By Zach Hiser
Merrill, MI – Another Michigan doubleheader weekend is on tap for the Great Lakes Super Sprints Presented by PERFIT & ARP with stops at I-96 Speedway and Silver Bullet Speedway. The action begins Friday, August 7th and rolls into Saturday, August 8th with just a handful of races remaining on the 2026 calendar before a champion is crowned.
Friday night, I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan resurrects the Duel on Dirt. Launched in 2017 as a combination effort between the now-defunct Sprints on Dirt and American Ethanol Late Model Tour, the event put two of the state’s premier divisions on display in the same night. Now, in 2026, the event returns with the Great Lakes Super Sprints as the co-headliner alongside the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series.
In their most recent visit, Plymouth, Indiana’s, Zane DeVault returned to GLSS Victory Lane for the third time this season. At the time, DeVault remained the only driver to grab multiple wins this season. Chase Ridenour joined him on that list the following night at Tri City Motor Speedway with a pass coming to the white flag on Scotty Thiel. DeVault’s win came from the 8th starting spot in a race that featured he and Darin Naida exchanging the lead several times in the closing laps. Seventh starting, Max Stambaugh rounded out the podium, but it was Chase Ridenour who earned the Operating Engineers 324 Hard Charger award, climbing 10 spots from 17th to 7th.
Back in May, Dustin Dagget snapped a nearly two-year winless streak with GLSS and at I-96 Speedway, rolling from the outside of the front row and to the win. Daggett held off Scott Bogucki and Stambaugh for the win.
Saturday night, Silver Bullet Speedway welcomes the GLSS for the one and only stop this season. The ¼-mile bullring in Northeast Michigan offers drivers a unique challenge with tight confines and an unusual surface. In recent years, Stambaugh has found Silver Bullet to be his personal playground, winning in back-to-back visits. The 2023 edition of the GLSS at Silver Bullet may have been the best, with Greg Wilson and Creed Kemenah exchanging the lead, making contact, and battling for the win, all while slicing through lapped traffic. A caution with less than five laps to go gave Wilson the chance to run away with the win, with Dan McCarron moving into the runner-up spot.
Heading into the weekend, just eight races remain on the points-paying calendar for GLSS. For the overall Tour Championship, Max Stambaugh just retook the lead from Chase Dunham after the July 25th race at Crystal Motor Speedway, and holds the lead by just three points heading into the weekend. For Dunham, the 14th place performance is just the fourth time this season he’s finished outside the top 10, and it matches two other performances, which were his worst of the year, finishing 14th at Limaland Motorsports Park on May 15th, and Tri City Motor Speedway on June 12th. Otherwise, in 13 starts, Dunham has nine top 10s and five top five finishes so far this season. Dunham has also won the Ti22 Performance Fast Qualifier Award five times this season, adding crucial points to his bid for a title.
For Stambaugh, the four-time and defending GLSS Champion has had an unusual season as well, being held out of victory lane, but only missing the top 10 two times this year. Stambaugh’s worst finish came at Ohsweken Speedway back on June 26th, where he finished 16th. On May 15th at Limaland Motorsports Park, Stambaugh finished 11th, just falling outside the top 10.
Stambaugh and Dunham aren’t just battling for the Tour Championship; the MacAllister CAT (North) Division is highly contested as well. Stambaugh holds just a six-point advantage over 2018 Tour Champion and 2024 Ohio CAT (South) Division Champion, Dustin Daggett. Chase Ridenour now sits just 38 points back with Dunham 51 points out and Phil Gressman 99 points back.
The battle to crown a champion continues with a pair of races this weekend, stops at Hartford Motor Speedway (August 14th) and Butler Motor Speedway (August 15th), an off weekend, then trips to Mansfield Speedway (August 28th) and Millstream Speedway (August 29th) to decide a South Champion, and finally Championship Weekend at Winston Speedway (September 5th) and Crystal Motor Speedway (September 6th) during Labor Day Weekend.
Racing on Friday night at I-96 Speedway for the Duel on Dirt is set to begin at 8:00 PM. General admission gates open at 5:00 PM with the first on-track action slated for 6:30 PM. Saturday at Silver Bullet Speedway, general admission gates open at 5:30 PM with racing set to begin at 7:00 PM.
For more information on the Great Lakes Super Sprints Presented by PERFIT & ARP, visit GreatLakesSuperSprints.com. Follow the Great Lakes Super Sprints on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube.