After a solid weekend of MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends action last weekend at Sycamore and Macon, which produced Midwest Sheet Metal points leader Ryan Unzicker, and Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year point leader Dylan Thornton with victories, the tour is geared up to take on the richest weekend of the season. The Illinois Valley Showdown presented by Action Truck Parts Inc is next up at the LaSalle Speedway & Event Center in LaSalle, Illinois with a possible $30,000 going to a driver if they were to sweep the weekend. A total of three feature events will take place over the course of two nights of action, with a unique twist on Friday, to make this a weekend for the record-books in more ways than one.

On Friday, August 14, the gladiators of the MARS Late Model tour will take on some of the nation’s best for the first night of the Illinois Valley Showdown Presented by Action Truck Parts Inc at the LaSalle Speedway & Event Center. The night will kick off like your standard MARS event with hot laps, qualifying, heat races, and b-mains. After locking in the 22-car field for the feature, drivers will prepare themselves for the Twisted Twin 25’s. The first 25-lap feature will race as a standard MARS feature lined up as we typically would any other race. At the conclusion of the 25-lap feature, the checkered will fly, and the field will be restacked. A dice will then be rolled with an invert of up to 6 positions and the field will run another 25-lap feature event. Points will be calculated and the top four point earners over the two features will start on the pole of each heat race for the Saturday night portion of the Illinois Valley Showdown. This unique format is sure to make this an unforgettable night of racing action. If a driver sweeps both feature events, they will earn a $10,000 paycheck plus start on the pole of heat 1 on Saturday evening. Last season the Twisted Twin 25’s produced incredible action Bobby Pierce and Tyler Erb splitting the pair of feature events.

Saturday, August 15, will be Championship Night of the Illinois Valley Showdown presented by Action Truck Parts Inc at the LaSalle Speedway & Event Center. All drivers will hot lap, and then all competitors minus the drivers locked into the pole position of the heat races will qualify. All drivers will run heat races, and then b-mains plus series provisionals will lock in the remainder of the field for the 66-lap main event in honor of Tony Izzo Sr. MARS Late Model competitors will battle for $20,000-to-win and $1,200-to-start in the main event. Last season Oakwood, Illinois driver Bobby Pierce took home the victory over Ryan Unzicker and Brandon Sheppard.

A victory at Sycamore and a top-5 finish at Macon keeps Ryan Unzicker ahead in series standings by 83 markers. Even with Unzicker’s victory, the two runner-up finishes by Bloomington, Illinois driver Jason Feger last weekend allowed him to close the gap between the two ever-so-slightly. Dylan Thornton continues to ride comfortably in third with Daniel Adam in fourth. After a pair of top-7 finishes, Bob Gardner advanced to fifth in series standings, with only six points between he and Adam.

Dylan Thornton found victory lane at Macon Speedway last Saturday to pick up his first career MARS victory and extended his Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year lead to over 200 points. Myles Moos advanced to second this past weekend, with Jeffrey Ledford hot on his heels for third. After missing numerous events, Caden McWhorter and Austin Howes have fallen to fourth and fifth. 

Event Info

Friday, August 14 & Saturday, August 15

LaSalle Speedway & Event Center
LaSalle, IL

Twin $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends Features on Friday | $20,000-to-win on Saturday
DIRTcar UMP Modifieds each day
DIRTcar Stock Cars each day

Pits open at Noon each day
Grandstands open at 4:00 P.M. each day
Drivers Meeting at 5:30 P.M. each day
Hot Laps at 6:00 P.M. each day

Friday Adult General Admission $30
Friday General Admission for Kids ages 6-12 $15
Friday General Admission for Kids 5 and under FREE

Saturday Adult General Admission $35
Saturday General Admission for Kids ages 6-12 $15
Saturday General Admission for Kids 5 and under FREE

Pit Pass $45 each day
Pit Pass for Kids ages 6-12 $20 each day
Pit Pass for Kids ages 5 and under FREE each day

MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends Tire Rule for each night:

LF: Any (90) Hoosier
RF: Hoosier NLMT2 (90)
LR: Hoosier NLMT2 (90)
RR: Hoosier NRM NLMT3 (92) or Hoosier NRM NLMT4 (92)

Grooving and Siping will be permitted.

Event Purses

MARS Late Model A-Main payout for EACH 25-lapper on Friday: 1) $5,000 2) $2,500 3) $1,250 4) $800 5) $700 6) $600 7) $500 8) $475 9) $450 10) $400 11) $375 12) $325 13) $300 14) $300 15) $300 16) $300 17) $300 18) $300 19) $300 20) $300 21) $300 22) $300. Non-Transfer Tow Money – $120

MARS Late Model A-Main payout on Saturday: 1) $20,000 2) $10,000 3) $6,000 4) $5,000 5) $4,000 6) $3,000 7) $2,000 8) $1,900 9) $1,800 10) $1,700 11) $1,600 12) $1,500 13) $1,400 14) $1,300 15) $1,200 16) $1,200 17) $1,200 18) $1,200 19) $1,200 20) $1,200 21) $1,200 22) $1,200. Non-Transfer Tow Money – $120

MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends Point Standings (Top 15)
1. Ryan Unzicker – El Paso, IL – 762 points
2. Jason Feger – Bloomington, IL – 679 points
3. Dylan Thornton – Orcutt, CA – 650 points
4. Daniel Adam – Peru, IL – 529 points
5. Bob Gardner – Washington, IL – 523 points
6. Jake Little – Springfield, IL – 514 points
7. Myles Moos – Lincoln, IL – 443 points
8. Tanner English – Benton, KY – 437 points
9. Jeffrey Ledford – Pontiac, IL – 428 points
10. Caden McWhorter – Fairbury, IL – 406 points
11. Mark Voigt – Marine, IL – 389 points
12. Mike Spatola – Manhattan, IL – 338 points
13. Austin Howes – Lewistown, MO – 329 points
14. Dennis Erb Jr – Carpentersville, IL – 327 points
15. Mitch McGrath – Waukesha, WI – 305 points

Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Year Standings
1. Dylan Thornton – Orcutt, CA – 650 points
2. Myles Moos – Lincoln, IL – 443 points
3. Jeffrey Ledford – Pontiac, IL – 428 points
4. Caden McWhorter – Fairbury, IL – 406 points
5. Austin Howes – Lewistown, MO – 329 points
6. Mitch McGrath – Waukesha, WI – 305 points
7. Jordan Bauer – St. Jacob, IL – 302 points

2026 MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends Statistics

Pontiac RV Heat Race #1 Winner

Jason Feger – 4
Dennis Erb Jr – 2 
Mike Harrison – 1
Jordan Bauer – 1
Tanner English – 1
Shannon Babb – 1 
Dylan Thornton – 1 

FK Rod Ends 1st Place Finisher

Jason Feger – 3 
Ryan Unzicker – 3
Ryan Gustin – 1
Jordan Bauer – 1
Brandon Sheppard – 1
Shannon Babb – 1 
Dylan Thornton – 1 

Swift Springs 4th Place Finisher

Frank Heckenast Jr – 1
Caden McWhorter – 1
Daniel Adam – 1
Mitch McGrath – 1
Ryan Gustin – 1 
Dennis Erb Jr – 1 
Tanner English – 1 
Brian Shirley – 1
Mike Spatola – 1  
Matthew Larson – 1
Ryan Unzicker – 1  

FK Rod Ends 5th Place Finisher

Caden McWhorter – 2
Bob Gardner – 2
Ryan Unzicker – 1
Brayton Wallace – 1
Austin Howes – 1
Tanner English – 1
Jason Feger – 1 
Mitch McGrath – 1 
Mike Spatola – 1 

Fairbury Fasteners 7th Place Finisher

Bob Gardner – 3
Jake Little – 2
Dylan Thornton – 1
Myles Moos – 1
Daniel Adam – 1
Dennis Erb Jr – 1 
Tanner English – 1 
Rich Bell – 1 

Budda by Bert Transmission 9th Place Finisher

Jason Feger – 2
Tanner English – 2
Austin Howes – 1
Chad Simpson – 1 
Daniel Adam – 1 
McKay Wenger – 1 
Jeffrey Ledford – 1
Rich Bell – 1  
Myles Moos – 1 

Hooker Harness 11th Place Finisher

Jordan Bauer – 3
Dylan Thornton – 2
Kolby Vandenbergh – 1
Austin Smith – 1 
Myles Moos – 1 
Donny Walden – 1
Jake Little – 1  
Zach Taylor – 1 

Keyser Manufacturing 13th Place Finisher

Bob Gardner – 2
Mark Voigt – 2
Myles Moos – 2
Daniel Adam – 2  
Jake Little – 1
Lee Williams – 1 
Frank Heckenast Jr – 1

Fast Shafts 15th Place Finisher

Jeffrey Ledford – 2 
Myles Moos – 1
Mike Mataragas – 1
Mitch McGrath – 1
Chevy Boyer – 1
Austin Howes – 1
Blaze Burwell – 1  
Zach Taylor – 1 
Mark Voigt – 1 
Rockett Bennett – 1 

MD3 Hard Charger Award Winner

Austin Howes – 1
Brayton Wallace – 1
Christian Miles – 1
Jason Feger – 1
Caden McWhorter – 1
Mark Voigt – 1  
Dylan Thornton – 1
Bob Gardner – 1
Frank Heckenast Jr – 1   
Matthew Larson – 1 
Rusty Griffaw – 1 

Wilwood Brakes Hard Luck Award Winner

Camden Gardner – 2
Rusty Griffaw – 1
Mark Voigt – 1
Rickey Frankel – 1
Jeffrey Ledford – 1
Terry Casey – 1
Austin Smith – 1  
Keatin Lyons – 1  
Mike Winn – 1 
Tim Boomer – 1 

Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race Winner

Dylan Thornton – 9
Caden McWhorter – 1
Mitch McGrath – 1

If you are unable to make it to the track, you can catch EVERY MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends event in 2026 live at floracing.com with select events being streamed live on Amazon Prime.

For more information about the MARS Dirt Series, please contact Jonathan Clayton at 731-467- 1316, visit the tour’s webpage at marsracingseries.com, or visit @MARSDirtRacing on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

MARS Late Model Championship Powered by FK Rod Ends and MARS Modified Championship Powered by Summit Racing Equipment would like to thank the following sponsors and marketing partners for their support of the 2026 racing season: FK Rod Ends (MARS Late Model title sponsor), Summit Racing Equipment (MARS Modified title sponsor), Flo Racing (Official streaming provider of the MARS Late Model tour), Racing Electronics (Official communications provider of the MARS Dirt Series), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official tire manufacturer of the MARS Dirt Series), Sunoco Race Fuels (Official fuel of the MARS Dirt Series and proud sponsor of the Sunoco Rookie of the Year chase all season long on the MARS Late Model & Modified Championship tours), Pontiac RV (Official RV Dealer of the MARS Dirt Series), Allstar Performance, O’Reilly Auto Parts, DIRTcar Racing, Driscoll Motors (Official dealership of the MARS Dirt Series), MD3, Josh James Artwork, MWD Signs & Graphix, Fairbury Fastener & Supply, Dirt Draft, Digital Copy Systems, Whelen, Multi Fire X, Budda Bert Transmission, Dyer’s Top Rods, Fast Shafts, Wilwood Brakes, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Keyser Manufacturing, Varsitee Screenprinting, Willy’s Carb & Dyno, Trackside Racewear, Hooker Harness, Lethal Chassis, Remtek Enterprises, QuickCar Racing Products, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Midwest Sheet Metal, Allgaier Performance, Vanquish Race Cars, Swift Springs, LRD Products, Equiplinc Trucks & Equipment, K&S Ford, MatMan Designs, and Angry Duck Graphics.

MARS Championship Upcoming Events

· August 14, 2026 – LaSalle Speedway – LaSalle, IL – Illinois Valley Showdown presented by Action Truck Parts Inc. – Twin $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends Features

· August 15, 2026 – LaSalle Speedway – LaSalle, IL – Illinois Valley Showdown presented by Action Truck Parts Inc. – $20,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends Feature

· August 28, 2026 – Benton Speedway – Benton, MO – $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends & $2,000-to-win MARS Modified Championship powered by Summit Racing Equipment

· August 29, 2026 – I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park – Pevely, MO – $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends & $2,000-to-win MARS Modified Championship powered by Summit Racing Equipment

· August 30, 2026 – Belle-Clair Speedway – Belleville, IL – $5,000-to-win MARS Late Model Championship powered by FK Rod Ends & $2,000-to-win MARS Modified Championship powered by Summit Racing Equipment

NEXT: Jason Feger Shares What He Could Have Done To Best Dylan Thornton And Win $10k At Macon With Mars