Six races remain in the chase for the Emmett Hahn Trophy, and the stars of the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) are ready to begin the home stretch of the season with back-to-back races this weekend at Salt City Speedway.
The near-flat, half-mile oval on the historic Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson has been hosting motorsports events as far back as the 1930s and this weekend hosts the national 360 Sprint Car tour for the second time in track history. The first came this past May, when Zach Blurton led flag-to-flag in the main event and captured his second career national Series victory.
Drivers will compete for a share of the $4,000-to-win purse on Friday before chasing a $6,000 grand prize on Saturday. Both nights of racing will be supported by the local Stock Car division.
Tickets for both days of the event are on sale now; click here to purchase. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
HUTCHINSON HERO — In front of friends, family and sponsors at Salt City, Kansas native Zach Blurton won the Series debut in May and has two chances to do it again this weekend.
Blurton, 31, of Quinter, KS, paced the field green-to-checkered in the 25-lap main event, besting Series champions Blake Hahn and Sam Hafertepe Jr. to bank his second career Series victory. The win marked his first Series victory since July 3, 2022, ending a near three-year, 151-week winless streak on the national circuit, and becoming the 102nd multi-time winner in Series history.
Historically, Blurton has performed well on the half-mile oval, collecting seven top-five finishes in nine career Feature starts between ASCS, the National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) and the track’s long-running Hutchinson Grand Nationals event in the 305 Sprint Car division.
Recently, Blurton has produced strong results, notching back-to-back top-10 finishes in the previous two national ASCS events before scoring a win and a fifth-place run with the ASCS Frontier Region two weeks ago at the Wyoming oval of Sheridan Speedway.
ALMOST THERE — After coming so close to his first career national Series victory at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park three weeks ago, Kyler Johnson is ready to try again this weekend in his home state.
Johnson, 22, of Quinter, KS, led 20 laps of the main event on the high-banked Missouri oval but lost the lead to eventual winner Matt Covington in lapped traffic late in the race. Still, he hung on for second place and his fourth top-10 finish in his last five Feature starts — the best stretch of his ASCS career.
He’ll take the momentum swing into his home state of Kansas this weekend and try again for his first national ASCS win at Salt City, where he finished fourth in May.
ROOKIE BREAKTHROUGH? — Seven of Garrett Benson’s last eight national Series Feature races have produced top-10 finishes, three of which were on the podium, marking his best stretch of the season.
The 15-year-old, leading Brodix Rookie of the Year contender from Concordia, MO, posted back-to-back third-place finishes in the last race weekend at Paducah International Raceway and I-55, showing the speed and skill necessary to contend for a Feature win on the national circuit.
His first win could potentially come this weekend at Salt City, where he bagged his first top-10 finish of the season in May when he finished sixth in a 32-car field.
CHASE FOR THE TROPHY — With six races left, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Matt Covington and Blake Hahn are currently the frontrunners contending for the Emmett Hahn Trophy, all separated by less than 200 points.
Hafertepe, the five-time Series champion and current points leader from Sunnyvale, TX, has been a dominant force throughout the season, collecting 10 Feature wins in 27 Feature starts, and currently leads the championship standings by 146 points over Covington. In May, he finished third at Salt City.
Covington, of Glenpool, OK, has six races left to try and make up the 146-point gap that lies ahead of him in pursuit of his first Series championship. This year, he’s collected three Feature wins, and will try for a fourth at Salt City, where he finished seventh in May.
Hahn, a two-time Series champion from Sapulpa, OK, sits 192 points behind Hafertepe in pursuit of his first championship since 2022, holding onto two Feature wins in 28 Feature starts. In the Series’ debut in May, he ran runner-up to Blurton.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
WHEN AND WHERE
- Friday–Saturday, Oct. 10–11 at Salt City Speedway in Hutchinson, KS
TRACK FACTS
- 1/2-mile clay oval
- Track Record — 18.486 seconds set by Matt Covington on 5/30/25
ON THE INTERNET
X — @ASCSRacing
Instagram — @ascs_racing
Facebook — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
YouTube — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
DIRTVision — DIRTVision.com (Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month)
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (28/34 Races)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3190pts)
- Matt Covington 3044pts (–146)
- Blake Hahn 2998pts (–192)
- Jason Martin 2976pts (–214)
- Kyler Johsnon 2694pts (–496)
- Garrett Benson 2688pts (–502)
- Zach Blurton 2578pts (–612)
- Brady Baker 2513pts (–677)
- Austyn Gossel 2470pts (–720)
- Landon Britt 2401pts (–789)
FEATURE WINNERS (11 Drivers):
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10 wins)
- Justin Peck, Matt Covington, Jason Martin (3 wins)
- Rico Abreu, Ryan Timms, Blake Hahn (2 wins)
- Zach Blurton, Austin McCarl, Seth Bergman, Cameron Martin (1 win)
FEATURE LAPS LED (17 Drivers)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (226 laps)
- Matt Covington (109 laps)
- Jason Martin (78 laps)
- Justin Peck, Ryan Timms (65 laps)
- Rico Abreu, Cameron Martin (34 laps)
- Blake Hahn (33 laps)
- Zach Blurton (25 laps)
- Kyler Johnson (21 laps)
- Chase Randall (16 laps)
- Brian Brown (15 laps)
- Seth Bergman (14 laps)
- Austyn Gossel, Jake Bubak (13 laps)
- Austin McCarl (4 laps)
- Kyle Larson (2 laps)
QUICK TIME AWARDS (14 Drivers)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8 awards)
- Matt Covington (4 awards)
- Seth Bergman, Blake Hahn, Tony Rost (2 awards)
- Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Kyler Johnson, Roger Crockett, Jason Martin, Carson McCarl, Ryan Timms, Ryder Laplante, Kelly Miller (1 award)
HEAT RACE WINNERS (44 Drivers)
- Matt Covington, Sam Hafertepe Jr. (12 wins)
- Jason Martin (8 wins)
- Garrett Benson (6 wins)
- Seth Bergman, Blake Hahn (5 wins)
- Justin Peck, Austyn Gossel, Chris Martin, Cameron Martin (3 wins)
- Scotty Thiel, Whit Gastineau, Hank Davis, Sean McClelland, Harli White, Jake Bubak, Kyler Johnson, Ryder McCutcheon (2 wins)
- Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Caleb Saiz, Bradley Fezard, Bryan Gossel, Jordon Mallett, Bryant Wiedeman, Sterling Cling, Tucker Boutlon, Landon Britt, Dustin Selvage, Jamie Ball, Matt Juhl, Tony Rost, Jack Dover, Cam Sorrels, Tyler Lee, Chase Dietz, Trever Kirkland, Elijah Gile, Ryan Timms, Brekton Crouch, Roger Crockett, Clint Garner, Brady Baker (1 win)
DASH APPEARANCES (55 Drivers)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (21 appearances)
- Matt Covington (17 appearances)
- Blake Hahn (11 appearances)
- Kyler Johnson, Jason Martin (9 appearances)
- Garrett Benson, Seth Bergman (8 appearances)
- Austyn Gossel (5 appearances)
- Jake Bubak, Cameron Martin (4 appearances)
- Justin Peck, Whit Gastineau, Chris Martin, Austin McCarl, Brady Baker (3 appearances)
- Emerson Axsom, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley, Jordon Mallett, Sean McClelland, Bryant Wiedeman, Zach Blurton, Ryan Timms, Hank Davis, Roger Crockett, Ryder McCutcheon (2 appearances)
- Jordan Thomas, Scotty Thiel, Brian Brown, Caleb Saiz, Chance Morton, Bradley Fezard, Bryan Gossel, Joey Danley, Alex Sewell, Steven Shebester, Harli White, Tucker Boulton, Landon Britt, Sterling Cling, Scotty Milan, Trever Kirkland, Elijah Gile, Garen Linder, Ryder Laplante, Ian Myers, Kelly Miller, Tony Rost, Brekton Crouch, JJ Hickle, Riley Goodno, Carson McCarl, Clint Garner (1 appearance)
SMITH TITANIUM LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (19 Drivers)
- Blake Hahn, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Clem, Kyle Clark, Bryant Wiedeman, Jason Martin, Harli White, Connor Lee, Giovanni Scelzi, Tanner Holmes, Daison Pursley, Adam Trimble, Landon Britt, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Zach Blurton, Lane Taylor, Jack Wagner, Sean McClelland, Tony Rost (1 win)
HARD CHARGER AWARDS (22 Drivers)
- Brady Baker (6 awards)
- Ryder Laplante, Kelly Miller (2 awards)
- Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Blake Hahn, Landon Britt, Jordon Mallett, Jason Martin, Brad Bowden, Stu Snyder, Tanner Holmes, Tasker Phillips, Giovanni Scelzi, Brogan Carder, Kory Wermling, Matt Covington, Seth Bergman, Kyler Johnson, Cole Vanderheiden, Cody Gardner, Zach Blurton (1 award)
PODIUM FINISHES (28 Drivers)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. (16 podiums)
- Jason Martin (10 podiums)
- Blake Hahn (9 podiums)
- Matt Covington (7 podiums)
- Seth Bergman, Garrett Benson, Kyler Johnson (4 podiums)
- Justin Peck, Ryan Timms, Cameron Martin (3 podiums)
- Brian Brown, Rico Abreu, Parker Price-Miller, Kyle Larson, Austin McCarl, Austyn Gossel (2 podiums)
- Emerson Axsom, Cole Macedo, Sean McClelland, Zach Blurton, Brady Baker, Joey Danley, James McFadden, Jake Bubak, Bryant Wiedeman, Trever Kirkland, Hank Davis, JJ Hickle (1 podium)
2025 SCHEDULE + WINNERS
Race Number. Day, Date / Track / City, State / Winner (Total Wins)
- Thu, Jan. 30 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (1)
- Fri, Jan. 31 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (2)
- Sat, Feb. 1 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (3)
- Sat, April 12 / Salina Highbanks Speedway / Salina, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1)
- Sat, May 10 / Paducah International Raceway / Paducah, KY / Matt Covington (1)
- Fri, May 30 / Salt City Speedway / Hutchinson, KS / Zach Blurton (1)
- Sat, May 31 / Dodge City Raceway Park / Dodge City, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2)
- Sat, June 7 / Texarkana 67 Speedway / Texarkana, AR / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3)
- Sat, June 21 / Batesville Motor Speedway / Locust Grove, AR / Blake Hahn (1)
- Thu, July 3 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4)
- Fri, July 4 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5)
- Fri, July 18 / Creek County Speedway / Sapulpa, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6)
- Fri, July 25 / Windy Hollow Speedway / Owensboro, KY / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7)
- Sat, July 26 / Benton Speedway / Benton, MO / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8)
- Thu, July 31 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Austin McCarl (1)
- Fri, Aug. 1 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Rico Abreu (1)
- Sat, Aug. 2 / Knoxville Raceway / Knoxville, IA / Rico Abreu (2)
- Fri, Aug. 15 / WaKeeney Speedway / WaKeeney, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9)
- Sat, Aug. 16 / El Paso County Raceway / Calhan, CO / Jason Martin (1)
- Fri, Aug. 22 / Big Sky Speedway / Billings, MT / Ryan Timms (1)
- Sat, Aug. 23 / Big Sky Speedway / Billings, MT / Ryan Timms (2)
- Fri, Aug. 29 / Electric City Speedway / Great Falls, MT / Jason Martin (2)
- Sat, Aug. 30 / Electric City Speedway / Great Falls, MT / Seth Bergman (1)
- Fri, Sept. 5 / Lakeside Speedway / Kansas City, KS / Matt Covington (2)
- Fri, Sept. 5 / Lakeside Speedway / Kansas City, KS / Blake Hahn (2)
- Sat, Sept. 6 / 81 Speedway / Park City, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10)
- Sun, Sept. 7 / Eagle Raceway / Eagle, NE / Cameron Martin (1)
- Fri, Sept. 19 / Paducah International Raceway / Paducah, KY / Jason Martin (3)
- Sat, Sept. 20 / I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway / Pevely, MO / Matt Covington (3)
