LAS VEGAS, NV -- It wasn’t the weekend Neal Dulin and his team were hoping for on paper. Still, it was another strong example of perseverance and execution under pressure during the latest round of the Silver State Road Course Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. When it was over, he made a surprising announcement regarding his racing future. 

The weekend started with challenges on Friday as the No. 79 struggled with an oil issue throughout practice. Despite several attempts to solve the problem, the leak persisted and affected track time. Once the day wrapped up, the team decided to swap engines overnight and reset for Saturday.

Saturday morning practice showed just how much Friday’s issues had impacted performance. Dulin sat 10th out of 25 cars and was roughly two seconds off the pace, with oil residue still lingering on the rear tires and limiting grip. As the session went on and conditions improved, the car began to come to life. That carried into qualifying, where Dulin made a big jump forward, qualifying fourth after picking up more than a second and a half.

In the heat race, Dulin started second and battled closely with Ben Morabito, finishing where he started. Unfortunately, the first feature ended almost as soon as it began when a dead battery sidelined him on the opening lap.

Determined to salvage the day, Dulin lined up 24th for the second race and immediately went to work. He carved through the field, passing 17 cars before a caution slowed the charge midway through the race. After a hectic restart and a tight battle with Devin O’Connell, Andrew Hitchcock, and Taylor Mayhew, the determined racer crossed the line in third but was moved to second when a penalty was assessed to Morabito for aggressive driving.

Sunday brought more speed and more opportunity. Dulin once again qualified fourth, turning one of his fastest laps of the weekend. That effort placed him second in the second heat race, where he got a strong start and cleared Brenden Ruzbarsky into turn one. The two worked well together until late in the race, when the battle intensified.

With help from Tanner Reif behind him, Dulin stayed in the fight, briefly reclaimed the lead, dropped back to third during a three-wide moment in the hairpin, then capitalized when the leaders made contact. He held off Ruzbarsky to the line to score his first heat race win of the weekend.

Before the final feature, the team made a tire change to gain more rear grip. The adjustment went the wrong direction, making the car more difficult to manage. Still, Dulin held third early after starting second before lap traffic shuffled him back to fifth.

On the final lap, mistakes by Arto Ojaranta and Ruzbarsky opened the door, allowing Dulin to move back up to finish third. The result also locked him in fourth place in the final Silver State Road Course Series standings.

Following the race, Dulin made a surprising announcement regarding his future.  "I want to thank 860 Motorsports for all that they have done for me the last three years," he said.  "But now, it is time to start a new chapter. I am looking forward to joining Joe Ryan Race Cars for the rest of 2026, with my first race with them being at the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, March 13-15th. All glory to God!"