Let The Games Begin! Previewing USAC’s ’25 Winter Dirt Games
Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – SPEEDWAY, IN – The time has come to exit hibernation and enter excitation with anticipation of USAC Winter Dirt Games XVI, the official kick off of the 2025 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season.
New rides, car combinations, an increased car count and the excitement of a new season fill the air with six consecutive nights of racing action on the docket in the state of Florida.
The 16th annual edition of Winter Dirt Games presents practice night at the 3/8-mile Ocala Speedway on Sunday, February 9, followed by the first two rounds of racing at Barberville’s 1/2-mile Volusia Speedway Park on Monday-Tuesday, February 10-11, while Ocala Speedway finishes out the week with four-straight evenings of racing on Wednesday-Thursday-Friday-Saturday, February 12-13-14-15.
Let’s get after it! Here are a few of the top-of-mind storylines entering the new year starting this week in the Sunshine State.
SIX APPEAL
With six races in six nights, Winter Dirt Games is, for all intents and purposes, a Florida Sprint Week. It’s a fairly significant chunk of the schedule that greets competitors right off the bat, and there’s not much time to be sluggish.
Setting the tone is imperative, and the 2024 edition produced in that department. Logan Seavey, in his brand new sprint car ride with Abacus Racing, took over the point lead during Winter Dirt Games at Volusia, and never relented the remainder of the way en route to the USAC National Sprint Car championship.
He was just the latest in a long succession of drivers who’ve won in Florida to start off the year, then go on to capture that season’s USAC National Sprint Car title: Bryan Clauson (2013), Brady Bacon (2014), Robert Ballou (2015), Tyler Courtney (2018), C.J. Leary (2019), Brady Bacon (2020), Justin Grant (2022) and Logan Seavey (2024).
SEAVEY’S CHAMPIONSHIP DEFENSE
Speaking of Logan Seavey, his USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car championship defense begins at the very same track where he and his Abacus Racing team began its journey to becoming the juggernaut they were in 2024.
Last February at Volusia, Seavey became the first driver in 23 years to win multiple USAC National Sprint Car features on the same day (Bud Kaeding at the Terre Haute Action Track in 2001). It was a doubly incredible feat considering the fact it was the first week of the team’s existence as a sprint car operation.
Seavey and Abacus went on to score 14 USAC National Sprint Car wins in 2024, equaling the all-time record set by Tom Bigelow in 1977. The goal is within reach for Seavey if their prowess can be duplicated in 2025 as they aim for the record books while attempting to become the third consecutive back-to-back series champion of the decade following Brady Bacon (2020-2021) and Justin Grant (2022-2023).
OPEN SESAME
There’s no better way to begin a season for a driver and team than winning right out of the box on opening night. One driver, Brady Bacon, could set a new all-time USAC record if he were to capture the Monday, February 10, round at Volusia.
Bacon currently owns three career USAC National Sprint Car season opening victories, which is tied for the best all-time mark alongside Don Branson, Larry Dickson, Rich Vogler and Damion Gardner. Bacon accomplished the feat in 2014, 2020 and 2023, all at Ocala.
Other drivers in this year’s Winter Dirt Games field who’ve won season opening USAC Sprint Car features at Ocala include Robert Ballou (2015), Chase Stockon (2018), Kevin Thomas Jr. (2021) and Justin Grant (2017 & 2024).
Another opening night win for Grant this year would tie him for the all-time record. Furthermore, only five drivers have won back-to-back season openers: Don Branson (1959-60), Jud Larson (1965-66), Sammy Sessions (1971-72), Rich Vogler (1986-87) and Damion Gardner (2010-11-12).
FIRST IN FLORIDA
This year’s Florida field is chockfull of Winter Dirt Games winners, eight of them in fact!
Justin Grant is the all-time Winter Dirt Games winner with seven career victories, three of which came a year ago in Ocala. Brady Bacon has won five, Robert Ballou three, C.J. Leary two, Logan Seavey two and Kevin Thomas Jr. two while Kyle Cummins and Chase Stockon have each garnered one.
USAC racing and the Sunshine State have a history that dates back to the decade of the 1950s. In fact, the first three USAC Sprint Car races ever held took place in Florida in February of 1956. Bob Sweikert won the first such event at Southland Speedway in West Palm Beach, followed by Chuck Weyant at Jacksonville Speedway and Pat O’Connor at Medley Speedway in Miami.
Overall, 52 USAC National Sprint Car races have taken place in the state of Florida while 43 of them have been under the Winter Dirt Games banner dating back to its inaugural edition in 2010.
NEW COMBOS & ADDRESSES
In addition to the previously mentioned teams who are taking on the full USAC National Sprint Car tour in 2025, among them are several new combinations to keep an eye on throughout Winter Dirt Games.
Among the full-timers, 2019 USAC National Sprint Car champion C.J. Leary has taken over the wheel of the Team AZ /Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 21AZ, which won a non-points special event at Volusia in 2023 with driver Jake Swanson. Swanson, meanwhile, has transferred over to the new Daming Swanson Motorsports No. 5T, which appeared in a handful of USAC events a year ago.
Jadon Rogers appeared in several late season USAC Sprint Car events in 2024 with Amati Racing, with whom he returns to drive for throughout this season. Amati’s No. 66 scored a Winter Dirt Games victory in 2016 with Thomas Meseraull. Kale Drake is in a similar boat, picking up a ride with 2B Racing’s number 2B last summer and will man the ride for the 2025 USAC season.
Gunnar Setser is the new wheelman of the KO Motorsports No. 5G, which was formerly the No. 5s driven by Chase Stockon. Stockon will now strap into Tom & Laurie Sertich’s Moose Racing No. 92 for the 2025 season. Stockon was a Winter Dirt Games victor at Ocala in 2018.
Brady Bacon, a five-time Winter Dirt Games winner and four-time USAC National Sprint Car champion, will run a scaled back USAC schedule this year aboard Chris Dyson Racing’s No. 20.
Furthermore, Hayden Reinbold made his first seven USAC National Sprint Car starts in the latter half of the 2024 campaign, but will now be competing for series Rookie of the Year in 2025 at the controls of the Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports No. 19 as a teammate to Mitchel Moles.
QUALITY RETURNS
The dawn of a new USAC National Sprint Car season also presents many questions and the anticipation of how the young crop of talent will develop across the season.
Briggs Danner is one to keep an eye on following a three-win USAC National Sprint Car season in 2024 which netted him USAC Most Improved Driver honors.
It’s the same for Ricky Lewis as well as he too faces the full USAC schedule for the first time in his career after a 25-win season made him the winningest sprint car driver in the United States for 2024. But a first career USAC national victory remains in his crosshairs.
“Tall” Trey Osborne returns to Florida for the first time since an out-of-the-ballpark ride at Ocala in 2024 resulted in a back injury that derailed his early season notions. Carson Garrett has been close to a first career USAC victory, and is eager to take his shot while Joey Amantea led his first laps with USAC at Ocala a year ago, and hopes to make a big showing in the year to come.
RACE DETAILS:
FEB. 9 OCALA
Practice begins the return to Winter Dirt Games festivities on Sunday, February 9, from 1-4pm Eastern at Ocala Speedway. Grandstand admission is free while pit admission is $25.
FEB. 10-11 VOLUSIA
On both nights, the pits open at 3pmEastern with grandstands opening at 3pm, the drivers meeting at 4:30pm, engine heat at 5pm and hot laps at 5:30 followed by qualifying and racing.
Monday’s show will pay $6,000-to-win followed by Tuesday’s $10,000-to-win tilt.
FEB. 12-15 OCALA
For the first two nights of racing on Wednesday, February 12 and Thursday, February 13 at Ocala, grandstand admission for ages 13 & up is $30 while kids age 12 & under are free. Pit passes are $40 apiece for ages 6 & up. Pit passes for ages 5 &under are free.
For Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15, at Ocala, grandstand admission for ages 13 & up is $35 while kids age 12 & under are free. Pit passes are $45 apiece for ages 6 & up. Pit passes for ages 5 & under are free.
On all four nights at Ocala, pits open at 2pm Eastern, front gates open at 5pm and cars hit the track at 6pm.
Wednesday and Thursday night’s programs will pay $6,000-to-win while Friday’s event will pay $7,500 before culminating in Saturday’s $10,000-to-win grand finale.
The Winter Dirt Games overall champion will earn a $5,000 reward.
