Brogan Carder always looks for a challenge.
The 16-year-old driver closed his second year with the American Sprint Car Series earning career-best Feature finishes and a personal-best eighth-place points result.
After struggling to finish in the top-10 through the first 10 races, Carder broke through with an eighth-place run at 81 Speedway. Carder used the momentum to finish ninth three consecutive nights at Texarkana 67 Speedway, Dodge City Raceway Park, and Viking Speedway before earning a career-best Feature finish of fifth at Sheridan Speedway in August.
“Looking back from the first year to the second, I think we made huge gains,” Carder said. “Our Qualifying, points runs, and final results throughout the whole season, I think it helped us get better and better. By the Montana swing, we got a new motor that runs better than what we’ve used before. So, I sometimes wonder if things came into place if we could have finished better or where I could have put myself, but it was overall a solid year.”
Carder spent 2025 with the ASCS National Tour building up his notebook, with the majority of the slate marking first-time visits. This 2026 sophomore season for the Sioux Falls, SD native saw a battle of balance between growing as a driver on the track and preparing his car to be competitive from the start.
“I think it was a combination of both driving style and car knowledge,” Carder said. “I think it stood out most when we’d make big gains not through aggressiveness, but not putting myself in positions to drive through holes or driving it harder than I should. The more I drive the way we set the car up, the more pace I can pick up and things like that.”
Carder hasn’t stopped his Sprint Car activity, even after the ASCS season ended at Creek County Speedway. From Nov. 4-7, he’ll debut with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series at The Dirt Track at Charlotte for Dave Smith Motors World of Outlaws World Finals.
He’s made starts in 410 Sprint Cars around his local tracks, including Jackson Motorplex and Huset’s Speedway. However, the first visit to Charlotte marks his first test across four nights with The Greatest Show on Dirt.
“I’m super excited,” Carder said. “I never ran with the World of Outlaws before, so that’ll be fun. Charlotte too, we have a similar track in Jackson, but the dirt’s totally different from what I know. It’s a lot more sandy and a lot more slick, but I don’t have anything to compare it with so far. With the 410, we’ve only ran Jackson, Huset’s, and a couple other places, but Charlotte is its own beast. I’ll definitely get some practice on iRacing and try to tune my craft before we go out there.”
While Carder knows he’ll face new competition over four nights and a higher-horsepower engine, his time in the 360 ladder and select 410 races have prepared him for what he’ll face at the Concord, NC facility.
“I think it’s been a lot easier to drive the 410, in my opinion,” Carder said. “When you make those little mistakes in the 360s, it takes you a lap or two to get back up to speed. When you make a little mistake in the 410, you can make up the lost time in half a lap. I think it’s been easier to recover from mistakes when you compare the two.
“I’ve also taken a lot from the 360, too, because you don’t always want to be right up on the curb in the 410, and it’s the same way with the 360. I can transition into the 410 easier and be able to hammer it down when needed to gain more momentum.”
Carder reached the age requirement to run a Sprint Car at Knoxville Raceway after celebrating his 16th birthday on Sept. 17. Looking towards the new year, he’s excited to make his debut at the Iowa track in 2027 for the biggest Sprint Car events at the 1/2-mile track: the Xtream powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals pres. by Great Southern Bank, and the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals pres. by Casey’s.
“Knoxville will be a blast,” Carder said. “I’ve heard it’s also its own kind of beast and nothing really like it. Fortunately, we have a guy on our team that’s been pretty good around Knoxville the last few years. So, I think we’ll be in good shape when we get to run around there after a few races. I’m just looking forward to run some more 410 things with the World of Outlaws now that I’m 16, plus some 360 races with ASCS and the Midwest races.”
The 2027 ASCS National Tour will begin at Volusia Speedway Park for the opening weekend of the 57th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals on Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 4-6.
Where can you find info about Volusia? Click Here
Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.
