The most impactful and memorable short track moments of 2025

Gosh, there is a lot to like about pavement short track racing right now, right?

That isn’t to say there aren’t obstacles to overcome because there very clearly are. The industry acts too much like a car club, focused on the back gate, and not enough on creating generational front gate enthusiasts.

There are always concerns about the cost of doing business or track and rules aligning to balance good business and longevity but there is a lot to enjoy right now too.

Racing America
FloRacing
DirtVision
Ultra Broadcasting
Pit Row TV
Low Budget TV
Speed Sport 1

This is the golden age of grassroots racing because you can watch ASA, CARS Tour, American Canadian Tour, Tour Modifieds, pavement sprints or whatever makes you passionate about this sub-discipline from anywhere in the world.

This is the sort of thing our predecessors would have loved to enjoyed and we shouldn’t take that for granted. This is also an opportunity to grow pavement short track racing beyond the perception that it is just minor league NASCAR and that responsibility is shared by everyone reading this.

That should be our new year’s resolution for 2026.

With that said, here are the most impactful and meaningful moments from the 2025 short track season.

Previous editions: 2024 | 2023 | 2021 | 2020

50. We lost Robbie Brewer

Certainly, not a highlight but his memory and accomplishments should be acknowledged in this space. The 53-year-old Bowman Gray Stadium veteran suffered a heart attack behind the wheel on August 9, striking the wall, and losing his life in a Sportsman division race. Brewer had raced everything there was to race in both short track regional competition and the Madhouse.

Brewer had 11 victories in the Sportsman division and is its 2011 champion. He earned four of those victories in 2015, his best campaign at the track, a career full of experiences and triumphs. He had 311 total starts at Bowman Gray Stadium — 24 in a Tour Type Modified, 259 in a Sportsman and 28 in Stadium Stock. His track debut came on June 2, 1990 in the Stadium Stock division.

49. Sandusky sold to redevelopers

The longtime home of Supermodified racing’s Hy-Miler Nationals was auctioned off this fall after 75 years of competition came to a close. While NASCAR team owner Duke Thorson was one of the principals in the track’s sale, it does not appear that racing is in store for the Ohio oval.

48. Beech Ridge bulldozed

The Scarborough, Maine speed plant shuttered after the 2021 season, had gone through a number of owners, seemingly locked in stasis. But with plans for the site’s redevelopment in full swing, the track was bulldozed in July, ending any long-shot hopes of the track returning to competition.

As redevelopment begins, a look back at Beech Ridge’s legacy

47. Opp picks AI slop

It was a well-intentioned thing, South Alabama Speedway opening up the designing of the Rattler 250’s logo to a $500-to-win fan contest. It was not a well-intentioned thing giving the prize to someone who asked ChatGPT to spit out a logo that uses a cobra instead of a rattler because it didn’t know the difference when there were entrants that actually worked to design their own. C’est la vie.

46. Newman races CARS Tour

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. During the Cordele race, Tristan McKee and Matt Piercy Racing were scolded for intentionally bringing out a caution and owning it over their team radios. And yet, at the same time, with McKee going to race a TA2 race and MPR having an open seat, the ownership group asked if they wanted to field the car for Ryan Newman. It was a truly fun experience for Newman, who is now a full-time Tour Mod racer, as this was the first time he had driven a Late Model Stock and only the second time in a Late Model of any kind.

45. Gary Putnam becomes NWMT director

Gary Putnam takes over the lead official seat in the Modified Tour after an epic legendary run by longtime official Jimmy Wilson. For his part, Wilson has moved onto a larger oversight role within NASCAR Regional and Putnam now gets to put his stamp on competition and governance after a lifetime driving and owning cars on the tour.

44. Craven buys Speedway 95

NASCAR legend Ricky Craven purchased Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine, taking over ownership from Del Merritt in a deal announced in August, with plans for major renovations and rebranding the facility as ‘Speedway Presented by Bar Harbor Bank; for the 2026 season with a Pro Stock division as the featured class. It was a full circle moment for Craven, who honed his talents at Hermon before reaching NASCAR.

43. CARS Tour West expansion

Under the leadership of Kevin Harvick and Tim Huddleston, CARS Tour West has expanded into the Northwest region in addition to multiple classes of Pro Late Models and a premier Super Late division. The tour is still a work-in-progress but celebrated championships for Jace Hansen (Super Late Model), Jace Hale (Pro Late Model), and Dylan Zampa respectively. To facilitate this growth …

42. CARS Tour West hires Wright

For CARS Tour West to continue its growth and expansion, it needed an experienced steady hand with ties to both the community and working within a professional racing series. Getting Chris Wright from NASCAR was just as important of a hire as Kip Childress was for the CARS Tour. There’s no substitute for experience, as they say.

41. Wilkesboro NWMT crashfest

The longest green flag run for the May NASCAR Modified Tour race at North Wilkesboro was 17 laps. The rest of the race featured numerous incidents. Stephen Kopcik was fined and suspended for crashing Tyler Rypkema, whom also received a penalty for walking on a hot track to flip off Kopcik. It just a messy race that drew frustrations from the garage and community alike. 

40. South Boston’s LMSC season

On one hand, it was ordinary that Peyton Sellers won his eighth championship, but what isn’t ordinary is the quality of program issued by South Boston in relation to the rest of the industry. That’s not a criticism of everyone else, but rather, just a credit to what the Virginia track is doing. Over $75,000 in season-end bonuses waas awarded to competitors through a new loyalty program. Car counts were good and star power made their shows must-see over the course of the year.

39. Florence, Southern National’s URA

Michael Diaz and Steve Zacharias launched a track sanctioning entity at the start if the year with a focus on their Late Model Stock weekly programs. The series opened with strong car counts that tapered off as the season wore on, which is not unusual but the real test will be what everything looks like in 2026. Also, Paul Burnham’s broadcasts were exceptional.

38. Lessard claims ACT championship

Now 24-years-old, the former CARS Tour champion turned Truck Series regular won the ACT title with Larue Motorsports after two championships in Serie ACT LMS. It was a rewarding challenge because the tour visits a lot of New England tracks and is dominated by Americans. In fact, he became the first Canadian champion in 17 years. ‘We were showing up to the race track, and we were like, I guess that’s the setup we’ll put on the car and I guess that will work? That’s why I think this is the toughest one.’

37. Butcher, Boschele clash at Newport

Wilson Motorsports is such a buttoned-up professional organization, that it’s rare to see what happened at Newport between Cole Butcher and Gavan Boschele. And that’s not to say the two drivers were not professional as it was just a racing ordeal but it also goes to show just how competitive the organization is even amongst each other. This incident was handled in-house and didn’t publicly manifest the rest of the year.

36. Wyatt Miller wins on pavement

The 13-year-old son of L.W. Miller and Kelley Earnhardt-Miller represents the next generation of the Earnhardt family legacy. So one hand, it looks like just another teenaged prospect who has won on dirt and pavement, but this one comes with a little extra spotlight. So when he won in his second pavement start, in a Limited Late Model, it felt like a slightly bigger deal. As will all of his continued success in the years to come.  

35. Southern National Speedweek

You can never call Mike Diaz ‘complacent.’ Concluding that the summer stretch is too crowded with tracks competing with each other, Southern National moved a bulk of its schedule to spring, headlined by a weeklong Speedweek that featured both URA races and the CARS Tour opener. It worked out pretty well and a second edition is planned the first week of March after a CARS Tour race. 

34. Southside reopening announcement

There hasn’t been a lot of movement on this since a March press conference but the announcement of a potential future for the legendary short track outside of Richmond, Virginia created a lot of fanfare. Friday night short trackin’ returning to this region would be a tremendous happening and no doubt Lin O’Neil and Jeff Oakley are continuing the efforts to put these pieces into place.

33. BGS Sportsman tech issues

Bowman Gray’s Sportsman division had significant tech inspection issues during the 2025 season, leading to multiple disqualifications for infractions like illegally modified tires, oil pan issues, and outright refusal to tear down cars for inspection, most notably affecting 2024 champion Zack Ore and Amber Lynn, causing major disruptions and suspensions. This resulted in drivers and teams feeling like costs would increase, especially from a tire soaking standpoint.

32. Exciting Madhouse Modified season

Brandon Ward captured his second championship in three seasons and did so over the faces of the division in Burt Myers and Tim Brown. The campaign included three wins for Ward, including the prestigious season-opening Hayes Jewelers 200. The season opened, unofficially, with the Madhouse Clash, won by Chris Fleming, and for all the drama, the modifieds also don’t get enough credit for their race quality and star power all season, either.

31. Casey Johnson wins ASAMWT title

Casey Johnson won the ASA Midwest Tour Championship in 2025, securing his fourth title by performing exceptionally well throughout the season, including wins at major events like the Joe Shear Classic, Lettow Classic and the Oktoberfest 200. His championship run in 2025 marked a strong comeback after recovering from a serious concussion in 2022 that took years to fully overcome.

30. CARS Tour expansion

CARS Tour raced at Cordele Motor Speedway in April, the first time the series has taken Late Model Stocks to a venue mostly associated with straight rail racing, and delivered a tremendous show. There was a bit of a controversy surrounding the testing fee but everyone enjoyed the Saturday night portion of the show. The series explored racing at New Smyrna as part of the World Series of Asphalt, but Super Bowl Sunday wasn’t practical, and is taking that April date to Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in 2026.

29. GMS enters chassis world

GMS Race Cars, with the likes of Tony Eury Jr. and Mike Beam, at the helm are now building Super Late Model chassis. Primarily with Spencer Davis this year, but expanding outward in 2026, the company with fabrication ties to many teams at the highest level are in the space to compete and try to find ways to innovate within a competitive marketplace.

28. Terry Jones purchases Port City

Terry Jones, of Rette Jones Racing fame, purchased Port City Race Cars in February and has serviced racers with a leadership team that includes the likes of Jeff Fultz, former owner Gary Crooks, Greg Zipadelli and Mark Rette. In addition, the circle includes racers like Derek Thorn and Casey Roderick, in addition to Noah Gragson.

27. Keelan Harvick arrives

It was a very productive season for the 13-year-old, who opened the season running Pro Late Models and Limiteds before graduating to Late Model Stocks by the end of the season. He won the Snowflake 100 and a CARS Tour Pro Late race in addition to traveling across the country to learn a maximum of track types. Sure, the equipment is exceptional but the youngster is wise behind the wheel in a way befitting his lineage.

26. Pollard’s success at Cordele

It’s not that the famed No. 26 keeps winning at Cordele but how he does it. Pollard has such a tremendous feel for the track that it doesn’t matter if it’s on American Racers or one of the various Hoosier Tires. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a Senneker or VanDoorn chassis. Pollard has won four Speedfests in a row and five overall. He won the Super Fest championship even if he was denied the World Crown in October.

25. SMART Tour delivers

The southern ground pounders are something of a well-kept secret in the short track community. The races deliver action with no shortage of star power and a NASCAR style playoff format. There was a feud between Jake Crum and Jake Baldwin that created social media buzz for a couple of races. The one tire rule creates strategic divergence. Luke Baldwin finished the year with his second title. This tour rules.

24. IHRA arrives

What hasn’t the IHRA invested in over the past calendar year? Owner Darryl Cuttell acquired the IHRA brand in 2024 and has since acquired numerous drag racing and oval facilities in the years since. From a short track standpoint, IHRA has launched a Late Model Sportsman and Pro Late Model tour for 2026 and recently purchased both Memphis Raceway and Rockingham Speedway.

23. SuperFest becomes a thing

It had a messy start, with Ricky Brooks and Greg Noland falling out, but Super Fest has been a welcome addition to the Super Late Model ecosystem with big paying races and a valuable bonus structure leading into the crown jewel World Crown 300. There is now consistency with the series in the form of Southern Super Series technical assistance. It’s basically the equivalent of a Georgia Blizzard Series.

22. McKee’s dramatic season

Tristan McKee has a very high ceiling as a prospect when you consider the success in both Pro Late Models and the ARCA Racing Series for the 15-year-old. But this also marked the second year in which McKee has drawn the ire of literally all of his peers for a hard-driving style that led to numerous incidents. On the other hand, McKee continues to work at it, and his development was best showcased in the Snowflake 100 where his race craft shined even in defeat to Keelan Harvick on one of the brightest stages of the year.

21. Gravel goes back to back in Milk Bowl

‘Micro’ Marcel topped last year’s performance in one of short track racing’s toughest events, recording the lowest overall score since Brian Hoar’s 1998 win and becoming one of seven racers to win Thunder Road International Speedbowl’s signature race back-to-back.

20. NC law prevents Karening short tracks

North Carolina passed a law that has a very simple structure — if you move next to, or build property next to, a race track that was there before you were, you forfeit the right to complain about noise. This was an important law, protecting the official sport of the state, because there have been so many instances over the years where tracks have been shut down because property was built next to it and shuttered due to noise ordances. Not in the Tar Heel State and not anymore.

19. Slinger Speedway sold

After a 12 year operating and later owning the property, Todd Thelen sold Slinger Speedway in February to longtime local racers Travis and Kelsey Dassow, who have largely maintained most of the track’s storied traditions, including Sunday night racing. Of note, they did bring in Ricky Brooks and the UARA crew to oversee inspection for the Slinger Nationals, but by in large, it was business as usual for the popular Wisconsin quarter mile.

18. Pollard swaps to VanDoorn

It started as a surprise one-off at the Rattler and turned into a season long process, Bubba Pollard working with VanDoorn Racing Development after spending most of his recent career in a Senneker. It still seems like a work in progress but there is a vision both parties are looking forward to implementing.

17. Cole Butcher’s season

The 29-year-old won the ASA STARS championship, Southern Super Series title and the CRA title with eight overall wins in the Super Late Model ranks and four in STARS. He also made his first two NASCAR Truck Series appearances for Halmar Friesen at Bristol and Phoenix.

16. Amber Lynn wins in BGS return

Amber Lynn is a unique and unforgettable part of the Bowman Gray experience. She is a big personality and the winningest female at the track. So when she was forced to step away with a brain cyst, a potential retirement, it created a void. That void was filled when she surprised the community by returning over the summer, winning races, and being part of no shortage of on-track and technical inspection drama. It felt like all was right in the world of The Madhouse.

15. Waltz wins Heat after SB200 DQ

Winning the Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway was a big deal for Matt Waltz on several fronts. It had eluded him for years but also came fresh off a disqualification after finishing second in the South Boston 200 earlier in the month.

14. CARS Tour airs on FS1

With Eric Brennan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick in the broadcast booth, the Window World 100 in May averaged 253,000 viewers according to Nielsen. It also drew a peak of 365,000. The event also was simulcast by its usual streaming partner, FloRacing, that audience not factoring into these numbers. This was a good win for the series in terms of just creating continued awareness for the division.

13. Austin Beers NWMT title

At 22-years-old, Austin Beers became the youngest NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion after a season in which he and team owner Mike Murphy won twice but was the model of consistency with a 4.6 average finish. They completed every race with a 100 percent top-10 percentage with 12 top-5s in 16 races. Beers is tremendously efficient. Meanwhile, two-time champion Ron Silk dominated the season in the races he started with four wins across 11 starts.

12. Staleys v Lewises at BGS

The conflict had been building over time, with prior contact between Brad Lewis’s car and Zack Staley’s son Kyler’s car two weeks earlier leading to a spin and social media spats. Emilee Lewis, Brad’s daughter, noted that part of the issue stemmed from team loyalties, specifically her affiliation with Dylan Ward Racing, a group that Zack Staley reportedly disliked and targeted.  Zack Staley got out of his car and ran across the infield, jump-kicked the windshield of Emilee’s car, and began trying to rip off the hood. A physical altercation involving Kyler Staley and track officials ensued, requiring police intervention to restore order. There were no shortage of penalties.

Emilee Lewis “not going to apologize” to Zack Staley after Bowman Gray

11. Talkin’ tires

It will probably be awhile before there is a sense of normalcy in the short track tire space but the industry isn’t there yet. American Racer is taking over for Hoosier in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Both CARS Tour and the ASA Tours continue to experiment with which compounds are best for their divisions. There is a sense of continuity for UARA, however, which surely their teams appreciate from a notebook standpoint.

10. Kvapil v Kvapil in SC400

The South Carolina 400 was like a fever dream of positivity for Travis Kvapil. He watched as young son Caden Kvapil, in a JR Motorsports car he served as crew chief on, outdueled older son Carson in the GoFAS Racing car he co-owns. It was quite the spirited race and no matter how you shake it, Travis won and got to celebrate with his kids accordingly.

It was an all Kvapil victory lane in the South Carolina 400

9. Teras wins Oxford 250

Teras, one of the race’s youngest winners at 22-years-old, brought home a long-awaited Oxford 250 win for car owner and father Jay Cushman in the 52nd running. The victory came in his eighth attempt. To do so, he held off two-time winner Eddie MacDonald and gave Cushman a win he had sought as well. Of course, a few months later this moment led into …

8. The Teras PASS 400 DQ

Teras won two segments and $75,000 of the PASS season finale’s blockbuster purse, only to be tossed two days later following an off-site engine teardown. The controversial outcome overshadowed the evening’s title celebration, and created a chasm between the sanctioning body and its reigning Oxford 250 winner.

7. UARA upsets

Two of the feel good stories of the season came in the UARA, in which some of the highest profile races were won by underdogs. For example, George Gorham Jr. delivered a beatdown at Freedom Factory over Ty Majeski in the Bigley Memorial 128. Michael Atwell won the Rattler 250 in a similar beatdown. Austin Hull, a Berlin regular, still defeated some national names in the Battle at Berlin.

6. Brooks’ messy Cordele exit

Ricky Brooks’ tenure as general manager at Cordele at all the promise in the world but it wasn’t meant to be. Brooks and track owner Greg Noland simply didn’t agree on numerous track operation matters. It came to a messy end as Brooks had to be escorted off the property in April, when he was supposed to work his last race weekend. Noland said there was unsavory security camera footage. Brooks denied it. Nothing ever came of it. Cordele entered into a relationship with the Southern Super Series.

Ricky Brooks, crew escorted off property on final day working at Cordele

5. Pembelton wins M’ville 300

At just 20-years-old, Landon Pembelton joined the elite of Late Model Stock racing with his second win in the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. More impressive is that he outdueled the legendary Lee Pulliam in a .024 second photo finish to do it. The race was notable for the emotion displayed by both top finishers and all the theatrics always associated with one of the biggest events of the year.

4. Lee Pulliam’s season

On one hand, this wasn’t the kind of season Lee Pulliam the owner had hoped for in CARS Tour in a winless campaign with Doug Barnes Jr. and Lanie Buice but memories were made regardless. On the other hand, Pulliam reminded the world of just how good of a race car driver he still is in coming up just short in the Martinsville 300 and ended the season with a runner-up finish driving a one-off for JR Motorsports in a dream come true collaboration. Pulliam is everything good about Late Model Stock racing and it was good to experience that on multiple levels in 2025.

pic.twitter.com/o4N94CV6mf

— Short Track Scene (@ST_Scene) September 28, 2025

3. Landen Lewis wins CARS title

Landen Lewis, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc., outdueled Connor Hall, driving for JR Motorsports, over the course of a dramatic 15-race season that went back-and-forth. In fact, there was so much early attrition between Lewis and Hall, that Kade Brown, Landon Huffman and Mini Tyrrell also had stints where they looked capable of winning the championship. Lewis, who is a hard-worker behind the scenes, will move on to a part-time Truck Series ride as he looks to continue his development.

2. Marty Melo buys ASA

Marty Melo, who served as Director of Operations for ASA STARS in 2025, purchased the ASA owned series in advance of 2026 — STARS, Midwest Tour and Champion Racing Association. This includes the strategic partnership with Tim Bryant and the Southern Super Series. It’s also an opportunity for a new approach built on the pre-existing pillars established by Bob Sargent, who did what was though impossible for years in creating a national unified championship in the first place. Sargent will continue to be involved on the track promotional end meaning business will largely operation as usual in 2026.

1. Nasse wins Derby, Majeski black flagged

Ty Majeski dominated the Snowball Derby to the tune of 200-plus laps of the scheduled 300. The Toby Nuttleman constructed car was the class of the field but Majeski was warned for jumping a restart and deemed to have done it again and was black flagged, leading to Stephen Nasse’s first win in the event. And unlike 2019, where Nasse was disqualified for a win over a technical infraction, he kept the Tom Dawson this time.