GASTONIA, N.C. — It was a beautiful early March evening in North Carolina and a perfect time to kick off the 2026 season for the Carolina Sprint Tour presented by GSR Chassis at Carolina Speedway.
A strong field of 20 RaceSaver IMCA Sprint Cars signed in for the event, featuring former series champions, past winners, regular contenders still searching for their first victory, and three rookies eager to make their mark on the series.
When the green flag waved in the feature, Jeff Oliver immediately jumped to the lead heading into turn one and began setting the pace for the field. Just one lap into the race, Matthew Wall pulled into the pits with fueling issues.
The race’s biggest moment came on lap eight. While navigating around the slower car of Patrick Bateman, Oliver was also trying to hold off the hard-charging Connor Leoffler. Contact occurred when Oliver rode over Bateman’s left rear tire, sending the leader into a frightening end-over-end flip down the front straightaway.
Oliver’s car came to rest on the inside berm just before the entrance to turn one. Fortunately, Oliver climbed out under his own power and waved to the crowd as fans applauded him for walking away from the terrifying crash.
Following the restart, Leoffler took control and led the next three laps before another caution flew when Brady Allum hit the wall and came to a stop in turn two. The race briefly resumed before Brandon McLain suffered a left-front lockup on lap 13, bringing out yet another yellow. Just after the next restart, one of the evening’s most impressive drivers, Derrek Treece, saw his strong run end when a mechanical failure sent him hard into the turn one wall.
After the flurry of cautions, the race finally settled into a rhythm. Leoffler maintained the lead while defending series champion George Loux applied pressure from behind. Despite Loux’s persistent challenge, Leoffler stayed composed and held the top spot all the way to the checkered flag to secure his second career Carolina Sprint Tour victory.
Loux finished second while Dillan Baldwin completed the podium in third. Biscuit Williams came home fourth and Gregory Smyre rounded out the top five.
In victory lane, the normally reserved Leoffler couldn’t hide his excitement, cracking a smile as he thanked his sponsors along with car owner Camden Jackson and crew member Adam Harkins for their efforts in helping secure the win.
To kick off the evening’s action, rookie Brooklyn Newman — making her first career sprint car start and the daughter of Ryan Newman — set the tone early by topping Radical Race Gear Hot Laps. Newman turned an impressive lap of 14.914 seconds, earning the fastest time of the session and putting the field on notice. Heat race winners were Loux, Joshua Shantz, and Derrek Treece.
