For nearly two decades, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series has been the heartbeat of dirt racing in America. It’s been a traveling grind of horsepower, grit, and blue-collar heroes that turned Saturday nights into must-watch theater. Built under the vision of the late Forrest Lucas, the series didn’t just crown champions; it created a culture.

Now, as the sport turns a page, a new heavyweight owner is stepping in with big promises and even bigger expectations. And if FloRacing’s CEO & Co-Founder, Mark Floreani’s early message is any indication, this isn’t just about preserving a legacy but scaling it.

FloRacing news today: Late Model Dirt Series acquisition

“We are excited about the future of the series, and we’re just excited about where we can take this. I do want to say thank you to the Lucas family. Morgan Lucas and then especially Forrest Lucas, the sport. We’re all standing on his shoulders and going into next year, the Championship Trophy will be known going forward as the Forrest Lucas Championship Trophy,” Mark Floreani announced recently.

Those words set the tone for a major shift in dirt racing’s landscape. FloSports, the rapidly growing streaming platform valued at $200 million, has officially acquired the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (LOLMDS) from Lucas Oil Products, marking one of the most significant ownership transitions in grassroots motorsports in recent memory.

This wasn’t a cold takeover. FloSports has been deeply embedded in the series for years, serving as the exclusive media rights holder for the LOLMDS national tour since 2022. With the acquisition, FloSports now controls not just how the series is shown, but how it’s grown from marketing and content development to advertising sales, live production, and long-term business strategy. The goal is clear: more exposure, stronger storytelling, and a bigger stage for teams, drivers, and sponsors.

The timing of the FloRacing news carries emotional weight. The acquisition comes just months after the passing of Forrest Lucas, who died on August 23, 2025, at the age of 83. Lucas wasn’t just a sponsor or owner. In fact, he was the architect of the modern Dirt Late Model scene. Renaming the championship trophy in his honor is a symbolic reminder that while ownership may change, the foundation remains intact.

Importantly, stability is baked into the transition. “Rick is still going to be the leader here, and we just can’t wait so excited for 2026 and beyond,” Floreani announced.

Series director Rick Schwallie will continue to lead the LOLMDS, ensuring continuity in competition and operations. Moreover, the full series staff remains in place, with longtime announcer James Essex continuing as the voice of the tour. For select events, Dustin Jarrett will join the FloRacing broadcast booth, with Ben Shelton reporting from pit road.

As the series looks toward 2026 and beyond, the message from FloSports is simple: respect the past, invest in the present, and build something even bigger for the future.

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Drivers welcome return to season-long points battle

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is officially hitting reset. After three seasons of experimenting with a playoff-style format modeled loosely after NASCAR, the tour will return to a season-long points system in 2026. Series director Rick Schwallie confirmed the move at the postseason banquet, signaling the end of the Big River Steel Chase for the Championship.

While the playoff era brought bigger payouts and new sponsors, the decision to go back to a full-season grind immediately struck a chord with drivers and team owners who believe championships should reward consistency from opening night to the finale.

Mark Richards didn’t sugarcoat it. While he’s proud that Hudson O’Neal and the Rocket Chassis house car team won the 2023 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship, the way it happened never fully sat right with him.

“We took advantage of it in ’23 with Hudson,” Richards said Friday night at the postseason banquet at Lucas Oil Stadium. “It’s the way they set it up, but truthfully, it doesn’t feel like a championship when you win it that way.”

Three-time series champion Jonathan Davenport also welcomed the move, even as he acknowledged both systems have merit. Davenport, who finished third in the 2025 playoffs, said the traditional format better reflects the grind of a full season.

“I think the traditional way obviously is the season-long deal where somebody can’t catch a hot streak at the end of the year, or somebody be good all year and then wreck a car or have bad luck, or whatever, at the end of the year,” Davenport said. “It’s definitely a good thing for the sport to go back and to be a true champion, to be able to win in Florida all the way through the end of the year.”

Garrett Alberson, who never reached the four-driver playoff field, called season-long points the “most fair” approach.

“I think in general, for a driver, I don’t know if it changes your job a whole lot. You pretty much go do your best every night. Personally, it doesn’t change a whole lot. The goal is to put it up front every night and get the most points you can every night. I think it’s going to be a cool thing. The guy who does the best all year, we’ll know for sure,” he explained.

Schwallie confirmed the $1.2 million points fund will remain intact and defended the experiment, calling it a success that brought new sponsors and bigger payouts. Still, with racers largely aligned, the return to tradition feels less like a step back and more like coming home.