The ninth and final round of the 2026 Indiana Sprint Week concluded tonight at Tri-State Speedway after a week-long worth of races, which started back on July 23 on the Dirt Track at IMS. Kyle Cummins entered as the championship points leader by seven points over Justin Grant and was looking to lock the title up. In addition to a driver winning the title, they would have a $25,000 payday at the end of the night.
When all was said and done, Grant notched another victory in his win column in the ninth round of the ISW Series. Grant received a mix of cheers and boos as he celebrated in victory lane following an incident in the heat race with Robert Ballou.
“I knew we had a really good Nos Energy Drink No. 4,” Grant said in his victory lane interview to Flo Racing. “We weren’t very good all night long and try to keep my nose clean there early. I knew I had a good enough racecar to pick through guys and noticed everyone was getting freerer, and it was coming to me. I figured, ‘well, okay. Let things widen up here, and we’ll be good to drive by them.’ Once I got Kyle (Cummins) and Mitchel (Moles) put away early, I felt like I was going to be okay to get by Brady (Bacon) and Harley (Burns) there. It seems like a good thing getting them behind you.
“Everybody that is mad here booing about the heat race between Robert (Ballou) and I. I hate he got upside down there, but I felt like I was clear up alongside him off Turn 2 and all the way down the backstretch. Parked it on the first infield tire and felt like he had a whole racetrack above him, and tried to get to the first infield tire through the side of my racecar. I don’t know what else I could’ve done there other than disappearing out of his way. You got to go in the heat races, and they won’t see that way, and Robert might not either. I’m sorry he got tore up there, I just don’t know what else I could’ve done. I haven’t said anything to him yet, but I’ll catch up with him later and hopefully we can kind of work that out and figure out who was upset, and who was in the wrong there. It’s a shame when someone gets tore up.
“I, of all people, didn’t want him to get tore up there because I needed him to transfer, so we can keep one guy out and get me on the front row. It wasn’t in my best interest to do that, and I certainly didn’t want to do it.”
33 National Sprint Cars were on the entry list for Saturday night’s finale of ISW Week.
Feature Recap – 30 Laps
Brady Bacon and Harley Burns were the front-row starters for the feature. Burns got the advantage over Bacon on the backstretch, but the first caution of the night flew for Colin Parker, who was stopped sideways off Turn 4. This prompted a complete restart for the main. Once again, Burns was to the point with the lead. Unfortunately, just as the field went green, another yellow came out for a car stopped off Turn 2, which was for Carson Short.
The third yellow flew as the field went back to green once more for two cars stopped in the middle of Turns 1 and 2. They were for Mike Larrison and Aric Gentry.
The field tried again, and this time, Bacon took the lead from Burns off the restart, but Burns threw a slider on Bacon and retook the lead on Lap 1. With 25 laps to go, Cummins slipped to fifth. This is important as he needs a fifth or better to clinch the ISW Championship at the end of the feature. The fourth yellow flew with 22 laps to go for Chet Williams, who was stopped on the frontstretch by the wall.
Coming to the restart, it was Burns, Bacon, Chase Stockon, Mitchel Moles, and Cummins in the top five. Unfortunately for Stockon, he brought out the caution as he slowed with 21 laps to go and went off the track. Burns brought the field back to green once more with Bacon and Moles the top three. Bacon closed in on race leader Burns rapidly at the halfway mark to the point they were side-by-side with each other on the backstretch. With 13 laps to go, Grant passed Bacon for second, and eventually passed Burns for the lead off Turn 2 with 12 laps to go.
The caution came out with nine laps to go for Jadon Rogers, who came to a stop in Turn 3. Going back to green, it was Grant, Bacon, Moles, Cummins, and Burns. Cummins had a four-point advantage over Grant at this moment in the race. Grant would lead the final laps unchallenged and went on to secure the victory, but it was Cummins who would wind up with the 2026 ISW Championship.
“Thank the lord Jesus Christ, I did some praying there before hot laps and before the feature there,” Cummins told Flo Racing on the frontstretch. “I told him, whatever his will is, if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be, and if it’s not, we’ll just live with it and go on. It calmed me down a little bit. I tell you what, every time we had the restart, I felt great. Once the guys got out and (Mitchel) Moles got by on the bottom, I wasn’t great on the bottom. I found that top line a little bit, and I was like, oh, I can hustle here, and Justin (Grant) comes hustling by all of us.
“I was like, oh boy, if he wins and I finish fourth or fifth, I don’t know what the math is, but it’s not good. With the pressure of Jadon (Rogers) there behind me and it was three-wide for a while, and my car was only good plugged up in the fence. I got tight a couple of times, I was racing for my life. I wanted to win (Indiana) Sprint Week, and I was like, I don’t know how many more years I’m going to be able to do it. This was the best-case scenario. We had a great week. If I didn’t do it now, I probably wouldn’t ever get it done again. That put a little extra pressure on me. Thank you to everyone who has helped out on this team and all my sponsors.”
Heat Race Recaps – Top Five Transfer – 10 Laps A Piece
There was a brief rain delay early in the evening prior to hot laps and qualifying, but as soon as the rain passed through, Moles paced both the hot laps and qualifying session time. Moles had a time of 12.656 seconds in hot laps and then backed it up in qualifying with a pace of 12.862 seconds.
Heat 1 – C.J Leary was on the pole. Moles passed Leary for the top spot, and Leary slipped to third. Moles would wind up winning the heat with Burns, Rogers, Leary, and Logan Seavey being the transfers.
Heat 2 – Short started first for the second heat. Hayden Reinbold passed Short for the lead with eight laps to go using the bottom lane off Turn 2. Reinbold went on to win the heat race with Bacon, Kevin Thomas Jr, Williams, and Short moving on.
Heat 3 – Larrison sat on the top spot in the third heat. Red flag conditions were brought out immediately for Friday night winner Ballou, who went upside down in Turn 3. Ballou made contact with Grant that sent him up and over. Thankfully, he was okay and exited the car under his own power. Following the stoppage, the field went back green with nine laps to go.
Stockon later made the pass on Larrison with five laps to go for the lead and the ultimate heat victory. Larrison, Charles Davis Jr, Grant, and Hunter Schuerenberg made up the five transfers out of this heat.
Heat 4 – Cale Coons had the pole for this heat, but he was passed by Cummins in the opening stages before a caution with six laps to go for Jake Swanson spinning around at the entrance of Turn 3 following contact from Kendall Ruble. Cummins won the heat with Eli Wilhelmus, Gentry, Coons, and Swanson the final transfer spots
Official Race Results Following Tri-State Speedway
- Justin Grant
- Brady Bacon
- Kyle Cummins
- Mitchel Moles
- Kevin Thomas Jr
- Harley Burns
- Logan Seavey
- Jake Swanson
- Hayden Reinbold
- Dalton Stevens
- Jadon Rogers
- Eli Wilhelmus
- Briggs Danner, won semi-feature
- Carson Short
- Kendall Ruble
- Cale Coons
- Charles Davis Jr
- C.J. Leary
- Mike Larrison
- Aric Gentry
- Chase Stockon
- Chet Williams
- Colin Parker
- Hunter Schuerenberg
Cummins won the 2026 ISW Championship by seven points over Grant. He also continues to lead the overall USAC National Sprint Car Championship by 124 points over Grant as well.
Up Next – With the 2026 Indiana Sprint Week complete, the next event on the USAC calendar is Saturday, August 8 when the USAC Silver Crown Series visits Iowa Speedway on NASCAR race weekend. For the USAC National Sprint Car tour, their next event is Thursday, August 27 at Kokomo Speedway for what will be a three-day show. Finally, the USAC Nos Energy Drink National Midget will be back in action after a month off before then with two races at Coles County Speedway on Thursday and Friday, August 14 and 15. They’ll wrap up the weekend Saturday, August 16, at Jacksonville Speedway. Action can be seen live on Flo Racing.
