NEW SMYRNA, FL (February 14, 2026):  The final night of racing during the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing had blazing speed and last lap drama provided by the FMS Outlaw Sprint Cars. Three more conventional classes, by World Series standards, also saw action at New Smyrna Speedway.

Davey Hamilton, Jr. was the Sprint Car winner, surviving a bump and run attempt by Bobby Santos in turn four on the last lap. Cody Stickler won the Modifieds of Mayhem event, and Jared Maupin was crowned the World Series point champion for the Florida Modifieds. George Gorham, Jr. got his second Pro Truck victory, and Blake Clouser scored in the Super Stocks, this time.

Hamilton Holds On

The final event of the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing was the inaugural race for the new FMS Outlaw Sprint Car Series. The winged wonders laid down blistering laps at New Smyrna Speedway, but Davey Hamilton, Jr. survived a turn four bump and run attempt by Bobby Santos, III to get the win.

“I feel bad for Bobby,” Hamilton said. “He did what he had to do. He sent it in there.” “I was dead sideways,” Hamilton added. “I don’t know how I held onto it at the end.”

Hamilton was relieved to get the win, which snapped a long drought. “I don’t care if its five cars or one hundred, a win is still a win,” he concluded.

Hamilton was on the pole for the twenty-five lap World Series finale. Joe Ligouri was next to him. Anthony Nocella and Dylan Reynolds were in row two. Alby Ovitt and Jerry Paquin made up row three. Santos shared row four with Larry Brazil. Keith Butler and Cheyenne Potter were in row five. Joe Elnagger trailed the field.

Hamilton darted out to the early lead, with Ligouri, Santos, Reynolds, and Nocella giving chase. When Santos moved into second, Hamilton had a huge lead. Santos was able to close in somewhat when Hamilton encountered lapped traffic.

Santos got a break when the first caution came out on lap eighteen. He got a big run on Hamilton entering turn one on the restart. Santos dove to the inside and raced Hamilton wheel to wheel all the way to turn three. Hamilton entered the corner just a nose ahead, and he was able to shut the door on Santos coming through turn four.

Another caution three laps later set up a different scenario for Hamilton. He had a car length on Santos entering turn one this time, and he moved down to the inside line to take away Santos’ opportunity to dive bomb him again.

Santos stalked Hamilton. Coming off turn two on the white flag lap, Santos got a good run on the leader. They entered turn three almost wheel to wheel. Santos kept coming, but Hamilton held his line. Santos bumped Hamilton at the entry to turn four, turning Hamilton’s car sideways. Santos swerved up the track to avoid another impact, but he lost control and spun out. Somehow, Hamilton saved his car and he drove on to get the checkered flag.

After Hamilton took the checkers, the officials finished the event with a caution and the checkers for the rest of the cars still running.

Reynolds, Ovitt, Ligouri and Butler finished second through fifth. Santos was scored in sixth, one lap down. Paquin was seventh, two laps down. Potter was eighth, three laps down. Nocella, Elnagger, and Brazil did not finish.

The heat wins went to Ovitt and Santos. Colton Bettis set the fastest time of the night, at 15.180 seconds. He scratched from the feature, as did Kody Swanson.

Stickler Succeeds

Cody Stickler rebounded from two consecutive DNFs to get the win in the final round of Florida Modified action during the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. The win also counted as the first of the 2026 season for the Modifieds of Mayhem series.

Stickler was the first driver to pass, under green flag conditions, the potent number 30 driven to wins by Kaden Honeycutt and Augie Grill.

Chuck Barnes, Jr., Jared Maupin, Brian Nester, and Derrick Griffin completed the top five. Tim Moore, Matthew Green, Grill, Kevin Peel, and Brad Bowman were the next five finishers.

While racing with Stickler early in the sixty lapper, Grill got into the backstretch wall. Soon afterwards, he pitted to have the right rear tire replaced. Although Grill did come from the rear of the field to eighth, the car was not up to its usual standards.

On the strength of his third place finish, Jared Maupin claimed the point championship by four markers over Brad Bowman. Brian Nester, Tim Moore, and Matthew Laprade rounded out the top five. Laprade had to switch to a back-up car after his violent wreck on Friday night.

Gorham Goes Again

George Gorham, Jr. went from fourth to first on the initial start and he never looked back. Although a number of cautions brought him back to the field, none of his competitors could maintain his rapid pace throughout the sixty lapper. J.T. Chastain ran second for much of the race, but a flat tire required a pit stop early in the second half. He battled back to finish fifth. Nolan Mesa fought off Jeffrey White on the last lap to get second. Devin Kyle was fourth.Timothy Rushing, Niko Garrano, Timothy Todd, Jr., Brennan Fletcher, and Petrick Mennenga rounded out the top ten.

Clouser Super

Blake Clouser won his third event of the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. The first two came last weekend in the Sportsmen. This one was on the final night in the Super Stock division. He led all thirty-five laps. Bobby Holley was second, followed by Tyler Prenesti, Chase Symons, and Justin Spears. Gage Spears, David Gould, Scott Sipe, George Spears, and Thomas Cummins were sixth through tenth.

NEW SMYRNA, FL (February 13, 2026):  Ronnie Williams celebrated his first Tour Type Modified victory at New Smyrna Speedway on Friday night. His triumph in the Richie Evans Memorial assured him of the point championship as well. Ageless Augie Grill returned to World Series victory lane subbing for Kaden Honeycutt in the Florida Modifieds. George Gorham, Jr. took the Pro Truck win, and Tobi Smith vanquished the Ground Pounder Vintage Cars.

Williams Wins Evans Memorial and World Series Points

Ronnie Williams made his first Tour Type Modified win at New Smyrna Speedway a memorable one. It came in the prestigious Richie Evans Memorial. And, it also clinched his first World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing point championship.

“We weren’t going to be happy going home without a trophy,” Williams said excitedly. “We’ve been coming down here long enough to get one.” Actually, he got two of them. In addition to the race hardware, Williams received the high-point award.

“This is awesome,” Williams added. “The guys worked their butts off, they gave me an awesome piece.”

Patrick Emerling, who dominated the 2025 World Series, finished second in the race and second in the overall points. “We ran pretty solid. Ronnie had a little better car,” Emerling said dejectedly.

Jimmy Blewett, who led twenty laps and finished third, explained “we needed to hit it a little better on the (pit) stop. It was a crap shoot on the stagger.” Blewett was strong at the end of the first half of the race, but he could not carry that speed over into the second half of the event.

Jeffrey Goodale and Jeffrey Battle made up the front row for the Tour Type Modified finale. James Blewett and Trevor Catalano were in the second row. Then came Cam McDermott and Jimmy Blewett. Emerling and Williams, who provided last lap fireworks on Thursday night, were paired up in row four. The darling of the 2026 World Series, Paulie Hartwig, III, and Tyler Catalano occupied row five. They were followed by Jon Puleo and Burt Myers.

Battle led Goodale on the opening round of the hundred lapper. Trevor Catalano was a close third, followed by James and Jimmy Blewett. Within a couple of laps, Trevor Catalano took control of the race. Jimmy Blewett followed him into second, with Battle, James Blewett, and Goodale making up the top five. Eight laps into the race, Hartwig moved into fifth place.

Trevor Catalano led Jimmy Blewett through lap forty-three. James Blewett held third for about ten laps before giving way to McDermott. Hartwig continued in fifth until Emerling and Williams blasted by around lap twenty-five. The dynamic duo ran fourth and fifth until late in the first half when they each moved up a spot.

A competition yellow came out after lap fifty was completed. At that point, the entire field pitted. It was a controlled pit stop, so the racers retained their positions for the restart so long as they left the pits within the allotted time. No penalties resulted from pit road activity.

So, Jimmy Blewett and Emerling were on the front row for the restart. Williams and McDermott were in row two, and Trevor Catalano and Eric Beers were in row three. Goodale, Hartwig, Timmy Solomito, and Andrew Krause made up the balance of the top ten.

It took two attempts to get the race going again. The first was called off because the leaders fired before reaching the starting zone.

On the second try, Jimmy Blewett resumed his lead over Emerling, Williams, McDermott, and Trevor Catalano. On lap fifty-six, Williams ducked under Emerling for second. Seven laps later, Williams made a powerful inside move on Jimmy Blewett in turn one to take the lead.

Williams began to pull away from Jimmy Blewett. Emerling began testing him, looking for a lane to make a pass for second. Emerling pulled the trigger on lap seventy-nine.

That set the running order as follows:  Williams, Emerling, Jimmy Blewett, McDermott, Hartwig, Beers, Trevor Catalano, Goodale, Solomito, and James Blewett.

In the final twenty laps, the top five did not change. Williams maintained a comfortable lead over Emerling, who also had a safe margin over Jimmy Blewett.

There was some activity going in the second half of the top ten, though. Andrew Krause worked his way into that group. Burt Myers was also knocking on the door. James Blewett was falling back somewhat.

At the checkers, Williams had a lead of over 3.6 seconds. Emerling was second, followed by Jimmy Blewett. McDermott and Hartwig completed the top five. Beers, Trevor Catalano, Goodale, Krause, and Solomito were sixth through tenth.

As noted above, Williams’ win brought the World Series point championship with it. Emerling was second in points. Krause, who entered the Evans Memorial tied with Williams, fell to third in the final standings. Jimmy Blewett and Hartwig were fourth and fifth in the series points.

Pinch Hitter Grill Wins Florida Mods

With Kaden Honeycutt racing a truck at Daytona, veteran Augie Grill slipped behind the wheel of the Florida Modified that dominated the first two races for the class during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. To nobody’s surprise, Grill brought home the win on Friday night. Grill sailed into the lead following a lap one restart and was never headed. Cody Stickler was about to challenge him twelve laps into the race. However, a mechanical failure eliminated that possibility. In the middle stage of the race, Derrick Griffin was closing in on Grill. However, a vicious wreck by the third place runner, Matthew Laprade, halted that bid. When the race resumed after the extended red flag, Grill drove away from Griffin with ease. Tank Tucker followed Grill and Griffin across the line. Jared Maupin and Brad Bowman were fourth and fifth. Jeff Letson. Ander Jackson, Brian Nester, Spencer Stineman, and L.J. Grimm rounded out the top ten.

Gorham Goes in Pro Trucks

George Gorham, Jr. led all but the first two laps of the Pro Truck race on Friday night during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. Gorham was shaking down the truck to get it ready for his son to drive later in the season. Matthew Laprade made a bid for the lead in turn three with ten laps to go, but Gorham’s high side momentum foiled that attempt. Laprade was second, followed by Anthony Lessard, J.T. Chastain, and Nolan Mesa. Jeffrey White, Devin Kyle, Nick Provost, Greyson Greaves, and Timmy Todd were the next five finishers.

Smith Wins Ground Pounder Vintage Race

Tobi Smith was the overall winner of the Ground Pounders Vintage race held on Friday night during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. Art Kunzeman was second. One lap down were Eddie Freeman, Frank Pelkey, Scott Cutter, and Robert Piccolo. Scott Bouley was four laps down to the leader. Jody Modine and Collin Smith did not finish.

NEW SMYRNA, FL (February 12, 2026):  The Pro Late Models were in the spotlight on Thursday night at New Smyrna Speedway. Max Reeves led more than ninety laps to win the finale for the class during the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. Patrick Emerling and Eric Zeh scored exciting victories in the Tour Type Modifieds and 602 Modifieds, respectively. Spencer Davis romped to the win against a short field in the Super Late Models again, and Kaden Honeycutt came from the tail of the Florida Modified field to get his second win of speedweeks.

Thursday night action also decided three point championships. Davis topped the Super Lates, and Vito Cancilla got the Pro Late crown. Paulie Hartwig, III earned his first in the 602 Modifieds.

Reaves Wins Hart to Heart 100

Max Reaves, a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, dominated the Hart to Heart 100 for the Pro Late Models Thursday night at New Smyrna Speedway. The sixteen year old pilot from Trinity, NC, led ninety-one laps to close out speedweeks in style.

Reaves observed, “I’m so thankful to my crew chief, Buggy, for setting this car up. Maybe if we ran the whole week we’d have swept the entire week.”

Raphael Lessard led the other nine laps and finished second. He commented, “it feels great. It was a pretty hard week. That thing is pretty beat up, but it was still pretty fast.”

Third place finisher, Conner Jones, accepted his fate. “I’ll take it. This week was pretty frustrating. We’ve had such good luck the last few years, so this was frustrating.”

Lessard and Jayden Johnson paced the field for the start of the century grind. Evan McKnight made his first start of the World Series from the third position. He only ran qualifying laps in the previous nights in order to keep his equipment fresh. Gabriel Casagrande rolled away in fourth. Vito Cancilla and Reaves started from row three. Brody Monahan and Jones followed. Cole Robie and Josh Stade were in row five. With Jarrett Butcher and Nicholas Naugle in row six.

Lessard won the race to turn one on the opening lap. Johnson, McKnight, Casagrande, and Reaves fell in line behind him. Reaves moved forward quickly, reaching third by lap five and getting the lead just four laps later.

Four cautions on laps kept Reaves in check through the first twenty-nine laps of the contest. Lessard ran in second, Casagrande moved into third, with Monahan and Jones also overtaking Johnson along the way.

When the action resumed, Reaves was ready to go. He drove away from Lessard with ease. Monahan took over third, with Casagrande and Jones making up the top five. Monahan took over second late in the fifty-lap skein.

A competition caution came out on lap seventy-nine. Fans wondered whether Monahan could overtake Reaves on the restart. Monahan gave it a valiant try in turn one, but he was no match for Reaves in clean air. He got another shot at it two laps later, but his run ended soon thereafter with a flat tire.

Lessard moved up to the front row for the final restart. However, reaves dispatched him quickly.

Reaves’ margin of victory was 1.640 seconds. Jones, Casagrande, and Naugle completed the top five. Alex Labbe climbed from the rear of the field to sixth. Stade, McKnight, Gage Gilby, and Butcher were the next five to cross the finish line.

Although he crashed out on lap twenty-nine, Vito Cancilla accumulated enough points through the week to earn the World Series title. The Cali teen noted, “things were pretty positive until tonight.” His previous starts all produced podium finishes, with a win among them. “It was the first time we were here and I can’t wait to come back.” Cole Robie, Conner Jones, William Roberge, and Gage Gilby were second through fifth in the standings.

Emerling Wins Thriller

Patrick Emerling defeated Ronnie Williams again in the Tour Type Modifieds for the second time during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. However, this one featured some aggressive driving and last lap fireworks.

“That was a wild ending,” Emerling said. He reiterated, “that was one of the wildest finishes we’ve been in in a while. Last night, he (Williams) raced me clean.” But, that was then and this was now. “We had some contact on the last lap,” when Williams dove low entering turn one. Emerling admitted to returning the favor when they got to turn three. Emerling moved Williams up the track. “We almost wrecked,” he added sheepishly.

Paulie Hartwig, III and Emerling shared row one for the sixty lapper. Williams and Jimmy Blewett were in row two, followed by Trevor Catalano and James Blewett. Jeffrey Battle and Tyler Catalano occupied row four, followed by Amy Catalano and Jeffrey Goodale. The sixth row consisted of Jon Puleo and Andrew Krause.

Hartwig jumped out to the early lead over Emerling, Williams, Jimmy Blewett, and Battle. Williams soon took over second. While Emerling raced along in third, Trevor Catalano advanced to fourth, with Jimmy Blewett falling to fifth.

Williams went low coming off turn two on the eighth lap to grab the lead from the teen. Trevor Catalano followed in his wake to reach second. Hartwig held onto third, but he was being pressed by Emerling.

Emerling charged into third on lap nineteen. He passed Trevor Catalano for second twenty-three laps later. He quickly closed in on Williams. Emerling stalked Williams until the caution came out, on lap fifty-seven, when Trevor Catalano spun while running third.

That set up a three-lap dash to the finish. Williams took the inside line and Emerling went to the outside. Hartwig and Jimmy Blewett lined up behind them. Battle and James Blewett were in the third row.

Hartwig was off the pace on the restart. He went to the apron and limped into turn three for a caution. He pitted, but his crew could not make repairs in time for him to return to action for the final three laps.

Emerling rolled the outside line to perfection to grab the lead in turn one following the restart. Williams battled back and regained the lead on the white flag lap. However, Emerling came after him entering turn three for the final time. There was contact, and Williams slid up the track. He saved the car from hitting the wall and, somehow, he maintained second place.

In the chaos, Battle wound up third, followed by James Blewett and Mark Stewart. Andrew Krause edged Jimmy Blewett for sixth. Tyler Catalano, Goodale, and Puleo completed the top ten.

Heading into Friday’s Richie Evans Memorial, Williams and Krause are tied in the World Series points. Emerling trails by six. Battle and Jimmy Blewett are within striking distance.

Davis Does It Again

Spencer Davis captured his second straight Super Late Model race of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and, in the process, he locked up the point championship. Once again, a depleted field turned out for the final race for this division.

Davis acknowledged that “it’s been about ten or twelve years” since he could call himself a World Series champion. He explained that he won a Pro Late Model championship early in his career.

Kyle Benjamin and Davis started on the front row for the thirty-five lap finale. Jade Avedisian and Max Reeves were in row two, followed by Anthony Bello and George Phillips. Nicholas Naugle and Joe Brainard made up row four. Then came Steve Weaver and John Bolen, who was driving Davis’ back-up car.

Davis jumped out to the lead on the initial start. Reeves followed him into second. Benjamin ran third, followed by Avedisian and Bello. Bello moved up a notch by lap ten.

The quintet of Davis, Reeves, Benjamin, Bello, and Avedisian stayed together until lap nineteen, when Phillips took over fifth.

Bello passed Benjamin around lap thirty. Otherwise, the running order was unchanged over the last sixteen laps.

Davis’ margin of victory was nearly 1.8 seconds. Reeves was second, followed by Bello, Benjamin, and Phillips. Avedisian was sixth. She was followed by Naugle, Brainard, Bolen, and Weaver.

The top five in series points were Davis, Avedisian, Reeves, Phillips, and Naugle.

Hooray for Zeh

Eric Zeh held off Paulie Hartwig, III and Jack Handley, Jr. in a tight three-car shootout for the win in the Poppa Blewett 66, the finale for the 602 Modifieds during the Sixtieth World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing. While Zeh won the battle, Hartwig won the war, as the second place finish assured the teenager of his first championship during speedweeks.

Zeh was speechless after the exciting finish and he deflected the credit to his spotter. “I don’t know what to say, I have a really good spotter.” He also gave props to his crew for some quick pit work. “I thought we were done after we had that flat tire.”

Hartwig, who raced hard at times during the contest, showed a level of maturity in the dramatic final laps. He noted that there were times that he could have used the chrome horn to move Zeh and, more importantly, that he was the middle man in a three-wide battle for the lead. “When we got three-wide, I thought about the big picture.” He backed off a bit to ensure that he would finish the race to clinch the World Series championship in his first try.

Handley almost stole the race at the end, but his bold outside move came up a bit short. “I was pretty hard on myself last night,” he said in reference to losing the race to Hartwig in the closing laps. But, he realized, “finishing third at New Smyrna is not too shabby.” Handley was deservedly proud of his effort.

Hartwig and Zeh made up the front row for the start of the only extra-distance race of the week for the 602 Modifieds. Cody Norman and Handley were next. Justin Beecher and Paul Flye were in row three, followed by Tovia Grynewicz and Jim Storace. Matthew Montineri and Jerry Gradl occupied row five, and Ethan Truell and Adam LaCicero claimed row six.

After three failed attempts to get the race started, the race director called for a single file start. The first two resulted in hard crashes in turn one, and the third was just a slow spin on the front stretch.

The ruling enabled Hartwig to claim the early advantage over Zeh, Handley, Beecher, and Grynewicz. Hartwig led the parade until lap twenty, when Handly sailed past him on the outside. Beecher followed Handley into second. Hartwig fell back to third, but he passed Beecher on the restart. A grinding crash occurred in turn two when Grynewicz came up the track and pinned Beecher against the outside wall.

After the restart, Hartwig kept his championship rival in sight until lap twenty-eight, when the opportunity presented itself for him to regain the lead.

Hartwig and Handley then led a two-car breakaway. During their run out front, Zeh was working his way back from his pit stop. He was third, and coming, by lap forty.

Handley and Hartwig swapped the lead, and their battle allowed Zeh to close in. Soon, it was a three-car battle royale. Zeh grabbed the lead on lap forty-seven, with Hartwig and Handley giving chase.

Hartwig pressed Zeh, with Handley lurking behind them. Hartwig led on lap sixty-one, and Zeh came back to lead the next circuit. But the race was far from over.

On the final lap, Hartwig tried an inside move, which Zeh covered in turns one and two. Handley went to the outside and got a strong run coming off turn two. He passed Hartwig and got next to Zeh in turn three. He lost some momentum, and fell back to third at the finish.

Ethan Truel and Tony Petrenelli were fourth and fifth. Nick Baer, Steve Whitt, Joe Papin, Paul Flye, and Annabeth Crum completed the top ten.

Hartwig clinched the championship by a dozen points over Handley. Zeh was third, with Jerry Gradl, Jr. and Annabeth Crum rounding out the top five.

Honeycutt Hustles Again

NASCAR Truck Series racer, Kaden Honeycutt, doubled up in the Florida Modifieds. He started scratch in the sixty lapper because he missed qualifications due to his commitment to the truck at Daytona. Through the first half of the race, Honeycutt moved forward methodically. The turning point came on lap twenty-nine. While circulating under a yellow, the leader, Cody Stickler, was summoned to pit road to check for fluid leaking from his car. When that was confirmed, Matthew Laprade was moved to the point for the restart and that put Honeycutt on the front row. When the green came out again, Honeycutt took off like he was shot from a cannon. The final thirty-one laps were completed without any interruptions, allowing him to build a lead of nearly seven seconds. Laprade was second, followed by Brad Bowman, Brian Nester, and Tim Moore. Matthew Green, Jared Maupin, L.J. Grimm, Brad Springer, and Ander Jackson rounded out the top ten.