By T.J. Buffenbarger
(July 21, 2026) — The sprint car racing event lineup for this coming weekend in the state of Michigan has something for everyone. From larger paying races on the dirt and the pavement, two nights of racing with minimal travel, and a great event that celebrates one of the most historically significant races tracks in the state are taking place Friday and Saturday.
Race for the Million Doubles Up at Berlin…
Berlin Raceway is known for hosting some of the biggest short track races in the state of Michigan for generations, but on Saturday night the 7/16 oval in Marne, Michigan will pay out the biggest purse for a winged sprint car race on pavement and the largest for any kind of sprint car race in the State of Michigan when the Race for the Million Series comes to town this weekend.
Saturday’s double feature program will pay $25,000 to win for each main event and should the winner of the first feature win the second feature from the back of the field they will receive a $50,000 bonus. Drivers that start both main events will earn a minimum of $5,000 with a total purse of over $221,000 being put up by car owner Richard Fieler, who created the Race for the Million Series as a thank you for his enjoyment of sprint car racing over his lifetime.
Kody Swanson, who won the most recent Race for the Million event that took place on June 3rd at Owosso Speedway, is the favorite going into the double feature program on Saturday and a likely contender to win both feature events. Swanson has been dominant in Dick Myers #50m owned entry that has been coined “Seabiscuit” due to the age and means of obtaining the Rob Hoffman build car that was quite the bargain when Myers purchased it.
While Swanson has been dominant elsewhere with Myers, Saturday Berlin will be the biggest challenge the 50M team has faced in the state of Michigan where several other drivers and teams have held the spotlight recently.
Franklin, Massachusetts’ Bobby Santos III and Dorchester, Ontario’s Ryan Litt have won the last six features that were contested for winged sprint cars at Berlin.
During the most recent winged sprint car race held at Berlin just three days after the Race for the Million Series ran at Owosso, Santos III was able to best Swanson for the victory with the Must See Racing Series.
Berlin is one of Litt’s best tracks and has the results above to back that up with three victories in those last six starts and wins going back to 2018 at Berlin.
Litt will face the challenge of not being the fastest Canadian team on the grounds as drivers such as the formidable Aaron Williason from Langley, British Columbia, who won the season opening race at Five Flags Speedway with the Race for the Million Series and a victory last Saturday at Agassiz Speedway, Geoff Wade from Union Bay BC, and a host of other drivers from the Northwest side of Canada and the United States and slated to attend.
Other noteworthy drivers slated to attend Berlin are two-time Little 500 winner Jake Trainor, Davey Hamilton Jr, Jimmy McCune, Chase Cabre, and large number of other pavement sprint car drives from throughout the country.
Add in the Christmas in July theme for the night and the band “Sushi Roll”, playing in the bar area after the races, and Saturday should be an event for the ages at Berlin.
GLSS Contests Classic Pairing of I-96 and Crystal This Weekend…
Sprint Car Racing at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan and Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Michigan goes back almost 50 years with series like Tri-Sac, Sprints on Dirt, and now the Great Lakes Super Sprints.
This weekend GLSS brings the traditional weekend pairing back for a mid-July double-dip with a $5,000 to win show on Friday at I-96 before heading up the road 39.5 miles to Crystal on Saturday. With Ohsweken Speedway dark on Friday due to hosting the World of Outlaws on Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s possible that we could see some Canadian teams venture over the border to take on GLSS on their turf this weekend.
Max Stambaugh finds himself in the unusual position of being in pursuit of the GLSS Tour points lead as Chase Dunham currently holds that position by 28 points over Stambaugh. Since the GLSS event on June 6th at Lawrenceburg Speedway Dunham has only finished out of the top five one time over seven races, which was a 6th place finish in the series last event on July 10th at Circle City Raceway.
On the Michigan portion of the tour points Dustin Daggett holds a 29-point lead over Stambaugh for that championship with Dunham holding down the third position. Currently Daggett, Stambaugh, Dunham, and Chase Ridenour are in contention for the Michigan portion of the GLSS title.
Butler Motor Speedway Celebrates its Long History on Saturday Night…
In what I consider the most enjoyable night of weekly racing in the state of Michigan each season, Butler Motor Speedway leans into its long history with it’s annual “Legends of the Past” night that features vintage race cars, a large collection of old photographs and memorabilia, and plenty of drivers from yesteryear roaming around the grounds.
Other Notes…
• Michigan had representation on Anthony Macri’s Kings Royal winning sprint car team on Saturday night with Matthew Fisbie. Matthew, son of former sprint car driver Bill Frisbie, has crewed on multiple teams regionally and nationally and recently took up a position this year with Macri Motorsports.
• Darin Naida had a rough weekend at the Kings Royal missing all four features splitting time in the Marc Dailey owned entry on Wednesday and Thursday before fighting mechanical issues on Friday and Saturday with Ed Neumeister’s #11N car, which forced Naida back into Dailey’s car to finish out Friday’s program.
Naida will team up with Super DIRTCar Series and NASCAR Truck standout Stewart Freisen and former NASCAR Cup Series and USAC Star Ryan Newman driving for Glenn Styres on Tuesday and Wednesday night at Ohsweken Speedway with the World of Outlaws.
• Brad Lamberson put in three nights of racing for Bill Rose Racing driving at Attica Raceway Park and Eldora Speedway on Kings Royal weekend. Lamberson scored 15th and 22nd place finishes in the B-Mains on Friday and Saturday respectively at Eldora while unfortunately getting tangled up in an incident during his heat race that gave him some unwanted extra camera time on DIRTvision. Lamberson is slated to remain in the driver’s seat of the Bill Rose Racing entry at least through the two-day program at Weedsport Speedway.
• Jason Blonde will be piloting the Teddy Alberts #44 DRC Chassis on Saturday at Berlin Raceway. Blonde drove Alberts car earlier this year at Berlin during a Must See Racing event.