By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (April 2, 2026)………The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship finally gets back to business this weekend with a pair of visits to dirt tracks on each side of the Illinois/Indiana border.
First up is the series’ fourth ever trip to Sumner, Illinois’ Red Hill Raceway on Friday night, April 3, at the 3/8-mile oval.
That’s followed up by the 16th running of the Chuck Amati Classic, for the first time under USAC sanctioning, at Indiana’s 3/8-mile Paragon Speedway on Saturday night, April 4.
February in Florida is in the books. Now, it’s time to rock the full bulk of the schedule as it’s pretty much non-stop for USAC circle track action through Thanksgiving weekend from here on out. Let’s get you up to speed!
LOGAN LEADING
Logan Seavey enters the weekend as the USAC National Sprint Car point leader, and is the only driver to this point to have won multiple feature events after the first six rounds of competition in Florida in February.
Not only that, he also comes in as the most recent Red Hill winner, scoring last June’s main event by leading all 32 laps en route to victory in his Abacus Racing No. 57.
OSBORNE ALL IN
Trey Osborne warmed the hearts of the racing world with his first career USAC National Sprint Car win in February at Florida’s Ocala Speedway, getting the job done on a shoestring budget in his own Trey Osborne Racing No. 6T.
His performances through the first six races have him ranked ninth in points, and now he’s set to run the full slate of USAC National Sprint Car races in 2026.
He’s bet on himself, and recently informed his boss that his last day at his full-time day job was going to be April 1. Now, he’s going on the road.
LEARY ON THE RUN WITH FOX
C.J. Leary is set to take on a slate of 30 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship events in 2026 as the driver of the Fox Brothers-Brayden Fox Racing No. 53, starting this weekend.
The Fox 53 is a legendary machine in USAC racing circles, having amassed 19 career USAC National Sprint Car feature victories with team owner Brad Fox winning twice as a driver between 1997-1998 and Jon Stanbrough capturing 17 main event wins in the team’s historic run from 2006-2011.
Brad and team co-owner Steve Fox’s father, and Brayden’s grandfather, Galen Fox, was a master chief mechanic on the Gohr Racing team, which was a 30-time USAC National Sprint Car winner between 1975-1991 with their legendary Genesee Beer Wagon rides being driven by the likes of Sheldon Kinser, Tom Bigelow, Rick Hood, Kenny Jacobs and Danny Smith. In 1980, the team won the USAC National Sprint Car entrant title.
When not in the Fox car, Leary plans to compete in the remaining USAC events in another yet-to-be-determined ride.
SWANSON SHOWS THE WAY
Jake Swanson has started his 2026 season in fine form aboard his Daming Swanson Motorsports No. 5T.
He won on his second night out on the USAC National Sprint Car tour at Volusia in February, and hasn’t finished outside the top-10 in any of his six starts so far, which has him fourth in the standings.
Furthermore, he supplemented his strong start by capturing a victory in the unsanctioned No Way Out 40 at Paragon in mid-March, setting the tone as the series springs forward into April.
MOLES WAS PARAGON’S BEST IN ‘25
Mitchel Moles’ lone victory of the 2025 season came last September at Paragon where he won the closest race of the entire USAC national season.
Moles beat Kyle Cummins to the line by a .021 second margin in his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports No. 19AZ, and ended the season with a career best runner-up finish in the standings.
After a bit of a middling start to the 2026 campaign, Moles heated up at the end of his Florida run in February by notching three consecutive top-five finishes with a fourth, fifth and a fourth down the stretch. He currently ranks eighth in points entering the weekend.
ROGERS TOUGHING IT OUT
In mid-March, Jadon Rogers broke the lower part of his fibula while competing in a basketball league. For most, after this kind of surgery, that would mean some sheet time and recuperation while staying away from racecars or much of anything that involves physicality for the time being.
But not for Rogers. A little over a week later, he was back in the cockpit with the Midwest Thunder Sprint Cars and finished on the podium with a third place result at Windy Hollow Speedway in Kentucky.
Much like Justin Grant a year ago, Rogers was seen in post-race victory lane photos sporting a pair of crutches. Rogers even offered thanks to Grant for helping him along in this process.
ONE-ARMED BANDIT HISTORY
Saturday’s Chuck Amati Classic celebrates its 16th running this Saturday night, but for the first time under USAC sanction.
Ricky Lewis enters as the two-time and defending race winner in 2024-2025. Other two-time winners include Brady Short (2011 & 2016), Jake Swanson (2021 & 2022) and Chris Windom (2010 & 2013).
One-time winners include Josh Cunningham (2012), Jon Stanbrough (2014), Chad Boespflug (2015), Shane Cottle (2017), Robert Ballou (2018), Jordan Kinser (2019) and Cody Trammell (2023).
Amati, nicknamed The One-Armed Bandit, was a premier sprint car racer who captured back-to-back Indiana Sprint Week titles in 1989-1990 and scored three-straight Paragon track championships in 1988-1989-1990. In 2004, he was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
RACE DETAILS
On Friday, April 3, at Red Hill Raceway, pits open at 3:00pm Central, front gates open at 5:00pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm with qualifying and racing to follow. Grandstand admission for ages 13 & up is $30 while kids age 6-12 are $5 and children age 5 & under are free. Pit passes are $40 apiece.
On Saturday, April 4, at Paragon Speedway, the Chuck Amati Classic featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus the Midwest Mini Sprint Association. Pits open at 3pm Eastern, front gates open at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and cars hit the track at 6pm. Grandstand tickets are $30 for ages 13 and up. Free for kids 12 and under. Pit passes are $40 for ages 13 and up. $10 for kids 12 and under.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-405, 2-Brady Bacon-402, 3-Kyle Cummins-386, 4-Jake Swanson-378, 5-Chase Stockon-372, 6-Justin Grant-357, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-356, 8-Mitchel Moles-347, 9-Trey Osborne-324, 10-Briggs Danner-315.
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USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT RED HILL RACEWAY
1-Derek Davidson, Billy Puterbaugh Jr. & Logan Seavey
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT RED HILL RACEWAY
1996: Billy Puterbaugh Jr. (8/10)
1998: Derek Davidson (10/3)
2025: Logan Seavey (6/13)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT RED HILL RACEWAY
1 Lap – 6/13/2025 – Hayden Reinbold – 15.009
8 Laps – 6/13/2025 – Robert Ballou – 2:05.197
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PARAGON SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS:
3-Steve Butler
2-Jack Hewitt & Jon Stanbrough
1-Chuck Amati, Kevin Briscoe, Derek Davidson, Brad Doty, Joe Gaerte, Rick Hood, Kelly Kinser, Sheldon Kinser, Mitchel Moles, Bill Rose, Ken Schrader, Kevin Thomas, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Rich Vogler
PARAGON SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS:
1981: Rick Hood (9/9)
1982: Chuck Amati (5/15) & Rich Vogler (7/28)
1983: Ken Schrader (4/17), Jack Hewitt (7/27) & Kelly Kinser (9/15)
1984: Steve Butler (7/19) & Steve Butler (8/15)
1985: Sheldon Kinser (7/3)
1987: Steve Butler (8/29)
1988: Brad Doty (5/7) & Joe Gaerte (9/9)
1994: Kevin Thomas (6/4)
1995: Jack Hewitt (7/8)
1996: Jon Stanbrough (7/6) & Jon Stanbrough (7/27)
1997: Kevin Briscoe (7/5) & Bill Rose (7/26)
1998: Derek Davidson (7/25)
2021: Kevin Thomas Jr. (8/22)
2025: Mitchel Moles (9/26)
CHUCK AMATI CLASSIC WINS
2-Ricky Lewis, Brady Short, Jake Swanson & Chris Windom
1-Robert Ballou, Chad Boespflug, Shane Cottle, Josh Cunningham, Jordan Kinser, Jon Stanbrough & Cody Trammell
CHUCK AMATI CLASSIC WINNERS
2010: Chris Windom
2011: Brady Short
2012: Josh Cunningham
2013: Chris Windom
2014: Jon Stanbrough
2015: Chad Boespflug
2016: Brady Short
2017: Shane Cottle
2018: Robert Ballou
2019: Jordan Kinser
2020: Not Held
2021: Jake Swanson
2022: Jake Swanson
2023: Cody Trammell
2024: Ricky Lewis
2025: Ricky Lewis
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT PARAGON SPEEDWAY
1 Lap – 9/26/2025 – Carson Garrett – 14.309
6 Laps – 8/15/1984 – Leon Thickstun – 1:36.130
8 Laps – 9/26/2025 – Kevin Thomas Jr. – 1:57.475
10 Laps – 7/27/1983 – Bill Tyler – 2:44.670
12 Laps – 7/6/1996 – Kevin Thomas – 3:30.760
30 Laps – 8/22/2021 – Kevin Thomas Jr. – 8:28.95