By Jordan Delucia
HUTCHINSON, KS (Oct. 7, 2025) — Six races remain in the chase for the Emmett Hahn Trophy, and the stars of the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) are ready to begin the home stretch of the season with back-to-back races this weekend at Salt City Speedway.
The near-flat, half-mile oval on the historic Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson has been hosting motorsports events as far back as the 1930s and this weekend hosts the national 360 Sprint Car tour for the second time in track history. The first came this past May, when Zach Blurton led flag-to-flag in the main event and captured his second career national Series victory.
Drivers will compete for a share of the $4,000-to-win purse on Friday before chasing a $6,000 grand prize on Saturday. Both nights of racing will be supported by the local Stock Car division.
Tickets for both days of the event are on sale now; click here to purchase. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
HUTCHINSON HERO — In front of friends, family and sponsors at Salt City, Kansas native Zach Blurton won the Series debut in May and has two chances to do it again this weekend.
Blurton, 31, of Quinter, KS, paced the field green-to-checkered in the 25-lap main event, besting Series champions Blake Hahn and Sam Hafertepe Jr. to bank his second career Series victory. The win marked his first Series victory since July 3, 2022, ending a near three-year, 151-week winless streak on the national circuit, and becoming the 102nd multi-time winner in Series history.
Historically, Blurton has performed well on the half-mile oval, collecting seven top-five finishes in nine career Feature starts between ASCS, the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) and the track’s long-running Hutchinson Grand Nationals event in the 305 Sprint Car division.
Recently, Blurton has produced strong results, notching back-to-back top-10 finishes in the previous two national ASCS events before scoring a win and a fifth-place run with the ASCS Frontier Region two weeks ago at the Wyoming oval of Sheridan Speedway.
ALMOST THERE — After coming so close to his first career national Series victory at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park three weeks ago, Kyler Johnson is ready to try again this weekend in his home state.
Johnson, 22, of Quinter, KS, led 20 laps of the main event on the high-banked Missouri oval but lost the lead to eventual winner Matt Covington in lapped traffic late in the race. Still, he hung on for second place and his fourth top-10 finish in his last five Feature starts — the best stretch of his ASCS career.
He’ll take the momentum swing into his home state of Kansas this weekend and try again for his first national ASCS win at Salt City, where he finished fourth in May.
ROOKIE BREAKTHROUGH? — Seven of Garrett Benson’s last eight national Series Feature races have produced top-10 finishes, three of which were on the podium, marking his best stretch of the season.
The 15-year-old, leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender from Concordia, MO, posted back-to-back third-place finishes in the last race weekend at Paducah International Raceway and I-55, showing the speed and skill necessary to contend for a Feature win on the national circuit.
His first win could potentially come this weekend at Salt City, where he bagged his first top-10 finish of the season in May when he finished sixth in a 32-car field.
CHASE FOR THE TROPHY — With six races left, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Matt Covington and Blake Hahn are currently the frontrunners contending for the Emmett Hahn Trophy, all separated by less than 200 points.
Hafertepe, the five-time Series champion and current points leader from Sunnyvale, TX, has been a dominant force throughout the season, collecting 10 Feature wins in 27 Feature starts, and currently leads the championship standings by 146 points over Covington. In May, he finished third at Salt City.
Covington, of Glenpool, OK, has six races left to try and make up the 146-point gap that lies ahead of him in pursuit of his first Series championship. This year, he’s collected three Feature wins, and will try for a fourth at Salt City, where he finished seventh in May.
Hahn, a two-time Series champion from Sapulpa, OK, sits 192 points behind Hafertepe in pursuit of his first championship since 2022, holding onto two Feature wins in 28 Feature starts. In the Series’ debut in May, he ran runner-up to Blurton.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
WHEN AND WHERE
• Friday–Saturday, Oct. 10–11 at Salt City Speedway in Hutchinson, KS
TRACK FACTS
• 1/2-mile clay oval
• Track Record — 18.486 seconds set by Matt Covington on 5/30/25
ON THE INTERNET
X — @ASCSRacing
Instagram — @ascs_racing
Facebook — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
YouTube — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
DIRTVision — DIRTVision.com (Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month)
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (28/34 Races)
Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3190pts)
Matt Covington 3044pts (–146)
Blake Hahn 2998pts (–192)
Jason Martin 2976pts (–214)
Kyler Johsnon 2694pts (–496)
Garrett Benson 2688pts (–502)
Zach Blurton 2578pts (–612)
Brady Baker 2513pts (–677)
Austyn Gossel 2470pts (–720)
Landon Britt 2401pts (–789)