Orrville, Ohio
Sunday, July 12, 2026
By Dawson Elliott & Mike Swanger
The finale of the 40th annual DIRTcar Summer Nationals pulled into Wayne County Speedway Sunday night for the Don and Hans Gross Memorial presented by Best Western Plus of Wooster, and when the night was over, it was Tyler Carpenter adding to his growing resume with the feature win as Tanner English claimed the biggest prize of the summer as the Hell Tour champion. English, of Benton Ky., clinched the 2026 Summer Nationals after a dominant run of consistency that netted 4 wins and 19 top five’s in 23 starts. In the final main event, Carpenter of Parkersburg WV., took his #28 machine to the front and scored his first career Summer Nationals win after trying for nearly six years, leading the final 21 laps. Eric Wilson and Lincoln Smith lead the field to the green flag with Wilson taking control on the first lap. Following a lap 7 caution flag, Ryan Montgomery threw a slide jon in turn two on the restart to get by Wilson who quickly would cross back underneath Montgomery to retain the lead as Carpenter was right behind them waiting for an opening. Montgomery would slow to bring out the caution flag on lap nine and on the restart, Carpenter over powered Wilson for the lead and he would never look back for the win. Wilson would hold second as J R Gentry rebounded after flipping hard in qualifying and winning the last chance race to take third with Montgomery recovering to take fourth ahead of Kyle Moore.
Botkins, Ohio Dalton Lane has waited nearly three years to return to the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals victory circle for the second time in his career. The main event saw Matthew Baker grab the lead from Kyle Moore and after a lap two caution, Moore would put the pressure on Baker as they charged hard into three and four corners, Moore would put a slider on Baker and both would bounce off the wall in turn four but keep going with Baker’s car receiving damage on the nose. Another caution on lap seven and on this restart, Moore would open up a gap for the lead as Dalton Lane and Nathan Loney would battle for second as Baker started to fade. As those two went back and forth for second, it would turn into a race for the lead as Moore;s machine slowed and he pulled into the infield on lap 13. With Lane using the top groove and Loney staying to the bottom of the track they would be virtually tied when they crossed the line with three circuits to go and from that point on, Lane’s high side momentum was enough to inch ahead of Loney for the win. Dusty Swecker, Andre Layfield and Jimmy Lennex Jr. rounded out the top five.
The Canton Glass House Super Stock feature started with Jim Nicely grabbing the point at the drop of the green with Rocky Kugel in pursuit, with Kugel taking the lead after a restart for a caution on lap three. Nicely would over power Kugel on lap five and on the next circuit, Kugel’s car went up in flames to bring out the red flag and ending his night. From that point on, Nicely would cruise the Creston based, Ray’s Garage #72 to victory lane, Mark Edwards would finish second with Denny Shear in third and Braden Tucke and Jose Marsh filling out the top five.
Orrville’s David Potter had early challenges by Cody Musselman and Justin Cranmore in the Joyride Transport Sport Compact feature but the Serpentini of Orrville, River City Solutions and Staley Racing #100 would pull away for his second win of the season at Orrville’s Historic Oval. Second place went to Wes Staley as Musselman, Johnny Bruce and Peyton Davis followed in the top five.
Saturday night, July 18 will see the Canton Glass House Super Stocks and the Joyride Transport Sport Compacts start the evening off with complete programs for them and then a Night of Destruction Demo Derby with five classes of Derby Action as gates will open at 3 pm and action starting at 7 pm.
WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY SUMMARY
Sunday, July 12, 2026
DIRTcar SUMMER NATIONAL LATE MODELS
Fast Qualifier Frank Heckenast Jr. 17,003 seconds
Heat 1 Ryan Montgomery, Tyler Carpenter, Doug Drown, Kyle Moore, Logan Zarin, J R Gentry, Trace Settles, Billy Dawson, Caiden Black, Tanner English
Heat 2 Lincoln Smith, Frank Heckenast Jr, Ryan Markham, Corey Conley, Mitch McGrath, Larry Bellman, Tanner McLoughlin, Nick Cox, Brandon Morrow, Luke Morey
Heat 3 Eric Wilson, Todd Brennan, Rich Bell, Delbert Crum, Tyler Evans, Travis Stemler, Cody Scott, Chad Roush, Mark Voigt, Sam Seawright
Last Chance J R Gentry, Tanner McLoughlin, Nick Cox, Trace Settles, Larry Bellman, Cody Scott, Brandon Morrow, Billy Dawson, Chad Roush, Travis Stemler, Caiden Black, Mark Voigt, Tanner English, Luke Morey, Sam Seawright
DON & HANS GROSS MEMORIAL Tyler Carpenter, Eric Wilson, J R Gentry, Ryan Montgomery, Kyle Moore, Doug Drown, Ryan Markham, Mitch McGrath, Rich Bell, Nick Cox, Tyler Evans, Todd Brennan, Lincoln Smith, Corey Conley, Frank Heckenast Jr, Delbert Crum, Tanner McLoughlin, Mark Voigt, Tanner English, Chad Roush, Logan Zarin, Caiden Black
DIRTcar SUMMER NATIONALS MODIFIEDS
Fast Qualifier Kyle Moore 18.453 seconds
Heat 1 Matthew Baker, Jimmy Humphrey, Ryan Markham, John Toppozini, Andrew Hammond, Jason King, Caden Alexander, Dusty Swecker
Heat 2 Kyle Moore, Jason Brennan, Andre Layfield, Chaz Dawson, Pete Caplinger, Ron Miller, Ron Hamlin, Brad Goff
Heat 3 Dalton Lane, Nathan Loney, Jimmy Lennex Jr., Jesse Griffitts, Michael Amick, Tristen Bickford, Denny Benjamin, Darrick Hubbard Jr.
FEATURE Dalton Lane, Nathan Loney, Dusty Swecker, Andre Layfield, Jimmy Lennex Jr., Matthew Baker, Jason King, Jesse Griffitts, Denny Benjamin, Kyle Moore, Ryan Markham, Chaz Dawson, Andrew Hammond, Ron Miller, John Toppozini, Caden Alexander, Jimmy Humphrey, Ron Hamlin, Tristen Bickford, Michael Amick, Jason Brennan, Pete Caplinger, Brad Goff, Darrick Hubbard Jr,
CANTON GLASS HOUSE SUPER STOCKS
Fast Qualifier Rocky Kugel 20.658 seconds
Henthorn Golf Cart Sales Heat 1 Rocky Kugel, Jose Marsh, Matt Hensel, Joe Gillespie, Don Rutt, Ryan Tope
TruForm Race Products Heat 2 Jim Nicely, Brandon Craver, Braden Tucke, Denny Shear, Mark Edwards, Brad Enssle
FEATURE Jim Nicely, Mark Edwards, Denny Shear, Braden Tucke, Jose Marsh, Rocky Kugel, Joe Gillespie, Brad Enssle, Brandon Craver, Ryan Tope, Matt Hensel, Don Rutt
JOYRIDE TRANSPORT SPORT COMPACTS
Henthorn Golf Cart Sales Heat 1 Wes Staley, Cody Musselman, Johnny Bruce, Zack Hershey, Peyton Davis, Clayton Evans, Daniel Manring, Chris Mullinnex
TruForm Race Products Heat 2 David Potter, Justin Cranmore, Eugene Arkenburgh, Trent Bishop, Justin Shreve, Jimmy Burns
FEATURE David Potter, Wes Staley, Cody Musselman, Johnny Bruce, Peyton Davis, Zack Hershey, Justin Cranmore, Eugene Arkenburgh, Daniel Manring, Kyle Petit, Aiden Braxton, Jimmy Burns, Clayton Evans, Justin Shreve, Chris Mullinnex, Trent Bishop
