This weekend’s Hawkeye 100 at Boone will be unlike any World of Outlaws event fans have ever seen.
Yeah, I know, I just got back from Bristol but this is going to be something cool.
The inaugural event in the heart of Iowa on Friday and Saturday features a unique format that will culminate with a 100-lap main event and a three-wide, Indy 500-style start.
Oh, and Brandon Sheppard hasn’t hit his hot streak yet. Really anything could happen.
We’ll start with that. The defending and three-time champion is off to his longest winless streak to start a World of Outlaws season since he’s joined the tour full-time. He’s still chasing that elusive Win No. 70.
Sheppard picked up a win during the preliminary night at the Rock Gault Memorial earlier this year, but it will not count due to the race being a split-field qualifier.
That will be part, again, of the format this weekend.
On Friday, drivers will earn points by how they finish in qualifying and their respective Twin Hawk 25-lap, split field feature. There will not be heat races. Qualifying will set the lineup for the two feature events.
Saturday’s heat race lineups will be determine by how the drivers perform during Friday’s action, with no qualifying being utilized. There will still be a B-Main on Saturday as well as a redraw to set the starting lineup for the 100-lap, inaugural edition of the Hawkeye 100.
That will be one that Chris Madden is gunning to win.
The longtime driver has relaunched his own Chris Madden Racing brand to compete with the World of Outlaws.
He’s captured a win along with two more podium finishes at Bristol and Richmond last week, launching him up into the top tier of the point standings.
The tour’s top five drivers are separated by just 66 points – only 33 spots on the race track.
Kyle Strickler – who leads the rookie of the year points – spoke on an episode of Stick Signals that his DNF at Bristol was about the difference there.
And that’s what it takes to compete in the World of Outlaws tour. For Sheppard to be dethroned, it will take near perfection.
But it also takes big wins, and that’s what drivers will be looking for on Friday and Saturday. Hot laps are scheduled to start on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT with Saturday’s set for 5:30 p.m. CT. All of the action can be seen live on as always on DirtVision.
| World of Outlaws Late Model Standings | ||||
| Position | Driver | Points | Behind | |
| 1 | Brandon Sheppard | 1552 | – | |
| 2 | Chris Madden | 1506 | -46 | |
| 3 | Kyle Strickler ® | 1506 | -46 | |
| 4 | Tyler Bruening ® | 1488 | -64 | |
| 5 | Ricky Weiss | 1486 | -66 | |
| 6 | Kyle Bronson | 1464 | -88 | |
| 7 | Dennis Erb Jr. | 1444 | -108 | |
| 8 | Darrell Lanigan | 1418 | -134 | |
| 9 | Cade Dillard | 1404 | -148 | |
| 10 | Boom Briggs | 1350 | -202 | |
