The ninth annual 305 Nationals at the Belleville High Banks kicked off Friday night with their prelim night, which saw a 20-lap feature. Joey Danley out of Lincoln, Nebraska started on the pole position and led every lap, unfazed and unchallenged, to take the first night in Belleville, Kansas with the URSS (United Rebel Sprint Car Series).
“I wasn’t slowing down this time,” Danley said to Flo Racing in his victory lane interview. “It’s about time, second sucks. I got to thank Empire (Netting and Fence, Danley’s sponsors). Meyers (Racing Engines) gave me one hell of a motor for this weekend. Thank you to everybody who works on this car. I think that was the closest to cruise control in a Sprint Car you can get. They had it perfect.
“We are really excited for tomorrow (Saturday night). Hopefully, we can draw good. I mean, everything went perfect for us tonight, so hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.”
As previously mentioned, this is the ninth edition of the famed 305 Nationals at the Belleville High Banks dating back to 2018. The track originally hosted the Midget Nationals from 1978 through their last outing in 2017 and has seen a who’s who list of winners such as Christopher Bell, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Brad Sweet, and Rico Abreu, to name a few.
However, once the Midget Nationals went away the next year, a new event was formed and saw new stars created like the previous generation. Winning the first outing of the 305 Nationals back in 2018 was Jake Bubak, who also went on to win the year after in 2019. As a fun fact, Bubak remains the only driver to win the Friday night and Saturday night features, both of which came those same years.
Adam Trimble won in 2020. Ness City, Kansas native Luke Cranston won in 2021, while Ty Williams won in 2022. Another Kansas native out of Wichita, Jeremy Campbell, won the 2023 edition of this historic event, and most recently, Kyle Jones won the last two years.
Fast-forwarding to the 2026 edition, four out of the eight drivers (Bubak, Campbell, Jones, and Williams) who previously won this event were on the entry list, which includes 44 Sprint Cars.
Feature Recap – 20 Laps
Danley started on the (inside) pole with Kaylee Bryson on the outside pole. As the green flag flew, Danley jumped out in front with Bryson attempting to pass on the bottom off Turn 2, but she was unsuccessful in doing so and stayed in second. Danley would lead the first lap, while Garrett Benson made the pass on Bryson for second out of Turn 4 in the opening laps. With 17 laps to go, Danny Nekolite was off the pace with an issue from his Sprint Car.
The first yellow of the event came with 13 laps to go for Colton Fisher, who had an engine expire in Turn 2. The race went back green with Danley, Benson, and Bryson the top three. Bryson again went down low to take a second look at Benson, but had to slide back up in the third position. However, she was passed by Justin Fifield in the process for third. At the halfway mark with 10 laps to go, the rundown was Danley, Benson, Fifield, Bryson, and Bubak in the top five.
However, the second caution came two laps later with eight laps to go for Tyler Knight, who came to a stop in Turn 3. Despite the brief stoppage, the 305 Nationals Friday night feature was green once again. Danley had a fast Sprint Car and went on to pick up his first career at-track victory at the Belleville High Banks.
Heat Race Recaps – Top Four Transfer – 8 Laps A Piece
Prior to the heat races taking place, there were five different qualifying sessions that saw five different groups. Brandon Bosma Group 1, Fifield Group 2, Trevor Serbus Group 3, Benson Group 4, and Danley Group 5 were your five fastest qualifiers.
Heat 1 – Bryson started on the pole for this heat. She broke out with a sizable lead over Ryker Pacee. A caution came out with three laps to go for Cole Cloud, who went upside down in Turns 3 and 4, and was nailed by Tyler Drueke. Drueke lost his left-front wheel in the process. Despite the scary incident, both drivers were okay.
Bryson went on to win the heat, with Bosma, Fisher, and Pacee being the top four to transfer on.
Heat 2 – Jon Freeman out of Salina, Kansas, was the top starter for the second heat with Whit Gastineau, who won the Friday night prelim the last two years. Gastineau challenged for the lead using the low lane to attempt a pass on Freeman, but was unsuccessful in doing so. After doing so, Fifield closed in on Gastineau for the second position, and threw a slide job pass in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 to slide into second.
Freeman held on to win with Fifield, Gastineau, and Williams for the transfer spots.
Heat 3 – Stuart Snyder started on the pole for the third heat. He was challenged early on by Joe Bob Lee on the outside and Jeremy Huish in Turn 3 on Lap 1. Lee barely made the top side work to his advantage and almost took the lead at the start/finish line, but Snyder remained the leader. This was the only time Snyder was challenged, as he won the third heat race. Lee, Serbus, and Huish were the transfers.
Heat 4 – Trefer Waller and Campbell were the front row starters. Waller had the early lead down the backstretch, but Campbell had momentum and took the lead off Turn 4 coming to the start/finish line with six laps to go. Campbell went on to win the heat with Waller, Benson, and Brayton Dewell taking the top four.
Heat 5 – For the fifth and final heat race, Bubak would be on the pole. Bubak won the eight-lap heat and was followed by Danley, Bryant Wiedeman, and Nekolite.
There were two B-features that only took the top two. Knight won B-feature 1 with Jordan Knight being the other transfer, while Johnny Boos won the second B-feature with Tyler Drueke taking the final transfer spot. Interestingly, the most recent winner of the Saturday feature in the past two years, Jones, did not make the A-main as he finished third in B-feature 1.
Official Race Results Following Night 1 For The 305 Nationals at the Belleville High Banks
- Joey Danley
- Garrett Benson
- Justin Fifield
- Brandon Bosma
- Jake Bubak
- Joe Bob Lee
- Jeremy Campbell
- Jeremy Huish
- Whit Gastineau
- Kaylee Bryson
- Stuart Snyder
- Jon Freeman
- Trevor Serbus
- Bryant Wiedeman
- Johnny Boos
- Trefer Waller
- Jordan Knight
- Ty Williams
- Tyler Drueke
- Ryker Pacee
- Brayton Dewell
- Tyler Knight
- Colton Fisher
- Danny Nekolite
Up Next – The final night of the 305 Nationals at the Belleville High Banks takes place tonight at the Belleville Fairgrounds in Belleville, Kansas. As always, if you can’t make it out, you can catch the action live on Flo Racing.
For those who may have missed Friday night’s race, you can catch the highlights here.
