Jett Barnes is not your average 15-year-old.
Since turning his first laps in a Sprint Car in 2025, the Visalia, CA, native has stamped his place in the discipline with a standout showing through his first four events on a national stage with the American Sprint Car Series.
Backed by two-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series champion and car owner Jason Meyers, Barnes has used the new challenges to build his confidence in unfamiliar territory.
The Barnes and Meyers families crossed paths before Jett was asked to pilot the No. 14 Sprint Car. When Jason was in the market to buy a dirt kart for his son, he bought it from Nick Barnes, Jett’s father, as the families stayed connected through Jason’s racetrack, Plaza Park Speedway.
“I met Jett about probably seven years ago now,” Meyers said. “I was looking for a cage kart for my son, who is 11 now, and at the time, Jett was young, winning everything and moving up classes. I actually met his dad, Nick, and bought the cage kart from him.
“I watched (Jett) roll into Micros with my involvement in Plaza Park, and Jett spent some time working with Jake Hagopian, who is my partner in the track. Actually, Jake’s dad, Mark, was my mentor when I was racing Micros when I was younger, so it all kind of came together organically.”
Beginning the year with his first Saturday A-Main appearance in his rookie Chili Bowl Nationals presented by NOS Energy Drink, among the field of 406 drivers that took a keen eye on Barnes was fellow “Golden State” native Corey Day. With Day’s endorsement, Meyers brought the teenager aboard for select races along the West Coast.
“I got to give credit to Corey,” Meyers said. “Corey came back from the Chili Bowl, and he’s like, ‘We need to put Jett in the car.’ Like, he was that adamant that we need to do this, so we started talking, met with Jett and Nick, and we did a trial at the beginning of the year. We said, ‘No obligations, let’s run some races and let’s see how this goes.’”
“After Chili Bowl, I didn’t know if I was gonna have a Sprint Car ride for this year,” Barnes said. “It was definitely nerve-racking, but when Jason gave me the call, it was definitely exciting. From Chili Bowl to now, I feel like I’ve made a lot of improvements. My racing ability is better; I’m faster in Qualifying, and I feel like it’s been a lot better.”
While he’s focused on duties in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Day is an active member of the Meyers squad through working with Jett the week and into race day.
“He calls me pretty much before every race,” Barnes said. “He gives me the rundown on how the tracks are probably going to be throughout the night because he’s been to quite a bit of them. He definitely helps in a lot of areas. It’s funny, my first 410 race, I guess I was lifting a little too early, and he kept calling me a baby, so it kind of made me want to drive a little harder and just do my best.”
“This is probably Corey’s first role really as a mentor,” Meyers said. “To see him taking what he’s learning on the NASCAR level and applying it to the Sprint Car side as well as his mentorship to Jett. I’m really proud of the team in general. It’s been pretty seamless. Things like this can go well, but it can also be hard. It’s been a lot of effort by everybody to make sure we had the proper things in place.”
When the ASCS National Tour traveled to Montana to commence Frontier Speedweek between Big Sky Speedway and Sheridan Speedway, Barnes was unloaded and prepared to face the country’s top 360 Sprint Car drivers for the first time.
Through the three-race stretch, Barnes earned two Quick Time awards and appeared in each night’s Honest Abe Roofing Dash. Sunday at Sheridan was his shining moment as he held off Matt Covington and Garrett Benson to score his first Series win. He found similarities in the tracks to his California experience that helped him progress faster.
“Big Sky had a big curb and was slick too,” Barnes said. “That helped a lot, but I feel like our overall package was pretty good. Just a little bad luck on the second night, but I feel like we had really good speed throughout the whole night. And then Sheridan was, I mean, I felt like pretty dominant. We fired off well and got away dominated, but the car was really good, and the whole team did good.”
After taking a first win with the POWRi 410 Sprint Cars at Lake Ozark Speedway the following week, Barnes made his fourth career ASCS appearance on Sept. 12 at Moberly Motorsports Park. Turning his first laps around the 3/8-mile oval, Barnes won his first Dash before outdueling Cameron Martin and Sam Hafertepe Jr. for his second consecutive Series win.
Meyers said Barnes’s youthfulness helps him adapt and find speed faster than other competitors in the program.
“Being young is a big advantage because naivety is bliss,” Meyers said. “When you’re that young and you really don’t know the limits yet, it’s very natural for Jett to get in and stand on the gas. I know for me, when I went out on the road, like, I wasn’t afraid of speed. And frankly, when you grow up racing on California tracks, they’re small, they’re typically rough, and things are happening really fast. So, when you get out on a half mile, it’s actually quite a bit easier on the nerves. As long as you’re not afraid of the speed, it’s actually less intense to race a half mile than it is to race a bullring.”
While Barnes is set to close 2026 around California for Jason Meyers Racing, he cherishes what he’s accomplished in the year with the team and in ASCS as he prepares to spend more time racing in the national ranks.
“It was definitely different from what I’m used to,” Barnes said. “The power of ASCS, like, the competition was really good and really tough. The first night at Big Sky, I was surprised at how good Seth (Bergman) and Sam (Hafertepe Jr.) were, and racing against them. It was different from the California competition, but it was really tough, and the tracks were awesome to visit. We’ll have some tough races coming up to try and close out on a good note, then we’ll look for good things next year.”
Through a successful run with the team and the early bonds that Barnes has built with the team, Meyers is looking forward to giving the young Californian more chances to battle the country’s top Sprint Car drivers across the ranks in the upcoming season.
“He came out and did a great job,” Meyers said. “He’s shown up at the shop and worked well with the guys right out of the gate. He won his third race, and it went well overall. So, we expanded the schedule this year, and we’re still working to put things together, but it looks like we’re going to put a pretty extensive schedule for Jett that’s similar to what we did with Corey. We really enjoyed our time with ASCS this summer. The hospitality was great, and we had some really good runs to show.”
The ASCS National Tour will head into the penultimate weekend of the 2026 season at RPM Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 10. Then, the Series visits Creek County Speedway for the Fuzzy’s Fall Fling on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 16-17 to close the year.
How can you find info for RPM? Click here
How can you find info for Creek County? Click here
Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.
