Wesley Smith powers past Jack Wagner late for USAC/MRA victory at Valley
GRAIN VALLEY, Mo.—Saturday night at Valley Speedway, (Nixa, Mo’s) Wesley Smith, WSR 44, worked his way to the front after starting sixth, to nip (Lone Jack, Mo’s) Jack Wagner for the win after passing the JHR/ WBR 77, coming down to take the white flag, and then holding on for his first Wholesale Batteries Inc. USAC MRA sprint car victory over Wagner in second. Tom Curran of (KCMO), meanwhile, would have a great night at the track to take home third for his first podium of the season in the TCR 11x. Braydon Cromwell of (Lone Jack, Mo) running the BCR 4, would finish fourth, and (Nesbit, Mississippis) Chase Howard in the CHR 13. rounded out the top five.
Smiths victory, spoiled a near perfect night of racing for Wagner, who after winning last week at ECS in a MRA showdown, set the overall quick time at Valley, won his heat, and grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the feature. His only mistake was jumping a restart early in the feature, penalizing him two spots. Which he made up passing first his brother Samuel for second, and then Curran for the lead, by the halfway point of the twenty five lapper.
Show Me State gasser Smith, had finished on the podium in his two previous races with the MRA in 2026 at Springfield and Red Hill, while leading both late, before finishing third and second respectively. Last night however, that would change after Wesley won his heat, and then methodically worked his way from sixth to second before seizing his opportunity to pass Wagner for the win.
The second half of the top ten last night at Valley included Samuel Wagner in sixth, after running as high as second. Wyatt Burks coming home seventh, after a first lap incident between turns three and four caused the 11w to come down violently hard after bicycling. Burks went from first to fifth after that. But, the real problem was his lower back and tailbone. Wyatt was in severe pain, but managed to wrestle home the Rumsey Special to a top ten finish. Chad Goff ran eighth in his first sprint car go of the season with the MRA. While Dakota Earls would earn the Hard Charger Award after advancing six spots to run ninth, ahead of Justin Johnson in 10th.
Odds and Ends:
Bryson Smith flipped running in the top ten after the first lap of the feature bringing out the red. Smith was able to continue after some time in the hot pit. Unfortunately, he had to restart in twenty first in the twenty one car field, but did manage to work his way back up to eleventh at the end of the twenty five lap feature.
The Wholesale Batteries USAC MRA Sprint Cars are next in action Friday May 29th, and Saturday May 30th, with the USAC National Sprint Car Series in a special non points event for the MRA at Knoxville, Iowa. As part of the NSCHOF Induction weekend festivities.
Photos by Ryan Black D.T.O. Photography in association with John Lee High Fly’N Photos.
RESUULTS
Valley Speedway
Grain Valley, Mo.
Saturday, May 23, 2026
USAC/MRA SPRINT CARS (21 entries)
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 44-Wesley Smith[6]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner[4]; 3. 11X-Tom Curran[2]; 4. 4-Braydon Cromwell[5]; 5. 13-Chase Howard[9]; 6. 73-Samuel Wagner[3]; 7. 11W-Wyatt Burks[1]; 8. 9-Chad Goff[10]; 9. 15E-Dakota Earls[15]; 10. 27-Justin Johnson[11]; 11. 33-Bryson Smith[8]; 12. 93W-Taylor Walton[12]; 13. 6-Jake Kouba[13]; 14. 93-JR Parkinson[14]; 15. 03-Tyler Burton[16]; 16. 33L-Mark Lane[19]; 17. 7X-Lance Silvers[20]; 18. 88-Chad Tye[17]; 19. 44M-Jared McCarty[18]; 20. 18K-Kyle Gorham[21]; 21. 2-Luke Howard[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Wesley Smith[2]; 2. 73-Samuel Wagner[3]; 3. 11X-Tom Curran[4]; 4. 93W-Taylor Walton[1]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba[5]; 6. 44M-Jared McCarty[6]; 7. 7X-Lance Silvers[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Jack Wagner[4]; 2. 13-Chase Howard[2]; 3. 33-Bryson Smith[3]; 4. 27-Justin Johnson[1]; 5. 88-Chad Tye[6]; 6. 03-Tyler Burton[5]; 7. 33L-Mark Lane[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Braydon Cromwell[2]; 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks[3]; 3. 9-Chad Goff[1]; 4. 2-Luke Howard[4]; 5. 15E-Dakota Earls[6]; 6. 93-JR Parkinson[5]; 7. 18K-Kyle Gorham[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 11X-Tom Curran, 13.894[6]; 2. 73-Samuel Wagner, 13.902[7]; 3. 44-Wesley Smith, 14.165[2]; 4. 93W-Taylor Walton, 14.580[1]; 5. 6-Jake Kouba, 15.084[4]; 6. 44M-Jared McCarty, 15.831[3]; 7. 7X-Lance Silvers, 15.833[5]
Qualifying 2: 1. 77-Jack Wagner, 13.510[6]; 2. 33-Bryson Smith, 13.622[2]; 3. 13-Chase Howard, 13.981[3]; 4. 27-Justin Johnson, 14.330[7]; 5. 03-Tyler Burton, 14.427[5]; 6. 88-Chad Tye, 15.169[4]; 7. 33L-Mark Lane, 15.292[1]
Qualifying 3: 1. 2-Luke Howard, 13.513[3]; 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks, 13.541[4]; 3. 4-Braydon Cromwell, 13.579[1]; 4. 9-Chad Goff, 13.753[6]; 5. 93-JR Parkinson, 14.281[2]; 6. 15E-Dakota Earls, 14.309[5]; 7. 18K-Kyle Gorham, 17.057[7]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 44-Wesley Smith, 15.382[2]; 2. 11X-Tom Curran, 15.883[6]; 3. 6-Jake Kouba, 17.564[4]; 4. 44M-Jared McCarty, 17.564[3]; 5. 7X-Lance Silvers, 17.564[5]; 6. 73-Samuel Wagner, 17.564[7]; 7. 93W-Taylor Walton, 17.564[1]
Hot Laps 2: 1. 77-Jack Wagner, 15.562[6]; 2. 33-Bryson Smith, 16.043[2]; 3. 03-Tyler Burton, 17.314[5]; 4. 13-Chase Howard, 17.318[3]; 5. 27-Justin Johnson, 17.651[7]; 6. 33L-Mark Lane, 18.162[1]; 7. 88-Chad Tye, 18.163[4]
Hot Laps 3: 1. 2-Luke Howard, 15.570[3]; 2. 15E-Dakota Earls, 15.736[5]; 3. 4-Braydon Cromwell, 15.875[1]; 4. 9-Chad Goff, 17.778[6]; 5. 93-JR Parkinson, 18.519[2]; 6. 18K-Kyle Gorham, 18.765[7]; 7. 11W-Wyatt Burks, 19.002[4]
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Nicholls USRA B Mods
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 2X-Cole Hamilton[3]; 2. 1K-Tim Karrick[10]; 3. 75M-Sebastian Wolfenbarger[8]; 4. 81-Austin Charles[7]; 5. 51-Mike Ryun[2]; 6. 36-Travis Alexander[12]; 7. 81C-Tom Charles[9]; 8. 37-Daniel Charles[1]; 9. 25-David Chapman[11]; 10. (DNF) 27-Jarret Beach[5]; 11. (DNF) 1R-Rylan Gibbs[4]; 12. (DNF) 23N-Kenny Nutter[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 37-Daniel Charles[2]; 2. 1R-Rylan Gibbs[1]; 3. 27-Jarret Beach[4]; 4. 81-Austin Charles[5]; 5. 81C-Tom Charles[3]; 6. 25-David Chapman[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2X-Cole Hamilton[1]; 2. 51-Mike Ryun[4]; 3. 23N-Kenny Nutter[2]; 4. 75M-Sebastian Wolfenbarger[5]; 5. 1K-Tim Karrick[3]; 6. 36-Travis Alexander[6]
Kustom Cruzers E Mods
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 9-Brian Meyer[2]; 2. 51C-Cole Ryun[3]; 3. 69X-Josh Boyd[1]; 4. 32X-Brad RIchardson[5]; 5. 27K-Jim Gauck[8]; 6. 14P-Adam Paul[4]; 7. 03-CAMERON ENGLAND[9]; 8. 45-Grayson Gilbert[10]; 9. 11E-Emme Ryun[11]; 10. 21-Vic Tranckino[7]; 11. (DNF) 75B-Brayden Royce[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 69X-Josh Boyd[4]; 2. 14P-Adam Paul[2]; 3. 32X-Brad RIchardson[3]; 4. 27K-Jim Gauck[1]; 5. 03-CAMERON ENGLAND[5]; 6. 45-Grayson Gilbert[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 51C-Cole Ryun[1]; 2. 9-Brian Meyer[4]; 3. 75B-Brayden Royce[2]; 4. 21-Vic Tranckino[5]; 5. (DNF) 11E-Emme Ryun[3]
Trailer Worx IMCA Mod Lites
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 46-Dillon Raffurty[5]; 2. 41-Michael Raffurty[4]; 3. 98-Jeff Raffurty[1]; 4. 04-Zach Christopher[2]; 5. 3-Nathan Wolfe[3]; 6. 84-Joe Gunn[7]; 7. 73-Matthew Raffurty[6]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 46-Dillon Raffurty[7]; 2. 98-Jeff Raffurty[2]; 3. 41-Michael Raffurty[6]; 4. 04-Zach Christopher[4]; 5. 3-Nathan Wolfe[5]; 6. 73-Matthew Raffurty[1]; 7. 84-Joe Gunn[3]
A1 Trading Pure Stocks
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 6-Mike Taylor[2]; 2. 4A-Gary Akers[1]; 3. 117-Levi Cox[6]; 4. 14M2-Ashley Mueller[5]; 5. 32-Shelby Manthe[3]; 6. 31P-Myron Powell[4]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4A-Gary Akers[4]; 2. 6-Mike Taylor[6]; 3. 32-Shelby Manthe[2]; 4. 31P-Myron Powell[1]; 5. 14M2-Ashley Mueller[5]; 6. 117-Levi Cox[3]
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