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.