Montpelier Speedway

Prep for 2027 brings Ohio's Wilson Montpelier win

October 25, 2026, 10:33 am

By Bryan Ault

DirtonDirt contributing writer

Eric Wilson at Montpelier Motor Speedway. (Bryan Ault)

MONTPELIER, Ind. (Oct. 24) — A trip to Montpelier Motor Speedway’s annual Monster Mash weekend didn’t seem to be in the cards for 29-year-old Eric Wilson.

The Vienna, Ohio, driver’s decision to make the 4-and-a-half-hour haul from his home near Youngstown proved to be fruitful, however, as he took home his first checkered flag of the season in the track’s unsanctioned Super Late Model feature on Friday. | RaceWire

Saturday night’s $5,000-to-win finale didn’t produce the results he wanted — he retired early due to fuel contaminant issues in his carburetor and fuel filter to post a 22nd-place finish in the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series 30-lapper won by Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio — but he still reveled in his victory the previous night. He needed an uplifting and he got it with his decision to race at Montpelier to break in his brand-new Vinny Guliani-edition Longhorn Chassis.

“I've had a bit of a trying year Late Model-wise,” Wilson said before the start of Saturday’s program. “It’s a new Longhorn and it took a little bit of getting used to, but it’s a really good car and just had some bad luck and finally feels good to put one in the ‘W’ column.

“Never seen the track before, just picked up 4-and-a-half hours away and showed up last night and picked up the win. So it was cool. Didn’t expect it, didn’t have it on the bingo card.”

Normally traveling with a group of friends as crewmen, Wilson made the trip to the Hoosier State with his parents, 65-year-old Chris Wilson and his 62-year-old Dawn. Having just those two, as well as his girlfriend, on hand for his first victory of the season brought mixed feelings.

“I mean, I have a lot of guys that beat up-and-down the road with me, and it would have been really cool to have them along for the ride,” Wilson said. “But yeah, I mean, winning with your family, that means everything. It’s huge. Racing’s so competitive nowadays. A win in even a weekly show or a small regional series is like huge.”

Another reason for Wilson to make the trek out to the Hoosier State was the sunny, 70-degree weather, which has hardly been his experience throughout the season. Rainy weekends have hampered his racing activities in the Ohio-Pennsylvania area in 2026, and Saturday’s dry conditions with a warm afternoon and cool evening provided a welcome change.

“Honestly, we rained out so much this year, we were looking at a car that was sitting there ready to race and kind of just looked around and said, ‘Well, where do we want to go this weekend?’” Wilson said. “And it made sense to come here with a Valvoline race Saturday and them having a weekly show on Friday, get two races in one weekend. So it was well worth it.”

Wilson, a third-generation driver who has raced Super Late Models for five years, considers Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., and Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, to be his home tracks. A Super Late Model racer since 2021 when he made the transition from Crate Late Models, his most notable of ’26 came on July 12 when he finished second to Tyler Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va., in the DIRTCar Summernationals event at Wayne County.

Wilson’s goal in trekking to the Hoosier State was to prepare for next season. He plans to hit up a few more Iron-Man-sanctioned races in 2027 and chase more Summernationals glory.

“This whole Montpelier deal is, we didn’t have this on the bingo card at all,” said Wilson, whose also includes occasional modified competition. “I mean, obviously looking at some of the Valvoline Ironman races that pay, have a really good purse, and looking at maybe doing some more of those next year. Kind of wanted to get a notebook on some of them towards the end of this year so that way we could start off next year on the right footing.

“And no way in shape or form did I think this test-and-tune yesterday would turn into a win, so we’re really happy.”

Getting mentally prepared ahead of next season is just as important as getting his Longhorn dialed in. Throughout a rough-and-tumble season, Wilson, who typically races 20 to 30 times each year, felt he hasn’t performed up to his potential.

“Nothing wrong with the car, just mistakes I would make,” Wilson said. “Or if I over-adjust some nights, you get frustrated going up-and-down the road. And you think, you know, how good am I? You know, what’s going on? Is this just bad luck?

“And then with last night’s victory, it definitely solidified the deal. We can still get it done. And we’ve just got to keep working hard. We know we have a good piece, just got to make the right adjustments, and the driver’s got to keep his head on straight. And as long as those two things happen, we should have good results.”

Wilson loves Montpelier, calling the quarter-mile track in northeast Indiana “badass.”

“I mean, they advertise it as a quarter-mile, and you kind of have a preconceived notion that it’s just a small, little, maybe a go-kart track on steroids, but it’s anything but that,” Wilson said. “It’s almost Tyler County-esque when they say quarter-mile because it’s wide, you can race on it, it’s fast, you can pass. The videos don’t do it justice.”

Wilson didn’t have much of an opportunity to enjoy the bullring on Saturday, but he opted to pull off the track early to save his equipment.

“We just wanted to do a start-and-park to avoid (damage to the engine),” Wilson said. “What we think happened was, we bought fuel from the track and it looks like there was some contaminants or debris in the fuel. I don’t think we hurt the motor in any which way, shape or form. That definitely looks like contaminant from the fuel. No motor issues, just wanted to get our start money and keep it rolling.”