Buddy Kofoid won the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car feature at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. It was his third victory of the season and his second consecutive win, moving him up to third in the championship standings. At 24 years old, Kofoid became the 28th different driver to reach 25 World of Outlaws feature wins, and his three victories tied him with David Gravel and Big Game Motorsports for the most wins on tour this year. David Gravel retained the points lead, but his margin was cut to 34 points.

Kofoid started on the pole and led much of the race, holding off several late restarts. On the final green-white-checkered restart, after a Cole Macedo tip-over, Kofoid launched past the field to secure the victory.

Carson Macedo finished second in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41, Spencer Bayston was third in the Stenhouse Jr./Marshall Racing No. 17, Donny Schatz finished fourth and Ryan Timms fifth. David Gravel flipped during the race but recovered to salvage a ninth-place finish.

Brandon Sheppard completed a flag-to-flag sweep to win the Illini 100 opener at Farmer City Raceway, recording the 89th World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory of his career. Sheppard led all 40 laps of the feature and converted earlier on-track results into a clean sweep of practice, qualifying, his heat race and the main event.

The Illini 100 was part of the DIRTVision-presented World of Outlaws Late Model Series, and the victory came in Sheppard’s first home-state start of 2026. The win marked his fifth World of Outlaws victory at Farmer City Raceway.

Sheppard, who is from New Berlin, Illinois, posted the fastest lap in Thursday practice, earned the Simpson Quick Time Award in qualifying and won his Friday heat race before taking the feature.

Ethan Dotson will return to Farmer City Raceway on April 10-11 to build on his Illini 100 breakthrough and convert recent form into more World of Outlaws Late Model wins. The Bakersfield, California, native drives the ASD Motorsports No. 74X.

Dotson earned his first World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory in the Illini 100 on April 11, 2025. He timed fifth in his qualifying group and started ninth, finished third in his heat, moved up to third by Lap 14 amid early incidents, and ultimately battled Drake Troutman to take the checkered flag.

Dotson has built momentum over the past 12 months, recording three World of Outlaws podiums and six top-10 finishes in the last eight Series races and winning at Central Arizona Raceway during the Wild West Shootout in January 2026. He says he isn’t satisfied with consistency alone and is determined to become a regular winner and a steady top-three contender to justify ASD Motorsports’ decision to hire him. The April 10-11 weekend will serve as an early-season marker of whether he can convert that form into more trips to Victory Lane, as the World of Outlaws will resume its season at Farmer City Raceway.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series (WoO Late Model Series) heads to Farmer City Raceway for the Illini 100, the series’ first Midwest stop. Practice is scheduled for April 9 as teams acclimate to Farmer City’s distinctive black-dirt quarter-mile. Racing will run April 10-11, with Friday’s 40-lap “lid lifter” paying $12,000 and Saturday’s 60-lap headline finale paying $25,000, a combined 100 laps for the weekend. The program also includes the MARS Modified Championship season opener, adding a second championship event to the card.

Bobby Pierce leads the series with 1,909 points, a three-point advantage over Nick Hoffman; both drivers have four wins. Hoffman has paced a series-high 157 feature laps this year and Pierce has led 76, a combined 233 feature laps. Pierce and Hoffman are the only drivers carrying six-figure purses. Their positions reflect last weekend’s doubleheader at East Alabama Motor Speedway and Senoia Raceway, and the weekend is important for teams chasing early points and momentum.

The entry list blends regional talent with series regulars, including local Illinois drivers Jason Feger and Shannon Babb alongside Brandon Sheppard and Brian Shirley. Ryan Gustin remains winless through 14 World of Outlaws starts but has four top-five finishes and sits fourth in the standings. Daulton Wilson will make his first World of Outlaws start at Farmer City after narrowly missing becoming the series’ 105th different winner last weekend.

The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return from its Easter break to I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park in Pevely, Missouri, for the Federated Auto Parts Spring Classic on April 10-11. The stop begins a stretch of 12 consecutive weekends of World of Outlaws competition.

I-55 is a high-banked, one-third-mile bullring that sources describe as producing blistering early laps, commonly in the 10- to sub-11-second range. The surface slicks off and widens later in a program, enabling big slide jobs and crossovers.

Reports differ on I-55’s all-time World of Outlaws appearances. One source says the track is tied with Silver Dollar Speedway at 79 races and would take sole possession during the upcoming weekend. Another source says I-55 already holds sole possession with 79 races.

Fan programming for the Spring Classic includes a drivers’ autograph session on the midway, a Saturday meet-and-greet with comedian Jerry Wayne Longmire at the World of Outlaws merchandise trailer, and midway interviews hosted by Wes Irwin that will feature Longmire alongside drivers Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz. The weekend pairs high-speed on-track action with multiple fan engagement opportunities tied to the series and its sponsors.

Carson Macedo held off a late-charging Michael “Buddy” Kofoid to win the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car feature at U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., scoring the 59th victory of his career and his first World of Outlaws win of the 2026 season. Macedo drove the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 and the triumph moved him past Jason Meyers into sole possession of 16th on the World of Outlaws all-time win list; it also marked Jason Johnson Racing’s 83rd World of Outlaws checkered flag.

A late caution set up a wheel-to-wheel duel in heavy lapped traffic in the race’s closing laps. Macedo reported his car was “in big trouble” and “down a cylinder” but managed to get ahead as the white flag waved and paced the final circuit to the checkered flag. Kofoid, driving the Roth Motorsports No. 83, finished second after his second straight runner-up result.

David Gravel finished third — his eighth podium in 10 races — a result that trimmed his championship lead to 52 points. Kofoid’s runner-up effort moved him into fifth in the standings (advancing past Logan Schuchart), while Sheldon Haudenschild finished fourth and Emerson Axsom took fifth.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series closes its March Southern swing with consecutive stops at East Alabama Motor Speedway on March 27 and Senoia Raceway’s Billy Clanton Classic on March 28. East Alabama is hosting its first World of Outlaws Late Model Series race since 2006 and will pay $12,000 to the winner; the Billy Clanton Classic at Senoia will pay $20,000. Support classes for the weekend include Hobby Stocks, Road Warriors, 602 Late Models and 602 Chargers.

Track-specific storylines include Tyler Erb, who was runner-up in his East Alabama debut in 2019 and again in 2022 and who won the National 100 at East Alabama in 2024 and 2025. Dennis Erb Jr. also has strong National 100 credentials at East Alabama, including a 2016 victory and 11 top-five finishes. At Senoia, Ashton Winger has World of Outlaws wins in 2021 and 2025 and has compiled 11 Super Late Model victories at the facility.

The championship battle and recent driver form are central heading into the weekend. After 12 races this season, Bobby Pierce and Nick Hoffman sit atop the standings separated by 14 points. Pierce is averaging a 3.58 finish, with a 10.75 average starting position, 86 feature positions gained and 61 laps led. Hoffman is averaging a 3.75 finish, with a 5.67 average starting position and 140 laps led. Dennis Erb Jr. rebuilt two wrecked cars after incidents at Volunteer and Smoky Mountain (rebuilt at Rocket Chassis), arrived late to Magnolia, then won a heat and finished seventh in the feature.

Looking beyond March, the series packs four state stops into three weeks in April. The Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway runs April 10–11; Farmer City first hosted a World of Outlaws race in 2006 (won by Billy Moyer), moved to an April date in 2007, and produced a memorable finish between Hoffman and Pierce in 2024 as well as first-time Outlaws winners Mike Spatola (2021) and Ethan Dotson (2025). The Alabama Gang 100 at Talladega Short Track runs April 24–25 as a two-night event with a $12,000-to-win opener and a $25,000-to-win Saturday finale staged after the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race; Brandon Overton won the inaugural running in 2023 and Pierce won when the event returned in 2025. The Independence Late Model Showdown returns April 28 to Independence Motor Speedway’s 3/8-mile oval; recent winners there include Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan, Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce. The sixth-annual Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway runs April 30–May 2 with $10,000 preliminary-night purses and a $40,000-to-win main event following facility investments by the Timm family and promoter Tyrone Lingenfelter.

Hudson O’Neal staged a dramatic comeback to win the Duel at the Mag at Magnolia Motor Speedway, overcoming engine trouble in Friday qualifying and an overnight engine change by his K&L Rumley Enterprises team. He topped Saturday qualifying and won his heat but suffered nose damage and pitted under a Lap 25 caution.
That stop sent him to the rear with roughly 35 laps remaining, but he charged back into the top 10 within about a dozen laps. Using late cautions and a restart with 17 laps to go, he drove the inside to overtake Jonathan Davenport for the lead; his nose folded again coming to the white flag, but he held on for the victory.
The win was O’Neal’s fifth career World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory and his second of the 2026 season. Bobby Pierce climbed from 17th after winning the Last Chance Showdown to finish second and earned FOX Factory Hard Charger honors, while Jonathan Davenport was third, followed by Nick Hoffman and Tyler Erb. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series was scheduled to resume March 27 at East Alabama Motor Speedway and March 28 at Senoia Raceway.