WHAT TO WATCH FOR: ASCS Debuts at Windy Hollow, Returns to Benton in Kentucky–Missouri Showdowns

The march toward the biggest race of the year for the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) continues with a trip to Kentucky and Missouri this Friday–Saturday, July 25–26, at Windy Hollow Speedway and Benton Speedway.

With only 10 days remaining before the 35th annual Xtream powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, the national 360 Sprint Car stars will get their final competitive laps in preparation for the marquee event this weekend, starting with the Series’ first-ever appearance at Windy Hollow Speedway on July 25.

The 3/8-mile oval, located in Owensboro, KY, underwent renovations over the offseason that erected a new outside retaining wall down the backstretch and through Turns 3–4, installed new infield drainage, and put several degrees of banking back in the corners. The Series was originally scheduled for its debut on the new surface in May but was reset to July following heavy rain received in the days leading up to the event. CRUSA Street Stocks, Bombers, Crown Vics and Mini Stocks will support the program.

The following evening, the Series returns to the 1/4-mile of Benton Speedway in Benton, MO, for the fifth time in track history. The Series first appeared at Benton in 1995 and twice in 1996 before the start of a 28-year absence that ended last October in an event won by home-state racer Joe B. Miller. The local B-Modified, 350 Sprint Car, and Mod Lite classes will support the program.

Tickets for the Windy Hollow event are on sale now at the link below and will also be sold at the track on race day. Tickets for Benton will be sold exclusively at the track on race day. If you can’t be at the track to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

WINDY HOLLOW TICKETS

Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow this weekend:

HOT STREAK — With his sixth national Series win of the season last Friday at Creek County Speedway, Sam Hafertepe Jr. has now won the last three Series events and takes a 134-point lead into Windy Hollow and Benton.

The 39-year-old, five-time champion of the American Sprint Car Series — chasing an unprecedented sixth national Series championship this year — has now won exactly half of the races contested thus far, putting he and the Ontario-based Hill’s Racing Team’s dominant abilities on display over the national 360 Sprint Car world. Should he keep his pace of winning, the Texas native will be on track to break the record he shares with four-time Series champion Gary Wright for the most wins in a single season. Wright established the record in 2003 at 15 wins, which Hafertepe tied in 2017.

Hafertepe has made only one start in his career at Benton, last October, when he started 10th and dropped back to an 18th-place finish — one of only seven times in the entire schedule he failed to finish inside the top-10.

DAUMINATOR — One week following Zach Daum’s first Sprint Car win in over two years Friday night at Crowley’s Ridge Speedway with the ASCS Hurricane Area Super Sprints, the Illinois native is getting back behind the wheel for more ASCS action at both national events this weekend.

Daum, the 33-year-old Midwest open-wheel standout, has spent a large portion of his career as a Midget-focused racer, winning four combined national championships between the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series presented by Toyota and the POWRi National Midget League. He’s also made many Sprint Car starts in both the Non-Wing and Winged variety, and this past weekend, returned to Victory Lane in a Winged car at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway, driving his own High Octane Bar & Lounge No. 5d.

Daum has one recorded appearance at Benton in his career, which came in 2023 with the All-Star Circuit of Champions, when he drove from 20th on the starting grid to finish eighth in the McGarry Motorsports No. 31.

A BIG WIN — One night after Daum’s triumph in Arkansas, it was Landon Britt’s turn to visit Victory Lane with the Hurricane Area Super Sprints, as he took the checkered flag at Riverside International Speedway.

Britt, 27, of Memphis, TN, took the lead in the early going and held off a field of local and regional contenders for his first career victory with the ASCS Regional series. The win marked his second ASCS-sanctioned triumph and first since 2023 when he topped a national Series show at Arrowhead Speedway in Oklahoma.

Britt has only one start at Benton in his career, which came last October, when he placed fifth with the national Series after starting third. Currently, Britt sits 11th in the championship points standings with three top-10 finishes in nine main event starts.

HEATING UP — With three top-10 finishes in his last three races, Garrett Benson’s rookie campaign with the American Sprint Car Series is beginning to turn heads.

The 14-year-old Rookie of the Year contender from Concordia, MO, notched finishes of ninth and eighth three weeks ago in his first laps ever at the historic 1/2-mile oval of Belleville High Banks, then backed those up with a sixth-place run last Friday at Creek County, marking his best three-race stretch of the season with the Series.

The results vaulted him up to seventh in the championship points standings, now only 13 points behind Brady Baker in the chase for the Rookie of the Year title. While he’s yet to make any starts at either of the tracks on the docket for this weekend, he’s shown skill on both the smaller and larger track configurations, which is a positive sign for him as he navigates both a bullring and an intermediate oval.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

WHEN AND WHERE
Friday, July 25 at Windy Hollow Speedway in Owensboro, KY
Saturday, July 26 at Benton Speedway in Benton, MO

TRACK FACTS

• Windy Hollow — Semi-banked, 3/8-mile oval
• Benton — Semi-banked, 1/4-mile oval
• Benton Track Record — 13.212 seconds set by Joe B. Miller on October 11, 2024

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 (12/34 Races)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1389pts)
2. Blake Hahn 1255pts (–134)
3. Matt Covington 1241pts (–148)
4. Jason Martin 1151pts (–238)
5. Brady Baker 1065pts (–324)
6. Kyler Johnson 1062pts (–327)
7. Garrett Benson 1052pts (–337)
8. Zach Blurton 1051pts (–338)
9. Austyn Gossel 1033pts (–356)
10. Landon Britt 1027pts (–362)

FEATURE WINNERS (5 Drivers):

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6 wins)
2. Justin Peck (3 wins)
3. Matt Covington, Zach Blurton, Blake Hahn (1 win)

FEATURE LAPS LED (8 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (125 laps)
2. Justin Peck (65 laps)
3. Matt Covington (48 laps)
4. Zach Blurton (25 laps)
5. Brian Brown (15 laps)
6. Blake Hahn, Austyn Gossel (13 laps)
7. Jason Martin (11 laps)

QUICK TIME AWARDS (9 Drivers)

1. Matt Covington, Seth Bergman, Blake Hahn (2 awards)
2. Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Kyler Johnson, Roger Crockett, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Jason Martin (1 award)

HEAT RACE WINNERS (24 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr., Matt Covington (7 wins)
2. Justin Peck, Blake Hahn, Garrett Benson (3 wins)
3. Scotty Thiel, Whit Gastineau, Seth Bergman, Jason Martin, Hank Davis, Sean McClelland, Harli White (2 wins)
4. Chris Martin, Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Caleb Saiz, Bradley Fezard, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Jordon Mallett, Austyn Gossel, Cameron Martin, Bryant Wiedeman (1 win)

DASH APPEARANCES (38 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (10 appearances)
2. Matt Covington (8 appearances)
3. Blake Hahn (7 appearances)
4. Seth Bergman, Garrett Benson (4 appearances)
5. Justin Peck, Kyler Johnson, Whit Gastineau, Jason Martin (3 appearances)
6. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley, Jordon Mallett, Austyn Gossel, Sean McClelland (2 appearances)
7. Hank Davis, Jordan Thomas, Scotty Thiel, Chris Martin, Brian Brown, Caleb Saiz, Chance Morton, Bradley Fezard, Zach Blurton, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Roger Crockett, Brady Baker, Bryant Wiedeman, Joey Danley, Cameron Martin, Alex Sewell, Steven Shebester, Harli White (1 appearance)

SMITH TITANIUM LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (8 Drivers)

1. Blake Hahn, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Clem, Kyle Clark, Bryant Wiedeman, Jason Martin, Harli White, Connor Lee (1 win)

HARD CHARGER AWARDS (10 Drivers)

1. Brady Baker (3 awards)
2. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Blake Hahn, Landon Britt, Jordon Mallett, Jason Martin, Brad Bowden, Stu Snyder, Ryder Laplante (1 award)

PODIUM FINISHES (17 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9 podiums)
2. Jason Martin, Blake Hahn (4 podiums)
3. Justin Peck, Matt Covington (3 podiums)
4. Brian Brown (2 podiums)
5. Emerson Axsom, Cole Macedo, Austin McCarl, Seth Bergman, Sean McClelland, Zach Blurton, Austyn Gossel, Kyler Johnson, Brady Baker, Cameron Martin, Joey Danley (1 podium)

2025 SCHEDULE + WINNERS

Race Number. Day, Date / Track / City, State / Winner (Total Wins)

1. Thu, Jan. 30 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (1)
2. Fri, Jan. 31 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (2)
3. Sat, Feb. 1 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (3)
4. Sat, April 12 / Salina Highbanks Speedway / Salina, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1)
5. Sat, May 10 / Paducah International Raceway / Paducah, KY / Matt Covington (1)
6. Fri, May 30 / Salt City Speedway / Hutchinson, KS / Zach Blurton (1)
7. Sat, May 31 / Dodge City Raceway Park / Dodge City, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2)
8. Sat, June 7 / Texarkana 67 Speedway / Texarkana, AR / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3)
9. Sat, June 21 / Batesville Motor Speedway / Locust Grove, AR / Blake Hahn (1)
10. Thu, July 3 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4)
11. Fri, July 4 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5)
12. Fri, July 18 / Creek County Speedway / Sapulpa, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6)