Gordy Gundaker and Aaron Reutzel announced that Reutzel will compete for Gundaker at the Gateway Dirt Nationals this December.

On a recent episode of The Dirt Parlor, which is hosted by Gundaker and Don Martin, Gundaker stated, “Aaron Reutzel will be driving for me at the Dome this year in 2026, which I’m super excited about. It’s going to be so much fun.”

Reutzel went on to explain why he wanted to compete in the Dome, “Watching it this year I was like that would be-. I’ve always kind of wanted to drive a late model, but just being so different, it’s like I don’t know if I really want to or not. Then the Dome came along and it’s like, to me, the Dome is kind of like Chili Bowl. You do get a lot of people that don’t belong, but-. So I feel like if there’s a place I’m going to run a late model, it’s probably there, where I could probably screw up and run into someone, but it’s like, ‘Hey, it’s the Dome, bud!’ I’m probably going to have to use the, ‘Hey, it’s the Dome.'”

“I’ve wanted to run a late model. I’ve thought about it. And even when you finally came through and said, ‘Alright. Yup. You’re in if you want it.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know. I even asked my brother-in-law. I was like, ‘Man, what do you think?’ He goes, ‘You better do it!’ He goes, ‘I want to go.’ I even asked my parents and stuff like, ‘What do you think?’ And everyone’s like, ‘You better go do it.’ Like one, you’re not going to get this good of an opportunity again to do it. And there’s no better place to go do it. And your stuff’s really fast there too.”

“And then just the whole going there and having good people to hang out with and a trailer to go to, and have some drinks, and the whole picture. I’m super, super excited,” Reutzel added.

He and Gundaker went on to share that Reutzel’s already placed an order for a seat at Victory Seats with Chris Ferguson that will be delivered to Gundaker at Eldora Speedway during the World 100.

Gundaker went on to share that he and his brother Trevor will also be competing as well. So they will be bringing three cars with Reutzel in the third car instead of the traditional two. Additionally, Gundaker shared that he and Reutzel will go do some testing ahead of the event following the late model and High Limit Racing seasons, “Obviously, we’ll go do some testing and different stuff to really prime you up.”

Reutzel will not be the only non-late model driving competing in the event this year. Cleetus McFarland and Gateway Dirt Nationals promoter Cody Sommer announced that McFarland would compete in Sommer’s Race DRT car.

McFarland explained how their deal came together, “Cody hit me up. Actually reached out through Carson Hocevar, who races the event. Carson was like, ‘Dude, you got to come.’ And Cody said, ‘Hey, I own a team, too. I also own the event and I want you to race in my car.”

Tulsa Shootout Champion Jonathan Beason also shared back in July that he had been invited, but needed a car to compete. It is unclear if he worked out a deal to find a car or not.

Finally, Rico Abreu shared that he was interested in competing this year while watching last year’s event. He posted to Facebook, ““”I want to officially put my name in for the 2026 Gateway Dirt Nationals. This is not a joke. I’d love to do some beatin and banging with the fender guys at the dome!”

“I’m going to watch this year and take some notes,” he added.

ASD Motorsports, which fields Ethan Dotson’s World of Outlaws Late Model car offered him an opportunity at the time, “Hey Rico, We might be able to help you out with this idea. Lets talk.”

“This is also not a joke- we’d love to see you out there next year in an ASD car,” it added. “Let’s make it happen!! Anyone else think this would be badass for The Dome 2026?!”

NEXT: Cleetus McFarland To Compete In The Gateway Dirt Nationals With Promoter Cody Sommer’s Race DRT Team