World Of Outlaws Set To Thunder Through The South In March
Written by I Dig Sports
CONCORD, N.C. Warmer springtime weather means that the weekly grind of the World of Outlaws Late Models season has arrived.
The season-opening events at Volusia Speedway Park have come and gone, and a pair of weekends at two southeast staples are next on the docket for The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.
Heres a look at whats coming up:
Smoky Mountain Speedway | Tennessee Tipoff (March 14-15)
Few regions of the country love their dirt Late Models quite like east Tennessee, and the World of Outlaws will kick off the spring slate with a two-night showdown at one of the areas most historic tracks.
Smoky Mountain Speedway has historically been kind to the locals, as Volunteer State drivers Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens and Mike Marlar have combined to win five of the 11 World of Outlaws races in track history.
The trophies that didnt stay on Rocky Top didnt travel far though, as Georgia gassers Shane Clanton, Brandon Overton and Dale McDowell, as well as South Carolinas Chris Madden have all won with the Outlaws in Maryville. If a driver from outside the region takes the checkers this year, they would join 2004 winner Rick Eckert as the only non-southerners to win at Smoky Mountain.
However, this version of Smoky Mountain is very different than the one that welcomed the Outlaws in the past, as the track was shortened from a four-tenths-mile facility to a three-eighths-mile a few months after the series most recent visit in 2022.
Several Outlaws have already found success at Smoky Mountain 2.0. Current points leader Ryan Gustin won a Hunt the Front Super Dirt Series event at the track a year ago, while Overton and Ricky Thornton Jr. stand as the two most recent winners of the Mountain Moonshine Classic held each June.
Swainsboro Raceway | Battle at the Crossroads (March 21-22)
The second of back-to-back events in the southeast will bring the World of Outlaws to Swainsboro Raceway for the first time since 2012.
The 3/8-mile oval in east Georgia was an annual stop for the series in the early 2010s, with Tim McCreadie, Eckert and Madden all picking up wins. The track has hosted plenty of Super Late Model racing in the years since, as the likes of Dennis Erb Jr., Carson Ferguson and Ashton Winger all have Swainsboro victories on their resume.
However, none of them have turned as many laps around Swainsboro over the years as Brandon and Cody Overton. The brothers grew up just over an hour north of the track, and both have made Victory Lane a second home throughout their careers. Brandon has collected four wins with the Southern Nationals Series and one each with Hunt the Front and Crate Racin USA, while Cody has a double-digit win total in a Crate Late Model at Swainsboro.