Tim McCreadie is back where it all started for him in dirt racing as the World of Outlaws Late Models will head to Atomic Speedway for the Fireball 50 on Friday and Saturday, April 4-5.
The Watertown, New York, driver came into the year looking for something new, and as it turns out, what’s old is new again. For the first time in a decade, the 2006 World of Outlaws Late Models champion is a full-time member of The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.
“It’s exciting. It’s always nice to shake things up,” McCreadie said. “Sometimes you’ve got to look at doing different things and see if you can jumpstart some success. I just looked around at what I’ve been doing and thought this seemed interesting. Kind of had our minds made up well before we decided to do it that we were looking to do something different, and here we are.”
However, McCreadie’s schedule is far from the only thing that’s changed in the past 12 months. Following the sudden departure of Hudson O’Neal from Rocket1 Racing last spring, McCreadie vacated his longtime seat at Paylor Motorsports to run the remainder of the 2024 season with the Mark Richards-led operation.
But with Brandon Sheppard reuniting with Rocket1 after two seasons away, McCreadie went searching for a new home in the Late Model pits. That search led him to Boom Briggs.
“We’ve known each other a while,” McCreadie said. “He’s raced; I’ve raced for many years. It just kind of worked out. He was looking at maybe scaling back a little and they still wanted to do some racing. It just worked out that I was available, and we decided to give it a try.”
McCreadie acknowledged that Briggs’ experience behind the wheel is one of the main perks of having him as a car owner. The Pennsylvanian spent seven seasons on the road as a full-time World of Outlaws driver, achieving a career-best of second three times. Briggs still plans on strapping on a helmet on a part-time basis in 2025, ensuring he stays up to date on the nuances of a modern-day Late Model and can prepare the best machine possible for McCreadie.
“He’s unique: He can still do it and drive,” McCreadie said. “When I worked with Vic Coffey, it was the same way. Vic could drive and could have all kinds of good feedback, and that’s kind of what it is. He’s not afraid to do the work, so it’s exciting.”
Of course, there’s one change for 2025 that’s visible as soon as cars roll onto the track each night for Hot Laps. McCreadie has brought back the No. 9 as a tribute to his father, Big Block Modified legend “Barefoot” Bob ...
