CONCORD, N.C. — The 34th consecutive year of American Sprint Car Series racing is now complete.
Thirty-four races were contested in 11 months at 21 unique tracks in 10 different states. The winners produced storylines aplenty, from dominating forces in the national 360 and 410 sprint car world to fresh, young talent making their way up through the ranks.
SIX FOR SAM
Unprecedented ASCS history was made this year by the now six-time national series champion, Sam Hafertepe Jr.
Two seasons after returning to full-time 360 Sprint Car action from a stint in the 410 world, the 40-year-old from Sunnyvale, Texas, clinched a sixth national ASCS championship on the back of 11 wins, 22 top fives and 27 top 10s in 32 main event starts. He carried the points lead for nearly the entire season and never relinquished it, in the end besting Matt Covington by 144 points to clinch his first ASCS championship since 2020.
In doing so, the Ontario-based Hill’s Racing Team garners its fifth ASCS owner’s championship, claiming the title with Hafertepe in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025.
Hafertepe also surpasses the late Jason Johnson for most driver’s points titles and is now the all-time leader in national ASCS championships.
Of those 11 wins, Hafertepe went to victory lane for the first time in his ASCS career at Belleville High Banks, Windy Hollow Speedway and Benton Speedway.
ROOKIE RISING
ASCS fans bore witness to the rise of a new sprint car talent in 15-year-old Garrett Benson.
In his first full-time season behind the wheel of a 360 sprint car, the Missouri native clinched Rookie of the Year honors and became the youngest driver in ASCS history to win the honor, which was previously held by Cole Wood, who claimed the honor in 2013 at 17 years of age.
On the path to his achievement, Benson posted four top-five finishes — all of which were third-place finishes, which came at Benton Speedway, Electric City Speedway, Paducah International Raceway, and I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park. In 29 Feature starts, Benson also notched 19 top-10 finishes, an average finish of 10.46, and finished fifth in the championship points standings.
KNOXVILLE KING
In August, all eyes of the sprint car world turn to the big, half-mile oval in Iowa. Knoxville Raceway’s 35th running of the Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank drew the attention of all Sprint Car fans with an exciting race to the finish.
Rico Abreu bested Kyle Larson after a thrilling battle in the closing laps to claim the $30,000 grand prize and his first 360 Nationals victory in only his second attempt. In doing so, Abreu became the first driver from California to win the event since Gio Scelzi’s triumph in 2021.
Combined with his preliminary Feature win the night before, Abreu left the event with five wins in seven total starts at the track before following up with a second-place effort in the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s the following week.
CLEANING UP
Four weekend dominations occurred this season, with one driver performing a clean sweep each time.
The first came in the season opener at Volusia Speedway Park in January–February, when 410 sprint car invader Justin Peck topped a field of over 50 cars on all three nights of racing as part of the 54th annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. He claimed $18,000 in first-place prize money, and became only the third driver in series history to win the first three races of the season. (Jason Martin 2023, Sam Hafertepe Jr. 2017)
Hafertepe began a reign of terror over the month of July, starting with back-to-back victories in the inaugural running of The Big One at the historic Belleville High Banks.
After winning a spirited battle in lapped traffic with Jason Martin on Friday night, Hafertepe completed the weekend sweep with a flag-to-flag victory on Saturday, worth $10,000 and his first ASCS victories on the half-mile high banks.
Only two weeks removed from the biggest win of his career at the Knoxville Nationals, Ryan Timms and the Liebig Motorsports No. 10 came to Montana’s Big Sky Speedway to compete in the Harvey Ostermiller MemorialTimms gave one of the most dominant performances in ASCS history, leading all 55 laps of feature competition unchallenged over both nights to bank $19,000 in first-place prize money.
Oklahoma’s own Whit Gastineau showed up to Salt City Speedway in October and showed the national-touring regulars the fast way around the half-mile fairgrounds oval, winning both nights of action in Kansas for a $10,000 sweep of the weekend and his first two national ASCS wins.
FIRST TIMERS
It didn’t happen first until September, but two drivers collected their first career series victories in 2025, bringing the total number of different winners up to 177 all-time.
Cameron Martin was the first, putting on a masterful performance in a field of nearly 60 cars at Eagle Raceway during the second annual Stewart Alley Memorial. The 21-year-old from Ankeny, Iowa, engaged in a head-to-head battle for the lead with Hafertepe in the second half of the race, swapping the top spot multiple times before wrestling it away with 15 laps left and holding on to bank the $10,222 grand prize – the biggest win of his budding career.
Last weekend, in the season finale at Creek County Speedway, Illinois open-wheel standout Zach Daum took the checkered flag in the Fuzzy’s Fall Fling finale, again winning a spirited battle for the lead with Hafertepe in the latter half of the main event to bag the $10,000 winner’s share — the second-richest win of his career.
