By Richie Murray
Indianapolis, Indiana (September 17, 2026)………The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship heads back to the circle city this Friday night, September 18, for the Ashlea Albertson Memorial.
The 1/4-mile dirt oval of Circle City Raceway on the southeast side of Indianapolis, Indiana will host an all open wheel tripleheader night of racing in memory of Albertson, a TQ Midget racer whose life was tragically cut short in 2023.
The third and final USAC National Sprint Car event of the season at Circle City kicks off the final Friday night of summer. Here are some of the storylines to watch for!
DANNER’S BANNER
Briggs Danner was the winner of the first Circle City USAC National Sprint Car race earlier this past May and was also a podium finisher at Circle City during last year’s Ashlea Albertson Memorial.
After what has been a particularly tough stretch without a top five since the Indiana Sprint Week opener in July, Danner’s aiming for some good Circle City mojo once again this Friday.
LEARY’S SIDE OF TOWN
C.J. Leary got back into the top five last weekend for the first time with the USAC National Sprint Cars in nearly two months after taking fifth at Lernerville.
Now back in his own No. 30 moving forward, Leary has had some magic in his USAC National Sprint Car career at Circle City, winning two barnburners in 2022 and 2025. The July 2025 win is his most recent USAC National Sprint Car triumph to date.
SEAVEY & CUMMINS CONNECTION
Logan Seavey and Kyle Cummins are tied as the winningest drivers in USAC National Sprint Car history at Circle City with three apiece. And to add to that, those same two finished one-two last Friday at Lernerville in the closest finish of the series season.
For Seavey, the win was a welcome sight as he grabbed his first USAC National Sprint Car win in seven months. As for Cummins, he’s been rolling with 38 consecutive top 10 finishes during the 39-race season to this point, with a series-leading 10 wins that has him sitting comfortably at the top of the series point standings.
Seavey has finished as the runner-up in each of his past two series starts at Circle City while Cummins has taken 3rd and 8th. They are also the past two USAC National Sprint Car driving champions: Cummins (2025) and Seavey (2024).
CIRCLE CITY ON GRANT’S SIDE
Justin Grant enters as the defending winner of the Ashlea Albertson Memorial, leading the final 15 laps in a race that featured five lead changes.
Last year’s race has seemingly served as a turning point of sorts for Grant at Circle City. Up to that point, Grant had accrued an average finish of 12.1 over his first 10 series starts at the track. This year, he’s notched a 10th and a 4th thus far at CCR.
MILLER FORTHCOMING
Simply put, Gavin Miller has been awesome across his first 14 career USAC National Sprint Car starts with an average finish of 8th and has been a contender for wins. He also has accumulated 11 top tens with a finish no worse than 12th in that span.
His Team AZ Racing/Curb-Agajanian team has won twice in USAC National Sprint Car competition at Circle City with two different drivers: Jake Swanson (2023) and C.J. Leary (2025). Now, Miller intends to be the third while also becoming a first-time USAC National Sprint Car main event winner himself.
REINBOLD’S STABLE
Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports won the very first USAC National Sprint Car race at Circle City on this date in 2021 with Tanner Thorson. This past June, the same team won the USAC Indiana Midget Week round at Circle City with Hayden Reinbold at the wheel.
Mitchel Moles also owns the one-lap USAC National Sprint Car track record of 11.819 seconds in a Reinbold-Underwood car at Circle City. Back in July, Moles and Reinbold ran 3rd and 5th, respectively, at Circle City during Indiana Sprint Week. Now, the plan is to put the team back into the CCR USAC Sprint Car win column for the first time in five years.
CIRCLE CITY SUCCESSES
Kevin Thomas Jr. and Jake Swanson have both snagged USAC National Sprint Car wins at Circle City with KTJ getting the job done in the fall of 2022 while Swanson did the deed in the spring of 2023.
They’ll face off with a hungry host of full-time USAC National Sprint Car drivers hunting for a first ever series win at Circle City, including the aforementioned Moles and Reinbold, along with Chase Stockon (4th in 2022 & 2025), Robert Ballou (3rd in 2023), and top Rookie Cale Coons (12th in May 2026).
Harley Burns, Jadon Rogers, Zack Pretorius, and Chance Crum are all past Circle City sprint car winners who are vying for a first Circle City USAC win this Friday versus the likes of USAC National Sprint Car winners Thomas Meseraull and Trey Osborne, plus 2017 Rookie of the Year Stevie Sussex, and Gunnar Setser, who led nine laps of the 2025 Ashlea Albertson Memorial race, just to name a few.
ASHLEA ALBERTSON AWARDS
On top of all the traditional nightly rewards for USAC National Sprint Car competitors such as LearnLab Qualifying, the Rod End Supply Hard Charger, and the K & N Filters Clean Air Award, several more special prizes are up for grabs at the Ashlea Albertson Memorial.
A $2,222 winners bonus courtesy of the Ashlea Albertson Legacy Foundation and donors has pushed the feature winner’s share up to $8,222. Furthermore, a $100 bonus will be awarded to each heat race winner thanks to In Memory of Terry Riggs, Underdog Diesel, J3 Services, and Billy O’Neal’s Pub & Eatery.
Another $100 will go to the Furthest From Home Award from Bennett Realty as well the Hard Luck Award from Hart’s Auto Center. The recipient of the Move of the Race will earn a $100 certificate from KRJ Race Products.
RACE DETAILS
The Ashlea Albertson Memorial on Friday night, September 18, features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets & All Star TQ Midgets. Pits open at 3pm Eastern, front gates open at 4pm, drivers meeting at 5:45pm & cars on track at 6:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following.
Advance tickets are on sale at https://www.myracepass.com/tracks/3792/tickets/1527459. General admission tickets are available at the ticket booth the day of the event. General admission tickets for ages 16 and up are $30. General admission tickets for ages 15 and under are $15. Pit passes are $40.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-2729, 2-Justin Grant-2560, 3-Mitchel Moles-2509, 4-Jake Swanson-2259, 5-Briggs Danner-2188, 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.-2135, 7-Logan Seavey-2064, 8-Chase Stockon-2034, 9-Robert Ballou-2019, 10-C.J. Leary-1983.
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT CIRCLE CITY RACEWAY
1 Lap – 9/16/2022 – Mitchel Moles – 11.819
10 Laps – 9/16/2022 – Jadon Rogers – 2:04.23
12 Laps – 9/16/2022 – Jake Swanson – 2:39.26
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT CIRCLE CITY RACEWAY
3-Kyle Cummins & Logan Seavey
2-Brady Bacon & C.J. Leary
1-Briggs Danner, Justin Grant, Jake Swanson, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Tanner Thorson
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT CIRCLE CITY RACEWAY
2021: Tanner Thorson (9/17)
2022: C.J. Leary (7/25) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (9/16)
2023: Jake Swanson (5/24), Kyle Cummins (5/25), Kyle Cummins (7/24) & Logan Seavey (9/15)
2024: Brady Bacon (5/22), Logan Seavey (5/23), Logan Seavey (7/31) & Kyle Cummins (9/13)
2025: C.J. Leary (7/30) & Justin Grant (9/12)
2026: Briggs Danner (5/21) & Brady Bacon (7/28)