57 Special to bring World of Outlaws to Mansfield Speedway as part of track's return season
Mansfield Speedway is roaring back to life in 2026, and serving as the cornerstone of the revival will be the inaugural visit by the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
The 57 Special is set for Friday-Saturday, May 29-30, 2026, bringing The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet to central Ohio for two massive nights. The weekend starts with a $12,000-to-win, $1,000-to-start, lid lifter on Friday night before a $57,000-to-win, $5,700-to-start, finale on Saturday. In total, more than $293,000 in purse money will be paid out to race teams across the weekend in what will be dirt Late Model racing’s most racer-friendly purse structure.
Mansfield has welcomed several of America’s premiere racing series since its opening in 1959, including the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series on three occasions in the 1980s. New track owner and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt Tifft said the track’s return season was the perfect opportunity to add the Late Models to the list.
“Bringing the World of Outlaws to Mansfield Speedway is such a huge step in launching our comeback season,” Tifft said. “Racing with the Outlaws myself, I couldn’t be more proud to partner with Steve Francis and his group to offer one of the biggest payouts in Late Model competition. We wanted to offer a payout with huge starting money that attracts the best drivers in the country to the Mansfield community that has been so incredibly supportive of bringing this facility back on the map. The revitalization project will finish in early 2026, and we can’t wait to kick off our huge season of over 100 event days with this as one of our biggest marquee events of the year.”
World of Outlaws Series director Steve Francis echoed Tifft’s sentiment towards dirt Late Model racing’s newest premiere event.
“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Matt Tifft and his team at Mansfield to bring the World of Outlaws to such a historic facility,” Francis said. “This event further establishes the World of Outlaws as the industry leader in racer payouts and brings our fans another can’t-miss event. 2026 is shaping up to be an incredible season of racing, and we can’t wait to get started.”
More information on the 57 Special, as well as the full 2026 schedule for the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision will be released in the coming months.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
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