The sixth race of the 2026 USAC National Sprint Car Series Indiana Sprint Week continued on Wednesday night at Paragon Speedway. Jake Swanson picked up his first victory of the season since the second race of the season at Volusia Speedway Park following a rough stretch during the middle of the season. Swanson started fourth and maintained the lead through a slew of yellows, and a late rally by Kyle Cummins after he had a slight bobble off Turn 4.
“I hated to see the caution come out, but honestly, I’m glad,” Swanson said to Flo Racing in his victory lane interview. “I would’ve wondered, would he have beat me? Was I that good? You just never know. I’m so pumped. We’ve been working, grinding, trying to get to this level and get to this point. I’m so proud of my race team. These guys, all the people that have supported us.
First and foremost, I want to dedicate this win to Grammy (Jess’s grandma). We lost her earlier this year, and it was really tough. She was my biggest fan and biggest supporter. She helped me get to this level and helped us move here. She was a badass, and I want to dedicate this win to her. Also, Mike Burris, who we recently lost. He’s a longtime supporter of my racing career. Without people like that, I wouldn’t be here. I’d still be working a day job in California. I got a lot of people, a lot of great people behind me, and I’m just so thankful for them.”
For the first time since 1998, the USAC National Sprint Car Series visited Paragon Speedway and once upon a time, held 10 ISW races in its track history.
While Brady Bacon may have won Tuesday night’s race at Circle City Raceway, it was Mitchel Moles who took over the ISW Championship Points by one point over Kyle Cummins. Last Thursday’s winner on the Dirt Track at IMS Justin Grant, sits third in the standings, just six points behind. Bacon is fourth with 27 points back, and Jake Swanson is in the fifth position, who is 31 points from the championship lead.
Coming into tonight’s race, there were 46 cars on the entry list.
Feature Recap – 30 Laps
Hunter Schuerenberg started on pole position with Gunnar Setser on the outside pole for the feature. Setser led the opening lap, but the first yellow of the night flew for trouble on the frontstretch for a three-car contact with Robert Ballou, Hayden Reinbold, and Trey Osborne, as all three cars got involved. Ballou suffered the most damage with a flat left-rear tire. This would be a complete restart since the incident occurred on the opening lap. Ballou was able to return to the track with a new tire.
Going back green again, Setser had a bobble out of Turn 2, which allowed Schuerenberg to take the lead momentarily. However, it was Jake Swanson who claimed the ultimate lead using the bottom lane off Turn 4. The second yellow flew at 28 laps to go for Setser, who was off the pace on the backstretch. Like Ballou, Setser returned to the track as well.
Swanson led at the restart and was followed by Grant and Schuerenberg, the top three. With 24 laps to go, Cummins attempted to pass Grant for the second position, but Grant kept him at bay. With 18 laps to go, Setser went a lap down, and eventually brought his machine to the infield as he faced more issues with his car.
The third yellow flew with eight laps to go for Zack Pretorius, who grabbed the cushion off Turn 4. Pretorius went airborne briefly and nearly collected second-place Grant with him.
There was an attempt at a restart, but it was called off due to Schuerenberg getting out of line. He received a penalty and lost a position for the next restart. With two laps to go, Swanson’s car missed the exit and ruined his momentum, which allowed Cummins to close in rapidly. Fortunately for Swanson, he held on to win the race despite the misstep over Cummins.
Heat Race Recaps – 8 Laps A Piece – Top Four Transfer
Bacon paced the Hot Lap session with a lap time of 14.845 seconds. For the qualifying session, it was Kyle Cummins that set the quickest time, posting a time of 14.462 seconds.
Heat 1 – Eli Wilhelmus and Robert Ballou were the front-row starters in the first heat. Prior to the heat going green, the cars packed the high line for a couple of laps to try and attempt to make it a multi-groove track. Immediately, Ballou shot to the lead using the high line. However, a red flag was brought out moments later for a vicious flip in Turn 3 for Jack Hoyer. Following the cleanup, the heat was green once more with Ballou the leader and Wilhelmus the top two.
Despite going green just briefly, another car went upside down on the back straightaway for Todd Hobson after making contact with Troy Carey.
While there were multiple stoppages for red flag conditions, Ballou went on to win the heat race. He was followed by Kyle Cummins, Harley Burns, and Hunter Maddox taking the transfers.
Heat 2 – Kevin Thomas Jr was the leader at the end of Lap 1 and took the checkered flag as he was also the leader at the checkered flag on Lap 8. Cale Coons, Gunnar Setser, and Jadon Rogers rounded out the transfers.
Heat 3 – Braxton Cummins started on the pole for the third heat. C.J. Leary shot to the top like a rocket as the heat went green, but Wednesday night’s winner, Bacon, eventually took the lead about midway in the heat. Bacon won the heat with Leary in second, Moles third, and Hunter Schuerenberg was fourth after making a last-lap pass on the frontstretch on Braxton Cummins at the start/finish line.
Heat 4 – Wyatt Burks out of Topeka, Kansas was the top starter for the fourth heat. There was a red flag for Tony Helton, who went for a wild flip in Turn 4, landing upside down. Chance Crum was the leader at the time of the red flag as he made a pass on Burks. Burks made a pass on Crum to retake the lead on the restart off Turn 2. However, a three-wide battle for the lead on the backstretch saw Ricky Lewis take the lead with four laps to go. With three laps to go, Jake Swanson took the top spot from Lewis.
Swanson would be the victor, with Lewis, Logan Seavey, and Charles Davis Jr moving on to the main event, taking the four spots.
Heat 5 – In the fifth and final heat, Dalton Stevens was on the pole, but it was Trey Osborne who took the lead on the start and held on to win the heat race. Logan Caldenwood, Justin Grant, and Chase Stockon were the final transfers.
Official Race Results Following Paragon Speedway
- Jake Swanson
- Kyle Cummins
- Brady Bacon
- Justin Grant
- Mitchel Moles
- Hunter Schuerenberg
- Kevin Thomas Jr
- Ricky Lewis
- Harley Burns
- Chase Stockon
- Logan Seavey
- C.J. Leary
- Robert Ballou
- Hayden Reinbold
- Jadon Rogers
- Briggs Danner, won Semi-feature
- Cale Coons
- Dalton Stevens
- Charles Davis Jr
- Hunter Maddox
- Zack Pretorius
- Logan Caldenwood
- Gunnar Setser
- Trey Osborne
The ISW Championship Points Standings continue to have a tight battle with just three races left, as Cummins took over the points lead from Moles by 1 point. Furthermore, he continues to lead the overall USAC National Sprint Car Tour Championship Points standings over Moles by 128 points.
Up Next – The next race on the USAC National Sprint Car Series Indiana Sprint Week is Thursday night at the Terre Haute Action Track, live on Flo Racing.
