Red Hot Wagner Wins at I-35

By Ray Cunningham

Winston, Missouri (July 18, 2026)………On Saturday at Winston, Missouri’s I-35 Speedway, the heat of summer made it another scorcher until the sun went down.

On the track, Lone Jack, Missouri racer Jack Wagner remained just as hot, leading the final 15 laps to win the 25-lap USAC Wholesale Batteries MRA Sprint Series feature.

For Wagner, the win was his fourth of the year as the driver of the Jesse Hockett/Wagner Boys Racing No. 77.

Continuing a trend of winning every other race in the series in 2026, Wagner has collected four wins, three seconds, and a fifth place finish in eight starts.

However, nothing came easy for Wagner on this particular night where USAC MRA was making its first ever run. Personally, Wagner hadn’t raced at the track since 2020.

Nixa, Missouri’s Wesley Smith was the fastest in group qualifying for the first heat race over Wagner who finished second. In the first heat race itself, “Gentleman Jack” could only manage a third place result when Wyatt Burks of Topeka, Kansas and Wesley Smith both finished ahead of the Show Me State racer.

The feature was a different story. When the lights were the brightest, Wagner, after starting third following the redraw, brought his “A” game once again, but it wasn’t going to be easy.

Bryson Smith of Nixa, Missouri had something to say about that after tallying the fastest overall time in qualifying, then followed it up by finishing second in his heat and was the top point earner before the redraw. Following the redraw, Bryson was still in great shape after drawing the number one position. He validated all of that by leading the first 10 laps of the feature before being passed by Wagner and ultimately finishing a career best third.

Bryson endured a fantastic battle with Nesbit, Mississippi’s Chase Howard, who finished second to tie his best finish of 2026 with USAC MRA. After Wagner, Howard, and Smith, Burks ran a steady race to come home fourth, while “The Hammer” Samuel Wagner finished fifth after running third at Valley Speedway a week ago.

The second half of the top 10 featured some solid efforts. In only his second appearance this season, Chris Parkinson came home sixth, with Dakota Earls seventh, and Luke Howard eighth. Braydon Cromwell fought his way to ninth to earn the Hard Charger award. Justin Johnson rounded out the top 10 with his fourth top 10 finish this season in MRA competition.

Earlier in the evening, Burks was victorious in the first heat race, while Jake Kouba of Farmington, Minnesota won the second heat after battling Samuel Wagner for the win. Chase Howard outdistanced Bryson Smith in heat race number three.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: July 18, 2026 – I-35 Speedway – Winston, Missouri

FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Wesley Smith, 12, Helm-15.056; 2. Jack Wagner, 77, Hockett/Wagner-15.063; 3. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-15.139; 4. Luke Howard, 2, Howard-15.297; 5. Braydon Cromwell, 4, Cromwell/Boyd-15.634; 6. Jonathan Hughes, 67, Hughes-15.736.

SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Samuel Wagner, 73, Wagner-15.093; 2. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-15.473; 3. Chris Parkinson, 65, Parkinson-15.539; 4. Jake Kouba, 6, Kouba-15.821; 5. Tyler Burton, 03, Burton-15.935; 6. Jared McCarty, 44m, McCarty-16.456.

THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Bryson Smith, 33, Smith-14.970; 2. Chase Howard, 13, Howard-15.554; 3. Charlie Burton, 91, Burton-15.889; 4. Justin Johnson, 27, Johnson-15.965; 5. Junior Parkinson, 93, Weld-16.366; 6. Mark Lane, 33L, Lane-17.140.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Wyatt Burks (2), 2. Wesley Smith (4), 3. Jack Wagner (3), 4. Luke Howard (1), 5. Jonathan Hughes (6), 6. Braydon Cromwell (5). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Jake Kouba (1), 2. Samuel Wagner (4), 3. Chris Parkinson (2), 4. Dakota Earls (3), 5. Tyler Burton (5), 6. Jared McCarty (6). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Howard (3), 2. Bryson Smith (4), 3. Justin Johnson (1), 4. Charlie Burton (2), 5. Junior Parkinson (5), 6. Mark Lane (6). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jack Wagner (3), 2. Chase Howard (4), 3. Bryson Smith (1), 4. Wyatt Burks (5), 5. Samuel Wagner (2), 6. Chris Parkinson (9), 7. Dakota Earls (8), 8. Luke Howard (12), 9. Braydon Cromwell (15), 10. Justin Johnson (11), 11. Junior Parkinson (14), 12. Charlie Burton (10), 13. Jonathan Hughes (16), 14. Tyler Burton (13), 15. Jared McCarty (17), 16. Jake Kouba (7), 17. Mark Lane (18), 18. Wesley Smith (6). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Bryson Smith, Laps 11-25 Jack Wagner.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Jack Wagner-1174, 2-Chase Howard-1104, 3-Wyatt Burks-1082, 4-Samuel Wagner-1074, 5-Braydon Cromwell-1070, 6-Dakota Earls-1032, 7-Luke Howard-1012, 8-Jake Kouba-988, 9-Justin Johnson-986, 10-Tyler Burton-982.

NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE: July 31, 2026 – Electric City Speedway – Butler, Missouri

Winner Jack Wagner (John Lee photo)