Devon HenryThe culture, pageantry, and legacy of the Western World Championship continue this weekend at Central Arizona Raceway.
Arizona has its fingerprints all over USAC’s championship weekend as the national series returns to Central Arizona for the 59th Western World Championship as their season finale for the second straight year. This latest chapter of the Westerns includes a span of new awards and recognitions, including the Rookie of the Race Award.
Michael Burkhart and Team AZ Racing are putting up $1,000 to the top-performing rookie in both sprint car classes with The Whiz Kid Award, named after Arizona Motorsports Hall of Famer Eric Wilkins. Dubbed ‘The Whiz Kid’ by the late National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Windy McDonald in 1986, as Wilkins diced it up at Manzanita Speedway with some of the best as a young superstar.
Over the years, Wilkins cemented his legacy as one of Arizona’s greatest racers, winning the Hank Arnold Memorial three times, earning two midget championships and four sprint car championships, and being inducted into the Arizona Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018. Wilkins now works alongside Burkhart as part of the Team AZ Racing crew, making a significant impact on the team’s sprint car and Silver Crown programs.
The Western World Championship, a tradition first started in 1968, began at the legendary Manzanita Speedway and 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 $150,000. The USAC National Sprint Car Series ends its 2026 season with a trip to Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande for three nights of elbows-up racing on the 3/8-mile oval.
Alongside Team AZ’s contributions, an Arizona-owned team, Petty Performance Racing could clinch their second consecutive points championship tonight with driver Kyle Cummins behind the wheel of the 3P. Team owner Jerry Petty alongside track promoter Brad Whitfield has spearheaded the effort to return the Western World Championship to its former glory as a crown jewel in sprint car racing.
Another Arizona-owned team, Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports, sits third in the standings with Mitchel Moles piloting the 19AZ. Team co-owner Todd Underwood added a $5,000-to-win Underwood Dash presented by AME Electrical as part of Saturday night’s program. The event features a 10-car, 12-lap, winner-take-all pursuit-style race held midway through the event.
Team AZ Racing will have a shot at their driver winning the Whiz Kid Award in both the 360 and 410 categories with Gavin Miller aboard the 21AZ, still fresh off his first career USAC National Sprint Car win at Route 66 Motor Speedway last Saturday night.
The 410 rookie combatants include Miller, Elijah Gile, Tyler Cato, Cale Coons, Alex Peck, and Jacob Denney. The 360 rookie class will feature Miller, Gile, Denney, Mick Gile Jr., Austin Cato, Elijah Loper, Koen Crawford, Preston Norbury, Grant Schaadt, and Andrew Sweeney.
So far, 75 total cars are entered for three nights of racing, beginning tonight in Casa Grande with the pits open at 2:00 p.m., front gates at 3:00 p.m. Racing begins with hot laps at 5:00 p.m.
