TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Mitchel Moles practically had a perfect night from start to finish throughout Sunday’s 22nd running of the Sumar Classic at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track.
After capturing the pole, the Raisin City, California racer paced the field the first 92 circuits of the 100-lapper, briefly giving up the lead for a single lap, before gaining it back on lap 94, and going on to the victory in rhw 500th event in the history of the USAC Silver Crown Championship.
Making it all the more interesting for the final 20 laps was that the battle at the front involved a pair of Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports teammates in Moles and series newcomer Hayden Reinbold, who surged from the 11th starting apor to lead the 93rd lap on the half-mile dirt oval.
With Moles leading Reinbold across the line for the victory, their resulting one-two finish made Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports the first team to occupy the top-two spots in the finishing order of a USAC Silver Crown race in 16 years.
Back in 2010, Levi Jones outdueled fellow Tony Stewart Racing teammate Bryan Clauson for the win at, of all places, the Terre Haute Action Track.
Moles became the first driver to win the Sumar Classic after starting from the pole since Dave Darland in 2008.
For Moles, it was his second ride into victory lane at the Terre Haute Action Track in 2026. He captured the Tony Hulman Classic with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship back in May.
Reinbold-Underwood extended its undefeated run on the dirt portion of the USAC Silver Crown trail. Reinbold won in his very first career series start at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in May. Now, it was Moles’ turn at Terre Haute, and of all people who had to beat for the top prize, it was his teammate, Hayden.
“(Car owners) Andy and Tammy (Reinbold) have been huge supporters of my career, so I’m happy for them and I’m happy for Hayden. He already won one this year, so I feel like I deserved one,” Moles said with a wry smile after earning his second career USAC Silver Crown triumph aboard his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical – RDI Development – MVT/DRC/Stanton Chevy.
For most of the night, Moles held a commanding lead as a pair of drivers traded time in the second position, Justin Grant early and then Jake Swanson throughout the first three-quarters of the race.
The most substantial incident of the evening occurred on lap five when Patrick Bruns’ ride suddenly darted right on entry into turn one and smashed into the outside guardrail before digging in nose first and flip over after major airtime which had his car above the top of the fence.
By lap 57, Reinbold had moved his way into the top five as he blasted past C.J. Leary on the back straightaway on lap 57, then advanced another spot in the running order when Shane Cottle slowed on the lap 65 restart. Reinbold surged past Kyle Cummins for third on the bottom of turn three on the 70th lap, then made a beeline past Swanson on the back straight on another restart on the 76th lap.
At the time, Moles was in full command. But the margin kept getting slimmer and slimmer as Reinbold drew nearer, all while using a lower line toward middle/bottom of the racetrack. Reinbold’s surge was so sudden, it caught Moles by surprise.
“The whole time, (crew chief) Dylan (Cook) is telling me, ‘you’re good. You’re good. You’re good.’ Then, all of a sudden, he said, ‘a tenth back,’ I’m like, ‘Uh, who is it?’ And he said, ‘Hayden.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ Luckily, I just kept doing what I was doing and then took his line away a couple times. I got him moving around more than anything.’
After Reinbold was able to gain an edge off turns two and four to pull ahead briefly, Moles was able to dig in and find his way back to edge ahead of Reinbold lap after lap. With 15 laps remaining, Moles stole Reinbold’s line away, and the two swapped methods with Reinbold now running a step higher than Moles.
On the 93rd lap, Reinbold went topside and drove around Moles to edge him at the stripe by mere inches to tally his one and only lap as the leader. Moments later, Moles tossed his car under Reinbold entering turn one. At the same time, Reinbold’s car skated ever so slightly straight up the racetrack, stifling his momentum and allowing Moles to regain the upper hand at the exit of turn two.
From there on, Moles was able to extend his lead and keep Reinbold at bay once and for all to win again at legendary Terre Haute Action Track. Reinbold finished second 2.177 seconds behind, while series point leader C.J. Leary grabbed third with Grant fourth and Swanson fifth.
Veteran racer Bill Rose started 18th and finished sixth.
USAC Silver Crown Championship, Terre Haute Action Track, Terre Haute, Indiana, July 5, 2026
LEARNLAB QUALIFYING: 1. Mitchel Moles, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-20.627; 2. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-20.953; 3. Jake Swanson, 6, Klatt-20.981; 4. Kyle Cummins, 33, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi/Curb-Agajanian-21.026; 5. Shane Cottle, 77, Doran/Swanson-21.050; 6. Mario Clouser, 20, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi/Curb-Agajanian-21.171; 7. Darin Naida, 26, Pierce-21.196; 8. Bret Tripplett, 65, SV-21.202; 9. Chase Stockon, 69, Pink 69-21.283; 10. C.J. Leary, 21, Team AZ/Petty/Rossi/Curb-Agajanian-21.364; 11. Hayden Reinbold, 119, Reinbold/Underwood-21.398; 12. Briggs Danner, 10, DMW-21.403; 13. Patrick Bruns, 95, Full Throttle-21.548; 14. Kyle Steffens, 8, Steffens-21.564; 15. Jerry Coons Jr., 24, Haggenbottom-21.585; 16. Robert Ballou, 27, Wood-21.625; 17. Steve Gennetten, 64, GGR-21.635; 18. Bill Rose, 66, Rose-22.246; 19. Gregg Cory, 32, Williams/Cory-22.859; 20. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-23.398; 21. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-23.489; 22. Dave Peperak, 777, Peperak-NT; 23. Kenny Gentry, 18, Gentry-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Mitchel Moles (1), 2. Hayden Reinbold (11), 3. C.J. Leary (10), 4. Justin Grant (2), 5. Jake Swanson (3), 6. Bill Rose (18), 7. Steve Gennetten (17), 8. Mario Clouser (6), 9. Gregg Cory (19), 10. Kyle Cummins (4), 11. Jerry Coons Jr. (15), 12. Dave Berkheimer (21), 13. Korey Weyant (20), 14. Shane Cottle (5), 15. Briggs Danner (12), 16. Kyle Steffens (14), 17. Robert Ballou (16), 18. Chase Stockon (9), 19. Darin Naida (7), 20. Bret Tripplett (8), 21. Patrick Bruns (13), 22. Kenny Gentry (23), 23. Dave Peperak (22). NT
