HELM MEMORIAL GOES TO JACK IN WAGNER BROTHER BATTLE AT VALLEY

Winner Jack Wagner (yellow) battles brother Samuel Wagner (blue)
for the lead at Missouri’s Valley Speedway. (John Lee Photo)

By: Ray Cunningham

Grain Valley, Missouri (October 3, 2026)………In what turned into a battle of brothers, Jack Wagner got the upper hand on Samuel Wagner during Saturday night’s 9th annual John Helm Memorial USAC Wholesale Batteries MRA Sprint Car season finale at Grain Valley, Missouri’s Valley Speedway.

The Lone Jack, Missouri racer, driving the Jesse Hockett-Wagner Boys Racing No. 77, capped off a championship season in which he won the first ever MRA championship, while taking seven victories in 12 starts as well as 11 podium finishes in 12 feature starts.

Jack’s younger brother, Samuel, also of Lone Jack, Missouri, aboard the Jesse Hockett-Wagner Boys Racing No. 73, did not make it easy on his older sibling. Samuel led the first 14 laps of the 25-lap feature before finally relinquishing the point to Jack, who led the remaining 11 laps en route to victory.

The Valley Speedway surface was fast and rough for what became a “Cowboy Up” finale following two-straight days of rain earlier in the week at Dennis Shrout’s speed plant. Several times, cars biked up or raised the front end, dragster style, in the feature, including the front runners which led to many jaw dropping moments.

Other drivers who excelled in the feature included Nesbit, Mississippi’s Chase Howard, who finished third following the Wagners’ after advancing from 10th to third. Howard was one of four drivers to advance seven positions in the feature and took home the Hard Charger award as well.

Lone Jack, Missouri’s Braydon Cromwell had a very eventful night at the race track. Cromwell was the high point earner after qualifying and his heat race. But following the redraw, he had to start sixth. Braydon then fought a throttle issue throughout the feature before coming home fourth. Luke Howard of Overland Park, Kansas advanced seven positions in the feature at the wheel of the Brent Lewis-owned machine to finish fifth after starting 12th.

The second half of the top 10 in the feature consisted of Wyatt Burks who took his brand new Maxim chassis from 13th to sixth. Dakota Earls finished seventh with Bryson Smith eighth, and Chris Parkinson ninth after becoming the fourth driver to advance seven positions in the feature along with Chase Howard, Luke Howard, and Wyatt Burks. Justin Johnson rounded out the top 10.

Unfortunately, good early performances by Chad Goff, Jake Kouba, Taylor Walton, and Wesley Smith were not rewarded with good finishes in the feature.

Goff and Kouba both ran inside the top four before colliding on lap eight of the feature. This occurred after Goff suffered rear end damage following contact with the turn two wall, causing his car to dig into the track in turn three. That was followed by him spinning in front of the field where he was clipped by Kouba. Both drivers were okay. Their cars, however, were not.

Shortly after, Taylor Walton, also running inside the top five, pulled into the pits with mechanical issues, later followed by fast qualifier Wesley Smith, driving with the number 12 on his tail tank on this night instead of the usual 44 to honor “The Colonel,” John E. Helm.

Before the feature, three competitive and exciting heat races were run with Samuel Wagner, Taylor Walton, and Chad Goff, taking wins.

USAC WHOLESALE BATTERIES MRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 26, 2026 – Valley Speedway – Grain Valley, Missouri – 9th Annual John Helm Memorial

FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Wesley Smith, 12, Helm-13.316; 2. Jack Wagner, 77, Hockett/Wagner-13.541; 3. Samuel Wagner, 73, Hockett/Wagner-13.722; 4. Luke Howard, 2, Lewis-14.660; 5. Justin Johnson, 27, Johnson-14.839; 6. Ronny Howard, 44H, Howard-15.334; 7. Mark Lane, 33L, Lane-16.760.

SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Tom Curran, 11x, Curran-13.583; 2. Jake Kouba, 6, Kouba-13.935; 3. Taylor Walton, 93, Walton-14.198; 4. Dakota Earls, 15E, Earls-14.314; 5. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-14.384; 6. Chris Parkinson, 65, Parkins-14.461; 7. Charlie Burton, 91, Burton-15.723.

THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Braydon Cromwell, 4, Cromwell-13.755; 2. Chad Goff, 9, Goff-13.805; 3. Bryson Smith, 33, Smith-14.049; 4. Chase Howard, 13, Howard-14.136; 5. Jared McCarty, 44m, McCarty-15.289; 6. Kyle Gorham, 18K, Gorham-16.729; 7. Tyler Burton, 03, Burton-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Samuel Wagner (2), 2. Jack Wagner (3), 3. Luke Howard (1), 4. Wesley Smith (4), 5. Justin Johnson (5), 6. Ronny Howard (6), 7. Mark Lane (7). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Taylor Walton (2), 2. Jake Kouba (3), 3. Dakota Earls (1), 4. Wyatt Burks (5), 5. Chris Parkinson (6), 6. Tom Curran (4), 7. Charlie Burton (7). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chad Goff (3), 2. Braydon Cromwell (4), 3. Chase Howard (1), 4. Bryson Smith (2), 5. Jared McCarty (5), 6. Kyle Gorham (6), 7. Tyler Burton (7). NT

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

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Samuel Wagner, Laps 15-25 Jack Wagner.