FARMER CITY, Sick. — April 11, 2025, will at all times stand out as one of the vital particular days of Ethan Dotson’s racing profession.
The Bakersfield, Calif., native was almost a yr into his stint as the driving force of the ASD Motorsports No. 74x and had accomplished eight races in his rookie marketing campaign with the World of Outlaws Late Mannequin Sequence offered by DIRTVision.
The outcomes had been respectable, however a real breakout second on the nationwide Late Mannequin scene eluded him.
Then got here the 2025 Illini 100 at Farmer Metropolis Raceway.
Friday’s opening night time didn’t produce something out of the extraordinary to start out. Dotson timed in fifth in his Qualifying group, then completed third in his Warmth Race to start out ninth in the principle occasion. However as soon as the inexperienced flag flew within the Characteristic, it didn’t take him lengthy to start out plotting his method to the entrance.
Dotson received some assist early with a number of frontrunners falling out of competition. Jason Feger and Ryan Gustin collided on the primary lap, then Devin Moran ran right into a slowing lap automotive whereas main the race. By a Lap 14 restart, Dotson was as much as third.
Because the race wore on, it was a battle between finest associates in Dotson and fellow Modified ace Drake Troutman. Each drivers had been chasing their first World of Outlaws triumph, and on that night time, it was Dotson’s flip to achieve the checkered flag first.
“[Farmer City] wasn’t a type of locations I felt like I used to be considerably higher at,” Dotson stated of his expectations going into the weekend. “However I really feel like these tracks on the market type of match my driving model slightly bit higher. Somewhat extra moisture, up on the wheel and stuff. Nevertheless it’s positively one of many locations I sit up for going to yearly.”
That Farmer Metropolis rating was removed from the primary main victory of Dotson’s profession. He’s a former IMCA Tremendous Nationals champion, a career-defining accomplishment for anybody who has it on their resume. Dotson has topped among the largest races on the DIRTcar aspect of the Modified world as nicely, together with the World Brief Observe Championship and the Emil and Dale Reutimann Memorial.
However the aim was at all times to compete and win on the highest stage of Late Mannequin racing, and final yr’s victory meant engaging in that lifelong mission.
“It’s fairly excessive, actually,” Dotson stated. “I imply, our first Outlaw race is fairly particular to anybody, I believe. Particularly to me.”
Within the 12 months since that night time, the main focus for Dotson has been replicating that magic. He picked up a win at Central Arizona Raceway in the course of the Wild West Shootout in January, however the quest for World of Outlaws win quantity two continues to be ongoing.
That isn’t to say Dotson hasn’t had pace – he’s stood on the rostrum thrice since Farmer Metropolis final yr, and he enters this weekend having completed prime 10 in six of the final eight Sequence races. However consistency isn’t sufficient. Dotson desires to show to the world that he belongs, and the ASD staff made the correct resolution in hiring him. The way in which he sees it, the one manner to do this is to develop into a daily in World of Outlaws Victory Lane.
“We run respectable, however simply not as many wins as I’d prefer to see,” Dotson stated. “I’m not glad. I wish to be prime three each night time and profitable some races. We’re simply going to maintain working more durable till we will get there.”
