SMITH STEALS USAC MRA VICTORY AT VALLEY

Winner #44 Wesley Smith battles #77 Jack Wagner for the lead on Saturday at Missouri’s Valley Speedway.
(Ryan Black Photo)

By: Ray Cunningham

Grain Valley, Missouri (May 23, 2026)………Sixth starting Wesley Smith (Nixa, Missouri) worked his way to the front to nip Jack Wagner (Lone Jack, Missouri) for the win in Saturday night’s USAC Wholesale Batteries Midwest Racing Association Sprint Car feature at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri.

Smith, in his own No. 44, passed the JHR/WBR No. 77 of Wagner as the two came down to take the white flag, and then held on for his first series win.

Tom Curran of (Kansas City, Missouri), meanwhile, had a great night at the track to take home third for his first podium of the season in the TCR No. 11x. Braydon Cromwell of (Lone Jack, Missouri), aboard his own No. 4, finished fourth, while Nesbit, Mississippi’s Chase Howard rounded out the top-five in his CHR No. 13.

Smith’s victory spoiled a near perfect night of racing for Wagner who, after winning last week at Missouri’s Electric City Speedway in a MRA showdown, set the overall quick time at Valley, won his heat, then grabbed the lead on the opening lap of the feature.

Jack’s only mistake was jumping a restart early in the feature, penalizing him two spots, which he made up by passing his brother, Samuel, for second, and then Curran for the lead by the halfway point of the 25-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. At Valley, however, that changed 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 came home seventh after a first lap incident between turns three and four caused the No. 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-10 finish. Chad Goff ran eighth in his first sprint car go of the season with the MRA. Dakota Earls earned the Hard Charger Award after advancing six spots to run ninth ahead of Justin Johnson in 10th.

Bryson Smith flipped while running inside the top-10 after the first lap of the feature, which brought out the red flag. Smith was able to continue after some time in the hot pit. Unfortunately, he had to restart 21st in the 21 car field, but did manage to work his way back up to 11th at the end of the 25-lap feature.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 23, 2026 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, Missouri

FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Tom Curran, 11x, Curran-13.894; 2. Samuel Wagner, 73, Wagner-13.902; 3. Wesley Smith, 44, Smith-14.165; 4. Taylor Walton, 93w, Walton-14.580; 5. Jake Kouba, 6, Kouba-15.084; 6. Jared McCarty, 44m, McCarty-15.831; 7. Lance Silvers, 7x, Silvers-15.833.

SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jack Wagner, 77, Hockett/Wagner-13.510; 2. Bryson Smith, 33, Smith-13.622; 3. Chase Howard, 13, Howard-13.981; 4. Justin Johnson, 27, Johnson-14.330; 5. Tyler Burton, 03, Burton-14.427; 6. Chad Tye, 88, Tye-15.169; 7. Mark Lane, 33L, Lane-15.292.

THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Luke Howard, 2, Lewis-13.513; 2. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-13.541; 3. Braydon Cromwell, 4, Cromwell-13.579; 4. Chad Goff, 9, Goff-13.753; 5. Junior Parkinson, 93, Weld-14.281; 6. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-14.309; 7. Kyle Gorham, 18K, Gorham-17.057.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (2), 2. Samuel Wagner (3), 3. Tom Curran (4), 4. Taylor Walton (1), 5. Jake Kouba (5), 6. Jared McCarty (6), 7. Lance Silvers (7). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jack Wagner (4), 2. Chase Howard (2), 3. Bryson Smith (3), 4. Justin Johnson (1), 5. Chad Tye (6), 6. Tyler Burton (5), 7. Mark Lane (7). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Braydon Cromwell (2), 2. Wyatt Burks (3), 3. Chad Goff (1), 4. Luke Howard (4), 5. Dakota Earls (6), 6. Junior Parkinson (5), 7. Kyle Gorham (7). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Wesley Smith (6), 2. Jack Wagner (4), 3. Tom Curran (2), 4. Braydon Cromwell (5), 5. Chase Howard (9), 6. Samuel Wagner (3), 7. Wyatt Burks (1), 8. Chad Goff (10), 9. Dakota Earls (15), 10. Justin Johnson (11), 11. Bryson Smith (8), 12. Taylor Walton (12), 13. Jake Kouba (13), 14. Junior Parkinson (14), 15. Tyler Burton (16), 16. Mark Lane (19), 17. Lance Silvers (20), 18. Chad Tye (17), 19. Jared McCarty (18), 20. Kyle Gorham (21), 21. Luke Howard (7). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Jack Wagner, Laps 9-12 Tom Curran, Laps 13-23 Jack Wagner, Laps 24-25 Wesley Smith.

NEXT USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACES: May 29-30, 2026 – Knoxville Raceway – Knoxville, Iowa – Avanti Windows & Doors Corn Belt Clash