January 16, 2025 | By Spence Smithback, World of Outlaws Late Model Series PR

Jake Timm Moving Up to Full-Time World of Outlaws Late Models Competition in 2025

CONCORD, N.C. — Jake Timm is set to become the latest driver in a long line of Modified stalwarts to take their talents to the World of Outlaws Late Models.

The Winona, MN driver is turning his full focus to Super Late Model racing in 2025, throwing his hat into the ring for this season’s MD3 Rookie of the Year Award.

“We really wanted to do a lot more Late Model racing a couple years ago, but we had some bad luck with engines that kind of knocked us back a step,” Timm said. “We raced Modifieds last year and kind of set the Late Model aside a little bit. Had a pretty good year there. Kind of built our program back up a little bit along with some of our sponsors stepping up, it just made it possible for us this year. Definitely been in the works for two or three years now.”

If a Modified driver from southern Minnesota diving into full-time Late Model racing with the World of Outlaws sounds like a familiar story, it should – Dustin Sorensen did exactly that in 2024.

Sorensen finished his freshman year with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet with a commendable five top fives and a top 10 points finish, enough to claim last season’s Rookie of the Year crown. Not only does Timm now have a roadmap to follow, he also has the chance to renew a friendly rivalry at the pinnacle of dirt Late Model racing.

“Me and Dustin have known each other forever,” Timm said. “We both raced Slingshots, then B-Mods, then Modifieds at Mississippi Thunder (Speedway) and Deer Creek (Speedway) weekly. So, we’ve raced together our entire lives. We’re good friends, we’ve raced together for a long time, and it’s always been slide jobs, always clean.

“Going back beyond that, his dad and my dad raced against each other the same way, just Friday and Saturday, every weekend against each other in Modifieds. So, it’s been a generational thing, and it’s been really fun to grow together. It’s going to be pretty cool to race side-by-side again on the World of Outlaws. Both of us have dreamed of being at this level, so it’s pretty cool.”

Timm may be new to the World of Outlaws, but he is no stranger to traveling the country racing for big money each weekend. He spent 2024 racing for the United States Modified Touring Series championship, earning wins at Humboldt Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway and Deer Creek Speedway – three facilities Timm will return to in 2025 with the Series.

“It provides a stepping stone,” Timm said. “I’ve kind of spent my career there the last two or three years racing Modifieds and last year was the first year I actually followed it full-time. Without having something like that where you can get a point fund check at the end of the year and race for good money all the time, I wouldn’t have been able to build my program up enough to race Late Models. There’s a lot of good drivers at that level. You learn to race aggressively and race smart and all that as well. So, it’s definitely a good stepping stone.”

Timm has finished top 10 four times in his scattered World of Outlaws appearances over the past six years, with three of them coming at his home track of Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Timm knows he’s in for a challenge competing at so many new tracks for the first time, but he’s also looking forward to the prospect of defending his home turf against the best Late Model drivers in the nation.

“Fountain City, Deer Creek and Cedar Lake are definitely my three most raced at tracks in my career, so I definitely feel pretty comfortable going to those three,” Timm said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of new tracks that we go to in a lot of new areas. I’ve never raced in Pennsylvania or really anywhere on the east coast, Florida, all that is going to be new to us. But I’m definitely excited, I know there’s a lot of good tracks out there. Definitely looking forward to it.”

Bringing the top rookie honors back to Minnesota for the second-straight year would be an ideal end to the season for the No. 49 team, but they’re also keeping their expectations in check for now. As the saying goes – in order to finish first, first you must finish.

“First and foremost, finish the season and do the best we can,” Timm said. “I really just want to make all the races. Top 10s would be great, top fives too. I almost won a qualifier at Mississippi Thunder a couple years ago, so it would be really cool to pull off a win, but I also know how hard it is. Those guys are tough to beat, so we’ll just do the best we can.”

Timm will kick off his first World of Outlaws Late Models season with six nights of racing at Volusia Speedway Park, beginning with DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals (Jan. 22-25) followed by Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals (Feb. 13-15). To find ticket information for both events, click here.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap of the 2025 World of Outlaws Late Models season live on DIRTVision.