By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (June 22, 2026)………One year after the ultimate racing heartbreak, Kyle Cummins came back to finish the job during the 19th edition of USAC Yokohama Tire Eastern Storm Presented by Levan Machine in 2026.
In 2025, Cummins lost the Eastern Storm championship based on a tiebreaker to Justin Grant, in a race and point battle that came down to the last ounce.
“That was a shot to the heart,” Cummins acknowledged. “I was fourth and we had a three-lap shootout. I tried to pass one of them on the top, but I couldn’t pass. Coming across the line knowing that he won the tiebreaker, that was not a good feeling.”
This time around, Cummins came into the sixth and final round of Eastern Storm at Action Track USA with a 20-point deficit behind Mitchel Moles with Brady Bacon second, 14 markers in front of Cummins. But after both Moles and Bacon were caught up in early race incidents, the door was ajar for Cummins to capitalize.
“I’ll tell you what, I didn’t think we really had a shot at it,” Cummins admitted. “We got one point on Saturday night in qualifying over Mitchel (Moles), and then a couple (points) over Brady (Bacon), which was big. We didn’t qualify great tonight, but we got enough to start up front, and then we won the heat race, which was huge, and that’s eight more points. That’s a big deal.”
Moles made a valiant effort back from the tail (22nd) to finish eighth on the final lap at Action Track USA, while Cummins made a late-race pass for second place on Jake Swanson that gave him an added cushion at the wheel of his Petty Performance Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – JUGO Superfoods/Mach-1/Stanton Chevy.
Last year, Cummins needed to gain one more solitary spot for the Eastern Storm title. This time, he got that spot. In the end, Cummins was only one on-track position and two points ahead of Moles.
“I saw Mitchel was stopped and I saw Brady was stopped, and was like, ‘man, I still got to win, but we’ll just see what I can do,” Cummins recalled. “Winning by two points, that was the one position I got when I got past Jake (Swanson).”
Finally, for the first time in his career, Princeton, Indiana’s Cummins is officially an Eastern Storm champion. No ties and no doubt about it.
“This is worth two feature wins tonight,” Cummins exclaimed. “Last year, after tying and not winning because of the tiebreaker, that was a long trip home. Tonight, I’m going to take a shower and I’m just going to truck her on home. I’m pretty excited.”
Cummins entered Eastern Storm as the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship point leader. After winning the opening night of the week at Grandview Speedway, Cummins had a couple races in a row where he drifted slightly backwards in the feature: fifth to sixth at Bridgeport Motorsports Park and fifth to seventh at Big Diamond Speedway. He went a bit forward from fifth to fourth at Williams Grove Speedway to remain in contention, but the results weren’t exactly up to the standards they’ve set over the past couple of seasons.
“We’ve been doing a bunch of random testing, just trying stuff,” Cummins revealed. “We were really good the first night and then we went downhill farther and farther off queue. I felt like I found what I had been searching for the last month. Tonight, the car was great all night. My guys put some fresh brakes on this thing, but I stalled it in qualifying. I thought that really kind of ruined us, but we’ve got really good brakes now.”
Besides the brakes, Cummins got the breaks he needed. His 2026 Eastern Storm championship paid him off with a $12,000 reward, part of a $24,000 point fund among the top five in the final standings. Moles finished as the runner-up ($6,000), with Justin Grant third ($3,000), Briggs Danner fourth ($2,000), and Brady Bacon fifth ($1,000).
Despite already possessing an Eastern Storm crown on his resume, Moles didn’t have a single Eastern Storm feature win to his name until this week. He was victorious twice, first at Big Diamond in wire-to-wire fashion after finishing second there in each of the past two seasons. He only had to wait 24 more hours to gain his second Eastern Storm victory, this time at Williams Grove with a late race pass of Justin Grant.
Briggs Danner tangled with Cummins while battling for the lead with a little over a lap to go in the Grandview opener. Danner spun to a stop in turns three and four, relegating him back to 16th in the finishing order and forcing him to play catchup in the Eastern Storm points race all week long. Danner mended his broken heart one night later at Bridgeport by scoring a dominant victory. He then capped off the weekend with a win at Action Track USA, located just 30 minutes from his Allentown, Pennsylvania home.
The Port Royal round was rained out before the heat races took to the track, but not before Cummins set a new one-lap USAC National Sprint Car track record. Cummins’ time of 17.985 seconds in LearnLab Qualifying erased the former record of 18.105 set by C.J. Leary in 2019. Overall, the top seven qualifiers surpassed the former record from seven years ago.
Danner led the most laps during Eastern Storm 2026 with 54. Three drivers shared the lead with the most top five results, that being Bacon, Danner, and Grant with four apiece. A trio of drivers finished all five of their starts inside the top 10, including Cummins, Grant, and Moles.
Danner kicked off the week with three-straight fast qualifying times, which proved to be the most of the Eastern Storm series. Meanwhile, Cale Coons, Charles Davis Jr., and Ricky Lewis each shared the lead for the most heat race wins with two each.
USAC East Coast Sprint Car point leader Christian Bruno was mightily impressive in his USAC National Sprint Car debut in the opener at Grandview, advancing 14 positions from his 19th starting position to finish fifth, which was the single biggest move in any feature event throughout the week.
For the entirety of the week, Robert Ballou advanced the most spots by passing a total of 26 cars between his heat race and feature performances. His passing prowess earned him the title of USAC’s Eastern Storm Parallax Group Passing Master champion for 2026.
Nineteen drivers started all five Eastern Storm feature events this year: Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Christian Bruno, Cale Coons, Kyle Cummins, Briggs Danner, Charles Davis Jr., Steven Drevicki, Justin Grant, Ronald Helmick, C.J. Leary, Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold, Dirk Rimrott, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon, Jake Swanson, Olivia Thayer, and Kevin Thomas Jr.
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2026 USAC EASTERN STORM STAT LEADERS
Driver Champion: Kyle Cummins
Entrant Champion: Petty Performance Racing #3p
Most Feature Wins: 2-Briggs Danner & Mitchel Moles
Laps Led: 54-Briggs Danner
Top-Fives: 4-Brady Bacon, Briggs Danner & Justin Grant
Top-Tens: 5-Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant & Mitchel Moles
Fast Qualifying Times: 3-Briggs Danner
Heat Race Wins: 2-Cale Coons, Charles Davis Jr. & Ricky Lewis
Feature Starts: 5-Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Christian Bruno, Cale Coons, Kyle Cummins, Briggs Danner, Charles Davis Jr., Steven Drevicki, Justin Grant, Ronald Helmick, C.J. Leary, Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold, Dirk Rimrott, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon, Jake Swanson, Olivia Thayer & Kevin Thomas Jr.
Most Positions Gained in a Feature: June 16: Grandview Speedway – Christian Bruno (19th to 5th)
USAC Eastern Storm Parallax Group Passing Master: Robert Ballou (26)
2026 USAC EASTERN STORM SCHEDULE & RESULTS
June 16: Grandview Speedway – Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania
WINNER: Kyle Cummins (Petty Performance Racing #3p)
June 17: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Swedesboro, New Jersey
WINNER: Briggs Danner (Hogue Racing Enterprises)
June 18: Big Diamond Speedway – Pottsville, Pennsylvania
WINNER: Mitchel Moles (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
June 19: Williams Grove Speedway – Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
WINNER: Mitchel Moles (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
June 20: Port Royal Speedway – Port Royal, Pennsylvania
WINNER: Rained Out
June 21: Action Track USA – Kutztown, Pennsylvania
WINNER: Briggs Danner (Hogue Racing Enterprises)
2026 USAC EASTERN STORM DRIVER POINT STANDINGS
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 366 Kyle Cummins, Princeton, Indiana
2 364 Mitchel Moles, Raisin City, California
3 355 Justin Grant, Ione, California
4 354 Briggs Danner, Allentown, Pennsylvania
5 333 Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
6 307 Jake Swanson, Anaheim, California
7 285 Robert Ballou, Rocklin, California
8 280 Chase Stockon, Fort Branch, Indiana
9 260 Cale Coons, Greencastle, Indiana
10 243 C.J. Leary, Greenfield, Indiana
11 242 Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, Alabama
12 239 Logan Seavey, Sutter, California
13 234 Hayden Reinbold, Gilbert, Arizona
14 233 Charles Davis Jr., Buckeye, Arizona
15 225 Steven Drevicki, Reading, Pennsylvania
16 219 Christian Bruno, Deptford, New Jersey
17 180 Ronald Helmick, Boyertown, Pennsylvania
18 150 Olivia Thayer, Hanover, Pennsylvania
19 148 Ricky Lewis, Oxnard, California
20 136 Dirk Rimrott, Spring City, Pennsylvania
21 77 Ed Aikin, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania
22 69 Brett Rose, Martinsburg, West Virginia
23 50 Joey Crilly, Bordentown, New Jersey
24 41 Jason Cherry, Blandon, Pennsylvania
25 38 Scott Frack, Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania
26 30 Joe Kata, Goshen, New York
27 29 James Turnbull II, Indio, California
28 26 Brenden Hires, Langhorne, Pennsylvania
29 10 Matthew Swift, Lebanon, Pennsylvania
30 10 Shane Braxton, West Grove, Pennsylvania
31 10 Troy Carey, Tullamore, New South Wales
32 10 Anton Hernandez, Arlington, Texas
33 10 Dale Schweikart, Linden, Pennsylvania
34 10 Steven Snyder Jr., Rising Sun, Maryland
FEATURE WINS
2-Briggs Danner (June 17 at Bridgeport Motorsports Park & June 21 at Action Track USA)
2-Mitchel Moles (June 18 at Big Diamond Speedway & June 19 at Williams Grove Speedway)
1-Kyle Cummins (June 16 at Grandview Speedway)
FEATURE LAPS LED
54-Briggs Danner
40-Kyle Cummins
39-Mitchel Moles
21-Justin Grant
8-Robert Ballou
6-Jake Swanson
2-Ricky Lewis
TOP 5 FEATURE FINISHES
4-Brady Bacon, Briggs Danner & Justin Grant
3-Kyle Cummins & Mitchel Moles
2-Chase Stockon & Jake Swanson
1-Christian Bruno, C.J. Leary & Kevin Thomas Jr.
TOP 10 FEATURE FINISHES
5-Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant & Mitchel Moles
4-Brady Bacon, Briggs Danner, Chase Stockon & Jake Swanson
3-Robert Ballou & Hayden Reinbold
2-Cale Coons, C.J. Leary, Ricky Lewis, Logan Seavey & Kevin Thomas Jr.
1-Christian Bruno, Charles Davis Jr. & Steven Drevicki
FAST QUALIFYING TIMES
3-Briggs Danner
1-Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant & Jake Swanson
FAST QUALIFIERS
June 16: Grandview Speedway – Briggs Danner (13.787)
June 17: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Briggs Danner (15.244)
June 18: Big Diamond Speedway – Briggs Danner (14.871)
June 19: Williams Grove Speedway – Jake Swanson (20.061)
June 20: Port Royal Speedway – Kyle Cummins (17.985)
June 21: Action Track USA – Justin Grant (10.565)
HEAT RACE WINS:
2-Cale Coons, Charles Davis Jr. & Ricky Lewis
1-Ed Aikin, Robert Ballou, Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant, Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon & Kevin Thomas Jr.
FEATURE STARTS
5-Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Christian Bruno, Cale Coons, Kyle Cummins, Briggs Danner, Charles Davis Jr., Steven Drevicki, Justin Grant, Ronald Helmick, C.J. Leary, Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold, Dirk Rimrott, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon, Jake Swanson, Olivia Thayer & Kevin Thomas Jr.
3-Ricky Lewis
2-Ed Aikin, Joey Crilly & Brett Rose
1-Jason Cherry, Scott Frack, Brenden Hires, Joe Kata & James Turnbull II
ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE
June 16: Grandview Speedway – Christian Bruno (19th to 5th)
June 17: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Chase Stockon (12th to 4th)
June 18: Big Diamond Speedway – Robert Ballou (15th to 6th)
June 19: Williams Grove Speedway – Robert Ballou (14th to 6th)
June 21: Action Track USA – Logan Seavey (14th to 6th)
DIRT DRAFT FASTEST HOT LAP DRIVER
June 16: Grandview Speedway – Jake Swanson (13.483)
June 17: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Kyle Cummins (15.203)
June 18: Big Diamond Speedway – Jake Swanson (15.166)
June 19: Williams Grove Speedway – Brady Bacon (20.634)
June 20: Port Royal Speedway – C.J. Leary (18.102)
June 21: Action Track USA – Mitchel Moles (10.609)
K & N FILTERS CLEAN AIR AWARD (MOST LAPS LED)
June 16: Grandview Speedway – Kyle Cummins (40 laps led)
June 17: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Briggs Danner (22 laps led)
June 18: Big Diamond Speedway – Mitchel Moles (30 laps led)
June 19: Williams Grove Speedway – Justin Grant (21 laps led)
June 21: Action Track USA – Briggs Danner (32 laps led)