The offseason is coming to a close and the 2026 World of Outlaws Sprint Car season is about to begin. After High Limit Racing announced their franchise system and additional payouts for non-franchise teams, there was a lot of speculation about teams moving over to the national series. However, that didn’t happen, and the World of Outlaws roster of full-time drivers is looking pretty stout once again. David Gravel is coming off his second consecutive championship and he will be the favorite heading into Volusia. Buddy Kofoid and Carson Macedo will be his biggest threats, but can anyone else take a step forward this year?
2026 Roster (as of 2/2/26)
A New Crop of Rookies
It appears that the Outlaws will have a strong group of drivers running for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year honors this season. Last year, Garet Williamson was in control of the rookies for most of the season, ultimately defeating Chris Windom and Cole Macedo for the award. Let’s dive into this year’s rookies.
Ashton Torgerson – Shark Racing 1A
Torgerson turned a lot of heads last season once he got behind the wheel of the Shark Racing 1A machine. It was a move that surprised most of the dirt racing community, but it ended up being successful and led to a season on tour with the Outlaws. Torgerson picked up a win at BAPS in local competition, and had multiple top 10 finishes with both national series by the end of 2025. If Emerson Axsom doesn’t join the Outlaws, Torgerson is the favorite to win rookie of the year.
Scotty Thiel – Wheeler Motorsports 16C
Thiel is coming off a season where he didn’t race much. But if you really look closely at his numbers, Thiel was one of the most consistent drivers in the country in 2025. This year, he teams up with Greg Wheeler, a team who raced with Max Guilford for all of last season. Thiel won 7 races in 2025, 4 in the 410 and 3 in a 360. In just 22 winged 410 starts, he finished in the top 5 12 times and the top 10 14 times. Don’t be surprised if Thiel turns some heads this year, especially in the Wisconsin region.
Scott Bogucki – 3 Stooges Racing 51
It was somewhat of a surprise announcement when Bogucki and the 3 Stooges Racing Team announced their intentions to run with the World of Outlaws this year. Bogucki is an experienced racer who has made the Knoxville Nationals two times. He struggled in 2025, but I think he could put together some solid runs in 2026. Despite not having a ton of 410 starts over the last few years, Bogucki is well-traveled, and has laps at a lot of tracks on the schedule.
Kasey Jedrzejek – Bill Rose Racing 6
Jedrzejek has been one of the most improved young drivers since getting behind the wheel of a 410 in 2023. Last year, he won 3 races, started on the pole of the Kings Royal and finished in the top 10 in 50% of his races. It will definitely be a struggle out of the gate for Jedrzejek, but I expect this team to make great strides as the season progresses.
Can Buddy Kofoid Take the Next Step?
Last year, myself, along with many others felt that Carson Macedo was the guy who was going to challenge David Gravel for the Outlaws title. Kofoid struggled at Volusia last season to kick off the year and dug himself in a hole that he could just not get out of. He was arguably the best car on the Outlaw tour to finish out the season in 2025, but it still wasn’t enough to get anywhere close to Gravel.
If Kofoid is fully healthy and can escape Volusia without such a huge gap in points, I think he has a legitimate shot at winning the championship. He now has enough laps around every track on the schedule and the Roth Motorsports team really hit on something late in the season last year. Kofoid has really cleaned up his driving in terms of mistakes, and he actually only had 2 DNFs last year. If he can keep the car on the track, he should be able to improve his average finish and be in contention all season long.
2026 WORLD OF OUTLAWS SCHEDULE
What About the Other Guys?
Sheldon Haudenschild will be with a new team in KCP Racing, a car that Gio Scelzi drove to 8 National Tour wins in 2 ½ seasons. Donny Schatz has teamed up with Barry Jackson and CJB Motorsports, a combination that many believe will get Donny back to his winning tendencies. Logan Schuchart started off the 2025 season looking fast, but ended up struggling a bit to close out the year. Bill Balog enjoyed a lot of success during his 2nd season with the Outlaws, but lacked the consistency to crack the top 5 in points.
If any of these guys are going to take the next step and battle for a top 3 spot in the points, I think it’s going to be Logan Schuchart. Schuchart has made a lot of changes to his Shark Racing team and I think he could be in for his best season since 2023. It was a shock to see Donny Schatz go winless last year, and I would put money on that not happening again. I don’t necessarily think Donny is going to go out and light the world on fire, but don’t be surprised to see a 4-5 win season from the legend.
MORE: 2026 Sprint Car Paint Schemes
Potential Surprises?
I don’t have many hot takes going into the 2026 Outlaw season, but I do think that Spencer Bayston is set up to have his best career year on a National Tour. Once Bayston departed the Jason Myers 14 last season, he looked like a completely different driver. He was fast in Tarlton 21, he was fast in the 57W, and he was fast in the SJMR 17, the car he will be piloting full time in 2026. I think that Bayston has a lot to prove this year, and I think that Sheldon Haudenschild was very fast in this car for most of the season. Look for Bayston to be battling for top fives as early as Volusia.
No one has more momentum heading into the season than Cole Macedo. He’s coming off an impressive Australian stint where he won multiple races and was battling for a podium almost every time he hit the track. While the cars are not the same, Macedo looked incredibly poised, recovering from on-track mistakes that may have cost him strong finishes in the past. I expect Macedo to win at least one Outlaw race this year, and improve his average finish by a few positions.
As of writing this, Emerson Axsom has not publicly announced his intentions for 2026, but I expect him to join the Outlaws. If he does, he will be the favorite to win the rookie of the year honors and he will also be a contender to win more than one race. We’ve seen Axsom be in position to win an Outlaw show multiple times, and if he is racing with them for a full season, it will likely happen. I think we could see Axsom battling with Macedo, Bayston, Williamson and Balog for a spot inside the top 8 in points.
On paper, the World of Outlaws are set up to have a great 2026 season, and I think it could be some of the best racing we have seen in the last few years.
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