FARMER CITY, Ill. — Ethan Dotson and ASD Motorsports joined forces last May with one goal in mind – win races at the highest level of dirt late model racing.
They did just that Friday at Farmer City Raceway, as the Bakersfield, Calif., native became the 103rd different winner in the history of the World of Outlaws Late Models.
“There were a lot of times I thought about quitting,” Dotson said. “Super glad I didn’t. Grateful for everybody that helped me along the way. There’s a lot of good people that, without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
Dotson’s charge to victory started in the ninth spot while Jason Feger and Ryan Gustin led the field to green in the feature. A rash of early yellows plagued the start of the race, including one for Feger after he spun out of the lead in Turn 4 on the opening lap.
A poor restart for Gustin handed the lead over to Devin Moran while Drake Troutman waited in the wings for his chance to pounce from second. Soon after, Moran would become the second race leader to have trouble, astristan Chamberlain spun on Lap 14 and left Moran with nowhere to go, forcing the No. 99 to the rear for his involvement in the caution.
That put Troutman on top for the restart with Ricky Thornton Jr. and Dotson in tow. The No. 74x nailed the restart from the outside of row two to get alongside Troutman before pulling ahead in the battle of the MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders.
With eight circuits remaining, Troutman’s solid night came to an end when he cut a right-rear tire and brought out the caution. That gave the field one more shot at Dotson, and while Thornton remained on Dotson’s tail throughout the final dash to the checkers, Dotson didn’t let him get close enough to make a move.
Dotson’s triumph came right when the ASD Motorsports crew needed a morale boost. The team got off to a solid start at Volusia Speedway Park, but failed to finish better than ninth in March events. With the win, Dotson finds himself atop the rookie standings and fourth in points.
“I kind of had some bad stuff, I wrecked the car and we kind of just kept racing it,” Dotson said. “It just put us behind, we were chasing our tail and stuff. Just finally got one of my good cars that I wrecked back and everything just went as planned.”
Thornton continued to establish himself as one of the hottest drivers in the country on Friday, as his second-place run was his fourth-straight runner-up in late model action and 14th podium of 2025.
“Ethan was really good,” Thornton said. “I should have picked the top on one restart that I didn’t. Troutman got in way slower than I thought and I about wrecked both of us. That let Ethan drive around both of us, and he was really good in traffic too. I feel like we can work on our stuff, get a little bit better for tomorrow. Honestly, we didn’t change anything all night. Our car’s really good, driver needs to be a little bit better.”
Rounding out the podium was the local hero Brian Shirley.
“I definitely felt comfortable in the car,” Shirley said. “Wasn’t sure who was behind me, I just knew where the track would end up there. It always ends up around the wall in Turns 3 and 4. Tried to give myself a shot without costing myself a spot.”
Brandon Sheppard and Tyler Erb picked up their best results of the year with the Outlaws in fourth and fifth, respectively.
The finish:
Ethan Dotson, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brian Shirley, Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce, Jason Feger, Nick Hoffman, Max Blair, Kyle Bronson, Dennis Erb Jr., Ryan Gustin, Garrett Alberson, Cody Overton, Tyler Bruening, Drake Troutman, Dustin Sorensen, Tanner English, Daniel Adam, Tristan Chamberlain, Tim McCreadie, McKay Wenger, Devin Moran, Ashton Winger, Shannon Babb, Jimmy Owens.
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