Issacs Captures First YesterYear Tour Modified Win at Atlanta

Jerry Isaacs 2025 Tour Modified

Jerry Isaacs has been knocking at the door all year. He had won pole position four times in the thirteen races this season and had led 369 laps coming into Tuesday's Fall Final race at Atlanta Motor Speedway 2008. He had done everything except win a race, but Tuesday, November 4, 2025 was his night. Isaacs led 43 laps of the 100 lap affair and cross the finish line in first place. "It was great to finally put it all together and get a win in this Series," Isaacs said after the race. This was the first time the YesterYear Tour Modifieds visited Atlanta, and it was a rough ride. "Atlanta 2008 is a bumpy track and these Tour Mods sit quite low to the ground. You could see sparks flying off the cars in front of you in the corners, especially running the low line, but it didn't really affect the handling too much. Everyone just needed to be careful and patient," said Allen Wannamaker, Founder of the YesterYear Racing League after the race. And in the end, the drivers were patient and careful. The 100-lap event went green the whole race.

Points leader Tom Ogle came into the night with a 30-point lead over Texas driver Brian Johnson. Ogle could potentially wrap up the YesterYear title and win the coveted Old Red Boot trophy if he put together a good run. And Johnson needed to press hard and hope Ogle ran into trouble. For his part, it began well for Johnson. He started on the pole and led most of the first 55 laps of the race. But when green flag pit stops came, Johnson ran into trouble and ended up with a black flag for speeding on pit road. This essentially took Johnson out of contention.

As the laps wound down, Brian Bianchi and Luke Logan Allen teamed up to try and break up the lock on the lead that Isaacs and Ogle enjoyed since Johnson's mistake. The "bump-drafting" by Luke Allen was text book and even got Bianchi to the lead at one-point, but bump-drafting at Atlanta is a dangerous game. Luke Allen and Brian Bianchi's luck eventually ran out when a bump went wrong and pushed Bianchi into the outside wall. This ended the night for both Bianchi and Allen, but the race stayed green.

As the dust settled from the incident and cars regrouped, it became a four-horse race. Isaacs, Ogle, Todd Liston, and Scott Negus were battling for the lead. At one point it looked as though Liston and Negus would team up on the outside line and try and get by Isaacs and Ogle, but they could never quite get organized and ultimately settled back into the inside line. "It was incredibly difficult to pass out there tonight. I couldn't figure it out, but a few drivers could. Bianchi had it figured out until he wrecked. And Scott seemed to have it figured out too," Liston said in his post race interview.

Because of how the race played out, with Brian Johnson and Kenny Allen both having issues, points leader Tom Ogle turned on "safe mode" and was keen to simply ride around behind Isaacs and let his lot play out. For his part, it was the right call. Ogle crossed the line in second place behind Isaacs and by doing so, secured his place as the 2025 YesterYear Tour Modified Champion and winner of the Old Red Boot. "This was a double points race and I knew Brian had lost a lap or two early, so I was careful," Ogle said in his post-race interview. Crossing in third was Todd Liston followed by Scott Negus in fourth. Negus, for his part, trailed Kenny Allen in the Rookie-of-the-Year battle coming into Atlanta. But with Allen getting black-flagged, Negus finishing fourth, and Atanta being a double-points race, Scott Negus left the night 15 points clear of Allen in the Rookie-of-the-Year standings. The YesterYear Tour Modified Rookie-of-the-Year gets and invitation to the 2026 YesterYear IROC Series where Series Champions from various leagues and disciplines race each other in a 5-race, winner take all Series.

The YesterYear Tour Modifieds will wrap up their 2025 Season on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at Hickory Motor Speedway at the Zach Brewer Classic.

Shepherd Captures YesterYear IROC Title at Thompson Motorsports Park

J.R. Shepherd's winning Cadillac CTS-V

The 4-race YesterYear International Race of Champions (IROC) Series which began way back in February, ended under the lights at Thompson Motorsports Park on Tuesday night. It was a challenging race for the eleven-car field given that the car being driven, the Cadillac CTS-V, is a road racing car and not a short-track oval car. When the dust settled on the brisk Tuesday night at Thompson Speedway, it was Bootleg Racing League's (BRL) J.R. Shepherd that captured the title. Known as "The Institution" in BRL circles for his unbelievable amount of wins and titles in that League, Shepherd lived up to the moniker on Tuesday night. The BRL-driver started last as the grid was set by reversing the order in the point standings. Because Shepherd had a five-point lead in the standings over OBRL-driver Josh Robinson heading into the race, Shepherd started last and Robinson started second to last, and so-on up the grid.

When the green flag flew, chaos ensued almost immediately. Round 3 race winner Tom Ogle spun on lap two to bring out the first full course yellow of the entire Series. This bunched the field up for a restart and when the green flag flew again, Red Light Racing League's Jeff Aho took off like a rocket ship. Aho stretched out a tremendous lead on the rest of the field and ultimately ended up leading 91 of the 150 lap race. But as the stint went on, Aho's tires began to fail him. Todd Liston, who had quietly been keeping Aho in his site, began to run Aho down. More importantly, Shepherd and Robinson had driven their way through the field and had caught both Aho and Liston. Suddenly, there was a four-car battle for the lead.

With tire wear becoming a major issue for the entire field, some drivers began pitting and Aho was the first driver in the lead pack to pit. However, a couple of laps after Aho pitted, "Lady Luck" shinned down on Shepherd, Robinson, and Liston in the form of the race's second caution. When it flew, it put all drivers who pitted a lap or more down. With no "Lucky Dogs," nor "Waive Arounds" in the rules package, this essentially ruined any chance of a victory for drivers that went a lap down, including Aho.

After the yellow flag pit stops, Robinson found himself in the lead after he "rolled the dice" and only took two right-side tires during the pit stop, while all other drivers changed four tires. Unfortunately for Robinson, the combination of old left side tires and new right side tires proved to be too much of a risk. When the green flag flew with 26 laps remaining in the race, Robinson had no grip going into turns one and two and slid up into the wall, putting him back into third place behind Shepherd and Liston. After a handful of laps, Robinson was able to get around Liston, but could not close the 1.5-second-gap to Shepherd. When they crossed the line, Shepherd secured his second victory in the Series and the Championship. Robinson cruised across the line taking second place in the race, while Liston rounded out the podium.

American Badass Whiskey from Garage Oil Spirits

By winning the YesterYear IROC Championship, not only did Shepherd lock down an invite into next year's Series to defend his title, but he also won a bottle of American Badass Whiskey made by Garage Oil Spirits out of Texas.

When asked about running a 2026 YesterYear IROC Series, Allen Wannamaker, Founder of the YesterYear Racing™ League said, "I plan on running a Series next year as long as we have enough interest from the Series Champions of the Leagues. I suspect about 19-21 invitations will be sent to the Series Champions in early January 2026. We will take a tally then and as long as we have an acceptable number of Champions say they are in, then we will run it." Wannamaker did add that next year's Series, if it occurs, will likely see a few changes including adding a fifth race to cut down on the long break between the February race and the June race. When asked if the Cadillac CTS-V would be the car again, Wannamaker wouldn't totally commit but said, "I thought the Caddy's put on a damn good show! Many questioned this car choice, but I think the CTS-V showed how versatile it is, and it sure looked great on the track. If I were handicapping it, I'd say there is a good chance they return, but we'll see what happens."

The IceMan Cometh

The IceMan Cometh

Throughout history, there have been many "icemen." Up until about 10,000 years ago, Cro-Magnon man was categorized by many as an iceman, given the climate many dealt with during their reign on Earth. In Hollywood, there have been icemen, including most famously the fighter jet pilot Tom "IceMan" Kazansky, played by Val Kilmer in the 1986 movie Top Gun. There have also been famous race car drivers that have donned the nickname "IceMan," including 2007 Formula One World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, and 2-time NASCAR Winston Cup Champion, Terry Labonte. On Tuesday night at the Martinsville Speedway, another IceMan emerged from the 150-lap event in the form of James Lowe.

Round 13 was Lowe's third race in the YesterYear Racing™ League's Tour Modified Series, having joined late in the 2025 season. Pit issues plagued his debut at Oxford Plains, while a last lap wreck foiled his victory aspirations at the Race of Champions, held for the second season at Pocono Raceway. But this past Tuesday at the second running of the YesterYear Classic, Lowe put all that behind him and drove his Tour Modified to Victory Lane.

"It was a good race and I was just glad to get the win," Lowe, a driver of few words, said after the race. Lowe started second on the grid behind pole sitter Jerry Isaacs and also led 71 of the 150 laps around the Martinsville track known as "Paperclip" for its paperclip-like shape. The race saw five cautions with the last one coming with about 40 laps remaining. Lowe restarted the race after the last caution flew ahead of season points leader Tom Ogle and was able to maintain his advantage throughout the remainder of the race. "I was pressuring him throughout those final laps, but he drove a great race, hit his marks, and was completely mistake free," Ogle, who finished in second, said of Lowe after the race. Allen Wannamaker, Founder and co-owner of the YesterYear Racing™ League added, "James is a great driver. I have raced against him a few times in the Bootleg Racing League and tonight was characteristic of how he drives. Quick, but not flashy. Consistent, smart, and he takes care of his car. He kind of gets out front and puts you to sleep because he doesn't make mistakes, hence the reason why he is the IceMan."

Scott Negus rounded out the podium by finishing third, which was quite a drive since Negus had to overcome an end-of-line penalty to start the race. "I began catching them once I worked my way through the field, but I couldn't quite get up there with them and burnt my tires up a bit trying to catch them," the Canadian said in his post race interview.

The race saw five cautions for twenty laps and was run in fifty eight minutes time. A far cry from the two hours and thirteen minutes it took to finish the Race of Champions the prior week. The Series takes a week off next week before heading to Atlanta Motor Speedway on November 4 for the Fall Final. Ogle (674 points) has a healthy points lead heading into the event with Brian Johnson (644 points) trailing in second. Atlanta will be another double-points race for the YesterYear drivers, so anything can happen.