Devon Henry
A tradition of one of the crown jewels of dirt racing is in the national spotlight once again.
The Western World Championship, a tradition first started at the legendary Manzanita Speedway, will once again bring the best drivers in the world in one of the gnarliest forms of racing to Arizona, this time with a record weekend purse of $115,000. The USAC National Sprint Car Series ends its 2025 season with a trip to Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande for two nights of elbows-up racing on the 3/8-mile oval.
“It’s great to have a big race back close to Phoenix,” said Buckeye native and sprint car veteran Charles Davis Jr. “Ever since I was growing up, the Western World was always sold out, huge car counts, it’s nice that we’re going to get the national guys back out there for that to be the end of the points season. I think it’s going to be a great race out there for sure.”
Arizona has its fingerprints all over USAC’s championship weekend as the national series makes its first return to the Grand Canyon State since 2022. An Arizona-owned team, Petty Performance Racing, has already clinched the 2025 points championship with driver Kyle Cummins in the 3P. Another Arizona-owned team, Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports, sits second in the standings with Mitchel Moles piloting the 19AZ. RUM teammate and Gilbert native Hayden Reinbold sits just 14 points shy of the season’s Rookie of the Year award.
“Everybody is excited for the Western World. With Jerry [Petty], Avanti, and Brad [Whitfield] at Central Arizona Raceway, I think it’s going to be great,” said Moles. “They’ve done so much work to the place, and all the Arizona people seem excited and all of the USAC and Indiana guys are excited too.”
The USAC National Sprint Car Series combines with the USAC/CRA Sprint Cars, going to war over the two nights for a weekend full of cash bonuses. A $35,000 winner’s purse will make Saturday night one of the highest-paying non-wing sprint car shows of the year. Saturday’s A-Main event will pay $1,000 to start, plus lap bonuses will pay out another $15,000 in prize money. An added part of Saturday night’s action will be the $5,000-to-win Underwood Dash presented by AME Electrical, the owners of Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports. The inaugural special event features a pursuit-style race in a 10-car, 12-lap dash, winner-take-all special race in the middle of the event.
Another special part of the weekend includes an extra prize from fellow Arizona-owned team, Team AZ-Petty-Rossi. The race weekend will feature ‘The Whiz Kid Award,’ named after Arizona sprint car legend Eric Wilkins. Now the mechanic for Team AZ-Petty-Rossi, Wilkins is a two-time Arizona Sprint Car Association Champion and a 2018 inductee of the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame. Saturday night’s top rookie in both the USAC National/CRA and 360 divisions will earn $1,000 plus some extra hardware. A total of 14 rookies are scheduled to compete for the inaugural award, including late model racing superstar and Arizona native, Ricky Thornton Jr.
The entry list has soared to feature over 50 roaring 410 sprint cars plus an extra 40 cars in the 360 Sands Chevrolet Wild West Sprints running both nights. Currently, 13 drivers are slated to run in both divisions.
Arizona natives like Davis Jr., R.J. Johnson, and Stevie Sussex are all USAC regional winners at the track and look to keep the prize money in State 48 against former national winners of the Western World like Brady Bacon, Chase Stockon, Logan Seavey, Jake Swanson, Daison Pursley and Cummins.
Drivers get their tires warmed up on Thursday night with practice from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Western World Championship continues its legendary history with action both Friday and Saturday night, with the pits open at 2:00 p.m., front gates at 3:00 p.m. and racing action begins with hot laps at 5:00.
Buckeye native Charles Davis Jr.
2025 USAC National Sprint Car Champion Kyle Cummins
Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports Driver Mitchel Moles
High Limit Racing Rookie of the Year Daison Pursley
Team AZ Racing Driver C.J. Leary
