NASHVILLE — Championship battles, dramatic finishes, late-race incidents and thrilling victories highlighted Friday night’s opening round of the 41st All American 400 Weekend at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
With nearly 170 race cars taking to the track throughout the day between the historic five-eighths-mile oval and the quarter-mile, the three-day racing celebration got off to an exciting start.
Friday’s program featured Nashville’s local quarter-mile divisions, with several championships remaining undecided until the final laps of their respective feature events.
From a championship decided by a single point to a dramatic comeback through the field, the opening night provided plenty of excitement as the speedway crowned its 2026 local champions.
The final race of the evening provided one of the night’s most entertaining battles, as Dylan Jones captured the 25-lap Limited Late Model feature while Michael Pannell survived an eventful championship showdown with Jeff Belt.
Pannell entered the night holding an eight-point advantage over Belt, with the two championship contenders starting side-by-side in the second row.
Jim Jordan paced the field early, but much of the attention quickly turned to the battle between Pannell and Belt. The two exchanged three bump-and-run moves while battling through traffic and for the lead.
Pannell made the first move to take second, Belt answered with a bump-and-run for the lead, and Pannell responded with another move to regain the top position. The final exchange resulted in Belt spinning, sending both championship contenders to the rear of the field.
Nicholas Formosa and Johnathan Dishman then found themselves battling at the front. Formosa grabbed the lead on a restart before another caution set up a dramatic battle between the two. Dishman gained an advantage on the outside before attempting to move to the bottom entering turn one, with Formosa still alongside. Dishman spun during the exchange, and both drivers restarted from the rear.
That opened the door for Jones, who took command of the race and benefited from a relatively smooth second half to capture the victory.
Meanwhile, Pannell charged back through the field to finish third, securing the 2026 Limited Late Model championship.
Buddy Moody finished second, followed by Pannell, Carl Porter Jr. and Steven Shaw.
One of the largest Pure Stock fields in recent years produced an action-packed feature that included several multi-car incidents and a dramatic change in the championship standings.
Elliott Dulworth took the early lead and held on to capture the 15-lap victory, but the biggest story developed behind him.
Matt Barnes entered the evening with an 11-point championship advantage over teammate Chase Cohron. However, Barnes became involved in a major incident that saw fluid pouring from his machine as several other competitors piled into the accident.
The incident ended Barnes’ evening and opened the door for Cohron, who drove his No. 71X to a second-place finish behind Dulworth to claim the 2026 Pure Stock championship.
Jason Plunkett and John Bradley were also among the leading finishers.
Post-race technical inspection resulted in disqualifications for the No. 12X of Cody Jackson and the No. 15 and No. 79 entries. Their results were disallowed, affecting the finishing order.
The Legends Semi-Pro/Young Lions feature produced one of the closest championship finishes of the entire season.
Dylan Faulkner entered the evening leading Galen Clark by just one point, with Landon Thrasher only seven points behind the leader. Faulkner gained an additional point during qualifying, extending his advantage over Clark to two points entering the 20-lap feature.
Bradley Swift led the opening two laps before Faulkner took command on lap three. Clark, who had been among the division’s strongest competitors throughout the season, made his move to the front on lap 11.
Once in the lead, Clark began to stretch his advantage and went on to claim the feature victory by 0.488 seconds over Faulkner.
The victory allowed Clark to gain three points on Faulkner in the feature, giving him the unofficial championship by a single point.
Thrasher finished third, followed by Swift and Alex Pate.
Jenson Jorgenson put together a commanding performance in the 20-lap Pro/Masters Legends feature, taking the lead early and leading every lap on his way to victory.
While Jorgenson controlled the race, the championship battle between Kyle Fletcher and Kevin Rollins provided another dramatic storyline.
Fletcher entered the event with a 12-point advantage, but Rollins’ third-place finish allowed him to make up the entire deficit in the unofficial standings.
With the two drivers apparently tied in points, the championship could be decided by a tiebreaker.
Both competitors recorded one victory and one runner-up finish during the season. The next determining factor appears to be third-place finishes, where Rollins holds a two-to-one advantage.
However, speedway officials will review the complete season results and tiebreaker procedures before declaring an official champion.
Jorgenson was followed in the revised finishing order by Rollins, Boston Oliver and Wayne Grubb after runner-up finisher Nick Woodall was disqualified during post-race technical inspection.
Joey Williams dominated the 20-lap Pest Doctor Front Runner feature, leading flag-to-flag in his No. 94.
Behind Williams, former champion Ray Gann and points leader Brett Lee engaged in an intense battle for second.
Nine laps into the event, the two made contact and spun in turn one. Lee’s No. 7 was eliminated from competition, putting his championship hopes in jeopardy.
Fortunately for Lee, the points advantage he had built throughout the season proved large enough to secure the 2026 Front Runner championship despite the early exit.
Williams continued unchallenged at the front to claim the feature victory, with Justin Doney finishing second.
Justin Martin initially crossed the line third but was disqualified following post-race technical inspection. Gann and Hunter Pennington were among the competitors moving forward in the revised finishing order.
A strong field of 17 CP Race Wear Outlaw/Bandit Bandoleros took the green flag for their 15-lap feature, with Lucas Harrison of Columbia, Tennessee, taking command early.
Harrison entered the evening having won three of his four feature starts during the season. However, a missed event had kept him from leading the championship standings.
Despite a pair of late-race cautions that repeatedly brought the field back together, Harrison maintained his advantage to capture another feature victory.
Carson Sherman finished second, followed by Jedrek Sindler, Brantley Emberton and Tate Brewer.
While Harrison celebrated the feature victory, Jordan Bauer secured the 2026 CP Race Wear Bandolero championship.
The evening also featured a separate 12-lap Beginner Bandolero race, allowing the youngest competitors to compete among their peers.
Levi Nason of Roscoe, Illinois, son of Super Late Model competitor Austin Nason, led every lap to claim the victory. Brody Solomito finished second, followed by Cooper McGowen, Gus Hamer and Brayden Long.
