SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It’s time once again to bust out of the frigid doldrums of winter and get into the swing of USAC Winter Dirt Games XVII Presented by Yokohama Tire, the official kick off to the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season.
Everyone’s set with shiny new and refreshed machinery and an optimistic outlook at the season that lie ahead, beginning in Florida with six events across six nights at a pair of dirt tracks in the heart of the Sunshine State.
The 17th annual edition of Winter Dirt Games presents practice night at the three-eighths-mile Ocala Speedway on Sunday, February 8, followed by the first two rounds of racing at Barberville’s half-mile Volusia Speedway Park February 9-10, while Ocala Speedway finishes out the week with four-straight evenings of racing on February 11-14.
TITLE DEFENSE
Kyle Cummins kick-started his championship season with an outstanding performance during Winter Dirt Games.
He was victorious in the opener at Volusia, taking the big gator home as the DIRTcar Nationals champion. He then won again four nights later at Ocala. In his six outings across six nights, never once did he finish outside the top-five, all of which propelled him to the Winter Dirt Games title.
With it, Cummins became the ninth driver in the 16-year history of the series to win a Winter Dirt Games race and the USAC National Sprint Car championship in the same year, joining Bryan Clauson (2013), Brady Bacon (2014), Robert Ballou (2015), Tyler Courtney (2018), C.J. Leary (2019), Brady Bacon (2020), Justin Grant (2022) and Logan Seavey (2024).
FULL-TIMERS
No less than 14 drivers are set for full-time duty with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship in 2025, and possibly more.
Among the group are past series champions Kyle Cummins (2025), Logan Seavey (2024), Justin Grant (2022 & 2023), C.J. Leary (2019) and Robert Ballou (2015).
Others hitting the full schedule are Kevin Thomas Jr., Chase Stockon, Mitchel Moles, Jake Swanson, Briggs Danner, Hayden Reinbold, Cale Coons and Chelby Hinton.
At least a couple more drivers are actively pursuing full-time efforts with the series but are not confirmed at press time.
POINT FUND INCREASE
Sunshine and a $24,000 point fund will greet USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship competitors at Winter Dirt Games XVII.
The champion of the series who accumulates the most total points throughout the six races on the docket will earn a $12,000 reward. A sum of $6,000 will go to the runner-up, $3,000 to third, $2,000 to fourth and $1,000 to fifth.
This is double the reward over 2025’s purse of $12,000 throughout the top-five. In 2024, a Winter Dirt Games point fund did not exist.
Furthermore, the Volusia feature events will pay a winner’s share of $6,000 on Feb. 9 and $12,000 on Feb. 10. Ocala will pay out $6,000 on Feb. 11-12, $7,500 on Feb. 13 and $10,000 on Feb. 14.
‘WINNER’ DIRT GAMES
This year’s field is comprised of 26 career Winter Dirt Games victories, including Justin Grant (8), Brady Bacon (6), Kyle Cummins (3), Robert Ballou (2), C.J. Leary (2), Chase Stockon (1) and Kevin Thomas Jr. (1).
Jake Swanson, meanwhile, also captured a non-points win at Volusia. These eight guys are back in the fold as they attempt to replicate their Florida success once more.
RETURN OF BALLOU
Robert Ballou will be back in the cockpit of a USAC National Sprint Car for the first time in more than five months when Winter Dirt Games begins.
The Mad Man’s 2025 season came to an abrupt end during the Indiana Sprint Week round at Bloomington Speedway last August when a flip injured his T2, T3 and T5 vertebrae, sidelining him for the time.
After healing, the 2015 USAC National Sprint Car champ is back on the horse again where he’s a three-time Winter Dirt Games winner.
LEARY’S FAMILIARITY
C.J. Leary will jump back into a familiar ride down in Florida as he’ll drive his own Leary Racing No. 30 throughout the six-race trip.
The 2019 series champion from Greenfield, Indiana hasn’t driven his own car in USAC competition since the 2020 campaign. Leary also has another couple of rides with other teams lined up when the series gets into full swing starting in April.
Leary has won twice in Florida with the USAC National Sprint Cars at Ocala in 2019 and 2024. Additionally, he scored a triumph at Volusia with the Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Cars in 2022.
FLORIDA DOMIN-GATORS
When it comes to Ocala and Volusia, two drivers stand strong as the all-time dominators at each venue.
Justin Grant has won a record eight times overall at Ocala, including four times over the past two seasons. On the other hand, Logan Seavey has cruised at Volusia, winning three of his four career USAC National Sprint Car starts there over the past couple of years.
Interestingly, neither driver has ever found themselves in victory lane at the other track. Grant has yet to win at Volusia while Seavey has come up short so far at Ocala. The two USAC National Sprint Car champions will both try to rectify that this time around.
OPENING NIGHT
Brady Bacon, a six-time Winter Dirt Games winner at Ocala, returns for the week in Chris Dyson Racing’s No. 20. Bacon could set a USAC record at Volusia if he could pull off the victory on Monday. He’s won the USAC National Sprint Car season opening race on three occasions in 2014-2020-2023.
Also tied with Bacon at the top of the list with three opener victories are Damion Gardner, Don Branson, Larry Dickson and Rich Vogler.
Kyle Cummins, the 2025 season opener winner, will attempt to become the first driver in 14 years to collect back-to-back season opening victories. The others to do it were Don Branson (1959-60), Jud Larson (1965-66), Sammy Sessions (1971-72), Rich Vogler (1986-87) and Damion Gardner (2010-11-12).
