SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Kyle Cummins entered USAC Indiana Sprint Week as the winningest driver without an ISW championship.
By the end of the week, he’d added that title to his resume.
With two victories at Lincoln Park Speedway and the Terre Haute Action Track, and a worst finish of 10th, the Princeton, Indiana racer captured the ISW crown by a seven-point margin over Justin Grant.
Cummins’ accolades include a $25,000 reward from the point fund, plus a customized, one-of-a-kind trophy constructed by Dave Thompson, and a Bridgeport Rocker constructed by John Youngs.
“I’ve wanted to win on the half miles and I checked them all off my list, and I wanted to win Sprint Week,” Cummins noted. “I don’t know how many more years I want to do it and this was kind of the best case scenario. We had a great week and I thought that, if I don’t do it now, I probably won’t ever get it done again. That put a little extra pressure on me.”
Despite leading the ISW points for all but one night, Cummins felt he wasn’t as good as he needed to be down the stretch in his Petty Performance Racing/Novix Outdoors – Avanti Windows & Doors – JUGO/Mach-1/Stanton Chevy No. 3p. In turn, he was pretty nerve-wracked entering the series finale at Tri-State Speedway.
“After coming out night one and winning, I thought the car was unbelievable, and then we struggled,” Cummins explained. “Then, I got that one back at Terre Haute and then had another problem at Bloomington.”
But this team has persevered time and time again, and Cummins had total trust in the people around him, who’ve achieved a succession of successes over the last couple of seasons.
“This team is unbelievable,” Cummins praised. “(Team owner) Jerry Petty gives us everything we need, and the guys just work their butts off. It’s unbelievable what kind of time they put in from getting the car washed to maintenanced. I’m so proud of the guys: Cameron LaRose, Zach Fields, and Kasey DeRenzy. I had Cameron and the boys take the rear end and the front end out after Bloomington. I made them do a lot of work. I appreciate everything they do. What people don’t see is what they do behind the scenes, and it’s pretty remarkable. I’m kind of stubborn when it comes to having stuff just perfect. I’m thankful for everything they do. This is why we’re here.”
With his third-place result in the finale, Cummins had finally gotten it done. Making it even more special is the fact that he got to celebrate it at him home track, located about a 15-minute drive away from his Princeton, Indiana home, and where he won numerous races, including eight under the USAC banner, in his career. And it’s where he made his Indiana Sprint Week debut on July 18, 2004.
“To be at Tri-State Speedway to get my first one is special,” Cummins beamed. “This is a big deal. It’s a big, big paying week too. Holy moly! $25 grand. Man, it’s been a really good week.”
The kickoff to Indiana Sprint Week began at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, July 23, which featured an invitational field and paid national feature points, but did not count toward the Indiana Sprint Week standings.
It turned out to be a milestone night for Justin Grant after he earned his 100th career USAC national victory across all divisions, joining A.J. Foyt, Rich Vogler, Mel Kenyon, and Dave Darland as just the fifth driver to achieve the feat.
The following night at Lincoln Park Speedway began the tabulating of Indiana Sprint Week points. Greeting perhaps the largest crowd in Lincoln Park history was an official Indiana Sprint Week record of 71 drivers in competition, breaking the former record of 68 at Terre Haute in 1999 and Lawrenceburg in 2003. Cummins defeated them all with a wire-to-wire performance.
A month after parting ways with Rock Steady Racing to join BBI Motorsports, Kevin Thomas Jr. took them to their first USAC National Sprint Car victory at Kokomo Speedway in what was just their fifth series start together.
On July 26, Grant conquered the very same event in which he broke his foot at during an accident one year ago. Lawrenceburg Speedway had been mostly kind to him throughout his career, and on this night, it was back in his good graces as he raced by Cummins with two laps to go to earn his 101st career USAC national victory.
On July 28, Brady Bacon made it six career Indiana Sprint Week victories at six different racetracks after adding Indianapolis, Indiana’s Circle City Raceway to his checklist in a dominant performance from start to finish.
Jake Swanson battled a gnarly cushion and a bevy of traffic to score his first ISW victory in three years as the series stopped at Paragon Speedway for the first time in 28 years. With a runner-up result, Cummins ascended back into the ISW point lead.
Cummins has always desired to make champion moves whenever the pressure is on. By all accounts, he certainly made a champion level move to take the lead and the victory on July 30, at the Terre Haute Action Track.
On a restart with just two laps remaining, Cummins dove under Bacon in turn three to race to victory. With a purse of $46,750, a $10,000 winner’s share, and a minimum of $1,000 to start, the 16th running of the Don Smith Classic was the highest paying event in the 39-year history of Indiana Sprint Week.
One year earlier, Robert Ballou endured an accident at Bloomington Speedway that left him with a broken back and wound up costing him the remainder of the 2025 season. In the penultimate round of ISW on Friday, July 31, just one day shy of a full year since that accident, Ballou returned to the scene and conquered the red clay after race leader Gavin Miller ran out of fuel on the back straightaway on the final lap. Ballou drove the No. 12 to the win as he became just the 12th driver in USAC National Sprint Car history to reach the 40-win mark.
While Grant won the night during the August 1 ISW finale at Tri-State Speedway, it was Cummins who won the week. Grant charged from his seventh starting position to earn his third victory of the week and became the first to reach 70 career USAC National Sprint Car victories.
Indiana Sprint Week paid $25,000 to the champion with an overall point fund being a record-setting $52,200.
The top 10 breakdown in the point standings went as follows: 1. Kyle Cummins ($25,000), 2. Justin Grant ($10,000), 3. Mitchel Moles ($5,000), 4. Jake Swanson ($3,000), 5. Brady Bacon ($2,200), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. ($1,800), 7. Logan Seavey ($1,600), 8. Robert Ballou ($1,400), 9. Jadon Rogers ($1,200), and 10. C.J. Leary ($1,000).
Ninety-seven drivers participated in Indiana Sprint Week — the most since 2004 — with drivers hailing from 16 different states and Australia.
Ten drivers started all nine feature events: Kyle Cummins, Briggs Danner, Justin Grant, C.J. Leary, Mitchel Moles, Jadon Rogers, Hunter Schuerenberg, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon and Jake Swanson.
