T.J. Smith collected his first USAC Avanti Windows & Doors Western States victory in more than three years on Saturday night at Ventura Raceway.
Starting fourth, the Fresno, California native raced around the outside of racelong leader Drake Cardey on the 11th lap, then led the final 20 circuits to score the win on the 1/5-mile dirt oval in southern California in round two of the Billy’s Tequila Cup by a little over two car lengths ahead of Broedy Graham.
Smith’s second career USAC Western States Midget victory was his first since August 2023 at California’s Antioch Speedway, also aboard the Six8 Motorsports No. 68.
Behind Smith and Graham at the finish line were Dane Culver in third, Cardey in fourth, and Connor Speir in fifth.
Graham became the new USAC Western States Midget point leader after taking Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifying honors and a runner-up finish in the feature. Graham carries a six-point lead over Cardey entering the series finale on October 17 at Ventura.
Cardey won a special six-lap, six-car dash, which determined the first three rows of the feature. Therefore, Cardey started on the pole of the main event.
Heat races presented by Sexton Fire Protection and Roy Miller Freight Lines were won by C.J. Sarna and T.J. Smith.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: September 12, 2026 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Broedy Graham, 66, BGR-14.237; 2. Jett Yantis, 31, Beilman-14.299; 3. Drake Cardey, 17, Cardey-14.317; 4. T.J. Smith, 68, Six8-14.814; 5. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-14.816; 6. Connor Speir, 14, Streeter/Graunstadt-14.829; 7. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-14.857; 8. Kyle Hawse, 20x, Hawse-14.900; 9. Hailey Lambert, 55, Lambert-15.018; 10. Todd Hawse, 18, Hawse-15.097; 11. Grant Schaadt, 8x, DeWitt-15.102; 12. Bryan Whitley, 15w, Hart-15.126; 13. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-15.159; 14. Connor Lundy, 73, Ford-15.168; 15. Gary DeWitt, 29A, DeWitt-15.560; 16. Kevin Mahoney, 9K, Kruseman-15.560; 17. Billy Rayburn, 16K, Kruseman-16.043; 18. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-NT; 19. Adam Weisberg, 15x, Weisberg-NT.
DASH: (6 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Drake Cardey (4), 2. Broedy Graham (6), 3. Jett Yantis (5), 4. T.J. Smith (3), 5. C.J. Sarna (2), 6. Bryan Whitley (1). NT
SEXTON FIRE PROTECTION FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Sarna (3), 2. Broedy Graham (6), 3. Drake Cardey (5), 4. Grant Schaadt (1), 5. Dane Culver (4), 6. Randi Pankratz (7), 7. Hailey Lambert (2), 8. Gary DeWitt (8), 9. Adam Weisberg (10), 10. Billy Rayburn (9). NT
ROY MILLER FREIGHT LINES SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. T.J. Smith (5), 2. Jett Yantis (6), 3. Bryan Whitley (1), 4. Connor Speir (4), 5. Connor Lundy (7), 6. Kyle Hawse (3), 7. Todd Hawse (2), 8. Kevin Mahoney (8), 9. Ron Hazelton (9). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. T.J. Smith (4), 2. Broedy Graham (2), 3. Dane Culver (7), 4. Drake Cardey (1), 5. Connor Speir (8), 6. C.J. Sarna (5), 7. Randi Pankratz (13), 8. Hailey Lambert (10), 9. Bryan Whitley (6), 10. Kevin Mahoney (16), 11. Adam Weisberg (19), 12. Todd Hawse (11), 13. Jett Yantis (3), 14. Ron Hazelton (18), 15. Gary DeWitt (15), 16. Connor Lundy (14), 17. Kyle Hawse (9), 18. Billy Rayburn (17), 19. Grant Schaadt (12). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Drake Cardey, Laps 11-30 T.J. Smith.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Broedy Graham-792, 2-Drake Cardey-786, 3-C.J. Sarna-695, 4-Jett Yantis-647, 5-Adam Weisberg-489, 6-Hailey Lambert-447, 7-Connor Speir-433, 8-Randi Pankratz-354, 9-Dane Culver-326, 10-Cade Lewis-288.
NEXT USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: October 17, 2026 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
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