High Limit Racing on the table at Lakeside
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 5, 2026)—After six-straight weeks of three-day events, Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing sat idle last weekend while the famed Williams Grove National Open took centerstage. This weekend, the High Rollers are back to business as the series gears up for four races over the next two weekends to conclude the 2026 campaign.
Before Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway hosts the All-In Championship Weekend on Friday and Saturday, October 16-17, Kansas City’s Lakeside Speedway has first dibs with the Heartland of America Showdown presented by Hasty Bake Charcoal Grills this Friday and Saturday, October 9-10.
Let’s go ahead and look at what’s on the table this week for the High Rollers…
CHANCE TO CLINCH: Seven weeks ago - after consecutive results of 23rd, 17th, 22nd - Rico Abreu was stuck in third-place and 69-points out of the title lead. Since then, he and the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24 team have averaged a 4.8 finish across 17 races and now head into the penultimate weekend of the season with a chance to clinch the Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing championship.
Entering the Heartland of America Showdown presented by Hasty Bake Charcoal Grills with a 116-point advantage, the task is simple for the St. Helena, California native: leave Lakeside Speedway on Saturday night with a 105-point lead and another championship is secured for one of sprint car racing’s most popular drivers. The good news for Abreu and crew is that he’s historically fast at the Kansas City circuit - earning five top-10s in six starts, including a win in the spring of 2025.
For Abreu, it would mark his second-straight championship with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing - after he finished runner-up to Kyle Larson in the inaugural 11-race midweek campaign in 2023 and then third behind Brad Sweet and Tyler Courtney when the series went to a complete national season in 2024. For TSR, the iconic organization would add their first High Limit championship alongside 14 USAC titles and nine World of Outlaws crowns (8 with Schatz, 1 with Lasoski).
BATTLING FOR CARDS: With the introduction of the High Roller Club and the lucrative cards these teams are fighting for, points mean more than ever as you’re carrying the weight of your finishes from the last two years to decide the value of your card. Some of the tightest point battles with two weekends remaining include these…
Battle for 2nd: Spire Motorsports #77 is 1pt ahead of Ridge & Sons Racing #87
Battle for 4th: Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC is 13pts ahead of Rudeen Racing #26
Battle for 6th: Chase Briscoe Racing #19 is 34pts ahead of JST Motorsports #88
Battle for 8th: Buch Motorsports #13 is 101pts ahead of Vermeer Motorsports #55
Battle for 11th: CJB Motorsports #5 is 3pts ahead of Chase Randall Racing #9R
The most noteworthy battle is the fight for 8th with Vermeer Motorsports desperately hoping a strong final four outings for Brady Bacon and perhaps some bad luck for Tanner Holmes could propel the #55 to the all-important spot. If they can pull it off, their Joker Fund payout this season doubles from $100,000 to $200,000 and they’re in position to earn the 11th High Roller Club card with another top-eight finish in 2027.
Spire Motorsports and Rudeen Racing are the two teams who face the most immediate impact to their card value next year, depending on how they finish out this season. So long as Marks stays ahead of Thorson, the performance of Scelzi and/or Peck could mean at the most a $40,000 swing for these teams battling for the ‘9,’ ‘10,’ and ‘Jack’ cards.
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As of right now, Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing is set to make a half-million dollars ($500,000) from the ‘Ace’ next year with the remaining teams earning the following: Ridge & Sons Racing ($400,000), Clauson-Marshall Racing ($350,000), Spire Motorsports ($300,000), Chase Briscoe Racing ($280,000), Rudeen Racing ($260,000), Kasey Kahne Racing ($240,000), JST Motorsports ($220,000), Buch Motorsports ($200,000), and CJB Motorsports ($175,000).
WINNING EXPERIENCE: Friday’s event marks the 40th recorded winged 410 race at Lakeside Speedway with 20 different drivers conquering the Kansas City oval in the first 39 shows. Of the 30+ names on the expected entries list this weekend with Interstate Batteries High Limit Racing, 11 have won at the track in some fashion:
- Giovanni Scelzi, the only multi-time winner of this group, has won HLR (‘23) and WoO (‘21) features before.
- Austin McCarl and the Country Builders #88W are the most recent winners with POWRi back in August.
- Pennsylvanian Brent Marks topped night one of this event one year ago in his #19 machine.
- Iowan Chris Martin visited victory lane in August of 2025 with the POWRi 410 Outlaw Sprints.
- Rico Abreu won a wild Hasty Bake Charcoal Grills Kansas City Clash in May 2025 with High Limit.
- Missourian Ayrton Gennetten, a multi-time POWRi champ, won that series debut in July 2024.
- Kansas City fanatic Brian Brown won in KC-K city limits against the Outlaws in 2017.
- Kerry Madsen, now aboard the Dutcher #17GP, topped an Outlaw feature at Lakeside in 2014.
- Brady Bacon picked up a pair of non-wing wins at the track with USAC in 2017 and 2022.
- J.J. Hickle claimed the ASCS Sprint Week opener at Lakeside during the summer of 2020 amid COVID.
- Aaron Reutzel also earned an ASCS score in Kansas City during the spring of 2017.
- Some notable podium finishers at Lakeside with High Limit who are still chasing their first-ever victory at the track include Ryan Timms, Tyler Courtney, and Justin Peck.
STREAKING INTO FALL: As the temperatures have cooled, a pair of High Rollers have heated up their results with Giovanni Scelzi (3.8 average) and Tanner Holmes (5.6 average) leading the way over the last six races at Lucas Oil, Eldora, and Kokomo.
For Scelzi, his six-race run inside the top-10 is the longest active streak with the series. The Fresno, California native finished podium in the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial and carried that speed into back-to-back runner-up results at the 4-Crown Nationals. Beating Reutzel’s #87 in eight-straight races, the Spire Motorsports #77 has ascended to second in the championship chase with four nights left. The Chili’s mobile is heading to one of the best tracks for their driver, too, as Scelzi is the only driver to win at Lakeside with both High Limit and the World of Outlaws.
For Holmes, he’s one of the hottest drivers in all of Sprint Car Racing right now. It all started back at “The Granddaddy of ‘Em All” - the Knoxville Nationals - when he stormed from the B-Main and charged his way to an 11th-place finish in the biggest race of the season. Since then, the Buch Motorsports team has piled up 18 top-10 finishes in 21 starts ranging from California, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana. During that span, they competed at the front of major events such as the Skagit Nationals, the Tuscarora 50, the Hockett/McMillin Memorial, the 4-Crown Nationals, and the National Open with the World of Outlaws. The cherry on top was Holmes’ second-career High Limit win when he edged by a Chase Randall slider to take Driven2SaveLives Sunday Funday at Kokomo Speedway.
CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (After 50/54 Nights):
2,983 pts – Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24 (Rico Abreu)
-116 pts – Spire Motorsports #77 (Giovanni Scelzi)
-117 pts - Ridge & Sons Racing #87 (Aaron Reutzel)
-268 pts – Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC (Tyler Courtney)
-281 pts – Rudeen Racing #26 (Justin Peck)
-357 pts – Chase Briscoe Racing #19 (Brent Marks)
-391 pts – JST Motorsports #88 (Tanner Thorson)
-459 pts – Buch Motorsports #13 (Tanner Holmes)
-560 pts – Vermeer Motorsports #55 (Brady Bacon)
-655 pts – Kasey Kahne Racing w/ Mike Curb #9 (Daison Pursley)
-957 pts – CJB Motorsports #5 (Brenham Crouch sub w/ Kasey Jedrzejek)
-960 pts – Chase Randall Racing #9R (Chase Randall)
-1,030 pts – Mosites Lynch Racing #42 (Sye Lynch)
-1,139 pts – Randerson Racing #24D (Danny Sams III)
-1,202 pts – Michael Dutcher Motorsports #17GP (Kerry Madsen)
INTERSTATE BATTERIES A-MAIN WINNERS THIS YEAR (15 Drivers / 16 Teams):
10 Wins – Aaron Reutzel (Ridge & Sons Racing #87)
8 Wins – Rico Abreu (Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #24)
6 Wins – Kyle Larson (Silva Motorsports #57)
5 Wins – Corey Day (Jason Meyers Racing #14)
5 Wins – Tanner Thorson (JST Motorsports #88)
2 Wins – Brent Marks (Chase Briscoe Racing #19)
2 Wins – James McFadden (Tarlton Racing #21 / Macri Motorsports #39M)
2 Wins – Tyler Courtney (Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC)
2 Wins – Ryan Timms (Liebig Motorsports #10)
2 Wins – Tanner Holmes (Buch Motorsports #13)
1 Win – Kerry Madsen (Vermeer Motorsports #55)
1 Win – Giovanni Scelzi (Spire Motorsports #77)
1 Win – Dylan Bloomfield (Ridgecrest Racing #5K)
1 Win – Trey Starks (Trey Starks Racing #55X)
1 Win – Chase Dietz (Stehman Motorsports #23)
REMAINING EVENTS IN 2026:
Friday, October 9 / Lakeside Speedway / Kansas City, KS / Hasty Bake Kansas City Clash
Saturday, October 10 / Lakeside Speedway / Kansas City, KS / Heartland of America Showdown
Friday, October 16 / Texas Motor Speedway / Fort Worth, TX / All-In Championship Weekend
Saturday, October 17 / Texas Motor Speedway / Fort Worth, TX / All-In Championship Weekend
All-Time High Limit Racing Wins List (Through 158 Features):
33 wins - Rico Abreu (St. Helena, California)
17 wins - Aaron Reutzel (Clute, Texas)
16 wins - Corey Day (Clovis, California)
15 wins - Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, California)
14 wins - Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, California)
10 wins - Brent Marks (Myerstown, Pennsylvania)
9 wins - Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Indiana)
7 wins - Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nevada)
5 wins - James McFadden (Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia)
4 wins - Justin Peck (Monrovia, Indiana)
3 wins - Anthony Macri (Dillsburg, Pennsylvania)
3 wins - Trey Starks (Puyallup, Washington)
3 wins - Ryan Timms (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
2 wins - David Gravel (Watertown, Connecticut)
2 wins - Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, California)
2 wins - Giovanni Scelzi (Fresno, California)
2 wins – Tanner Holmes (Jacksonville, Oregon)
1 win - Jacob Allen (Hanover, Pennsylvania)
1 win - Danny Dietrich (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania)
1 win - Travis Arenz (Sheboygan, Wisconsin)
1 win - Cole Macedo (Lemoore, California)
1 win - Carson Macedo (Lemoore, California)
1 win - Justin Sanders (Aromas, California)
1 win - Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Oklahoma)
1 win - Danny Sams III (North Port, Florida)
1 win - Kerry Madsen (St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia)
1 win - Dylan Bloomfield (Discovery Bay, California)
1 win - Chase Dietz (York, Pennsylvania)