By T.J. Buffenbarger
BARBERVILLE, FL (January 29, 2026) — In his first race back in the driver’s seat since July 17th, 2025 Tyler Courtney scored a feature victory during the season opening feature victory for the ASCS National Tour at Volusia Speedway Park during the DIRTcar Nationals.
Courtney, from Indianapolis, Indiana, ran down Austin McCarl while in slower traffic with four laps to go to take the lead and drove to a 3.119 second advantage over Brady Bacon at the finish
For Courtney, winning in his first start back from injuries suffered in a crash in July at Eldora Speedway during the Joker’s Jackpot brought on a multitude of emotions when waving the checkered flag atop his car in victory lane.
“It’s a sign of relief, really,” said Courtney. “I mean, you never really know how you’re going to feel after six months of sitting out of anything and let alone racing, just with how racing changes from week to week, let alone for month to month.”
“I know it’s just a 360 race tonight, but to stand here in victory lane, it means the world to me. You never know when your last race is going to be, and there was moments there the last six months where I thought my last race was landing in a helicopter out of Eldora.”
McCarl took the lead from the front row at the start of the main event while Whit Gastineau and Brian Brown raced for second position with Brown taking the spot through turns three and four on the opening lap.
Bacon and Gastineau swapped the third position multiple times before Bacon took over the spot on lap six.
Courtney started to make his presence felt after dropping back driving back by Gastineau for fourth position on lap seven.
McCarl was just starting to overtake slower cars, which allowed Brown to close in for the lead when the red flag appeared for Cam Martin getting upside down in turn four. Hank Davis also was involved in the incident and came to rest against the inside wall with front end damage. Both drivers were unable to continue in the main event.
The restart allowed McCarl to pull away away from the field. Further back Bacon and Courtney were racing for the third position with Courtney taking the spot on lap 14. Four laps later Courtney got by Brown for second and began running down McCarl for the lead.
Coutney managed to erase a 1.635 second lead McCarl held as they approached slower traffic. With four laps to go Courtney drove past McCarl to take the lead he would not relinquish.
Bacon was able to pass McCarl for second position with two laps to go. McCarl, Brown, and defending ASCS National Tour champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. rounded out the top five.
The ASCS National Tour returns to action Friday night with the second of three nights of competition during DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park.
ASCS National Tour
DIRTcar Nationals
Volusia Speedway Park
Barberville, Florida
Thursday, January 29, 2026
Qualifying Flight A
1. 88W-Austin McCarl, 14.613[6]
2. 20-Brady Bacon, 14.653[1]
3. 4-Cameron Martin, 14.751[7]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 14.851[9]
5. 5-Ryder McCutcheon, 14.907[5]
6. 5C-DJ Christie, 14.912[4]
7. 3-Cole Schroeder, 14.913[8]
8. 20C-Tyler Porter, 14.998[3]
DNS: 88C-Brogan Carder,
Qualifying Flight B
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 14.466[2]
2. 5K-Danny Sams III, 14.885[4]
3. 88-Terry Easum, 15.146[9]
4. 45-Nick Sheridan, 15.171[6]
5. 6S-Tyler Clem, 15.249[8]
6. 16G-Austyn Gossel, 15.572[7]
7. 22-Shawn Murray, 15.572[1]
8. 6BG-Bryan Gossel, 15.705[5]
9. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck, 16.012[3]
Qualifying Flight C
1. 28F-Davie Franek, 14.804[2]
2. 2-Whit Gastineau, 15.178[1]
3. 01-Jadan Bowling, 15.194[3]
4. 23-Seth Bergman, 15.285[6]
5. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 15.403[5]
6. 88R-Ryder Laplante, 15.447[7]
7. 2C-Cole Macedo, 15.472[9]
8. 10X-Joel Charles, 15.980[8]
9. 44C-Cheyenne Potter, 18.355[4]
Qualifying Flight D
1. 44-Chris Martin, 14.789[5]
2. 17GP-Hank Davis, 15.024[9]
3. 95-Matt Covington, 15.200[1]
4. 11H-Rodney Huband, 15.268[6]
5. 15-Ryan Turner, 15.340[8]
6. 7-Jordan Thomas, 15.603[3]
7. 13M-Brett Moffitt, 15.766[7]
8. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 15.806[2]
9. 68C-Katlyn Calhoun, 16.451[4]
Qualifying Flight E
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 14.901[9]
2. 27-Emerson Axsom, 15.116[6]
3. 21-Brian Brown, 15.159[7]
4. 10SR-Paulie Colagiovanni, 15.198[1]
5. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 15.557[8]
6. 51-Jeremy Kornbau, 15.599[5]
7. 32B-Dale Blaney, 15.640[3]
8. 0-Glenn Styres, 15.665[4]
9. 126-Autumn Criste, 17.087[2]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 20-Brady Bacon[1]
2. 4-Cameron Martin[2]
3. 88W-Austin McCarl[4]
4. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[3]
5. 5-Ryder McCutcheon[5]
6. 5C-DJ Christie[6]
7. 3-Cole Schroeder[7]
8. 20C-Tyler Porter[8]
9. 88C-Brogan Carder[9]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]
2. 5K-Danny Sams III[1]
3. 45-Nick Sheridan[3]
4. 6S-Tyler Clem[5]
5. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck[9]
6. 6BG-Bryan Gossel[8]
7. 22-Shawn Murray[7]
DNS: 88-Terry Easum
DNS: 16G-Austyn Gossel
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 2-Whit Gastineau[1]
2. 28F-Davie Franek[4]
3. 23-Seth Bergman[3]
4. 01-Jadan Bowling[2]
5. 88R-Ryder Laplante[6]
6. 2C-Cole Macedo[7]
7. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[5]
8. 10X-Joel Charles[8]
9. 44C-Cheyenne Potter[9]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 44-Chris Martin[4]
2. 95-Matt Covington[2]
3. 17GP-Hank Davis[1]
4. 7-Jordan Thomas[6]
5. 15-Ryan Turner[5]
6. 77T-Tyeller Powless[8]
7. 13M-Brett Moffitt[7]
8. 11H-Rodney Huband[3]
9. 68C-Katlyn Calhoun[9]
Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown[2]
2. 27-Emerson Axsom[1]
3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]
4. 32B-Dale Blaney[7]
5. 0-Glenn Styres[8]
6. 45X-Kyler Johnson[5]
7. 126-Autumn Criste[9]
8. 51-Jeremy Kornbau[6]
9. 10SR-Paulie Colagiovanni[3]
Dash (5 Laps)
1. 2-Whit Gastineau[2]
2. 88W-Austin McCarl[1]
3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]
4. 20-Brady Bacon[6]
5. 28F-Davie Franek[5]
6. 21-Brian Brown[3]
7. 44-Chris Martin[8]
8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[7]
C-Main (8 Laps)
1. 88-Terry Easum[2]
2. 20C-Tyler Porter[1]
3. 10X-Joel Charles[5]
4. 16G-Austyn Gossel[7]
5. 88C-Brogan Carder[10]
6. 11H-Rodney Huband[3]
7. 68C-Katlyn Calhoun[8]
DNS: 51-Jeremy Kornbau
DNS: 10SR-Paulie Colagiovanni
DNS: 44C-Cheyenne Potter
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps)
1. 5C-DJ Christie[2]
2. 2C-Cole Macedo[7]
3. 88R-Ryder Laplante[4]
4. 5-Ryder McCutcheon[1]
5. 15-Ryan Turner[3]
6. 3-Cole Schroeder[11]
7. 0-Glenn Styres[5]
8. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[12]
9. 11K-Joshua Kunstbeck[6]
10. 45X-Kyler Johnson[8]
11. 88-Terry Easum[16]
12. 20C-Tyler Porter[17]
13. 77T-Tyeller Powless[10]
14. 6BG-Bryan Gossel[9]
15. 22-Shawn Murray[13]
16. 13M-Brett Moffitt[14]
17. 126-Autumn Criste[15]
Feature (25 Laps)
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]
2. 20-Brady Bacon[4]
3. 88W-Austin McCarl[2]
4. 21-Brian Brown[6]
5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]
6. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[16]
7. 44-Chris Martin[7]
8. 2-Whit Gastineau[1]
9. 27-Emerson Axsom[11]
10. 28F-Davie Franek[5]
11. 2C-Cole Macedo[22]
12. 01-Jadan Bowling[17]
13. 6S-Tyler Clem[18]
14. 45-Nick Sheridan[14]
15. 23-Seth Bergman[15]
16. 5C-DJ Christie[21]
17. 95-Matt Covington[12]
18. 5-Ryder McCutcheon[24]
19. 17GP-Hank Davis[13]
20. 4-Cameron Martin[9]
21. 7-Jordan Thomas[19]
22. 5K-Danny Sams III[10]
DNS: 32B-Dale Blaney
DNS: 88R-Ryder Laplante