From Roby Helm
PHENIX CITY, AL – June 27, 2026 – Teenage USCS Rookie of the Year contender, Hayden Wise of Huntersville, NC took the lead on lap 16 of the 29th Annual Alabaama Sprint Car Nationals and went on to win the 25-lap Feature Race on Saturday night for the Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour at East Alabama Motor Speedway. USCS finally beat Mother Nature as nine of their last 11 races were rained out.
Wise became only the second female sprint car drivers to win a United Sprint Car Series event at the legenday Alabama oval. She also became one of a list of USCS contenders to win a careercfirst event a East Alabama Motor Speedway.
After taking the lead from polesitter Kyle Amerson of Montogomery, AL, Wise pulled away in the last nine laps of the race to claim the victory. Amerson finished second and third went to Wesley Shepard of Coldwater, MS.
Lee Moore of Moundville, AL was fourth and 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN took the fifth spot. National point leader, Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS started tenth and finished sixth to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
Brian Thomas of Pendergrass, GA was seventh and eighth went to Rookiecof the Year contender Trent Moss of Medon, TN. Luke Hill of Odessa, FL took the ninth spot and Jacob Perry of Kannapolis, NC rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Amerson won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the 25-lap Feature Race. The two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Wise in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, and Moore in the XC Gear Second Heat.
Amerson took the lead from the pole position at the start of the race, while Wise charged up from the fourth starting spot on the opening lap to move up to second. Thomas, Shepard and Moore followed in third through fifth respectively. Shepard passed Thomas for the third spot on lap three. The only caution flag of the race came out on lap six when Matt Kurtz of Jacksonville Beach FL stalled on the backstretch.
When the field went back to green flag action, it was Amerson, Wise, Shepard, Thomas and Moore in the top five. On the ninth lap, Moore and Gray passed Thomas to take over the fourth and fifth spots respectively, dropping Thomas back to sixth. After Wise took the lead from Amerson on lap 16, she pulled away and took a 4.321 second margin of victory under the checkered flag. The 25 laps were completed in nine minutes.
The next three races for the Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour over the July 4th Holiday Weekend will be on Thursday night, July 2 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS, and on Friday night, July 3 and Saturday night, July 4 at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are XC Gear, Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, AR Dyno Specialties, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE HOOSIER RACING TIRE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY XC GEAR 30TH ANNIVERSARY OUTLAW THUNDER TOUR EVENT AT EAST ALABAMA MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN PHENIX CITY, AL ON 6/27/26:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. 94 Hayden Wise, Huntersville, NC (4); 2. 29 Kyle Amerson, Montgomery, AL (1); 3. 5 Wesley Shepard, Coldwater, MS (3); 4. 1a Lee Moore, Moundville, AL (6); 5. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (7); 6. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (10); 7. 67 Brian Thomas, Pendergrass, GA (2); 8. 88 Trent Moss, Medon, TN (8); 9. 41 Luke Hill, Odessa, FL (9); 10. 52x Jacob Perry, Kannapolis, NC (13); 11. 33 Joe Larkin, Suwanee, GA (11); 12. 18 Paul Jones, Kokomo, MS (12); 13. 20 Matt Kurtz, Jacksonville Beach, FL (5); 14. G6 Brandon Grubaugh, Ocala, FL DNS.
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Amerson; 2. Thomas; 3. Shepard; 4. Wise; 5. Kurtz; 6. Moore.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Wise; 2. Thomas; 3. Shepard; 4. Moss; 5. Perry; 6. Larkin; 7. Grubaugh.
XC GEAR HEAT 2: 1. Moore; 2. Amerson; 3. Kurtz; 4. Gray; 5. Hill; 6. Willingham; 7. Jones.