6/15/2025
Drake Troutman
Troutman secures first-career Summer Nationals Hell Tour victory at Peoria Speedway
Seven Straight Nights of Racing Await Pennsylvania Youngster
HYNDMAN, Pa. (06/16/25) – Drake Troutman found himself in the right place at the right time Thursday night, capitalizing on the leader’s late-race misfortune to score his first career DIRTcar Summer Nationals win.
The Pennsylvania native powered his Victory Circle Auto Sales / Mesilla Valley Transportation No. 22 Longhorn Chassis with Clements Racing Engines to a $5,000 victory at Peoria Speedway — his fifth overall win of the season and first of the year in a Late Model.
"I hate to get one this way," Troutman said after Brian Shirley's flat tire. "Squirrel was pretty good. I felt like we might've been every bit as good as him and I think it could've gotten pretty exciting in lapped traffic. I've been leading races before and broke, too. I guess that's just part of it."
Troutman kicked off his DIRTcar Summer Nationals campaign on Tuesday night at Brownstown Bullring, joining a stout field of 44 entries for the tour’s opener. He began the week with a solid sixth-place finish, then followed it up with another top-10 performance—an eighth-place outing—on Wednesday at Kankakee County Speedway.
Momentum continued to build on Thursday at Peoria Speedway, where Troutman set overall fast time in qualifying and backed it up with a heat race victory. Running inside the top five late in the feature, Troutman capitalized on a flat tire for the leader and surged to the front, ultimately pulling away to claim the 40-lap, $5,000 victory—his first career DIRTcar Summer Nationals triumph.
With Friday’s event at Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, Ill.) rained out, Troutman returned to action Saturday at Fairbury Speedway. Starting fourth in the feature, he quickly moved into second but was forced to retire early due to mechanical issues, resulting in a 24th-place finish.
The week concluded on a sour note Sunday at Sycamore Speedway, where Troutman slipped too high in turns one and two and exited the race early, ultimately placing 22nd in the final rundown.
Despite the setbacks, Troutman wrapped up the opening week sixth in the overall point standings.
Full results from the first week can be viewed at www.DIRTcarSummerNationals.com.
Troutman is set to embark on the second week of DIRTcar Summer Nationals competition before rejoining the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series this weekend. The team’s upcoming schedule is outlined below:
June 16: Wilmot Raceway – DIRTcar Summer Nationals
June 17: Davenport Speedway – DIRTcar Summer Nationals
June 18: Quincy Raceway – DIRTcar Summer Nationals
June 19: Lee County Speedway – DIRTcar Summer Nationals
June 20-21: Federated Raceway at I-55 – World of Outlaws
June 22: Lincoln Speedway – DIRTcar Summer Nationals
Full event details can be found at www.DIRTcarSummerNationals.com and www.WorldofOutlaws.com.
Drake Troutman would like to thank his marketing partners, which include Victory Circle Auto Sales, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Brick House Tavern, Gambler Transport, Dirt King Apparel, RFI Resources, Jerry's Siding & Roofing, Inc, Shaffer Construction, Shoe's Diesel Performance, Stone Natural Resources, Bilstein, Cornett Racing Engines, Longhorn Chassis, Slicker Graphics, ABC Supply Company, CertainTeed, Rice Tire, Glassmere Fuel Service, Big River Steel, MatMan Designs, TSM, Bell Helmets, Arizona Sports Shirts, Wilwood, Swift Springs, Winters, SRI, Wehrs Machine, A&A Manufacturing, Poske’s Performance Parts, Sunoco, AfterBurner Performance, Stakt Enterprises, Brinn Transmission, Schoenfeld Headers, Sweet MFG, QuickCar Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Willy’s Carburetors, Dyer’s Top Rods, and MyRacePass.com Marketing Services Services.
For the latest news and updates on Drake Troutman Racing, visit the official team website at www.DrakeTroutmanRacing.com or subscribe to the team’s mailing list at https://pages/DrakeTroutmanRacing.
Article Credit: Tyler Carr Photo
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