A break of over two months comes to an end for the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) National Tour as the stars of the national 360 Sprint Car series take on Salina Highbanks Speedway this Saturday, April 12.
The season opener at Volusia Speedway Park helped kick off the 2025 campaign back in January, putting many brand-new eyes on ASCS racing. The action resumes back in the ASCS homeland of Oklahoma with a $4,000 grand prize on the line for the winner of the main event, which will be co-sanctioned by the ASCS Sooner Region and count for points in both series’ championship standings.
In addition to the Sprint Cars, the local Pure Stock, Factory Stock, B-Modified and Trophy Car classes are also on the card. Pit gates are set to open at 3PM, grandstand gates at 5PM and Hot Laps set for 6:30.
Tickets are on sale now at the link below and will also be available at the track on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:
MEET THE FAMILY — Seventeen drivers are currently on the full-time roster, ready to take on each of the 33 remaining events. The list includes four past champions, seven returning drivers from the 2024 roster, four Rookie of the Year contenders, one regional ASCS champion and one past National Tour regular.
Defending champion Seth Bergman made the list of 15 different points championship winners in National Tour history last November after clinching the 2024 title. He rejoins the roster with fellow champions Sam Hafertepe Jr., Jason Martin, and Blake Hahn, who is chasing the championship for the first time in three years. These drivers combined for 21 Feature wins on the Tour last season.
Oklahoma racer Matt Covington leads the charge for the returning drivers from the 2024 roster, now in his 13th full-time season chasing his first Tour championship. He joins Zach Blurton, Landon Britt, Terry Easum, Kyler Johnson, Austyn Gossel, Bradley Fezard and 2024 ASCS Sooner Region champion Casey Wills in the 2025 championship chase.
Four young drivers brand-new to the Tour have joined the roster for 2025, all chasing Rookie of the Year honors — awarded to the rookie driver with the most championship points at season’s end. Ryder Laplante (18, of Calera, OK); Brady Baker (17, of Alexander, AR); and fellow 14-year-olds Garrett Benson (Concordia, MO) and Brogan Carder (Sioux Falls, SD) make up the list coming into Salina.
The full-time roster is capped by former Tour regular and Feature winner, Harli White. The 29-year-old from Lindsay, OK, spent four consecutive seasons racing as part of the full-time roster, and is transitioning back to full-time ASCS competition for the first time since 2020, piloting the Big Sky Speedway-backed No. 17W. She made history in her last full season on the Tour, becoming the first female ever to win an ASCS National Tour event by taking the checkered flag at Riverside International Speedway in Arkansas.
THE CHAMP IS HERE — Seth Bergman returns to Tour competition at Salina, armed with a slew of new cars and equipment as he prepares for his first title defense as ASCS National Tour champion.
Bergman, 37, of Snohomish, WA, took time over the last four months to overhaul his team’s operation, preparing an upgraded transporter and two new Triple X Race Co. cars for the season ahead. The work led him to the decision to skip the season opener at Volusia Speedway Park in January — by virtue of the one race “drop” addition and the races at Volusia counting only as one points event — but he and his Oklahoma-based team are prepared to contest each of the remaining events on the calendar.
Historically, Bergman has posted only two top-10 finishes in six career Sprint Car starts at Salina, but that trend is on track to change Saturday. He’s made two outings with his new equipment with the ASCS Sooner Region already this season, posting back-to-back runner-up finishes two weeks ago at Creek County Speedway and Enid Speedway against many of the same drivers he’ll race against this weekend.
LEADING THE PACK — Five-time Tour champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. continues his quest for a record sixth ASCS National Tour championship at Salina, where he’s won once with ASCS before.
The 39-year-old from Sunnyvale, TX, took the checkered flag when the Tour visited the track in 2014, besting fellow veterans Johnny Herrera and Dustin Morgan in the main event. Since then, his only other start at the 3/8-mile oval came with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars in 2015.
Though he’s currently listed as sixth place in the championship points standings, Hafertepe will come into Salina as the top-ranked ASCS full-timer in points after the season-opening three races at Volusia, where he posted finishes of third, seventh and 11th. Over the past several weeks, he’s been partaking in 410 Sprint Car competition with the World of Outlaws, posting podium finishes in two of his last three starts (March 15 at Kennedale Speedway Park; March 22 at Cotton Bowl Speedway).
MEMORY LANE — Blake Hahn will be one of only three drivers in the field this Saturday to have previously won with the ASCS National Tour at Salina. It’s now been almost 10 years, but the grandson of ASCS founder Emmett Hahn still savors that night in June 2015 — the evening of his first career Tour victory.
Now 30 years old, Hahn — of Sapulpa, OK — has amassed two Tour championships and a total of 21 Tour Feature wins and returns to the full-time roster this year in search of a third points title. Historically, Hahn has put up two wins and three top-five finishes across seven career starts at Salina — also winning with the Oil Capital Racing Series in 2021.
After qualifying for all three Features in the season opener at Volusia, Hahn comes into the weekend as the second-ranked full-time driver in the championship points standings.
ON DEFENSE — The last time the ASCS National Tour appeared at Salina Highbanks, Jason Martin stood in Victory Lane.
The 42-year-old from Liberal, KS, bested Arkansas racer Jordon Mallett and 2000 National Tour champion Wayne Johnson en route to his eighth of nine total Tour Feature wins that season, which helped him clinch the 2023 championship.
Martin kicked off his 2025 Tour campaign with two Feature starts in the three races held at Volusia in January. He’ll try and defend his Salina victory from two years ago this weekend against several names he competed against at Volusia.
THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
WHEN AND WHERE
Saturday, April 12 at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK
TRACK FACTS
- 3/8-mile, high-banked oval
- Track Record — 13.353 seconds set by Blake Hahn on August 26, 2023
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 (3/41 Races)
- Justin Peck (150pts)
- Brian Brown 142pts (–8)
- Cole Macedo 135pts (–15)
- Emerson Axsom 130pts (–20)
- Austin McCarl 125pts (–25)
- Sam Hafertepe Jr. 122pts (–28)
- Danny Dietrich 119pts (–31)
- Scotty Thiel 116pts (–34)
- Brady Bacon 113pts (–37)
- Chris Martin 110pts (–40)
FEATURE WINNERS (1 Driver):
- Justin Peck (3 wins)
FEATURE LAPS LED (2 Drivers)
- Justin Peck (65 laps)
- Brian Brown (15 laps)
QUICK TIME AWARDS (2 Drivers)
- Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl (1 award)
HEAT RACE WINNERS (10 Drivers)
- Justin Peck, Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3 wins)
- Scotty Thiel (2 wins)
- Matt Covington, Hank Davis, Blake Hahn, Chris Martin, Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl (1 win)
DASH APPEARANCES (16 Drivers)
- Justin Peck, Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3 appearances)
- Blake Hahn, Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley (2 appearances)
- Hank Davis, Jordan Thomas, Matt Covington, Scotty Thiel, Chris Martin, Brian Brown (1 appearance)
SMITH TITANIUM LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (3 Drivers)
- Blake Hahn, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Clem (1 win)
HARD CHARGER AWARDS (3 Drivers)
- Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Blake Hahn (1 award)
PODIUM FINISHES (6 Drivers)
- Justin Peck (3 podiums)
- Brian Brown (2 podiums)
- Emerson Axsom, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Cole Macedo, Austin McCarl (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)
