Coles County Speedway’s Rural King Road to the Dome forged an official partnership with the Gateway Dirt Nationals that guarantees starting positions in preliminary A-Main races at the Dome for race winners.
The track made the announcement on Sunday night in a post to Facebook, “Beginning in 2026, the Rural King Road to the Dome will serve as an official Golden Ticket qualifying event for the Gateway Dirt Nationals. The winner of the Super Late Model division and the winner of the Modified division at the Rural King Road to the Dome will each earn an invitation to compete at the Gateway Dirt Nationals and a guaranteed starting position in the Prelim A-Main on their respective qualifying night at the Gateway Dirt Nationals.”
“This is something we have been working on for quite a while, and I couldn’t be more excited to finally announce it,” said Coles County Speedway promoter Brian Rieck. “The Road to the Dome was built to be a big event, but this partnership takes it to another level. Now our racers aren’t just competing to win at Coles County Speedway’s Road to the Dome — they’re competing for a guaranteed opportunity on one of the biggest stages in dirt racing, the Gateway Dirt Nationals.”
“The Gateway Dirt Nationals has always been about creating big moments for racers and race fans, and we’re excited to partner with Brian, Coles County Speedway and the Rural King Road to the Dome for the foreseeable future” said Sommer. “The Golden Ticket adds another storyline leading into December and gives these drivers something incredibly valuable to race for — a guaranteed preliminary A-Main starting position. We believe this partnership can continue to grow and become a special part of the road to St. Louis and that is why it was important to solidify a long term partnership with this program”
Rieck added, This is bigger than one race or one year. Cody, Emma and the Gateway Dirt Nationals have created something incredibly special in St. Louis. We believe the Road to the Dome can become an important part of that story for years to come. Having Rural King and Milwaukee Tool behind this partnership makes it even more exciting.”
The deal between the two races is for multiple years although the press release did not specify how many.
On top of the winners from both the Super Late Model and Modified divisions being guaranteed to start in the preliminary A-Main of their qualifying night, two fans can also win a trip to the Gateway Dirt Nationals. That trip includes VIP tickets for all three days.
“We want the Gateway Dirt Nationals to be something racers and fans look forward to all season long,” Sommer explained. “Creating opportunities like this with great promoters, great facilities and great partners like Rural King and Milwaukee Tool helps us continue building the Gateway Dirt Nationals and growing the sport. We’re excited to see who earns those first Golden Tickets this year.”
No details on how fans can enter and win the VIP tickets was shared in the press release.
The Road to the Dome event at Coles County Speedway takes place on Sunday, September 27th. The entry list for the race is capped at 60 for each division. However, the 15 Super Late Model drivers and the 21 Modified teams who competed in the inaugural race in 2025 will be locked in for this year’s race.
The 15 Super Late Model drivers who competed in the event last year included: Daniel Adam, Kade Ballinger, Chevy Boyer, AJ Cooley, Jason Feger, Chris Ferguson, Derek Fetter, Bob Gardner, Rusty Griffaw, Gordy Gundaker, Trevor Gundaker, Mike Spatola, Brandon Sheppard, Steve Sheppard, and Jason Wagner. Mike Spatola won the race besting Brandon Sheppard.
As for the 21 Modified teams they were: Ray Bollinger, Damien Kiefer, Chase Holland, Jeff Curl, Kyle Steffens, Brayden Doyle, Ryan Fowler, Treb Jacoby, David Shain, Dylan Sharp, Dave Wietholder, Jeremy Nichols, Denny Schwartz, Collin Shain, Tim Hancock Jr., Austin Lynn, Joshua Hawkins, Tyler Blankenship, Ed Roley, Deece Schwartz, Wade Olmsted, Drew Schwartz, Carter Standerfer, Bock Hellman, Zach Waley, and Zeb Moake.
Additionally, Coles County Speedway announced that the winners of the MARS Championship races in May would be locked in as well. Those races were won by Matthew Baker in the Modifieds and Brandon Sheppard in the Super Late Models.
The MARS race in May won the Sweet Mfg. Race of the Week on FloRacing as Brandon Sheppard battled with Ryan Unzicker and Tanner English throughout the night to deliver one of the best races of the year.
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