Hello, Be an Outlaw Members! I’m Ruben Mireles, the voice of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. I have the great honor of being featured during this month’s Be an Outlaw email. I’ll be giving you a brief background about me and a Sunshine Nationals recap from an announcer perspective. I wanted to start off by giving you all the biggest thank you for being the greatest Race Fans! Your dedication doesn’t go unseen. From traveling across our beautiful country, to arriving early, staying late, braving the weather conditions at times, and many over variables, your love and dedication is what drives me and the great team behind me to do what we do.
For those that don’t know me, I started announcing at 12 years old. I was born in the “Lone Star State” and raised in Southern New Mexico. I attended my first dirt race at 7 years old at El Paso Speedway Park in El Paso, Texas. I instantly got hooked and started attending every Friday night with my dad. The following year we started going to Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Luckily for me, my dad started taking me to both every weekend. We lived 45 minutes from El Paso Speedway Park and 43 minutes from Southern New Mexico Speedway which made it easy!
Flash-forward to September 2011, local announcer at the time Bryan Hulbert me an opportunity to announce two four-lap Trophy Dashes. I blew the roof off that place even though there wasn’t a roof! With only a few weeks remaining that season, I kept being told, “You got big shoes to fill kid,” from the track staff. I didn’t know what they meant by that until Bryan Hulbert announced he was leaving to work full-time for the American Sprint Car Series.
During that off-season, I made a Facebook account and contacted track owner Royal Jones. By Dec. 4, I was sitting in his office going over the dos and don’ts and committing to become the new announcer for both El Paso Speedway Park and Southern New Mexico Speedway. At $50-a-night for this 12-year-old, I was living the dream and made a huge network! At the end of 2012 I got my first regional opportunity to announce for the CLMA DIRTcar Series. After announcing tons of shows in West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Colorado, I quickly became known as the “Voice of the Southwest.” I then met and worked with Rick Eshelman – the former voice of the World of Outlaws Late Models – in 2014. We worked the Winter Xtreme event at Tucson, which is now known as the Wild West Shootout. He told me “I’ve heard a lot of hype about you. We’ll see what you’re all about this week.” I stuck with what I knew and kept doing my job the way I do it. Thankfully, he was very pleased with my work. Eshelman gave me the announcer position with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals in 2018 and I announced there until 2022. Eshelman also helped me become the first ever pit reporter for the World of Outlaws Late Models in 2019. It is with great honor that I get to continue his legacy and fill his shoes serving as the new voice of the World of Outlaws Late Models since 2023.
Enough about me, let’s talk about the exciting World of Outlaws Late Model season-opener we had at Sunshine Nationals! I mention often “it’s a great time to be a World of Outlaws fan” because it’s true! We are geared up for a stellar 2025 season. We kicked off 2025 with a record car count of 57 cars at Sunshine Nationals and left with an exciting points battle.
Before I talk about our winners, I wanted to shine the spotlight on Nick Hoffman for a quick second. Nick might have driven away with a victory at the event but after misfortune and having to go to the rear both nights during the Feature, he still managed to drive his way back into the top 10 both nights. If there’s one driver that continues to impress me when it comes to putting the rally cap on, it is Nick Hoffman. He will always fight till the end and in his third season back on tour I look forward to him contending for the championship all season long.
Ryan Gustin also made a big statement after scoring a big season opening victory on a track he struggles at a lot. After a pair of 14th-place finishes at Sunshine Nationals last year, Gustin made it known that Volusia isn’t his strongest track. Gustin has finished super strong the past two seasons with the Outlaws but has never started strong. He knows to win a championship you have to get off to a good start at Volusia. Gustin is doing just that as he enters his second season with Todd Cooney’s team.
Garrett Alberson became the 102nd different Series winner on the final night and cashed in the $20,000 prize. After not seeing a first-time winner last year it was overdue and good to see. Garret, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, has worked his way through the ranks from local and regional superstar to national crew chief, and now national rock star. Garrett welcomed 2022 World of Outlaws championship crew chief Zach Huston to his team this year. After my visits in the pits, I noticed Zach’s chemistry matched quickly with Garrett and the team. While they won’t run the full World of Outlaws season, they did tell me they’ll run several series events this year.
We’ve been treated to some outstanding MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders these past couple seasons. But I don’t think anybody had an MD3 Rookie of the Year contender sitting second in the point standings after Sunshine. That’s the case for Bakersfield, California’s Ethan Dotson has his ASD Motorsports. Ethan had Volusia experience, winning the 2022 Reutimann Memorial and earning a top 10 at last year’s Sunshine Nationals. Ethan has been one of the most talented Modified drivers in the country and it will be interesting once we exit Volusia how other MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders will combat Dotson’s strong start. Other MD3 Rookie of the Year contenders include USTMS stand out Jake Timm, Drake Troutman, Daniel Helsabeck, Dillon McCowan, Austin Smith, Daniel Adam, and potentially Daulton Wilson and Carson Ferguson.
Another driver that had a stellar start to the season is current World of Outlaws point leader Cody Overton. If you would’ve asked Cody prior to the weekend if he would be leading the standings, he would’ve said you’re crazy. After his Heat Race interview, he told Hannah Newhouse “This is the most confident I’ve ever felt.” Cody went from 23rd to third during Friday’s season opener, igniting the confidence and backed it up by winning his Heat Saturday night. Overton has quickly become a fan favorite for his entertaining interviews and will be entertaining to watch him try and stay on top of the standings.
There’s many other topics I can keep writing about and recapping about, but I wanted to end it on a positive note. I simply wanted to give a big shout out to the new Volusia Speedway Park promoter Tyler Bachman and track prep operations leader Mike Van Gendren. They worked hard to give us the smooth and fun racetrack Saturday night after battling brutal weather conditions earlier in the week. I promise. at World Racing Group, we pride ourselves to put the best product out there. At the end of the day, we are at the track and it’s a great day! A little reminder for you Be an Outlaw Members to stay positive and we appreciate you all. I look forward to seeing you all at a World of Outlaws Late Models race soon!