YesterYear Racing™ League Releases 2026 Schedules

Today the YesterYear Racing™ League released the 2026 schedule for their Tour Modified stock car Series, and their International Race of Champions (IROC) Series.

The Tour Modified Series will re-run 15 races from the 2009 NASCAR Whelen Tour Modified Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Tour Modified Series. As usual, rules, point system, distance, and weather will all be actual to history. Drivers will tackle some "old favorites," such as Thompson Speedway, Stafford Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway, as well as visit four tracks they have never driven including Irwindale Speedway, Concord Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Lanier National Speedway. When asked about running a more modern schedule in 2026 after the previous two seasons included re-running races from 1990 and 1966 respectively, League Founder Allen Wannamaker said, "I thought a change was needed this year to a more modern schedule simply because I did not want YesterYear to get categorized as the League that runs old-school rules. Our League will always run the rules of the season we are emulating. If those rules consist of double-file re-starts, Lucky Dogs, Waive Arounds, and Green-White Checkered Flags, so be it. And those rules are what was present in the 2009 Whelen Tour Modified Season."

The YesterYear IROC Series will also undergo some slight changes this year as well. The Series will run five races in 2026 as opposed to four, and they are breaking from history meaning none of the five races actually happened in history. When asked why, Wannamaker said he wanted to created an IROC schedule that would have a diverse schedule and cover multiple asphalt racing disciplines. The disciplines in 2026 will include a short track oval, a 1.5-Mile oval, a superspeedway oval, and two road course events. The Series will not totally break from history as the rules and point system will be based on what was used in the "glory days" of the actual IROC Series that Roger Penske, Les Richter, and Mike Phelps created back in the 1970s.

Both the YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modified schedule and IROC schedule can be found on their wesite at www.YesterYearRacing.com

Ogle Presented With Old Red Boot On His Home Turf

Tom Ogle holding the Old Red Boot

On a rainy Tuesday, November 18th, Ogle's Auto Sales got two surprise visitors. YesterYear Racing™ League Founder Allen Wannamaker, and League Co-Owner Torrance Childs paid a visit to the Wooster, Ohio business. They weren't there to purchase a car though. Instead, they were there to present driver Tom Ogle his trophy for winning the 2025 YesterYear Tour Modified Series. The trophy in question was the famed Old Red Boot. One of the most unique trophies in sim racing.

Wannamaker explained, "The Old Red Boot was a concept I came up with after many months of thinking about a trophy that would be unique enough for people to truly want to win it. When I started YesterYear in 2024, I cheated a bit and pulled drivers from existing leagues that I respected and that wanted to race on Tuesday nights. Tuesday is a tough night to run a league, but a night none of these other leagues raced, so I could go to them and honestly say I am not trying to recruit drivers away from your league, merely putting something out there on Tuesday in case someone wanted to race tour modified stock cars that night. The leagues were Old Bastards Racing League, Red Light Racing League, and the Bootleg Racing League. I eventually landed on creating the trophy as a kind of shout out to those leagues, hence the Old Red Boot."

The Old Red Boot

Once Wannamaker and Childs arrived at Ogle's Auto Sales, they did a quick photo shoot with Tom holding the trophy in his shop. "The Boot is much larger than you anticipate," Ogle said during the photo shoot.

Ogle had a somewhat dominate performance in the 2025 YesterYear Tour Modified season winning five of the fifteen races and leading 52% of the total laps raced in the Series. "Tom was quite dominate this year. There was a point during mid-year when he ran into some issues, but the speed of the #13 car couldn't be denied. The fastest guy on the track, at least this year, won the Champioship. That doesn't always happen in racing," Wannamaker said. "He's a tough racer, especially when he is out front. Tom is one of those drivers that is fast, and who doesn't make a lot of mistakes on the track," Childs added.

After the photo shoot, Childs, Wannamaker, and Ogle met up with OBRL driver Josh Robinson (who lives in the area) at Erie Street Pub in Massillon, Ohio for a Victory Meal. "We broke bread and had a good meal and shared stories. It's always great to meet up with drivers and league owners in person when you can and get to know them," Ogle said.

Victory Dinner at Erie Street Pub

For their part, Wannamaker and Childs got to experience some Great Lakes musts. On the way to Ohio from Massachusetts, the two YesterYear Racing™ League owners stopped by Glen Park Tavern outside of Buffalo, New York and had some wings and a cobb salad. "The wings were phenomenal. Not greasy, just the right crispness. Allen and I are both foodies, so that was certainly on our list since we knew we'd be by-passing Buffalo," Childs said. Another must stop was at the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. "We stayed in North Canton and were only about ten minutes from the NFL Hall of Fame. We did that intentionally as Torrance and I are both football fans. It was a great stop. We spent about three-and-a-half hours at the Hall of Fame learning the origins of the game, and about some of the rare, behind-the-scenes objects you won't see on the Hall of Fame floor," Wannamaker said.

Childs and Wannamaker at the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, OH

With the 2025 season "in the books," the long winter break will now take hold with many focused on the upcoming holiday season. When pressed a bit on what is in store for 2026, Wannamaker was vague. "I'm looking forward to the break. The 2025 YesterYear Racing™ Tour Modified Series was based on NASCAR-sanctioned modified races that occurred in the year 1966. The only thing I will say at this point about next season is that it will once again consist of 15 races, once again be based on historic races that have taken place in the past, but will not be as far back in history as 1966." Wannamaker also said that he will begin releasing the 2026 YesterYear Racing™ Tour Modified schedule on December 10, 2025, one race per day with the full schedule culminating on Christmas Eve, just like last year.

Ogle Wins at Hickory and Rubber-Stamps 2025 Championship

Tom Ogle's Tour Modified stock car

Tom Ogle rolled into the final race of the season at Hickory Motor Speedway Tuesday night already having solidified the 2025 YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modified Championship. The coveted Old Red Boot trophy was his regardless of the race outcome. However, Ogle wasn't done. With no pressure looming of any sort, it seemed to free-up Ogle to do what he does best......win races. And when the dust settled on a cool and cloudy Hickory, North Carolina night, it was Tom Ogle once again racing across the finish line in first place to capture the second running of the Zach Brewer Classic.

The victory was Ogle's fifth during the 15-race season. The Ohio driver had some tough moments during a few mid-season races, but beyond those moments, Ogle dominated the 2025 season. Ogle started the race second after a blistering qualifying lap time of 13.378 seconds gave Canadian driver Scott Negus the pole. Negus, for his part, was quick all night and was in a 2-way battle with Kenny Allen in the point standings for Rookie-of-the-Year. A battle which Negus ended up capturing by night's end. "Scott was fast all night. He actually ran me down at one point and I thought he was better than me on the long runs," Ogle said in his post-race interview. Negus ended up bringing his car home in fifth place after a slow pit stop set him back during the last stint of the race.

2024 YesterYear Racing™ League Tour Modified Champion Brian Bianchi had a great night. He brought the Culpepper's Bakery machine home in second place. Bianchi started the race way back in ninth place, but was able to claw his way up to the front by being patient, and having a stellar final pit stop going into the last part of the race. During Bianchi's post-race interview he said, "This is always such a fun Series. It will be interesting to see what Allen cooks up next year for this Series. I plan to be back."

YesterYear Racing League's famed Old Red Boot

Rounding out the podium was Jerry Isaacs, who had won the prior week at Atlanta. Jerry had his usual, consistent race, though he admitted struggling at times during the season. "This is a new car for me. I ran some races last year, and the full season this year. The car is fun to drive, but at times I still feel like I am figuring it out," he said. Isaacs also noted how difficult it was to pass at Hickory saying that once the tires had some wear on them, it was almost impossible.

The night was also made special by paying homage to Zach Brewer, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina native who raced Tour Modifieds at Bowman Gray Stadium and on the SMART Tour. Zach lost his life in March 2024 due to surgery complications. "Zach was a local driver in my hometown of Winston-Salem. He raced various types of cars in the southeast, but primarily Tour Mods. It was such a shocking loss last year when Zach died at the age of 44. The least I could do was name one of our races after him to pay tribute to his life," Wannamaker said in a pre-race interview.

With the Zach Brewer Classic being the last race of the season, the YesterYear Racing™ League closes out their year. A long, well deserved, winter break is in store for all the drivers and administrators of the League.