PENSACOLA, Fla. (April 10, 2026) – Aaron Willison made history Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway, capturing the inaugural Race For The Million race presented by Sunbelt Rentals, against a stacked field of pavement sprint car talent. Traveling all the way from Langley, British Columbia, Willison proved he could handle the pressure and the Pensacola half-mile when it mattered most after starting sixth.
Willison narrowly avoided disaster with just six laps remaining, getting by lapped traffic as cars tangled ahead of him. He gained control on the final restart and maintained the lead until the checkered. Fellow British Columbian, Jeff Montgomery, made it a Canadian one-two finish, followed by Bobby Santos, one of the most accomplished pavement racers, who completed the podium in third after battling inside the top five all night.
“This is huge. A massive accomplishment. We’ve had kind of a long winter with lots of ups and downs. Me and my beautiful wife got married, we’ve had some friends struggling a bit back home, that we’re thinking about lots. Built this car from scratch all in the middle of it. This means the world to me.
For myself, I’ve never felt like I excelled at half-mile tracks. I didn’t grow up racing them, it’s something that’s very foreign to me. To be able to conquer that and get up over that hump and feel like we’re really good on half-miles, it feels great…This may be the biggest sprint car race that’s happened in the state of Florida, and I’m really proud to bring it home for [Car owner Ken Statham].” said Willison.
Jake Trainor from Medway, Massachusetts, was the recipient of the Eibach Spring Forward Award, advancing from 25th to 10th. Bobby Santos set Quick Time with a lap of 13.322.
The inaugural event drew nearly fifty pavement sprint cars from across North America and delivered a race worthy of its name. Willison’s victory not only secures his place in the history books, but also sets the tone for what Race For The Million is poised to become over the next three events.
“Having two British Columbians come all the way to Florida and finish one-two in the race, it just shows you how North American oriented [Race For The Million] is, it’s not just the United States. I thought the race was an above average race. The crowd was an above average crowd. It was a great start for us. We’ve got a little fine tuning to do, but for this being our first event I thought it went extraordinarily well,” said series owner and founder, Richard Fieler.
From the drop of the green to the checkered flag, the night showcased high stakes, high speed, and a breakthrough moment for a driver who traveled thousands of miles to stand in victory lane and earn his share of $1 million.
FEATURE RESULTS:
Sunbelt Rentals Feature (40 laps): 1. 36-Aaron Willison [6]; 2. 33J-Jeff Montgomery [1]; 3. 22A-Bobby Santos [4]; 4. 88SR-Jimmy McCune [3]; 5. 50M-Kody Swanson [2]; 6. 6G-Bryan Gossel [8]; 7. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr. [12]; 8. 5-Joe Ligouri [7]; 9. 41-Troy DeCaire [14]; 10. 29-Jake Trainor [25]; 11. 1-Dakoda Armstrong [15]; 12. 99-CJ Leary [13]; 13. 0-Michael Lewis [19]; 14. 44-Teddy Alberts [18] 15. 24N-Kevin Newton [20]; 16. OH6-Adam Hilton [21]; 17. 88C-Chase Locke [23]; 18. 26C-Chase Cabre [11]; 19. 57-Evan Margeson [16]; 20. 07-Ryan Litt [10]; 21. 15-Eric Humphries [9]; 22. 9-Dodge Carlbert [17]; 23. 4-Donnie Adams Jr. [24]; 24. 86-J.J. Dutton [22]; DNS: 61-Colton Bettis.
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 44B-Jason Blonde[1]; 2. 0-Michael Lewis[3]; 3. 24N-Kevin Newton[2]; 4. OH6-Adam Hilton[6]; 5. 86-JJ Dutton[8]; 6. 88C-Chase Locke[11]; 7. 4-Donnie Adams Jr[7]; 8. 55-Tommy Nichols[13]; 9. 94W-Geoff Wade[4]; 10. 1W-Natalie Waters[10]; 11. 68-Mike Anderson[14]; 12. 81-Marty Rosler[12]; 13. 77LS-Greg Schaefer[17]; 14. (DNS) 11-Kyle Edwards; 15. (DNS) 24R-Dylan Reynolds; 16. (DNS) 121-William Bliss; 17. (DNS) 53-Justin Harper; 18. (DNS) 29-Jake Trainor
Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 33J-Jeff Montgomery[1]; 2. 50M-Kody Swanson[3]; 3. 88SR-Jimmy McCune[5]; 4. 22A-Bobby Santos[7]; 5. 61-Colton Bettis[10]; 6. 36-Aaron Willison[9]; 7. 5-Joe Ligouri[2]; 8. 6G-Bryan Gossel[8]; 9. (DNS) 15-Eric Humphries; 10. (DNS) 91-Bryan Warf
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33J-Jeff Montgomery[2]; 2. 22A-Bobby Santos[1]; 3. 07-Ryan Litt[3]; 4. 1-Dakoda Armstrong[4]; 5. 0-Michael Lewis[5]; 6. 86-JJ Dutton[6]; 7. 55-Tommy Nichols[7]; 8. 77LS-Greg Schaefer[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88SR-Jimmy McCune[2]; 2. 61-Colton Bettis[3]; 3. 26C-Chase Cabre[1]; 4. 57-Evan Margeson[4]; 5. 94W-Geoff Wade[5]; 6. 24R-Dylan Reynolds[6]; 7. 68-Mike Anderson[7]; 8. (DNS) 55B-Mike Ling
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Eric Humphries[2]; 2. 91-Bryan Warf[4]; 3. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr[3]; 4. 44B-Jason Blonde[5]; 5. 11-Kyle Edwards[6]; 6. 1W-Natalie Waters[7]; 7. 121-William Bliss[8]; 8. (DQ) 29-Jake Trainor[1]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 50M-Kody Swanson[1]; 2. 36-Aaron Willison[2]; 3. 99-CJ Leary[3]; 4. 9-Dodge Carlbert[4]; 5. OH6-Adam Hilton[6]; 6. 88C-Chase Locke[5]; 7. 53-Justin Harper[7]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Joe Ligouri[1]; 2. 6G-Bryan Gossel[2]; 3. 41-Troy DeCaire[3]; 4. 24N-Kevin Newton[6]; 5. 4-Donnie Adams Jr[5]; 6. 81-Marty Rosler[7]; 7. (DNS) 88JR-Anthony McCune
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 22A-Bobby Santos, 13.322[26]; 2. 26C-Chase Cabre, 13.358[39]; 3. 29-Jake Trainor, 13.391[37]; 4. 50M-Kody Swanson, 13.589[36]; 5. 5-Joe Ligouri, 13.602[38]; 6. 33J-Jeff Montgomery, 13.616[28]; 7. 88SR-Jimmy McCune, 13.630[31]; 8. 15-Eric Humphries, 13.639[34]; 9. 36-Aaron Willison, 13.740[4]; 10. 6G-Bryan Gossel, 13.747[35]; 11. 07-Ryan Litt, 13.767[32]; 12. 61-Colton Bettis, 13.810[20]; 13. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr, 13.889[29]; 14. 99-CJ Leary, 13.934[33]; 15. 41-Troy DeCaire, 13.954[30]; 16. 1-Dakoda Armstrong, 13.981[23]; 17. 57-Evan Margeson, 14.010[16]; 18. 91-Bryan Warf, 14.021[25]; 19. 9-Dodge Carlbert, 14.032[21]; 20. 88JR-Anthony McCune, 14.059[27]; 21. 0-Michael Lewis, 14.106[22]; 22. 94W-Geoff Wade, 14.125[1]; 23. 44B-Jason Blonde, 14.140[9]; 24. 88C-Chase Locke, 14.182[24]; 25. 4-Donnie Adams Jr, 14.241[17]; 26. 86-JJ Dutton, 14.244[2]; 27. 24R-Dylan Reynolds, 14.395[19]; 28. 11-Kyle Edwards, 14.526[14]; 29. OH6-Adam Hilton, 14.617[18]; 30. 24N-Kevin Newton, 14.655[15]; 31. 55-Tommy Nichols, 14.879[13]; 32. 68-Mike Anderson, 14.921[10]; 33. 1W-Natalie Waters, 14.979[12]; 34. 53-Justin Harper, 15.382[8]; 35. 81-Marty Rosler, 15.457[6]; 36. 77LS-Greg Schaefer, 16.014[5]; 37. (DQ) 121-William Bliss, 16.141[3]; 38. (DNS) 55B-Mike Ling; 39. (DNS) 44-Teddy Alberts
About Race for the Million
The Race for the Million is a bold new chapter in 410-Winged Pavement Sprint Car racing, bringing fresh energy and excitement to pavement ovals across the nation. The brainchild of owner and founder Richard Fieler, the series hits legendary short tracks across the country delivering heart-pounding, wheel-to-wheel racing and a full-scale entertainment experience that redefines the traditional night at the races. The 2026 season features a four-race schedule with a total purse payout and point fund exceeding $1 million. FloSports, a leader in sports streaming and original content, will provide exclusive live coverage of each event. For more information regarding the Race for the Million, visit www.raceforthemillion.com. Fans can also follow Race for the Million on X at @race4themillion, Instagram at @race4themillion, Facebook at Race for the Million, and YouTube at Race for the Million.