Winger Embraces the Long Way to Victory Lane, Eyes World of Outlaws Comeback
Photo by Emily Schwanke
CONCORD, N.C.—When Ashton Winger left his shop in January to start the 2025 season, the primary goal was winning with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
He accomplished that mission with his Billy Clanton Classic victory on Saturday night at his home track, Senoia Raceway. But the journey to that point didn’t look anything like what Winger had in mind eight months ago.
Back in June, the Hampton, GA driver was sitting top 10 in points midway through his second full-time World of Outlaws season – his first since the pandemic-riddled 2020 campaign – when he kicked off a weekend in the upper Midwest with his third podium of the year at River Cities Speedway. The following night at Norman County Raceway, his fortunes turned sour when his engine expired in his Heat Race. Undeterred, the Jeff Mathews Motorsports crew unloaded the backup car and salvaged a 14th-place finish.
The situation went from bad to worse at Nodak Speedway when he lost another engine in Hot Laps. Winger found himself 1,600 miles from home with four days until the next race and no engines to run it with. The verdict was agonizing, yet clear – his full-time World of Outlaws bid was over.
“It’s nobody’s fault,” Winger said. “We’ve got the stuff to do it. It’s just that stuff’s so hard to get now. I mean, I’m not saying anything bad about anybody, it’s just the way stuff works. You could go throughout the pits and ask anybody, you blow two motors two nights in a row, that puts a damper on anybody.”
Winger’s focus for the remainder of 2025 turned to rebuilding his inventory of parts and equipment while competing in select regional events that gave him the best chance at success. As much as Winger wants to compete against the best every weekend, he knew that doing so while trying to get his program back in order wasn’t the best path forward.
“When you’re racing Bobby [Pierce], [Nick] Hoffman, [Tim] McCreadie, even guys like [Ethan] Dotson, even though it’s his first year, that guy’s won everything under the sun in a Modified,” Winger said. “There ain’t nobody that’s not good. It’s a grind to go up and down the road. If you’re off a little bit, if you’re off a tenth or two, it’s a row or two in a Heat Race. It’s all about getting up front, and it’s really hard to start deep and come through.”
It didn’t take long for the new gameplan to come to fruition. In his second start since his North Dakota nightmare, Winger won a Southern Nationals race at Senoia and backed it up with two more regional scores at Clarksville Speedway and Fairbury Speedway in the weeks that followed. With his season back on track, Winger saw no better place to return to World of Outlaws competition than Senoia, where he won the previous Series visit in 2021.
Winger still only had one engine in his stable, but the way he sees it, there’s only room for one between the frame rails. A Simpson Quick Time Award and a Heat Race victory put him at the front of the field for the Feature, and Winger’s years of Senoia experience took over from there.
“I think we were all trying to search, figure out where we needed to be,” Winger said of the start of Saturday’s race. “Whenever I kind of figured it out, I had one shot to get by Brandon [Overton] there for the lead I felt like, because he ain’t going to mess up a whole lot. So, I took it, went on and ran like hell the last 15 [laps]. I felt like I had a pretty good pace in the first 35, and then I don’t know what it was, I don’t know if my right-front tire gave up or if my right-rear just didn’t come in that well, but I got so tight across the center of the corner. Especially down in [Turns] 1 and 2, I really had to run a messed-up line.
“When I caused that caution there, I didn’t mean to, but honestly, in my mind, I’m like, ‘Damn, McCreadie was coming there.’ That’s kind of why my sense of urgency went up, and when it did, I was just afraid I pretty much opened the door. In my head, I was like “If I can just get to these lap cars and pick them off one at a time, even if they’re beside me, there’s not much a guy can do when you’re beside them. It just worked out.”
Despite not running the full tour in 2025 as expected, the win at Senoia along with his flashes of excellence in the first half of the season showed that Winger’s ultimate goal of racing nationally and contending for World of Outlaws championships is within reach. Will 2026 be the year he takes another swing at it? Possibly.
“This year, I went to Florida with one car and one motor, so the way I look at it, if I end up with two cars and three motors, we’re already off to a better start,” Winger said. “I prefer to race the best guys every night, even if I get my ass kicked. You really only become as good as the guys you’re racing. When you race Pierce, Hoffman, McCreadie, all these guys every night, it’s tough, and it makes you better. Hopefully we can get our stuff regrouped and maybe make a run at it again next year.”
The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season continues in Kansas at Humboldt Speedway (Friday, Oct. 3) and 81 Speedway (Saturday, Oct. 4). Tickets and other information can be found here.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
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