SIXTH SENSE FOR DREVICKI! 2026 USAC EAST COAST SPRINT CAR SEASON REVIEW

By Richie Murray

Speedway, Indiana (November 5, 2026)………“It doesn’t ever get old.”

Steven Drevicki can confidently say that after achieving his record-extending sixth career USAC East Coast Sprint Cars Presented by Baer Den Farms driving championship in 2026.

In what was the closest points race in series history, Reading, Pennsylvania’s Drevicki claimed the title by a 28-point margin over Christian Bruno. The previous closest title fight (44 points) came during the series’ inaugural season in 2018 and had the very same driver standing at the top – Steven Drevicki.

Drevicki won the first three series crowns in 2018, 2019, and 2020. He has now achieved his second three-peat after grabbing the championship in 2024, 2025, and 2026, all six of which have come in his own No. 19.

For the 35-year-old Drevicki, winning races and championships never becomes old hat.

“It’s wild to think about six,” Drevicki reflected. “I don’t know that it’s even sunk in.”

Let this sink in. Drevicki achieved two feature victories, both at New Jersey’s Bridgeport Motorsports Park, to go along with a series high 11 top five finishes, plus top 10 results in all 12 of his feature starts during the 2026 campaign.

After chasing after the point lead for much of the season, Drevicki took over the top spot from Bruno with three races remaining, then capped the title with a 4th, a 1st, and a 6th in his final three outings of the year. For Drevicki, he admitted this quest was his most challenging yet, but still, he remained the one everybody else was chasing at the end of it all.

“This one was tougher,” Drevicki acknowledged. “The competition keeps getting tougher and tougher every year with where the series is at. The series is really going into a good direction. The level of competition took a big step up again this year and they kept the pressure on and that makes it cool to win them.”

Drevicki credits a midseason stretch to his success in which he delivered top five after top five from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, including a dominant wire-to-wire win at Bridgeport in August where he led all 25 laps. Good fortune was on his side in a September return to Bridgeport where he slid J.R. Fulper for the lead amid a three-car battle at the front of the pack with two laps remaining. Though he didn’t know it at the time, Fulper’s car soon began to stumble without fuel in the tank. As Drevicki quipped, “a little luck never hurts.”

Drevicki is a mechanical engineer by trade for the Industrial Crane Company, designing cranes, runways, and structures for various industries. He is a graduate of Penn State University’s Mechanical Engineering department and grew up in a racing family. His father, Dave, raced karts, late models, and micros, and later crewed on a sprint car driven by Buzz Sassaman.

Steven started his career behind the wheel of quarter midgets in 2000 before advancing to micros and then to midgets where he was a two-time American Racing Drivers Club titlist in 2014 and 2015. Drevicki estimated that he’s been at a racetrack pretty much every weekend since he was five years old, fostering a love of racing handed down from his parents, Dave and Stephanie, whose home the family-run race shop is stabled in.

“My mom and dad have been huge supporters throughout my entire racing career,” Drevicki praised. “I wouldn’t be where I am without all of their support through the years. I basically own the team, more or less, myself. Dad helps where he can, but it’s pretty much my team. Scott (Gantert) has been helping on the crew for 17 years. We raced micros together for a while, and then in 2010, when I got going, he started helping me. It doesn’t get any easier to do this, but we do what we can and have fun with it, for sure.”

For Drevicki, it’s the people along the way who make this sport special to him, and he credits longtime supporters DeGre Engineering, Roadrunner Race Fuels, Fastener Specialties, Fastlane Jewelry, BDB Graphics, NAPA of Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, RPM Chassis, and Penske Shocks as the main reasons he’s been fortunate enough to achieve six USAC East Coast championships, 21 feature wins, and just about everything else they’ve been able to accomplish over the years.

“When you think about that part, most of the sponsors and people that I’ve been with have been with me for 10 years in one capacity or another. They’re not sponsors; they’re friends at this point. To keep those relationships and that support structure around me intact for that long is really special to me.”

Five different drivers earned USAC East Coast victories in 2026: Christian Bruno, Briggs Danner, Steven Drevicki, Kenny Miller III, and Chelby Hinton.

Bruno took the runner-up position in the final standings for the second time in the last three years. He led all series drivers in 2026 with five victories, first in May at Big Diamond Speedway, then swept all three events on the calendar at Selinsgrove Speedway. He then conquered Port Royal Speedway in September. Bruno also led all drivers in feature laps led (69) and heat race victories (7).

Briggs Danner dropped in a few times with the series on his off weekends with his USAC National Sprint Car and USAC Silver Crown duties. Danner rose his USAC East Coast record win total to 32 as he notched two feature scores in the Hogue Racing Enterprises No. 39 at Bridgeport Motorsports Park and Action Track USA.

Kenny Miller III was victorious in a pair of nailbiters. In April at Bedford, he dueled with Bruno in a side-by-side battle, taking the lead with just two laps to go en route to the win. During the Action Track USA round in August, Miller exchanged slide jobs with Chris Allen Jr. during the final five laps to emerge with the victory. Miller took third in the season standings in the family owned No. 23m. Miller also made the biggest charge of the season with a +11 run from 19th to 8th in July at Action Track USA.

At season’s end, Chelby Hinton took over the controls of the Hogue Racing Enterprises No. 39 and swept the final events of the year on Halloween weekend at Bridgeport in his USAC East Coast debut. During Friday’s Non-Winners Showdown, which was open to any driver who had never before won a USAC East Coast event, Louisiana’s Hinton quickly became a winner that night, then defeated them all in Saturday’s final points race of the season in a dominant series introduction.

Kyle Spence and Joe Kata both completed the season with their best career USAC East Coast points performances, with Spence taking fourth in the final standings and Kata fifth.

Olivia Thayer tallied an eighth place points finish and was honored as the series Rookie of the Year for 2026. Bob Swavely, crewman on Christian Bruno’s JMO Motorsports No. 3BC, was named the Mechanic of the Year.

Four drivers started all 12 feature events in 2026: Christian Bruno, Steven Drevicki, Joe Kata, and Kenny Miller III.

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STAT LEADERS:

Driver Champion: Steven Drevicki

Rookie of the Year: Olivia Thayer

Most Wins: 5-Christian Bruno

Most Laps Led: 69-Christian Bruno

Most Top-Fives: 11-Steven Drevicki

Most Top-Tens: 12-Steven Drevicki

Most Heat Race Wins: 7-Christian Bruno

Most Feature Starts: 12-Christian Bruno, Steven Drevicki, Joe Kata & Kenny Miller III

Biggest Charge of the Year: (+11) Jul 8 at Action Track USA – Kenny Miller III (19th to 8th)

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DRIVER POINTS

Pos. Pts. Driver, Hometown

1 847 Steven Drevicki, Reading, Pennsylvania

2 819 Christian Bruno, Deptford, New Jersey

3 787 Kenny Miller III, Morgantown, Pennsylvania

4 671 Kyle Spence, Bear, Delaware

5 643 Joe Kata, Goshen, New York

6 572 Ed Aikin, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania

7 551 Ronald Helmick, Quakertown, Pennsylvania

8 496 (R) Olivia Thayer, Hanover, Pennsylvania

9 433 Bruce Buckwalter Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

10 419 Chris Allen Jr., Old Bridge, New Jersey

11 344 (R) Shane Braxton, West Grove, Pennsylvania

12 258 Briggs Danner, Allentown, Pennsylvania

13 257 Brett Rose, Martinsburg, West Virginia

14 252 (R) J.R. Fulper, Milford, New Jersey

15 251 (R) Brenden Hires, Langhorne, Pennsylvania

16 245 Jason Cherry, Blandon, Pennsylvania

17 241 (R) Scott Frack, Gilbertville, Pennsylvania

18 237 Jonathan Swanson, Yardville, New Jersey

19 220 (R) Greg Shepsis, Manalapan, New Jersey

20 219 (R) Jakob Stitzel, Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania

21 210 (R) Joey Crilly, Bordentown, New Jersey

22 201 (R) Dan Malley, Montgomery, New York

23 169 (R) Matthew Swift, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

24 166 (R) Jake Galloway, York Haven, Pennsylvania

25 140 Heidi Hedin, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

26 118 David Swanson, Yardville, New Jersey

27 89 (R) Anthony Foscone Jr., Reading, Pennsylvania

28 77 (R) Chelby Hinton, Dubberly, Louisiana

29 54 Tommy Kunsman, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

30 40 (R) Ryan Roulette, Minot, North Dakota

31 29 Gary Huston, Middletown, New York

(R) represents a USAC East Coast Sprint Car Rookie

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ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS

Pos. Pts. Driver, Hometown

1 496 Olivia Thayer, Hanover, Pennsylvania

2 344 Shane Braxton, West Grove, Pennsylvania

3 252 J.R. Fulper, Milford, New Jersey

4 251 Brenden Hires, Langhorne, Pennsylvania

5 241 Scott Frack, Gilbertville, Pennsylvania

6 220 Greg Shepsis, Manalapan, New Jersey

7 219 Jakob Stitzel, Shoemakersville, Pennsylvania

8 210 Joey Crilly, Bordentown, New Jersey

9 201 Dan Malley, Montgomery, New York

10 169 Matthew Swift, Lebanon, Pennsylvania

11 166 Jake Galloway, York Haven, Pennsylvania

12 89 Anthony Foscone Jr., Reading, Pennsylvania

13 77 Chelby Hinton, Dubberly, Louisiana

14 40 Ryan Roulette, Minot, North Dakota

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FEATURE WINNERS:

Apr 18: Bridgeport Motorsports Park – Swedesboro, New Jersey

WINNER: Briggs Danner (Hogue Racing Enterprises #39)

Apr 24: Bedford Speedway – Bedford, Pennsylvania

WINNER: Kenny Miller III (Ken Miller #23m)

May 22: Big Diamond Speedway – Pottsville, Pennsylvania