LUCAMA, N.C. — Ryan Zima’s second night at Speed Week 2026 was the exact opposite of his first in every way.
On Wednesday night, Zima cut down a tire before the green flag even waved and was unable to start the 25-lap Legends feature. Seeing his defense of a Speed Week championship as unattainable, Zima’s mindset on Thursday was to just lead laps and win races – and that is exactly what he did.
Zima took the lead from Spencer Bradshaw with just 10 laps remaining and drove away en route to victory.
“Definitely a big rebound from last night,” Zima said after the race. “Had a little bad luck there. I knew we had a good car there at the end and I just had to hold off a couple of those guys and luckily, we came away with the win. The car’s great. I’m just here to win. Put it on the pole, be the fastest car every single time we hit the track. That’s my goal. Can’t get the points, might as well get the wins.”
While the defending Speed Week champion was in victory lane, the defending track champion in the Legends division, Brody Rhodes, came home in the runner-up position.
“Ryan’s really good here,” Rhodes said. “He held his ground. He made his way through the field. He had a rough yesterday. We had a decent day yesterday, but I’m glad to be back up toward the podium.”
Peyton Worm finished in third while Case James and Levi Canup rounded out the top five.
Kaden Honeycutt scored the win in the first of two Late Model Stock Car features, leading wire-to-wire from the pole. After a redraw put Matt Cox on the pole for the second race, the storyline was the same, this time with Cox as the winner.
“We had a good car there and we were able to stretch the lead out early,” Cox said after his win in the second race. “It took Kaden a couple laps to get to second. We were able to build a lead there and ride and manage a little bit and save some tire in case we did get a late race caution and bunch things back up. All in all, it was a good night for us. We got a little better since yesterday.”
Honeycutt, who will not compete on Friday or Saturday, was satisfied with his Speed Week 2026 performance, recording a win and two runner-up finishes.
“I just needed more laps in that second twin honestly,” Honeycutt remarked. “Just a great job by this Tom Usry Racing group. Made a change in that second race. I don’t know if it was better or not. It seemed like I was catching Matt. I honestly needed twin-50s tonight. But, yeah, really good.”
Chase Burgeson, Matt McCall and Ryan Wilson rounded out the top five in the first of the two races. The second race saw the same three drivers round out the top five, though in reverse order with Wilson finishing third, McCall fourth, and Burgeson fifth.
Paxton Smith took the win in Bandolero for a second straight night.
“It’s really good,” Smith stated. “The car’s been good all week. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow and do the same thing and then win the championship for Speed Week.”
