The American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) is coming to Central Arizona Raceway in 2026 for two action-packed weekends of national 360 Sprint Car racing in the inaugural running of the Sonoran Clash.
The sweeping, 3/8-mile oval, located in Casa Grande, AZ, will host the Series for the first time for two separate Saturday–Sunday stints — Feb. 21–22 and Feb. 28–March 1. Drivers will race for the Series standard $4,000-to-win purse on both Saturday dates and a $6,000-to-win purse on both Sunday dates.
Over the four-race stretch, drivers will earn points toward a special miniseries championship chase, which pays $3,000 to the winner, $2,000 to the runner-up and $1,000 to third place. This is separate from the season-long championship points standings which all drivers earn points by default.
Both weekends will be the follow-up to the three-day event at Volusia Speedway Park that opens the 2026 season, Jan. 29–31, as part of the 55th annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals.
Central Arizona will mark the fourth different track in The Copper State the American Sprint Car Series has raced at in its 34-year history. The most recent Series event in Arizona took place at Canyon Speedway Park in February 2020, won by six-time Series champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. The Series has also contested events at fellow Arizona ovals Cocopah Speedway (2012–2017) and USA Raceway (2009–2013).
Promoter Brad Whitfield joined forces with well-known Sprint Car racing supporter and investor Jerry Petty — founder of Avanti Windows & Doors and Petty Performance Racing — in September 2024. Together, the two have made numerous upgrades to the track and surrounding facility including the installation of a new outside retaining wall and catchfence, new grandstand seats, tower suites, restrooms and various track equipment.
Over the past year, Petty and Whitfield have taken in multiple high-profile dirt track racing events with both national 410 Sprint Cars and Super Late Models. 2026 will continue to put the track in the spotlight with the welcoming of national 360 Sprint Car racing and the American Sprint Car Series’ debut.
“[ASCS] gets the premier drivers, and we’re trying to make ourselves a premier track, and we’re working very hard to do that,” Petty said. “With the fact that we have great weather in the winter, we’re hoping to make this something that becomes a destination event year-after-year.”
ASCS has held events at Central Arizona in the past under the Southwest Region and Canyon Region banners, stretching from 2007–2023, as well as the ASCS Desert Sprint Car Series and the ASCS Arizona Non-Wing Sprints.
Tickets to see the American Sprint Car Series at Central Arizona Raceway will be sold at the track ticket booth on each race day. If you can’t make it out to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
