HorsePower Park completes 2026 racing season

HorsePower Park in Morganton wrapped up its 2026 points season on Friday, Sept. 25, bringing an end to the first full season of racing at the track since 2018.

Seven different divisions put on a show for the fans during the event, with Adam Piercy taking the checkered flag in the 16-car, 10-lap Crown Vic feature. Meanwhile, Chris Smith finished second, Chris Wiseman came in third, Zac Moore took fourth, and Jarrett Young finished fifth. Prior to the feature itself, Justin Truitt and Chase McNeilly each won five-lap Crown Vic heat races.

Brian Sipe led every lap to win the Renegade main event, while Zack Clark was the runner-up, John James finished third, Valdese driver Rodney Lail came in fourth, and Budro Clary rounded out the top five. Sipe and Justin Hamrick were the winners of the Renegade heat races.

The “Morganton Missile” Tim Moretz — who also won the heat race — took the top spot in the Thunder Bomber feature. Second-place finisher Jackson Thomasson led the opening lap before Moretz passed him and drove away from the field, with Freddie Frady finishing third, Randy Phillips taking fourth, and Benny Peeler coming in fifth.

Drexel’s Clay Ross continued his dominance in the Pro 4 division. Ross led every lap and was never challenged in both the feature and the heat race, with JW Hicks finishing second in both races.

In other action, Avery White paced the field in the FWD division as he easily won the feature and heat race, Curtis Brady won the eight-lap Young Guns main event, and 16-year-old Ryleigh Pagliarulo took her first checkered flag in the debut of the Chicks ‘N Vics division.

Notably, Chicks ‘N Vics has the same rules as regular Crown Vics, but only females compete. Pagliarulo led all 10 laps to win the race ahead of Brittany Walls.

Season-ending points standings were not available at press time for HorsePower Park, which will celebrate its 70th year of racing in 2027. Look for a list of track champions in a future edition of The Paper.

Local drivers travel to Martinsville Speedway

The best asphalt Late Model drivers from all over the Southeast converged at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia last weekend for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, with several local drivers among the 87 teams that attended.

Drivers qualified on Sept. 25 for the Sept. 26 race, which included 40 cars. The top 10 finishers in each of the four 25-lap heat races made up the field for the 200-lap main event.

In the first heat race, Brandon Setzer of Houser Brothers Racing in Connelly Springs started 11th and finished 13th.

“Cody Kelley started two rows ahead of us, and on the start his car lost power and stacked our row up,” team owner Doug Houser said. “Brandon fell back to 15th. We needed a caution to bunch the field back together, just ran out of laps.”

Other locals in the first heat included 2024, 2025, and 2026 Hickory Motor Speedway track champion Michael Bumgarner, who finished sixth; 2025 Tri-County Speedway track champion Landon Huffman, who finished ninth; and Dexter Canipe III, who finished 16th.

Lee Pulliam beat two-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Corey Heim to win the second heat race, Dillon Harville won the third, and Caden Kvapil beat Ryan Millington to win the fourth and final heat race. Millington is a former Hickory Motor Speedway track champion, and his car is owned by Lenoir’s Charlie Watson.

Before the race, Watson said, “We brought a fast race car and have a tremendous man holding the wheel. Ryan is one of the best drivers around.”

In the race itself, Trevor Ward led the opening 35 laps before Pulliam took over the top spot. Bumgarner brought out the first caution when he hit the turn four wall after his car experienced brake issues. Kvapil took the lead on lap 110, but Heim passed him a few laps later. On the 121st lap, Landon Pembelton spun Millington while the two were battling for position. Millington, who ran in the top 10 for most of the race, had to restart from the rear of the field and eventually finished 13th.

Kvapil retook the lead with 26 laps remaining. He was driving away from the rest of the field until a late-race caution caused a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Kvapil was able to drive ahead as the others jockeyed for position, ultimately winning ahead of Heim, Treyten Lapcevich, Pulliam, and Jared Fryar in second through fifth.

On the cool down lap after the race, Heim and Lapcevich got together in turn one and totaled their cars. Crew members had to be separated after punches were thrown on pit road. Fines and penalties should be imposed by NASCAR in the near future.