Dirt track racers have earned a reputation of being the busiest drivers in motorsports, but few of them have an itinerary that holds a candle to that of Drake Troutman.

The MD3 Rookie of the Year contender on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision has already contested 55 races in the first four and a half months of 2025. If everything goes to plan, Troutman could hit the century mark as soon as August.

He’s only taken one weekend off since New Year’s Day, and parts of his schedule are what some would deem downright impossible. Case in point: after loading up at Talladega Short Track following the Alabama Gang 100 on April 26, the Team22 Motorsports crew drove 13 hours through the night from Alabama to Pennsylvania, dealt with hauler trouble along the way and made it to Port Royal Speedway in time to race in front of their home fans the next day.

Why would anyone voluntarily subject themselves to that much work? For Troutman, the answer is simple – racers race.

“Anytime you can race anything, it just makes you a better driver,” Troutman said. “Racing that much, we went to a lot of tracks that I’ve never even been to before this year, so just getting seat time on those types of racetracks, trying to go to tracks that the Outlaws race at later in the season I feel like will help us. We went down all the way to Boothill [Speedway] for a race down there. We just went down there to get ready for later in the year, so we have an idea of what the place is going to be like.

“I think there’s a lot of pros to it. Don’t get me wrong, I think it can hurt you sometimes. By racing so much, you might not always be as prepared as what you want. But in the long run, I think it works out for you.”

All those extra laps have been turned with one goal in mind – becoming a World of Outlaws winner. Troutman has come close multiple times this year, as he’s won Heat Races, sat on the pole and led the second-most laps in Feature action through the first 13 races. He knows he has all the pieces he needs to succeed, and he’ll have four chances this week to put them together in a winning combination.

“Everything’s going pretty good,” Troutman said. “Some nights we had a bad night obviously, but that’s part of the deal, so we’ve just got to cut those out as much as we can. I feel like now, we’re getting to the point where we’re going to racetracks that I like a lot more. So I’m excited to get back out around Pennsylvania and race at some of my local tracks. I think we’ve got a really good program, I’ve just got to do a little bit better of a job behind the wheel of the car to capitalize on some of these nights when we start up front.”

The Ohio-Pennsylvania swing kicks off at Raceway 7 on Thursday, May 15 – a place Troutman has already proven he can contend at with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet. His 11th-place finish in last year’s Great Lake Showdown was his career-best World of Outlaws result at the time, and he’s in position to reset that mark once again this season.

“Last year we went there and we were still pretty green,” Troutman said. “Didn’t have a whole lot of experience in a Late Model at that point, so I think more experience is going to help us out. I feel like we’ve got a way better program now, racing for G.R. [Smith] and his wife Stacey. They gave us much better equipment, so hopefully we go back there and it’s a lot better.”

From there, Troutman will turn his attention to Marion Center Raceway for the two-night Connor Bobik Memorial on Friday and Saturday, May 16-17. While Troutman struggled against the Outlaws last year, Team22 ran top 10 with Max McLaughlin in the seat, giving the team a notebook he hopes will put him on the right track this time around.

“I’m excited to get back, I really don’t get to race up there that much,” Troutman said. “I’ve probably only been up there a handful of times at most. Going back there, it’s not like I go up there every weekend, so I’m excited to get back. Last year we kind of messed up on tire decisions, but G.R. and them ran good last year there at Marion Center, so his input will be helpful on what I need to do better in the Feature.”

While Troutman has been looking forward to Raceway 7 and Marion Center since the start of the season, he’s been looking forward to Bedford Speedway’s Billy Winn Classic on Sunday, May 18, since the day he became a race fan. The 5/8-mile oval is right down the road from Troutman’s Hyndman, PA home, and he spent his childhood watching the stars of dirt Late Model racing from the grandstands, dreaming of one day joining them. That dream will become reality this weekend when Troutman makes his first World of Outlaws start at his home track.

“Man, I’m excited,” Troutman said. “Last time I was even at an Outlaw race [at Bedford], I was just a little kid, that was back in 2009 or something. So, it’ll be really cool to see. That’s where I cut my teeth at, was at Bedford. Honestly, I really don’t run that great there, but I’m excited to go and see everyone. It’ll be cool.”

The 2025 World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season continues this week with stops at Raceway 7 (Thursday, May 15), Marion Center Raceway (Friday-Saturday, May 16-17) and Bedford Speedway (Sunday, May 18). Tickets will be available at the gate on all four nights.

If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.