By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg -Williams Grove Speedway will hold the 64th running of the J & S Classics National Open for World of Outlaws sprint cars coming up this Friday and Saturday, October 2 and 3 at 7:30 pm each night.
The J & S Classics National Open weekend will drop the curtain on the 2026 racing season at Williams Grove Speedway with Saturday night’s 40-lap main event paying $75,000 to win.
Friday’s 25-lap National Open Preliminary will pay $12,000 to the winner.
Saturday’s event will see the crowning of the 2026 Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car track champion.
The prestigious Williams Grove Speedway J & S Classics National Open has long been revered as the biggest sprint car show in the East and is one of the big three across the nation, measuring up only with the Knoxville Nationals and Kings Royal.
A tremendous field of sprint cars will be on hand this weekend for the two-day spectacle.
Drivers from across all sanctions and regions will compete to be J & S Classics National Open Champion.
Of the local teams that may be poised to pick off an Open win, York’s Chase Dietz has his eyes on the prize.
He scored night one of the two-day weekend last season and with 22 overall wins on what is a career season for him, it only seems logical that he is the top local pick to win the Open crown.
Dietz tuned up for the weekend with his third win of the year at the track on Friday night.
Speedway point leader Troy Wagaman Jr. needs to time well enough to get a shot at the prize, as does Danny Dietrich.
Youngster Logan Rumsey is likely to time-in properly but then he’ll need to hold up his end when he squares-up with the other contenders.
Outlaws point leader David Gravel has to be hands down the outlaws series favorite to score yet another Nationals victory.
The Connecticut driver has already scored both big payout races at the track this season during a pair of two-day shows by the circuit at the track.
He scored the finale both in May and the $20,000 Summer Nationals in early August.
Gravel already has wins in the big National Open show in 2014 and 2017 and he’s long overdue for another.
With 10 overall wins on the outlaws season and a wide series point margin, he seems primed to make a run at the big Saturday night paycheck again.
Other outlaws that could very easily spoil Gravel’s party include Buddy Kofoid and defending Open champion Sheldon Haudenschild.
Carson Macedo would be the outlaws wild card.
Incidentally, six-time J & S Classics National Open winner Donny Schatz just won hissecond outlaws race of the year on Saturday night. And he hasn’t won at Williams Grove since taking his sixth Open checkers in 2020.
Other expected invaders that could make their mark in the 2026 J & S Classics National Open include Oregon’s Tanner Holmes aboard the Buch No. 13 and Daryn Pittman aboard the Kreitz No. 69K, who has a record six runner-up finishes in the affair.
Adult general admission for October 2 is set at $40 with youth ages 13 – 20 priced at $20. Adult admission for October 3 is $50 with youth priced at $20.
Kids ages 12 and under are always admitted for FREE at Williams Grove Speedway.
Fireworks will be part of the program each night.
The 40-lap Open finale carries a raindate of October 4.
RacingJunk.com is the Official Classifieds for Williams Grove Speedway.