CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Opening weekend of Arizona’s newest open-wheel racing spectacle is complete, and the stars of the American Sprint Car Series are ready for another two nights of action in the inaugural Sonoran Clash.
Central Arizona Raceway’s three-eighths-mile confines hosts the national 360 sprint car series for the second consecutive weekend this Saturday and Sunday. A $4,000 grand prize is on the line for the winner Saturday night, while Sunday’s winner will pocket $6,000.
Avanti Windows & Doors has sponsored a points fund for the event, which awards $4,000 to the driver with the most points after all feature events have been completed. The runner-up in points will receive $3,000, third place gets $2,000, and $1,000 goes to fourth. Matt Covington currently tops the standings with a 27-point lead over Sam Hafertepe Jr.
NEW SHERIFF
For the first time in nearly five years, Matt Covington is the American Sprint Car Series points leader.
Covington, of Glenpool, Okla., has vaulted into the lead of the national championship standings with a runner-up finish on Saturday and his first win of the season Sunday at Central Arizona Raceway. His closest competition, six-time and defending series champion Sam Hafertepe Jr., finished third on Saturday before a 19th-to-fourth drive on Sunday, putting him five points behind Covington in the standings.
The last time Covington sat atop the American Sprint Car Series points tally was during the 2021 season, when he and eventual champion Blake Hahn engaged in a tight battle for the lead for several races. His return to the top of the 360 sprint car world comes in pursuit of his first national championship, which he’s been chasing for over a decade.
Covington also leads the Sonoran Clash event points standings by 27 over Hafertepe. The driver with the most points after Sunday’s main event will claim a $4,000 bonus, courtesy of Avanti Windows & Doors.
ANOTHER SHOT
Justin Peck asserted dominance over his 360 cubic-inch brethren with a win last Saturday night but was bitten by misfortune while leading on Sunday. He’ll be back in action this weekend with plans to reclaim what could have been back-to-back wins on the national circuit.
Peck, 27, of Monrovia, Ind., scored his fourth full-points paying series win in his last four such starts on Saturday, taking the lead from Covington at the halfway point and driving off to the $4,000 victory. The following evening, Peck led the opening 13 laps before his right-front tire went flat under caution, sending him to the infield, resulting in a DNF.
Peck is fifth in the Sonoran Clash points standings.
RACING ROYALTY
After debuting with the American Sprint Car Series last weekend, Wyatt Miller is set to return to competition at Central Arizona in pursuit of more laps for his budding open-wheel career.
Miller, 14, of Statesville, N.C., is the grandson of motorsports legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. Since his debut in Outlaw Karts in 2020, Miller has won several open-wheel races in both karts and Micro Sprints — most notably topping the Restricted A-Class main event at the prestigious Tulsa Shootout in 2024. He’s also produced a standout motorsports resume as an early teenager with starts in asphalt late models and off-road trucks, notably winning the 2025 AMSOIL Champ Off-Road Pro Spec championship.
Miller made his full-size sprint car debut last September at Creek County Speedway, finishing third in the local Champ Sprints division, and logging another two starts at Vado Speedway Park in 360 action in November.
Last weekend, Miller got his first taste of competition in the national 360 sprint car world, logging finishes of 11th and 13th in a field of 34 drivers.
HEATING UP
After taking a hard crash in the season opener at Volusia Speedway Park, Kyler Johnson got a solid rebound weekend at Central Arizona.
Johnson, 22, of Quinter, Kan., rolled out a brand-new car for Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals, which ended up suffering frame damage in a rollover crash, forcing the team to a backup for the rest of the event.
For Central Arizona, the team prepared that same car, making it their primary machine for 2026, and hit their stride in the desert with finishes of seventh on Saturday before leading 10 laps of Sunday’s main event and finishing second.
That runner-up finish ties Johnson’s career best with the American Sprint Car Series — a mark which he reached twice last year — and seeds him third in the Sonoran Clash standings.
YOUNG GUNNER
Fifteen-year-old Levi Hillier turned several heads in his American Sprint Car Series debut over the weekend and is projected to return for more action this Saturday–Sunday.
The Burlington, Wash., native jump-started Saturday’s program by setting quick time in qualifying and later finishing fifth in the main event. The following night, Hillier showed speed again in the main event, starting fourth and crossing the finish line third to bank his first career national sprint car series podium finish.
Those results have ranked he and the Rudeen Racing No. 26r fourth in the Sonoran Clash points standings – 32 points behind leader Covington.
