Dotson Scores First World of Outlaws Victory on Night One of Illini 100
FARMER CITY, IL (April 11, 2025) – 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, CA 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 in Victory Lane. “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, as Tristan 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 2 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.
As if a World of Outlaws win could ever come at a bad time, 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 between Smoky Mountain Speedway and Swainsboro Raceway. With the win, Dotson now finds himself atop the rookie standings and fourth in the overall 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 with his best World of Outlaws finish of the season. “Squirrel” knew he had to get his season back on track at home after a seven-race top-10 drought, and he put his local knowledge to good use to bring the No. 3S home third.
“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.
RACE NOTES:
Daniel Adam set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.
Ricky Thornton Jr. won the Simpson Quick Time Award.
Ryan Gustin won TheGreatestStoreOnDirt.com Heat 1.
Devin Moran won STAKT Products Heat 2.
Jason Feger won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.
Garrett Alberson won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.
Shannon Babb and McKay Wenger won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.
Jason Feger won the Bilstein Pole Award.
Dennis Erb Jr. drove from 22nd to 11th for the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.
Ethan Dotson was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.
Ricky Thornton Jr. won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.
Brandon Sheppard was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.
Tyler Erb was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.
Bobby Pierce was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.
Nick Hoffman was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.
Max Blair was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.
Kyle Bronson was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.
Ryan Gustin was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.
UP NEXT: The Illini 100 wraps up with a 60-lap, $20,000-to-win Feature at Farmer City Raceway on Saturday, April 12. For tickets, click here.
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 74X-Ethan Dotson[9]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[6]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[13]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[12]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce[15]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[1]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[11]; 9. 111-Max Blair[7]; 10. 40B-Kyle Bronson[20]; 11. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[22]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 13. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 14. 2-Cody Overton[23]; 15. 16-Tyler Bruening[16]; 16. 22*-Drake Troutman[5]; 17. 19-Dustin Sorensen[25]; 18. 96-Tanner English[21]; 19. 75-Daniel Adam[14]; 20. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[26]; 21. 9M-Tim McCreadie[24]; 22. 99W-Mckay Wenger[18]; 23. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 24. 12-Ashton Winger[8]; 25. 18-Shannon Babb[17]; 26. 20-Jimmy Owens[19]
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