The Original Outlaws - The All Star Circuit of Champions

The All Stars didn’t begin as a polished idea or a grand vision. They started as the leftover spark from a failed dream, a group of Ohio businessmen trying to build a superspeedway south of Youngstown in the late ’60s. The land never came together, the meetings dragged on, and the whole thing fell apart before a shovel ever touched dirt. But out of that collapse came a different kind of idea, something smaller, wilder, and more fitting for the people who lived and breathed racing in this part of the country. Bud Miller looked at the ashes of that superspeedway plan and saw a touring sprint car outfit instead... a place for the outlaws to run.

Those early years weren’t corporate or clean, they were raw and visceral. Jan Opperman rolled in with the look of a man who’d been living out of a van and the talent of someone who’d been touched by something bigger. The All Stars weren’t trying to be the World of Outlaws... hell, they existed before the World of Outlaws even had a name. They were just a group of racers chasing tracks, chasing money, chasing the next night’s story. Then the gas crisis hit, Bud’s business pulled him away, and the lights went out. The All Stars died before the legend could fully form.

But outlaws don’t stay buried.

Seven years later, the name came back under new leadership, and the series grew into something the Midwest could claim as its own. Speedweek was born. Eldora thundered. Hewitt, Linder, Gaerte, Stanley, they turned the All Stars into a traveling religion. It wasn’t the polished national tour. It was the blue‑collar one. The one that showed up to the tracks that felt like home.

The 2000s brought the Kemenah dynasty, the Shaffer dynasty, the Blaney dynasty, eras where the All Stars became the heartbeat of Ohio sprint car culture. And then Tony Stewart bought the whole thing and pushed it into a modern renaissance. FloRacing came on board. Speedweek became a pilgrimage. Now household names like Aaron Reutzel, Tyler Courtney, Justin Peck, Zeb Wise... the next generation of killers carved their names into the clay.

It felt like the All Stars had finally reached their final form... and then, just like that, everything stopped.

High Limit bought the series after 2023, 2024 went dark, Speedweek was run in partnership with Aaron Fry's FAST series, and the All Star name was shelved.

For the first time since the gas crisis, the All Stars weren’t on the road. It felt wrong. It felt empty. It felt like a piece of the sport had gone missing. But again... outlaws don’t stay buried.

In 2025, Brad Sweet, Kyle Larson, and Rich Farmer brought the name back. Not as a national tour competing with High Limit and World of Outlaws, but as a regional hammer built for Ohio clay and Midwest blood. Speedweek returned. The championship ended at Atomic, where Danny Dietrich took the $25,000. Kalib Henry would go on to claim the season title. The All Stars weren’t dead. They were sharpening their teeth. And now here we are... 2026... the next chapter.

One race in, one r*inout, one weekend of chaos behind us. Cap Henry leads the points, but he’s not running full‑time. Tyler Courtney and Zeth Sabo aren't either, both also currently in the top 5, which means the real fight... the All Star fight, starts with the rookies and the grinders. Bryce Lucius leading the rookie charge, Tim Shaffer still swinging, Cale Thomas lurking, Kalib Henry trying to defend his crown, and Zane DeVault waiting for his moment.

Danny Dietrich won’t be leaving the porch this weekend, which means Atomic’s clay is open for a new name, a new story, a new chapter. Cole Duncan ought to be there, and he’s never shy about mixing it up with the travelers. The All Stars are rolling in with something to prove, and Atomic is waiting with that unforgiving, red‑clay bite that's ended more dreams than it’s ever granted.

This Saturday is the first strike, the first test, but the second time the resurrected All Stars roll into the valley with the weight of their own history behind them. But this Saturday is just the calm. The real storm... the real reckoning? That comes June 20th.

Ohio Sprint Speedweek. The championship night, the finale. The place where the season’s biggest stories get written in dust, thunder, and heartbreak.

Saturday's the spark. June 20th's the wildfire, and the All Stars... the original outlaws who wouldn’t die... are finally home again.

Before we dive into Saturday, here’s the 2026 All Star roster. The full‑timers rolling into Atomic this weekend.

Graphic courtesy of the All Star Circuit of Champions.