Dirt late models since 2009

Scott Sexton

My early career was shaped by my mentor, Scott Sexton, a legend in East Tennessee dirt racing through the ’90s and early 2000s. Scott drove a car on a limited schedule for our team from late 2009 through 2012. One of his first starts for us was the 2009 Steel Head Championship at 411 Motor Speedway, the final race of the season. He chased Anthony White for the last 16 laps, slipped under him coming off turn four on the final lap, and won by about a foot. DirtonDirt covered it. That was Scott in a nutshell.

Scott and the #52 in victory lane at 411 Motor Speedway, October 2009.

He taught me more about driving style than setups, and just as importantly, how to carry yourself on and off the racetrack. Scott was aggressive and calculated at the same time, and a lot of my own style comes straight from him.

Scott passed away on January 10, 2013, at 46. His son Derek works alongside me every day at Brian King Roofing and is one of my closest friends. That through-line, a mentor’s son becoming family, is one of the most meaningful parts of this story for me.

In October 2026, Scott was elected to the National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2027. He won 164 Late Model features between 1986 and 2011, including ten on the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series and a 1996 win at Eldora, and in 2010 he won seven of his twelve starts. The Hall of Fame’s announcement mentions his years mentoring me, which means more to me than any trophy of my own. He will be inducted in August 2027 during the North-South 100 weekend at Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky. Read the announcement on DirtonDirt.

The NeSmith years

In 2012 I ran the NeSmith Weekly Racing Series and won the Late Model track championship at both 411 Motor Speedway and Smoky Mountain Speedway in the same season, finishing third out of 445 drivers nationwide in the NeSmith weekly points. One weekend that May I won three Late Model features in two nights, a Limited Late Model race at Spring City Raceway on Friday and both the Limited and NeSmith Crate features at 411 on Saturday. DirtonDirt wrote about that weekend.

In 2015 I committed to the full NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series touring schedule the day before the season opener. In the #30 Brian King Roofing Stinger we picked up two wins, seven top fives, fourteen top tens and two fast-time awards in 21 starts, finished second in the national points, and won the series’ Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Year award. The series races today as Crate Racin’ USA.

The Warrior House Car

In February 2016, Mike Nuchols at Warrior Race Cars called about taking the Warrior House Car #1G to a Lucas Oil Series race at Golden Isles Speedway. Early success against top-tier Lucas Oil teams turned into a full-time Super Late Model schedule in the Warrior House Car from 2016 through 2022.

The high point of those years came in 2020, when we won the Schaeffer’s Oil Iron-Man Championship Late Model Series title, the series that races today as the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series. It came down to a head-to-head finale with Michael Chilton at Lake Cumberland Speedway in Kentucky, and we won the race and the championship, 787 points to 758. The next season we qualified for the World 100 at Eldora by winning the last-chance dash over Chad Simpson for the final transfer spot. The series’ champions list is on DirtonDirt.

Stepping back

After 2023 I stepped away from full-time racing on purpose. Family came first. Faith came first. The business came first. It was the right call, and it was worth it. The plan for 2026 was a limited return, mostly Limited Late Model with a few Super and Crate Late Model races mixed in.

Season update

If you’ve wondered why the #30 has been parked this summer, here’s the honest answer. In July I fell about two and a half stories off a roof on the job. I broke a vertebra in my back, broke my pelvis, and broke a bone in my shoulder. The back needed surgery to repair the vertebra, and that put me out of the seat for the rest of the 2026 season.

Right now the focus is on healing. The doctors have told me I’ll be able to race again, and we’re already making plans for 2027. As soon as they clear me, I’ll be back in the seat. Thankful to be here, thankful for my family, and grateful for every message and prayer along the way.

— Ryan

Race updates for 2027 will be posted here and on ryanking30.com as they’re confirmed.

The team

The team is family-run and small by design.

• Brian King, my dad, team owner and lifelong support
• Kevin Lusby, who maintains the cars and the racing program and is also the shop manager at Brian King Roofing
• Steve Hickman, with the team since the early years through the Warrior House Car era
• Derek Sexton, Scott’s son, my best friend, and part of the family
• Mike Nuchols at Warrior Race Cars, still a major influence and source of support

Equipment and partners

We run two Warrior Comanche HB chassis, #1747 (2021) and #1754 (2022), with a Vic Hill Racing Engines Super Late Model engine and a Phantom Racing Engines Limited Late Model engine. Brian King Roofing is the primary sponsor, with Warrior Race Cars, Vic Hill Racing Engines, and Phantom Racing Engines as key partners.

My home track was 411 Motor Speedway, which has since closed. These days I race mainly at local East Tennessee tracks.