Ten races paying at least $20,000-to-win. Six states rich in Dirt Late Model history. One champion that’ll eventually be crowned November 16 at Senoia Raceway.

That’s an overview of the fourth Castrol FloRacing Night in America season presented by Kubota, Dirt Late Model racing’s marquee midweek miniseries that now kicks off Thursday at Lincoln Speedway, as part of Illinois Speedweek.

Last year, the 10-race mini-tour gave Bobby Pierce one of his three overall titles on the season as the Oakwood, Ill., superstar added his name alongside Brandon Sheppard (2022) and Jonathan Davenport (inaugural 2021 season) on the list of Castrol Series champions.

Approximately a dozen of the sport’s finest drivers are expected to compete for the $75,000 champion’s purse. Below we’ve previewed the expected roster of drivers intending to follow the 10-race miniseries streamed exclusively on FloRacing.

Additional drivers not named, of course, could potentially follow the tour as well.

Bobby Pierce

Is the title once again the Oakwood, Ill., superstar’s to lose? Four of the 10 series races are in the 27-year-old’s homeland, which bodes well for Pierce and in turn doesn’t bode well for his nearest competitors. If Pierce, whose nine wins already lead the nation, gets off to a hot start at Spoon River and Lincoln on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, then the competition might be playing from behind the rest of the way.

Brandon Sheppard

The Longhorn Factory Team driver is looking to replicate his 2022 title-winning season this time around on the Castrol Series as opposed to last year’s winless run in eight of the 10 contested minitour races. Sheppard, 30, wasn’t far off his usually consistent self last year on the miniseries, finishing no worse than 11th. Like Pierce, four races, including Spoon River where he won on the minitour in 2022, are in his homeland.

Carson Ferguson

The new premier driver of Paylor Motorsports has added the minitour to his rookie national-touring campaign, augmenting his Rookie of the Year pursuit on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series this year. Ferguson, 24, has never raced in Illinois before, but he has at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, Tennessee’s I-75 Speedway (he won last May’s Spring Nationals race there) and Georgia’s Senoia Raceway (he won July 2022’s Southern Nationals race there).

Daulton Wilson

Now in his third year touring the nation, the 27-year-old Wilson can take a major step forward in his fledgling racing career by competing for the minitour title this year. He only logged a pair of top-10s in eight of the 10 miniseries races last year, but with Feb. 10’s first career touring victory at Florida’s East Bay Raceway Park on the Lucas Oil Series out of the way, surely more touring wins are in the Fayetteville, N.C., driver’s future.

Dennis Erb Jr.

The Carpentersville, Ill., veteran joined Bobby Pierce, Ricky Thornton Jr., and Hudson O’Neal in one statistical category last year: One of the few drivers to have won multiple Castrol Series races. Indeed, the 51-year-old picked off a pair of minitour wins last year — both being last May at Spoon River and Davenport (Iowa) Speedway — which makes him a viable candidate to compete for the title should he contest all 10 races.

Devin Moran

Surprisingly, the Dresden, Ohio, driver has only a single Castrol Series victory in his career and that came three years ago in April 2021 at Atomic Speedway in his home state. With Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway back on the schedule, the quarter-mile the 29-year-old won at on the Lucas Oil Series in March, he’s got to be feeling like he return to victory lane once more on the minitour and perhaps make a run at the title.

Garrett Alberson

Coming off back-to-back podiums on the Lucas Oil Series and two straight wins over the weekend at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway and Fairbury (Ill.) Speedway, don’t overlook the Las Cruces, N.M., driver as the minitour commences Wednesday. Of all the drivers who have yet to win a national-touring race, the 35-year-old is certainly on the doorstep of changing that ahead of Castrol Series opening night.

Max Blair

Seemingly getting more comfortable by the week with his new Centerline Motorsports team, the Centerville, Pa., driver has good reason to take aim at the 10-race minitour for the first time this year. He’s only contested three Castrol Series features since the minitour’s inception in 2021, but with the momentum he has going into Wednesday’s opener, that shouldn’t matter. Over his last 10 races, Blair has a win, four top-five finishes (with three of those top-twos) and seven top-10s.

Mike Marlar

The Winfield Warrior is taking his fourth crack at the miniseries title year after finishes of third (twice in 2021 and 2022) and eighth in the standings. Marlar, 46, started from the pole in three of the 10 miniseries features last year, but could only convert one of those into a victory being last April’s miniseries opener at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Already embracing the mindset of points racing on the Lucas Oil Series, perhaps being in the title-chasing flow will help him on the Castrol Series.

Ricky Thornton Jr.

If it wasn’t for failing to qualify for the miniseries main event at Spoon River last May, the 33-year-old wouldn’t have finished fourth in the final Castrol Series standings last year. Not that RTJ and/or Bobby Pierce keep up with the following statement, but the Castrol Series is the one notch in his belt that RTJ didn’t keep from Pierce, the reigning series champion, last year. Fresh off back-to-back Lucas Oil Series wins, the reigning DirtonDirt.com Driver of the Year is heading into the 10-race minitour firing on all cylinders.

Tanner English

With six of the 10 series races either in Illinois, Iowa or Ohio, which aren’t far from his Benton, Ky., home, the Castrol Series suits English well. Though he’s chosen not to follow the World of Outlaws this year, the 30-year-old is still a threat to compete for wins, especially if he’s slated to run more races for Coltman Farms Racing.

Tim McCreadie

Mark Richards’s new wheelman aboard the Rocket1 machine is still getting up to speed in his new equipment, but that shouldn’t mean he can’t win from the outset of the miniseries. How the Castrol Series does help T-Mac is that he gets to race five times over the next seven days, which should strengthen what’s being established with Richards and company. Hudson O’Neal took Rocket1 to victory lane last May at Lincoln, so perhaps the Watertown, N.Y., veteran can do the same.

Tyler Erb

The Castrol Series is right up Terbo’s alley as five of the 10 minitour races are black-dirt bullrings that traditionally bring the best out of the New Waverly, Texas, driver. While he’s yet to win a miniseries event, he does ride a wave of momentum into the opener Wednesday at Spoon River, specifically 10 straight top-10s that include May 5’s Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association victory at Adams County Speedway.