DirtonDirt exclusive
Aspiring national tourers find a reason to believe
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt.com staff reporter
Tristan Chamberlain (20tc) and Trey Mills (14jr) earlier this year. (Josh James)
With Max Blair, Dillon McCowan and Daulton Wilson all earning their first national touring series victories over the past few weeks on either the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series or World of Outlaws Late Model Series, the sport's aspiring first-time winners have fresh reason to believe their own breakthrough could be next.
“For sure,” Trey Mills, 18, said July 11 at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, when asked if the recent wave of first-time victors gives him confidence he can do the same. “We been close a lot of times, you know, Golden Isles (on March 7 when he flipped while leading with nine laps remaining with the Lucas Oil tour). We’ve been close a couple times with this Outlaw deal.
“We just have to put a whole night together. Them guys, it might have been their first win, but they’ve been racing a lot longer than I have. We still have a lot to learn. It was pretty cool to see all those guys get their first win. I hope I can be next.”
Of the three recent first-time winners, McCowan's breakthrough is perhaps the most relatable for the sport's young crop of drivers chasing national establishment.
Blair, 36, has been a national tour winner for nearly a decade. Since scoring his first WoO victory in June 2017 at McKean County Raceway in East Smethport, Pa., he's amassed five Outlaw triumphs. It just took him 159 full-field starts to finally win on the Lucas Oil tour July 4 at Muskingum County Speedway in Dresden, Ohio.
Wilson, meanwhile, relished his breakthrough national victory in February 2024 in the final Lucas Oil race at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Fla. Until his July 8 WoO triumph at Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., though, he’d gone roughly 28 months between national victories.
Before sweeping the Diamond Nationals, the 22-year-old McCowan had never recorded a top-five finish in Lucas Oil competition. His first two top-five finishes both ended in victory, making his emergence feel as sudden as it was improbable.
WoO regular Tristin Chamberlain is one of those paying attention. The 19-year-old, now in his third full season on tour, has just two career top-five finishes himself. A longtime friend of McCowan dating back to their go-kart days, Chamberlain said watching a breakthrough of that magnitude makes his goals feel that much more attainable.
“That sounds good to me,” Chamberlain said two weeks ago at Sharon through a wide smile when asked if he thinks the recent run of first-time winners could continue — with himself in mind. “I’m pretty good buddies with Dillon. When we were in go-karts, we hung out a lot together. So I was happy to see him get a win.
“I was definitely pumped for him. Like you said, I think it’s about time for me to get my first win. This stuff is so hard. Like everyone says, it can be the hardest thing in the world to do.”
Pill draw. Qualifying. Heat race. Car adjustments. Traffic. Restarts. A timely caution — or the lack of one. So much has to fall into place all at once for a driver to win a national touring feature.
If recent history is any indication, Mills and Dustin Sorensen, 25, may be among the next to break through. The pair sits eighth and ninth in World of Outlaws points, trailing only drivers who have already won on the national stage.
“We just got to start putting full nights together,” Mills said. “Qualifying’s been our biggest struggle. Once you kind of start back there, it's really hard to drive up to the field, especially with that kind of competition.”
Both have tasted victory — with Mills, of course, leading in the 50-lapper at Golden Isles on March 7 until his lap-42 flip — and Sorensen leading 31 of 50 laps in June 2024’s WoO stop at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway before finishing second to Nick Hoffman. Sorensen also finished second to Dennis Erb Jr. in October 2025’s WoO race at Humboldt (Kan.) Speedway and has seven total podiums on the WoO tour — but none this year.
“I know I could do it. There's been nights where I've felt like I had a car to win and I didn’t — did something stupid because of a lack of experience,” Sorensen said two weeks ago at Sharon. “I think just my focus has been getting the car where I feel like it can win, like, every night — learning as much as I can about that.”
Even on July 11 at Sharon, Sorensen looked capable of a podium finish before settling for sixth. After climbing as high as fifth between laps 20 and 32, he felt his car plateaued over the second half of the race.
Looking back, he believes something as nuanced as his right-front tire compound made the difference. He chose a softer compound, but “the longer the runs, I just couldn't steer,” he said — the kind of subtle decision that can separate a solid night from a winning one.
“Yeah, I mean, I've been close before,” Sorensen said. “It’s been a terrible year, honestly. Like I've broken everything from motors to rear ends, transmissions, everything you could think of. But we've been good for the last month.”
Sorensen carries a four-race WoO top-10 streak into this weekend's Prairie Dirt Classic at Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway. He's also finished inside the top 10 in six of his last seven series starts, with a $10,055 steel-block victory at one of his home tracks, Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., over the weekend.
Winning a feature during Prairie Dirt Classic weekend is a tall order, but July 30-Aug. 1’s USA Nationals at Cedar Lake shapes up as one of Sorensen's best opportunities yet to earn his first national touring victory. The Rochester, Minn., driver rallied from 11th to finish third in the rain-shortened finale there in 2024 before settling for 17th last year after starting ninth.
"We've got a really good race car right now, so I'm looking forward to Prairie Dirt Classic and especially Cedar Lake on one of my home tracks," Sorensen said.
For Mills, confidence comes from track position. He believes that every time he starts up front, he has what it takes to stay there. At last month's Dream XXXII at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, he proved it by leading the opening 24 laps from the pole. His night unraveled only after his right-rear tire packed with mud and began chattering. He slipped to eighth before eventually retiring with 12 laps remaining.
“I feel like every time we start in the top five, we run in the top five and we’re in contention to win,” Mills said. “Just like at Golden Isles, we qualified good all three nights. We were at the top three of qualifying all three nights.”
For Chamberlain, he’s yet to finish inside the top-five on the WoO tour this year, but his three heat race wins are tied for seventh on the circuit with Ethan Dotson, Dennis Erb Jr. and Sorensen. That’s a positive sign.
“I think I’m getting closer and closer. I mean, I’ve won the most heat races I’ve ever had,” Chamberlain said. “Qualifying good and being in the redraw. I think I’m definitely setting myself up good. I just need to figure out the feature, that 50- to 60-lap range. Learn how to save my tires and be there at the end.”
A first national touring victory can feel even more elusive these days with Bobby Pierce in the midst of another dominant season.
Pierce has won an astounding 23 of his 59 starts this year (38.9 percent), and Wo) regulars have it even tougher when Nick Hoffman is added to the equation. Together, the two have accounted for 23 of the series' 37 feature victories this season.
“Whenever Bobby's on a roll, nobody can beat him,” Mills said. “Yeah, it's not just me, it's everybody.”
“Bobby’s been the No. 1 driver in the country all year,” Sorensen said. “It just sucks to go against him every night, but it makes you better, too.”
Still, Sorensen — like the rest of the sport’s aspiring first-time national winners — are holding out hope opportunities will come.
“It’s tough when you're racing against Bobby and Nick every night,” he said. “Maybe ... maybe someday we'll have something for them.”
