May 9, 2026 – T.J. Smith of Greenville earned the win in the 25-lap Akright Auto 360 Sprint Car main event.
The opening three laps of the 360 Sprint Car A main yielded three different leaders after mishaps ended the runs of both front row starters. Carter Chevalier of Andover, Minn., took the early lead before coming to rest against the turn four wall on the opening lap to draw the first of two caution flags.
After inheriting the lead on the ensuing restart, second starter Hayden Johnson of Campbellsport lost power on the backstretch at the conclusion of lap 2 to bring out the second and final caution flag of the race.
T.J. Smith, who started fourth, assumed the lead on the final restart of the race on lap 3 and built up a solid cushion over the rest of the field. On lap 10, Smith caught slower traffic, which allowed 2008 PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Lance Fassbender of Burnett, who started fifth, to close in on the lead.
Fassbender pulled up right behind Smith on lap 13 and appeared poised to make a move. However, Smith managed to successfully slice through lapped traffic to distance himself from Fassbender’s advances.
Smith went on to collect his third career PDTR 360 Sprint Car A-main victory. Fassbender finished second, defending PDTR 360 Sprint Car champion Kevin Karnitz of West Bend placed third from the sixth starting spot, two-time PDTR 360 Sprint Car champ Ben Schmidt of Plymouth rode up from the 11th starting position to finish fourth, and eighth starter Brandon Berth of Cascade took fifth.
Akright Auto 360 Sprint Cars
A Main (25 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith [4]; 2. 7-Lance Fassbender [5]; 3. 63K-Kevin Karnitz [6]; 4. 35-Ben Schmidt [11]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth [8]; 6. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski [3]; 7. 69-Shane Wenninger [7]; 8. 3BK-Billy Kreutz [9]; 9. 3-Justin Erickson [16]; 10. 14J-Joseph Hintz [12]; 11. 68T-Tyler Davis [18]; 12. 57-Tristan Furseth [13]; 13. 46-Steven Ruh [14]; 14. 67-Josh Walter [15]; 15. 11-Tony Wondra [20]; 16. 2-Chris Clayton [10]; 17. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach [17]; 18. 59-Ethon Stear [19]; 19. 20R-Weston Finke [21]; 20. 30-Nathan Skelton [22]; 21. 5C-Carter Chevalier [1]; 22. 44H-Hayden Johnson [2]
B Main (12 Laps): 1. 67-Josh Walter[4]; 2. 3-Justin Erickson[10]; 3. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[2]; 4. 68T-Tyler Davis[5]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear[1]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra[6]; 7. 51-Chris Larson[7]; 8. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[11]; 9. 5-Chad Stouthamer[3]; 10. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[12]; 11. 68P-Frank Perko[8]; 12. 19-Ion Stear[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Lance Fassbender[2]; 2. 5C-Carter Chevalier[3]; 3. 46-Steven Ruh[1]; 4. 57-Tristan Furseth[4]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer[5]; 6. 68T-Tyler Davis[6]; 7. 51C-Brok Clifcorn[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 69S-TJ Smith[2]; 2. 44H-Hayden Johnson[4]; 3. 35-Ben Schmidt[3]; 4. 67-Josh Walter[1]; 5. 59-Ethon Stear[6]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra[5]; 7. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski[2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger[3]; 3. 3BK-Billy Kreutz[4]; 4. 14J-Joseph Hintz[5]; 5. 30-Nathan Skelton[7]; 6. (DNF) 3-Justin Erickson[1]; 7. (DNF) 51-Chris Larson[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz[4]; 2. 2-Chris Clayton[1]; 3. 22B-Brandon Berth[5]; 4. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach[3]; 5. 20R-Weston Finke[7]; 6. (DNF) 19-Ion Stear[2]; 7. (DNF) 68P-Frank Perko[6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 57-Tristan Furseth, 12.997[2]; 2. 5C-Carter Chevalier, 13.263[1]; 3. 7-Lance Fassbender, 13.308[5]; 4. 46-Steven Ruh, 13.530[4]; 5. 5-Chad Stouthamer, 13.580[3]; 6. 51C-Brok Clifcorn, 13.714[7]; 7. 68T-Tyler Davis, 13.738[6]
Qualifying 2: 1. 35-Ben Schmidt, 13.108[6]; 2. 69S-TJ Smith, 13.442[1]; 3. 37Z-Jake Zimmerman, 13.638[7]; 4. 67-Josh Walter, 13.657[5]; 5. 44H-Hayden Johnson, 14.028[3]; 6. 11-Tony Wondra, 14.280[4]; 7. 59-Ethon Stear, 14.301[2]
Qualifying 3: 1. 3BK-Billy Kreutz, 13.170[2]; 2. 69-Shane Wenninger, 13.428[4]; 3. 14AJ-Ryan Zielski, 13.695[3]; 4. 3-Justin Erickson, 13.709[6]; 5. 14J-Joseph Hintz, 13.720[1]; 6. 51-Chris Larson, 14.068[5]; 7. 30-Nathan Skelton, 15.409[7]
Qualifying 4: 1. 63K-Kevin Karnitz, 13.735[1]; 2. 08-Katelyn Krebsbach, 13.763[6]; 3. 19-Ion Stear, 14.012[2]; 4. 2-Chris Clayton, 14.090[5]; 5. 22B-Brandon Berth, 14.117[3]; 6. 68P-Frank Perko, 14.620[4]; 7. 20R-Weston Finke, 14.838[7]