It’s last call as the USAC Silver Crown trail in 2026 comes to the end of the road this Saturday, October 3.
The place is Toledo Speedway. The race is the 13th running of the Hemelgarn Racing / Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic as the champ cars make their curtain call for the year on the 1/2-mile, high-banked paved oval in the upper northwest part of Ohio.
A fierce Rookie of the Year battle is at play this weekend, as are intriguing debuts, and several drivers aiming to finish their season on a high note.
The event remembers Toledo’s racing hero, 1973 USAC National Sprint Car champion Rollie Beale, who also later became a highly respected USAC official and served as the chief steward for both the Silver Crown and National Sprint Car series for many years.
Now, here’s six storylines to watch coming up this Saturday at Toledo!
LEARY LOCKED IN
C.J. Leary enters the Toledo finale playing with house money. He’s already clinched the 2026 USAC Silver Crown championship, the first of his career. Amazingly, he’s the first Indiana born USAC Silver Crown driving champion since Tracy Hines 26 years ago in 2000.
Two of Leary’s three USAC Silver Crown wins in 2026 have occurred on the asphalt, at WWT Raceway and Iowa Speedway. Furthermore, he’s currently on a string of an all-time record 15 consecutive top-five finishes with the series dating back to mid-July 2025.
Of course, he’d like to put the cherry on top to complete a perfect season of top-fives. But he wants more than that. In his career at Toledo, he’s finished 2nd twice in 2023 and 2024 and was fifth one year ago.
GRANT EYING FIRST CHAMP CAR W OF ‘26
Justin Grant enters Toledo as the defending winner of the Rollie Beale Classic at Toledo, leading all 100 laps from his outside front row starting position in April 2025 en route to the series championship.
However, this year, despite several strong runs, he’s been absent from USAC Silver Crown victory lane. He has six top-five finishes and has been in contention to win many of them. However, victory has eluded him thus far.
He owns the current longest streak of years with at least one Silver Crown victory with five dating back to 2021. Toledo marks his final opportunity of 2026 to extend that run.
Toledo also presents a special opportunity for Grant and his Hemelgarn Racing team. Hemelgarn, a Toledo businessman who owns the Super Fitness health club, is a longtime sponsor of the Rollie Beale Classic and was instrumental in bringing open wheel racing back to Toledo Speedway during the 2000s.
REINBOLD VS. HINTON FOR THE ROOKIE TITLE
Hayden Reinbold and Chelby Hinton are separated by just six points in the battle for USAC Silver Crown Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Year honors. Both drivers will be making their Toledo debut this Saturday.
Gilbert, Arizona’s Reinbold will make his first pavement start of any kind in his career in the Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports No. 19. The ride is a borrowed car from the Team AZ Racing / Petty-Rossi / Curb-Agajanian stable. Reinbold won the season opener back in May at the Kansas State Fairgrounds.
Meanwhile, Dubberly, Louisiana’s Hinton will hit the Toledo pavement for the first time in his career aboard the Breidinger Motorsports No. 80. In his five USAC Silver Crown starts this season, Hinton has yet to finish outside the top-10. His best run to date was a 6th at Du Quoin in September.
DOUBLE DUTY IN CHAMP CARS & SPRINT CARS
Along with USAC Silver Crown action, the 500 Sprint Car Tour will also be on hand for its event at Toledo in an open wheel doubleheader.
At least three drivers are planning to pull double-duty by competing in both divisions this Saturday: Tyler Roahrig, Dakoda Armstrong, and Nathan Byrd.
Roahrig finished 2nd in last year’s Toledo USAC Silver Crown race while Armstrong took 3rd. Byrd was a 6th place Toledo finisher in 2021.
On top of everything else, Byrd will be traveling back and forth between Toledo Speedway and Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin’s Road America where he is competing in the SCCA Runoffs in the Formula Atlantic division this week.
TOLEDO DEBUTS
Eight of the 18 drivers in Saturday’s field will be making their Toledo USAC Silver Crown debuts.
Among that group are top Rookie of the Year contenders Hayden Reinbold and Chelby Hinton, plus two-time 2026 series winner Briggs Danner as well as USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget winner Kale Drake, who’ll be making his pavement champ car debut.
Chase Cabre will make his first Toledo champ car run as will Robert Tyler. Additionally, two more drivers will be making their first USAC Silver Crown appearance of any kind this Saturday: northeast Supermodified and NEMA Midget star Chase Locke and East Coast winged sprint car racer Jared Kreider.
They’ll be facing off with series veterans such as Kyle Hamilton who returns to Toledo for the first time since a 6th place USAC Silver Crown finish in 2019. Kaylee Bryson made her USAC Silver Crown debut at Toledo in 2022 and finished 6th in 2023. Mario Clouser, who ranks fourth in the standings, also finished 6th at Toledo in 2024. Fifth in points in Gregg Cory who finished 13th in 2024. Dave Berkheimer, sixth in points, took a 17th place Toledo result in 2025.
A HISTORY OF CROWN FINALES
Saturday will mark the fourth time the USAC Silver Crown season finale has been held at Toledo Speedway. Jerry Coons Jr. won the first in 2010, while Kody Swanson won the Toledo finale in both 2011 and 2021.
Overall, Kody Swanson owns the most USAC Silver Crown finale victories with five. Just one driver in this Saturday’s field has won a finale. That’s C.J. Leary who earned the last win of the 2018 season at Eldora.
Speaking of Leary, he’s looking to become the 11th driver to win both the season finale and the USAC Silver Crown championship during the same season. That list includes: Al Unser (1973), Bobby Olivero (1979), Gary Bettenhausen (1980), Jack Hewitt (1986), Steve Butler (1992), Jimmy Sills (1996), J.J. Yeley (2002 & 2003), Bobby East (2012), Kody Swanson (2014, 2015, 2021 & 2024), and Chris Windom (2016).
Aaron Pierce won the 2006 season finale as a driver at Kansas Speedway. He’ll try to get it done with his team on Saturday at Toledo with Chase Cabre in the seat. Brian Tyler also achieved the same feat in the 2000 finale at Memphis Motorsports Park. His son, Robert Tyler, will be competing on Saturday with his father turning the wrenches.
RACE DETAILS
This Saturday’s October 3 Stars, Stripes & Speed Fest features the Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness Rollie Beale Classic for the USAC Silver Crown Championship, plus the 500 Sprint Car Tour, Outlaw Super Late Models and Factory Stocks.
Pits open at 9am Eastern with the drivers meeting set for 11am. Practice begins at noon for all divisions, followed by qualifying at 2:30pm for all divisions.
Opening ceremonies begin at 4pm, followed by racing action featuring Factory Stock heat races, the 500 Sprint Car Tour 40-lap feature, the Outlaw Super Late Model 50-lap feature, the Factory Stock 20-lap feature, and the 100-lap USAC Silver Crown feature.
Advance tickets are on sale now at http://www.toledospeedway.com/
The entirety of the event can be watched live on https://flosports.link/
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TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN ENTRY LIST: (18)
5 DAKODA ARMSTRONG/New Castle, IN (C & A Motorsports)
6 KYLE HAMILTON/Danville, IN (Klatt Enterprises)
11 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Abacus Racing Powered by Droplight)
14 (R) CHASE LOCKE/Chester, NH (Hamilton-DB Racing)
19 (R) HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
20 MARIO CLOUSER/Auburn, IL (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi)
21 C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team AZ-Petty-Rossi)
24 (R) JARED KREIDER/Stockton, NJ (John Haggenbottom)
26 (R) CHASE CABRE/Tampa, FL (Sam Pierce)
31 DAVE BERKHEIMER/Mechanicsburg, PA (Dave Berkheimer Motorsports)
32 GREGG CORY/Shelbyville, IN (Williams-Cory Racing)
40 NATHAN BYRD/Goodyear, AZ (Meyer Auto Research-Byrd Racing-John Tosti)
41 TYLER ROAHRIG/Plymouth, IN (Newman Racing)
75 (R) ROBERT TYLER/Mount Pleasant, NC (Robert Tyler Racing)
77 BRIGGS DANNER/Allentown, PA (Doran-Mark Swanson Encore Team)
80 (R) CHELBY HINTON/Dubberly, LA (Breidinger Motorsports)
91 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (Hemelgarn Racing)
92 (R) KALE DRAKE/Collinsville, OK (Kazmark Motorsports)
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-613, 2-Justin Grant-496, 3-Briggs Danner-484, 4-Mario Clouser-435, 5-Gregg Cory-357, 6-Dave Berkheimer-289, 7-Mitchel Moles-258, 8-Chase Stockon-254, 9-Jake Swanson-251, 10-Kyle Steffens-249.
USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TRACK RECORDS AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 10/15/2011 – Kody Swanson – 14.809 – 121.548 mph
100 Laps – 4/19/2025 – Justin Grant – 26:38.254 – 112.623 mph
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-613, 2-Justin Grant-496, 3-Briggs Danner-484, 4-Mario Clouser-435, 5-Gregg Cory-357, 6-Dave Berkheimer-289, 7-Mitchel Moles-258, 8-Chase Stockon-254, 9-Jake Swanson-251, 10-Kyle Steffens-249.
USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE POINTS: 1-Hayden Reinbold-242, 2-Chelby Hinton-236, 3-Steve Gennetten-227, 4-Robert Tyler-113, 5-Bret Tripplett-76, 6-Colton Bettis-74, 7-Kale Drake-66, 8-Chase Cabre-50, 9-Mitchell Davis-45, 10-Rob Caho Jr.-35.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Hayden Reinbold-142, 2-Kevin Thomas Jr.-139, 3-Justin Grant-138, 4-Robert Ballou-124, 5-Chase Stockon-112, 6-Briggs Danner-108, 7-Cale Coons-108, 8-Jacob Denney-102, 9-Jake Swanson-95, 10-Logan Seavey-91.
TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN WINS:
8-Kody Swanson
2-Jerry Coons Jr.
1-Justin Grant & Bobby Santos
TOLEDO USAC SILVER CROWN WINNERS:
2010: Jerry Coons Jr. (10/16)
2011: Kody Swanson (10/15)
2012: Jerry Coons Jr. (6/29)
2015: Kody Swanson (5/1)
2017: Bobby Santos (7/28)
2018: Kody Swanson (5/4)
2019: Kody Swanson (4/28)
2021: Kody Swanson (10/10)
2022: Kody Swanson (8/6)
2023: Kody Swanson (8/5)
2024: Kody Swanson (4/20)
2025: Justin Grant (4/19)
USAC SILVER CROWN RESULTS AT TOLEDO SPEEDWAY
2010 FEATURE: (150 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (1), 2. Kody Swanson (5), 3. Bobby East (6), 4. Bryan Clauson (10), 5. A.J. Fike (8), 6. Brian Tyler (11), 7. Levi Jones (4), 8. Bud Kaeding (3), 9. Justin Carver (15), 10. Zach Daum (14), 11. Dave Darland (19), 12. Russ Gamester (12), 13. Derek Hagar (18), 14. Zach Martini (20), 15. Tanner Swanson (9), 16. Tracy Hines (7), 17. Shane Hollingsworth (13), 18. Jeff Swindell (16), 19. Troy DeCaire (17), 20. Jacob Wilson (2). NT
2011 FEATURE: (150 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bryan Clauson (6), 3. Bobby East (3), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 5. Darren Hagen (7), 6. Brian Tyler (10), 7. Levi Jones (11), 8. Kyle Hamilton (12), 9. Shane Hollingsworth (13), 10. Eric Gordon (4), 11. Tracy Hines (9), 12. David Byrne (14), 13. Kyle Larson (15), 14. Derek Hagar (16), 15. A.J. Fike (18), 16. Russ Gamester (8), 17. Jimmy Kite (19), 18. Tanner Swanson (5), 19. Doug Berryman (17). 45:54.90
2012 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (8), 2. Bobby East (1), 3. Bobby Santos (3), 4. Kody Swanson (2), 5. Tracy Hines (4), 6. Kyle Hamilton (5), 7. Tanner Swanson (6), 8. A.J. Fike (10), 9. Levi Jones (14), 10. Jacob Wilson (11), 11. Bud Kaeding (9), 12. Eric Gordon (13), 13. Brian Tyler (12), 14. Doug Berryman (15), 15. Taylor Ferns (7). 27:07.40
2015 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Jacob Wilson (3), 3. A.J. Fike (17), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 5. Aaron Pierce (5), 6. David Byrne (16), 7. Austin Nemire (15), 8. Dave Baumgartner (11), 9. Tracy Hines (4), 10. Rex Norris III (10), 11. C.J. Leary (13), 12. Tim Barber (14), 13. Jarett Andretti (9), 14. Jimmy McCune (12), 15. Tanner Swanson (2), 16. Bobby Santos (8), 17. Kyle Hamilton (6), 18. Patrick Lawson (18). NT
2017 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bobby Santos (2), 2. Kody Swanson (1), 3. Chris Windom (4), 4. Jerry Coons Jr. (6), 5. Joe Liguori (8), 6. Davey Hamilton (9), 7. Joe Axsom (11), 8. David Byrne (5), 9. Annie Breidinger (12), 10. Justin Grant (7), 11. Troy Thompson (14), 12. Aaron Pierce (3), 13. Joss Moffatt (15), 14. Damion Gardner (10), 15. Matt Goodnight (13). 28:48.17
2018 FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Kody Swanson (9), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. David Byrne (7), 4. Eric Gordon (16), 5. Aaron Pierce (6), 6. Austin Nemire (8), 7. Cody Gerhardt (15), 8. Matt Goodnight (10), 9. Travis Welpott (11), 10. Justin Grant (1), 11. Kyle Robbins (12, 12. Toni Breidinger (14), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (2), 14. Kyle Hamilton (3), 15. Chris Windom (5), 16. Dave Darland (13). NT
2019 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (11), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Justin Grant (6), 5. Chris Windom (10), 6. Kyle Hamilton (2), 7. Austin Nemire (20), 8. Derek Bischak (12), 9. Joey Schmidt (13), 10. Brian Gerster (19), 11. Russ Gamester (16), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (22), 13. Cody Gerhardt (21), 14. Kyle Robbins (17), 15. Cody Gallogly (18), 16. Chris Dyson (14), 17. Matt Goodnight (15), 18. Eric Gordon (4), 19. David Byrne (7), 20. Jason Conn (9), 21. C.J. Leary (5), 22. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8). NT
2021 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. Brian Tyler (7), 4. David Byrne (3), 5. Davey Hamilton Jr. (14), 6. Nathan Byrd (10), 7. Kyle O’Gara (6), 8. Austin Nemire (15), 9. Taylor Ferns (5), 10. Logan Seavey (12), 11. Mike Haggenbottom (19), 12. Jake Day (21), 13. Tyler Roahrig (8), 14. Annie Breidinger (20), 15. Russ Gamester (11), 16. Mike McVetta (17), 17. Justin Grant (2), 18. Jim Anderson (13), 19. Travis Welpott (18), 20. Aaron Pierce (16), 21. Kyle Robbins (9), 22. Dave Berkheimer (22). NT
2022 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (4), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. Logan Seavey (5), 5. Russ Gamester (7), 6. Derek Bischak (19), 7. Kyle Robbins (6), 8. Brian Tyler (10), 9. Mario Clouser (9), 10. Nick Hamilton (8), 11. C.J. Leary (20), 12. Mike McVetta (11), 13. Kaylee Bryson (15), 14. Kyle O’Gara (12), 15. Mike Haggenbottom (17), 16. Gregg Cory (16), 17. Taylor Ferns (2), 18. Travis Welpott (14), 19. Jake Day (21), 20. Austin Nemire (13), 21. Tom Paterson (18), 22. Dave Berkheimer (22). 1:05:57.617
2023 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. C.J. Leary (2), 3. Derek Bischak (5), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Logan Seavey (7), 6. Kaylee Bryson (10), 7. Mario Clouser (9), 8. Taylor Ferns (17), 9. Russ Gamester (8), 10. Dakoda Armstrong (6), 11. Bobby Santos (20), 12. Billy Wease (11), 13. Kyle Robbins (14), 14. Kyle O’Gara (12), 15. Matt Westfall (15), 16. Nathan Byrd (13), 17. Trey Burke (18), 18. Mike McVetta (19), 19. Travis Welpott (16), 20. Davey Hamilton Jr. (4), 21. Tom Paterson (22), 22. Dave Berkheimer (21). 28:35.61
2024 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. C.J. Leary (3), 3. Tyler Roahrig (2), 4. Justin Grant (5), 5. Bobby Santos (4), 6. Mario Clouser (9), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Taylor Ferns (11), 9. Jerry Coons Jr. (14), 10. Davey Hamilton Jr. (10), 11. Kaylee Bryson (18), 12. Kyle Steffens (15), 13. Gregg Cory (12), 14. Jackson Macenko (7), 15. Travis Welpott (16), 16. Trey Burke (13), 17. Dakoda Armstrong (8), 18. Dave Berkheimer (17), 19. Nathan Moore (19). 28:00.63
2025 FEATURE: (100 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Tyler Roahrig (5), 3. Dakoda Armstrong (7), 4. Kody Swanson (1), 5. C.J. Leary (6), 6. Bobby Santos (9), 7. Kyle O’Gara (13), 8. Mario Clouser (4), 9. Kaylee Bryson (3), 10. Taylor Ferns (14), 11. Jackson Macenko (12), 12. Matt Westfall (15), 13. Kyle Steffens (11), 14. Gregg Cory (16), 15. Colton Bettis (8), 16. Jake Trainor (10), 17. Dave Berkheimer (17). 26:38.254 (New Track Record)
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