Buck overcomes obstacles to win Rookie of the Year honors

by John Rittenoure (Rickety Roach photo) - (October 28, 2026) - Racers will travel a long ways on a weekend just to go racing. It is common to find racers from Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas making their way to a Sooner Late Model Series event in Oklahoma on any given weekend.

If you logged the mileage per race of each race team the figures would be staggering. But it probably would not come close to the miles logged by Sooner Late Model Series first year driver Ashlee Buck. Over the course of 18 events Buck and her crew traveled from Roswell, New Mexico to each race.

Probably the longest drive for Buck was a 10 hour 700 mile trip to Humboldt, Kansas on May 15. But It all paid off, eventually earning her Rookie of the Year honors.

“All the hard work is paying off,” smiled Buck after celebrating her title at the season finale at Beaver County Raceway. “The last couple of weeks made us work for it, but we are thankful for all the good luck we had all season.”

Buck was consistent logging four top 5 finishes in her rookie season.

“I am thankful for the team. I am very proud of us,” Buck said of her team. “We came a long way, especially from the beginning of this year. I would not trade these guys for anybody.”

However, the season did not come without some challenges. Buck had to miss one race to attend a funeral. Then, in September. Buck suffered a blown engine at Thunderbird Speedway. With another race scheduled the next night at Enid the season could have ended right there.

Overnight a new engine was purchased and installed allowing Buck to race the next night at Enid Speedway.

“That was tough but we had it happen,” said Buck of the efforts to find  an engine. “We got it (the engine) out of some people in the Tulsa area.”

Buck continued her season and with a sixth place finish at Beaver County Raceway she locked up Rookie of the Year honors.

“We are thankful for the experience and the awesome crowds,” said Buck.