TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — For more than a half century, the Tony Hulman Classic has been an event that every USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car driver desires to win.
The 56th annual chapter of the longest running USAC National Sprint Car event, dating back to 1971, returns to western Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track on Wednesday night, May 20.
Up for grabs is the glory of winning the Hulman Classic, the coveted rifle trophy and the $10,000 reward for a night’s worth of work on Indiana’s only half-mile dirt oval.
THE HULMAN SIX
Six past Hulman Classic winners are expected to compete this Wednesday, including three-time winner Robert Ballou (2015-2016-2022), J.J. Yeley (1997 & 2003), Justin Grant (2025), Kevin Thomas Jr. (2017), Chase Stockon (2019) and Logan Seavey (2024).
Grant, Stockon and Seavey have already won in USAC National Sprint Car competition this season. Thomas Jr. and Ballou are among those looking to add their first tally of 2026 at the Action Track this weekend.
Yeley, meanwhile, returns to the Hulman Classic for the first time since 2004! Yeley, the 2001 and 2003 series champion, owns six USAC National Sprint Car victories in his career at Terre Haute, plus one special event.
ON THE HUNT
Half the drivers currently ranking inside the top-10 of the USAC National Sprint Car point standings are seeking a first Hulman Classic victory. That’s a list that includes the likes of Kyle Cummins, Mitchel Moles, Jake Swanson, Briggs Danner and C.J. Leary.
Cummins and Leary already own USAC National Sprint Car feature wins at Terre Haute, but they’d also like to add the Hulman Classic’s famous rifle trophy to their collection this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Cummins (2021 & 2023), Swanson (2024) and Leary (2025) have all finished as the runner-up at the Hulman Classic in recent years. Moles was 4th in 2023 while Danner was 10th in 2025.
CUMMINS’ CHECKLIST
Speaking of Cummins, he continues to roll with 11-straight top-five USAC National Sprint Car feature finishes entering the Hulman Classic, including a first and a second last weekend at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.
The defending champ enters the week as the series point leader by 74 markers, and back in April of this year, he scored his first career Terre Haute USAC National Sprint Car victory in the Jim Hurtubise Classic.
Twice, Cummins has finished as the runner-up at the Hulman in 2021 and 2023, and the coveted rifle is calling his name.
EVERYWHERE, MAN
Ricky Lewis’ best career USAC National Sprint Car feature finish came at the Tony Hulman Classic in 2025 where he finished 3rd after starting 10th.
This year, Lewis leads all drivers with eight USAC sanctioned sprint car victories across three different series: six with CRA and once each with the Southwest series and the MRA series.
However, a first USAC National Sprint Car win has eluded him thus far. Perhaps the Hulman Classic will be the night. Seven drivers have earned their first USAC National Sprint Car victory during the Hulman Classic: George Snider (1971), Joe Saldana (1973), Chet Johnson (1982), Cary Faas (1992), Dave Darland (1993), J.J. Yeley (1997) and Terry Pletch (1999).
GRAND MARSHAL
Thirty years after his 1996 Tony Hulman Classic victory, Doug Kalitta will serve as grand marshal for the 56th running of the event featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track on Wednesday night, May 20.
Prior to becoming the 2023 and 2025 NHRA Top Fuel dragster champion, Kalitta rose to prominence in USAC competition between 1990-1998, culminating in a National Sprint Car driving championship in 1994.
Across the USAC National Sprint Car and National Midget disciplines, Kalitta won 10 sprint features and seven in midgets. Twelve of his 17 career USAC national victories came at the paved high banks of Indiana’s Winchester Speedway with four more coming at Indianapolis Raceway Park’s paved oval.
However, there is one particular victory that stands out – his lone dirt USAC victory at the Terre Haute Action Track on May 12, 1996, where he passed Kevin Thomas with five laps remaining to win the 26th running of the Tony Hulman Classic.
HISTORY OF THE RIFLE
On June 19, 1966, prior to the advent of the Hulman Classic, the reward for winning each of the Twin 30-lap USAC National Sprint Car features at Terre Haute was a pair of rifles, each of which would hold a 30-30 cartridge, referring to a .30 caliber bullet and 30 grains of powder.
The tradition stuck, and nowadays, one treasured rifle has been annually awarded to the Hulman Classic winner dating back to 1971. To this day, it remains, perhaps, the most coveted trophy in all of USAC racing.
