Some things arrive better late than never.
Approaching the halfway mark of the 2025 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals, Tyler Nicely only intended to run a couple of tour races to get a feel for his program after a brief absence to go asphalt racing. But then came a path to another championship.
Though Nicely made an appearance at Farmer City Raceway on Friday night, driving Justin Allgaier’s No. 7, he did not start the Feature. The following night at Highland Speedway, he found immediate comfort behind the wheel of his own No. 5 Elite Chassis with the night’s Feature trophy.
When the Owensboro, KY native picked up his second victory of the season in the final Hell Tour event at Tennessee’s Clarksville Speedway, he knew what the plans until July 13 entailed.
“After we won Clarksville, we planned on running some of that next week,” Nicely said. “And then, we clicked off some more (wins) at Spoon River and LaSalle. So, after that, we just put our heads down, kept racing, and trying to win. When we won the points in 2023, that kind of wore me out. So, this year, we’re just out here having fun with my buddies and just trying to win as much as we can.”
The crew that Nicely brought along included developing younger members from the Blue Grass State with Prairie Dirt Classic Showdown winner Charlie Mefford and veteran knowledge in Chase Rhinerson, who was alongside Nicely for the first tour championship.
“We had a little deal happen before we left, and luckily, Charlie was able to come out on the road with me, so super thankful for his parents to let him come out here. We got Carson out here, who we call ‘Deer Meat,’ and he’s been out on the road with us for a little bit when he was younger, but we got him out here. Then, Chase is probably the longest one that’s been on the road with me; he was there in 2023. So, we’re following ‘Terbo’ up and down the road, and just having a good time.”
When Nicely chased the Summit Modified Nationals title in 2023, his goal was set on racking up enough points to clinch the championship by the season’s end at Fairbury Speedway. With his late start in 2025, Nicely felt no pressure to compete on his shoulders and raced mentally with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“Whenever you don’t race for points, obviously the main goal is to win races,” Nicely said. “When you’re racing for points, sometimes you gotta take things a little careful. You don’t put yourself in a bind, or anything like that. Right now, we’ve just been lucky with everything going good and going our way.”
Jim Greenleaf (right) presents Tyler Nicely with the 2025 championship trophy (Tyler Carr Photo)
The reason for Nicely’s absence from the first eight races of the tour was another call for celebration back home, as he and his wife Felicia welcomed their second child, Aston Carter Nicely, on June 18. With her support to travel on the road, the latecomer got to enjoy the Prairie Dirt Classic weekend by sharing the championship experience with the family.
Nicely was officially crowned the 2025 DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals champion at Fairbury Speedway, locking up the title by entering the PDC weekend with a 67-point lead over Trevor Neville and eight wins in 13 starts. It’s his second title, after scoring his first in 2023, becoming the third driver in Series history to earn multiple DIRTcar Summit Modified Nationals championships – joining Mike Harrison and Nick Hoffman.
“Once everything got going, it felt good, you just have to ride the wave with this stuff,” Nicely said. “I can’t thank Jim (Greenleaf, with Summit Racing Equipment) and Summit enough for making this deal possible for all of us Modified guys. I always look forward to it.”
With the time constraints from rain showers during Saturday night’s Prairie Dirt Classic finale, the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Feature makeup will take place on Saturday night, August 30, at the Illinois bullring.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
