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Connor Speir Leads Every Lap For First USAC Western States Midget Win As Broedy Graham Claims First Title At Ventura

Published

2 hours ago

November 8, 2026

Connor Speir standing beside his No. 14 USAC Western States Midget race car at Ventura Raceway after his first series win

Connor Speir celebrates his first USAC Western States Midget win at Ventura Raceway. Photo by Julie Tanaka.

Ventura Raceway delivered a night of firsts to close the USAC Western States Midget season, as Connor Speir led all 25 laps for his first career series win while Broedy Graham finished fourth to secure his first driving championship, decided after Drake Cardey’s title hopes ended in a late collision two laps from the finish.

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

It was a night of firsts at Ventura Raceway.

Connor Speir (Fillmore, California) led all 25 laps en route to his first career USAC Avanti Windows & Doors Western States Midget victory during Saturday night’s season finale at the 1/5-mile southern California dirt oval.

Meanwhile, Broedy Graham (Bakersfield, California) finished fourth in the feature event to collect his first career USAC Western States Midget driving championship, while his BGR Racing Team grabbing the entrant title.

Speir took off from his pole starting position and patrolled the top spot for the entirety of the distance, although he was followed by a swarm of challengers throughout much of the show.

Drake Cardey was running in the second position with two laps to go. Needing only to finish ahead of Graham to win the championship, Cardey was four spots ahead of Graham on lap 24 and in the driver’s seat of the title race.

But heartbreak soon struck. As the field was on its way to the white flag, over in turn two, four of the top five cars ran in formation along the bottom of the racetrack. There, Cardey was able to get his right front wheel alongside the left rear of Speir for the lead.

Just as that happened, Cardey, plus the trailing cars driven by Jake Swanson and Dane Culver, all collided, sending Cardey spinning to a stop in the infield, while Swanson and Culver continued on.

Devastatingly, just like that, two laps from the finish line, Cardey’s title hopes vanished. Cardey wound up 15th in the finishing order when all was said and done but finished as the series Rookie of the Year.

On the green-white-checkered restart, Speir paced along the bottom as Jett Yantis was the lone ranger up front running a higher line. Just after taking the white flag, Culver posed a challenge to the inside of Yantis, and ran up on Speir, giving Speir a shot to the left rear. However, it was no harm, no foul, as Speir sped away.

Speir closed out the night with a 0.495 second victory in his Matt Streeter-Graunstadt Enterprises No. 14. Yantis took second by inches over Culver who finished third. Champion Graham crossed the line in fourth while Swanson rounded out the top five.

In addition to the season long points title, Graham was also crowned the Billy’s Tequila Cup points champion, which calculated the combined points for the three USAC Western States Midget events held at Ventura during the 2026 season. He edged Yantis by one single, solitary point for the miniseries championship.

USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 7, 2026 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Drake Cardey, 17, Dunkel-12.492; 2. Zach Daum, 25, Rodela-12.824; 3. Jake Swanson, 68, Six8-12.867; 4. Jett Yantis, 31, Beilman-12.900; 5. Broedy Graham, 66, BGR-12.929; 6. Connor Speir, 14, Streeter/Graunstadt-12.998; 7. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-13.042; 8. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.056; 9. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-13.081; 10. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-13.120; 11. Todd Hawse, 18, Hawse-13.307; 12. Hailey Lambert, 55, Lambert-13.532; 13. Gary DeWitt, 29A, DeWitt-13.719; 14. Kevin Mahoney, 11K, Kruseman-13.860; 15. Kyle Hawse, 20x, Hawse-13.904; 16. Brayton Roberts, 21, Roberts-13.905; 17. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-14.168; 18. Adam Weisberg, 15x, Weisberg-14.183; 19. Billy Rayburn, 16K, Kruseman-NT.

HONDA POWERSPORTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Dane Culver (2), 2. Drake Cardey (5), 3. Jett Yantis (4), 4. Gary DeWitt (1), 5. Brayton Roberts (7), 6. Billy Rayburn (6), 7. Brody Fuson (3). NT

ROY MILLER FREIGHT LINES SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Broedy Graham (5), 2. Zach Daum (6), 3. Todd Hawse (3), 4. Randi Pankratz (4), 5. Kevin Mahoney (2), 6. Ron Hazelton (1). NT

BILLY’S TEQUILA THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Sarna (4), 2. Jake Swanson (6), 3. Connor Speir (5), 4. Adam Weisberg (1), 5. Kyle Hawse (2), 6. Hailey Lambert (3). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Connor Speir (1), 2. Jett Yantis (3), 3. Dane Culver (8), 4. Broedy Graham (2), 5. Jake Swanson (4), 6. C.J. Sarna (7), 7. Zach Daum (5), 8. Kevin Mahoney (14), 9. Gary DeWitt (13), 10. Randi Pankratz (10), 11. Ron Hazelton (16), 12. Kyle Hawse (15), 13. Brody Fuson (9), 14. Todd Hawse (11), 15. Drake Cardey (6), 16. Adam Weisberg (17), 17. Billy Rayburn (18), 18. Hailey Lambert (12), 19. Brayton Roberts (19). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Connor Speir.

FINAL USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Broedy Graham-863, 2-Drake Cardey-832, 3-C.J. Sarna-758, 4-Jett Yantis-723, 5-Adam Weisberg-525, 6-Connor Speir-510, 7-Hailey Lambert-477, 8-Randi Pankratz-402, 9-Dane Culver-398, 10-Cade Lewis-288.

FINAL BILLY’S TEQUILA CUP POINTS: 1-Broedy Graham-203, 2-Jett Yantis-202, 3-C.J. Sarna-197, 4-Drake Cardey-195, 5-Dane Culver-180, 6-Connor Speir-175, 7-Randi Pankratz-162, 8-Hailey Lambert-144, 9-Kevin

Mahoney-142, 10-Ron Hazelton-129.

Carson Macedo Charges From Eighth To Win The 2026 World Of Outlaws World Finals Finale At Charlotte

Published

1 hour ago

November 8, 2026

We Speak Media

Carson Macedo's No. 41 sprint car racing side by side with another sprint car on the dirt track at The Dirt Track at Charlotte

Carson Macedo races his No. 41 sprint car at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on his way to winning the World Finals finale. Photo by Tyler Carr.

Carson Macedo saved his best drive of the year for the last night of it, charging from eighth on the grid to win the World of Outlaws season finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Saturday night, banking the $25,000 World Finals payday and the eighth win of the season for Jason Johnson Racing.

Carson Macedo and Jason Johnson Racing will admit 2026 didn’t play out how they would’ve liked.

This combination is one of the sport’s elite organizations. They partnered ahead of the 2021 season and immediately established themselves as title contenders with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. Macedo narrowly finished second to David Gravel in the 2024 championship chase.

Fast forward to 2026, and the pairing entered Dave Smith Motors World of Outlaws World Finals destined for a fourth-place run in the standings. Sure, they’d collected an impressive seven wins, but this group led by Philip Dietz has the highest of expectations. They wanted to close out the campaign on a high note, and that’s exactly what they did at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Macedo would not be denied on his charge from the fourth row. He lined up eighth for the 25-lap season finale and quickly got to work. The Lemoore, CA native climbed all the way to second by the ninth circuit in the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. Then he tracked down polesitter Giovanni Scelzi and fired a slide job on Lap 17 to take command. Michael “Buddy” Kofoid rose to the runner-up spot late and tried one slide job in Turns 3 and 4 that Macedo narrowly drove around. That was the winning move as he took off to the checkered flag.

“Man, I’m a little out of breath,” Macedo said. “I was running really hard. When I got to second, it was everything I had every single lap as hard as I could go as thin as I could get it to make speed and not get over it. Buddy was coming there at the end. I was coming extremely hard at a couple of the lappers and made last minute decisions that broke my runs, and I knew he was coming. The one slider I drove around, I think it would’ve been inches from disaster, but luckily we made it around there.

“We’re working really hard,” Macedo continued. “Obviously, where we are in points isn’t where we want to be. We had our down nights. But to look at an eight-win season and be disappointed shows we have high expectations, and we want to do our best to be the best team on the road. It’s not from lack of effort. Philip (Dietz), Adam (Zimmerman), and Robby (McQuinn) are putting in the hours and putting in the effort.”

The eighth victory of the year for Macedo was the 66th of his career with The Greatest Show on Dirt. That equals him with Bobby Davis Jr. and Craig Dollansky for 14th all-time. It was also the 90th World of Outlaws score for Jason Johnson Racing. They’re just 10 away from becoming only the seventh organization ever to reach triple digits.

Carson Macedo celebrating with his arms raised in Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte — Carson Macedo celebrates his World Finals win at Charlotte. Photo by Tyler Carr.

Buddy Kofoid finished second in the Roth Motorsports No. 83, finalizing his Series-best podium tally at 35 this year.

“It was hectic but honestly a lot of fun racing up there with him, Kofoid said. “I felt like we were extremely good. I was kind of disappointed we pulled the seven then got to sixth in the Dash. I was thinking it would take a lot to get there, thinking about yesterday. Then I felt like our car was just so much night and day better. I felt like I could run it extremely hard, and I think the track was the best I’ve probably seen it.”

Giovanni Scelzi led the opening 16 circuits but ultimately fell two spots shy of back-to-back Charlotte wins, bringing the Spire Motorsports No. 77 home third.

“I felt like I just wore my stuff out,” Scelzi said. “It’s hard to run hard and not kill your stuff. Good job to my guys. It was a great week. We worked on it and got it better throughout the week.”

Buddy Schweibinz and Steven Snyder Jr. rounded out the top five.

NIGHTLY NOTES

The final Heat Races of the year belonged to Giovanni Scelzi (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Tyler Courtney (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Two), Carson Macedo (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Buddy Kofoid (Golf Cart Services Heat Four).

The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Giovanni Scelzi.

Scelzi also topped the Toyota Dash.

David Gravel won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.

Chase Randall drove from 23rd to 14th to pick up his second KSE Racing Products Hard Charger of the week.

Brock Zearfoss was the Tub O’ Towels Seventh Place Finisher.

Emerson Axsom took home Five Star Bodies Rookie of the Race honors.

Buddy Kofoid clocked the ACME Trading Company Fast Lap.

The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Tyler Courtney.

UP NEXT: The 2027 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season launches at Volusia Speedway Park’s Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals in Barberville, FL on Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 10-13.

FEATURE RESULTS:

NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Carson Macedo[8]; 2. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 3. 77-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 4. 69K-Buddy Schweibinz[11]; 5. 51-Steven Snyder Jr[10]; 6. 13-Tanner Holmes[4]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[12]; 8. 18-Sheldon Haudenschild[3]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 11. 7S-Chris Windom[17]; 12. 17-Spencer Bayston[13]; 13. 23-Garet Williamson[5]; 14. 9-Chase Randall[23]; 15. 1A-Cameron Smith[20]; 16. 71R-Logan Rumsey[18]; 17. 2-David Gravel[21]; 18. 27-Emerson Axsom[26]; 19. 16C-Skylar Gee[16]; 20. 5-Chase Dietz[24]; 21. 15-Donny Schatz[19]; 22. 71-Parker Price Miller[15]; 23. 6-Bryce Lucius[27]; 24. 19-Brent Marks[22]; 25. 28M-Conner Morrell[28]; 26. (DNF) 7BC-Tyler Courtney[2]; 27. (DNF) 14-Rico Abreu[7]; 28. (DNF) 2C-Cole Macedo[25]