By Matt Skipper
BATESVILLE, AR (July 7, 2026) — The home state of the American Sprint Car Series returns to stir the championship hunt with a two-day swing in the heart of Summer.
The ASCS National Tour visit to Arkansas will begin at Batesville Motor Speedway on Friday, July 10, to make up for a postponement from the previous month. After the battle at the 3/8-mile dirt oval, the Series heads to the state line on Saturday as Texarkana 67 Speedway hosts the Ralph Henson Memorial on July 11.
Tickets for Batesville will be available at the track on Friday, while you can purchase tickets for Texarkana online. Hot Laps at Batesville will begin at 7:30 p.m CT, and Texarkana will start at 7 p.m on Saturday.
BATESVILLE INFO
TEXARKANA TICKETS
WATCH ON DIRTVISION
Here are the top storylines to look for:
Razorback Heritage – The American Sprint Car Series owes much of its history to “The Natural State” by helping Emmett Hahn’s vision come to life at Little Rock, AR’s I-30 Speedway on May 15, 1993.
In the 35th season of ASCS racing, Arkansas will see the National Tour visit twice in 2026 with the Batesville and Texarkana doubleheader, then Riverside International Speedway is slated for racing with King of the Ditch II on August 22.
On Saturday, Texarkana will honor the life of Ralph Henson, a Little Rock native who raced motorcycles and Sprint Cars around the state until his passing in 2007. Originally held on the same weekend as the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway beginning in 2008, the event was moved to Texarkana after I-30 closed in 2022 and has remained an ASCS staple event.
Sweeping Belleville – Sam Hafertepe Jr. silenced the questions about when his first American Sprint Car Series Feature win was going to arrive in 2026 with a dominating weekend in The Big One at Belleville High Banks.
The Sunnyvale, TX native had a perfect run on both Friday and Saturday by leading a combined 40 laps between the night’s Features to leave the month of June with a $14,000 deposit and an even score of 90 in career Series wins.
The pilot of the Hill’s Racing Team No. 15H extended the points lead to 52 over Matt Covington as he seeks a first win at Batesville with previous National Tour finishes of second and fifth. At Texarkana, he’s gunning for a third-straight National Tour win with victories the past two years.
Knocking Podiums – Matt Covington is looking for his second win of the season since he last parked in Victory Lane at Central Arizona Raceway.
That hasn’t stopped him from placing the Triple X Chassis No. 95 on the podium, finishing within the top three in four of the past five Features.
While the deficit to Hafertepe has widened, the Glenpool, OK driver looks to the Arkansas weekend as a chance to swing momentum in his direction. He’s never finished outside of the top-10 at Batesville with a career-high of third in 2024. Covington won at Texarkana in 2012 with the former ASCS Lone Star Region and has finished on the podium at the track in the last two National Tour visits.
Making Moves – The halfway mark of the 2026 American Sprint Car Series approaches as the full-time competitors seek to improve their place inside the championship’s top-10.
While Whit Gastineau finished seventh on Friday and a runner-up on Saturday at Belleville, Kyler Johnson’s finishes of 12th and ninth, respectively, moved the Moore, OK native ahead by 39 points for fourth place.
Between sixth and ninth place in the rundown stands a 26-point difference that includes Ryder LaPlante, Brogan Carder, Austyn Gossel, and Terry Easum. Easum has the best finish at Batesville of the four drivers with a sixth-place run from 2025, while Gossel has the highest result at Texarkana with an eighth in 2024.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
WHEN AND WHERE
Friday, July 10, at Batesville Motor Speedway in Batesville, AR
Saturday, July 11, at Texarkana 67 Speedway in Texarkana, AR
AROUND THE CORNER
Saturday, July 25, at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, KS
CURRENT TOP-10 STANDINGS
Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1457pts)
Matt Covington (-52)
Seth Bergman (-68)
Whit Gastineau (-205)
Kyler Johnson (-244)
Ryder LaPlante (-364)
Brogan Carder (-370)
Austyn Gossel (-386)
Terry Easum (-390)
Cole Schroeder (-419)