Let's hope it can live up to the hype.