RPW Exclusive: Brady Bacon Captures a Gator Monday Night at Volusia
Column By: JACOB DOVE / RPW – BARBERVILLE, FL – On a cold Monday night in Barberville, Florida, the ASCS 360 Winged Sprint Cars returned to action after Saturday night’s cancellation due to high winds. Volusia Speedway Park gathered 31 Sprints to chase after the $12K to win payday. Coming off of back-to-back wins was Tyler Courtney who came into the night leading the overall points. With the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink racing starting on Wednesday this week, some of the drivers planning on switching the 360 engine over to the 410 used the past couple of days to get extra seat time.
One of the more consistent drivers who would eventually get rewarded for his efforts was Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon. The #20 team finished 3rd in the dash behind Brian Brown and Sam Hafertepe Jr. It didn’t take long for Bacon to battle Hafertepe, Brown, and McCarl at the front of the pack. Bacon would get around the #21 of Brown to take the lead. After some cautions and restarts, Bacon never looked back, picking up his first victory of the 2026 racing season. Bacon is expected to run the 410’s with the World of Outlaws at Volusia.
Emerson Axsom and Austin McCarl would round out the podium. Axsom would go 7th to 2nd and McCarl 5th to 3rd in the 30 lap feature. Hard charging through the field was another Oklahoma driver in Ryder Laplante. He would go 18th to 8th picking up 10 spots. Another driver that was impressive every night was Whit Gastineau out of Moore, Oklahoma. Gatineau had strong showings in dash appearances and results of 8th on Thursday, 6th on Friday, and 12th on Saturday. One of the bigger surprises was reigning ASCS champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. not getting a podium result this week with his highest finish being 5th on Thursday night.
Taking home the big gator trophy with the overall points was Tyler Courtney. The Clauson Marshall Racing #7BC was fast every single night with 2 wins and a 4th place finish. “Sunshine” was consistent and made veteran moves against good competition. After overcoming his injury in 2025, Courtney needed a boost to get him back in the swing of things. Racing in this ASCS 360 event definitely helped that, showing no matter what that he is going to be one of the guys to beat night in and night out. Sunshine looks to carry this momentum into the rest of the week in World of Outlaws competition. Expect him to be picking up where he left in the 410 against the best Sprint Car drivers in the world.
