Curious which drivers you should keep an eye on at each World of Outlaws Late Model Series event? Series Announcer Ruben Mireles will bring you his five drivers to watch each week.
This week: World of Outlaws Beat The Heat 40 at Highland Speedway, Aug. 13
RUBEN’S FIVE:
Brian Shirley
Why: The World of Outlaws drivers are red hot right now after sweeping the Crown Jewels the past three weeks! Your 2025 Prairie Dirt Classic champion, Brian Shirley, will be tough to beat at Highland. Shirley enters Highland as the defending winner of the Beat the Heat 40. Shirley currently sits third out of the 14 Outlaws in the Quick Times category with three this season trailing Pierce and Hoffman, who have five and four. I know Shirley can qualify well here which will set him up for success. The Bob Collen team is fresh and ready after an off weekend. They only have an hour and 20-minute drive to Highland today, and will be the team to watch!
Ryan Gustin
Why: Fresh off the biggest win of his career, Ryan Gustin has also won two of the last three Features with the Outlaws. This team is getting hot and only tails Hoffman for second in the point standings by 52 points! That’s a $50,000 difference in the point standings. Gustin isn’t out of the championship fight either, and if they continue to do what they’ve been doing it could come down to Charlotte! Gustin has 12 Heat wins which is second most out of the 14 Outlaws. Gustin finished sixth in the Beat the Heat 40 last year and will be one to watch at Highland!
Nick Hoffman
Why: Coming off a solid second and fourth at Cedar Lake Hoffman is back in his childhood stomping grounds. Consistency is key to winning championships and Hoffman has officially tied Pierce with 24 top 10s on the season in World of Outlaws competition. Hoffman also has the most Quick Times this season with five. Hoffman has proven he’s here to contend for a championship and Hoffman only trails Pierce by 74 points which mathematically is approximately 37 positions and leads the Coltman Farms Racing Cup points. Hoffman finished 14th in the Beat the Heat 40 a year ago, but he returns with a bigger and better notebook!
Jason Feger
Why: Fresh off his 2025 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Championship, Feger returns to Highland against the Outlaws. With four Hell Tour wins at Highland Feger knows how to get the job done. Let’s not forget Feger was running in the top five during the Prairie Dirt Classic feature until mechanical issues sidelined him. Feger has two career World of Outlaws wins but none of those in the state of Illinois. His first came at Beaver Dam Raceway (WI) in 2009 and his most recent one being in Davenport Speedway (IA) in 2022. Tonight, very may well be the night he gets his third series win.
Bobby Pierce
Why: Fresh off the North/South 100 victory Pierce returns home to Illinois. Pierce finished second in last year’s Beat the Heat 40 and won the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Feature at Highland in 2017. After getting lapped in both features at Cedar Lake this team bounced back in dominating fashion. Although we haven’t seen him in World of Outlaws competition since Cedar Lake, Pierce knows Hoffman is within striking distance of the points lead. It’s the most important stretch of the season with only 17 races to go!
You can follow these drivers and more all weekend by getting your tickets in advance or at the gate.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every lap live – with Ruben Mireles – on DIRTVision.
UP NEXT:World of Outlaws Spoon River Showdown at Spoon River Speedway on Thursday, Aug. 14