By Ray Cunningham
Sumner, Illinois (May 9, 2026)……… Jadon Rogers passed Wesley Smith on the last lap to win Saturday night’s USAC Wholesale Batteries MRA Sprint Car Series / Midwest Thunder 410 Sprint Car Series non-points special event at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois.
Earlier in the evening, Rogers (Worthington, Indiana) also fired the first salvo by winning time trials with the only lap in the 14-second bracket.
Smith, the Nixa, Missouri chauffeur, grabbed the lead from Wyatt Burks on the first lap, and led every lap but one in the 25-lap main event. But a restart after a caution on the last lap for a spin set up Rogers pass of Smith for the win.
Meanwhile, Topeka, Kansas wheelman Burks battled all night long, running inside the top-five of the feature before making a mad dash to make the podium at the end with a third in the Land of Lincoln. Arizonans Logan Calderwood and Cameron La Rose rounded out the top-five.
Burks won the first heat and Smith captured the second heat. Both won in impressive fashion to lead the MRA stalwarts to front row feature starting spots.
USAC MRA regulars Dakota Earls of Independence, Missouri and Luke Howard of Overland Park, Kansas were also on hand. Unfortunately, neither fared as well as Smith or Burks. Howard finished just outside the top ten in 11th. Earls flipped at the mid-point of the feature, ending his night in 16th. He was not injured.
USAC MRA returns to action next Friday night, May 15, at Electric City Raceway in Butler, Missouri for the Butler Brawl.
USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 9, 2026 – Red Hill Raceway – Sumner, Illinois – Non-Points Special Event
FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-14.930; 2. J.J. Hughes, 76, Hughes-15.204; 3. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-15.676; 4. Logan Calderwood, 6, Calderwood-15.709; 5. Luke Howard, 2, Lewis-16.119; 6. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-16.208; 7. Glen Saville, 75, Grasmere-16.868; 8. Collin Jackson, 64c, Jackson-17.668.
SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Cameron La Rose, 13p, Petty-15.101; 2. David Gasper, 77s, Sturgeon-15.208; 3. Wesley Smith, 44, Smith-15.438; 4. Adyn Schmidt, 12s, Schmidt-15.953; 5. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-16.059; 6. Collin Ambrose, 36, Ambrose-16.215; 7. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-16.358; 8. Austin Hawkins, 5A, Hawkins-16.473; 9. Eric Perrott, 10x, Perrott-19.552.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wyatt Burks (2), 2. Jadon Rogers (4), 3. Logan Calderwood (1), 4. J.J. Hughes (3), 5. Chet Williams (6), 6. Luke Howard (5), 7. Glen Saville (7), 8. Collin Jackson (8). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (2), 2. Cameron La Rose (4), 3. Adyn Schmidt (1), 4. David Gasper (3), 5. Aric Gentry (7), 6. Dakota Earls (5), 7. Collin Ambrose (6), 8. Austin Hawkins (8), 9. Eric Perrott (9). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jadon Rogers (3), 2. Wesley Smith (2), 3. Wyatt Burks (1), 4. Logan Calderwood (5), 5. Cameron La Rose (4), 6. Adyn Schmidt (6), 7. David Gasper (8), 8. J.J. Hughes (7), 9. Chet Williams (9), 10. Aric Gentry (10), 11. Luke Howard (11), 12. Glen Saville (13), 13. Austin Hawkins (16), 14. Collin Ambrose (14), 15. Collin Jackson (15), 16. Dakota Earls (12), 17. Eric Perrott (17). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-24 Wesley Smith, Lap 25 Jadon Rogers.
NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE: May 15, 2026 – Electric City Speedway – Butler, Missouri