George Gorham, Jr. Dominates for 10th Annual Bigley Memorial Victory

George Gorham, Jr. earned the biggest win of his Super Late Model career on Saturday night at Freedom Factory, charging from 12th to first to win $30,000 in the Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128.

Gorham set fast time in qualifying for the $30,000-to-win event, but a 12-car invert placed him on the outside of the sixth row to start the 28-car race. With only one caution on the second lap out of 128, Gorham charged through the field, passing defending Bigley Memorial winner Ty Majeski on lap 67.

From there, Gorham set sail with a blistering pace. Only three cars finished on the lead lap, as Gorham crossed the line more than eight seconds ahead of Majeski and 12 seconds ahead of NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar.

A veteran of Florida short track racing, Gorham's win is his first in seven attempts in the Bigley Memorial. It is also his first UARA National victory, entering the night with a best career finish of fourth in the series.

Nothing was stopping Gorham on Saturday night, as he drove to the biggest win of his career.

"This is a dream come true," said Gorham in victory lane. "Thanks to all of you fans for sticking us out. Guys, we work 40 hours a week, bust our ass, excuse my language, to make this happen.

"All my guys have got full-time jobs. We ain't no big team. We spend every dollar we've got to do to this. I can't thank Ricky and his crew enough for putting on these races. Ty Majeski, Hocevar, all of them for coming down. My brother in law, Mario, Vince, Lamar, my wife Michelle.

"My father-in-law would be so proud. He's up in heaven. This is for him, right here. This is the best thing going."

Majeski finished second, piloting his backup car, as a broken oil pump belt during practice on Saturday afternoon put his primary car on the trailer. The 2024 Bigley Memorial winner didn't believe the switch to the secondary car made the difference in keeping up with Gorham.

"I don't know that that was the difference," said Majeski about the backup car. "Congrats to George and the 10 team. They were obviously lights out tonight. We were just the next best, I guess.

"Overall, great effort, so proud of my team. From the time we blew the engine, unloaded the backup car, got this thing out, it was like 25 minutes, super impressive."

Hocevar rounded out the podium in his first career appearance in the Bigley Memorial.

"It was a lot of fun. I was reminding myself that we were still passing cars, because I think second and third were checked out from fourth. The 10 was way checked out on us, so I just reminded myself that my stuff's not driving good, but there's a lot more people that are driving way worse.

"There were no stages or comp cautions or whatever, which was a lot of fun. You just get to go 128 straight, so that was really fun."

While the night did not go as planned for Michael Atwell, he leaves Freedom Factory as the 2025 UARA National champion. The Naples, Florida driver's night ended after just two laps, involved in a chaotic chain of events surrounding the only caution flag of the evening.

Jesse Dutilly spun, while Dustin Dunn hit the outside wall in a separate incident on the same lap. In the stack-up, Atwell suffered race-ending damage. Still, his performance throughout the season, including wins in the Rattler 250 and at Mobile International Speedway, earned him the title.

"I can't thank all these guys behind me enough. We worked our butts off this weekend. I thought we had a really good car there. Just checked up in front of me. I was wide open, and there was nowhere we could go.

"These guys have worked their butts off all year, got some great notes. Obviously, George was really fast. Super happy for the team and everybody that supports this organization, being able to bring this home."

The 2026 UARA National season begins on February 28 at Auburndale Speedway with the Ken Hyatt Memorial 142. The full 2026 schedule for the UARA National Super Late Model season was released on Saturday afternoon.

-Photo credit: UARA National

Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128 Unofficial Results