Junior Sprints is where it all starts. Before the Outlaw wins, before the midget rides, before anybody's name ends up on a t-shirt, there's a kid in a Junior Sprint learning how to race. And the 2026 class is loaded. Two drivers are locked in a seventeen-win arms race at the top, a national series trophy already went to a first-time winner, and the weekly battles at Port City are producing the kind of results that make you want to save these names for later. Because that's the fun of this class. In five years, some of these kids will be the ones you're paying to watch. Here's how the field stacks up right now.
1. Bryton Buoy — 17 wins. The resume this season is ridiculous. He won the first points night of 2026 at Port City on April 4, then went to I-44 Speedway and led eighteen of twenty laps to win Night One of the Mini Sprint Nationals before leading seventeen of twenty the next night to complete the weekend sweep. In July he drove from third to first to win again at Port City, and he opened the year with a top ten in the Golden Driller A-Feature. Seventeen wins deep, and he's still finding new ways to beat people.
2. Stetson Stroup — 17 wins. Matched Bryton trophy for trophy this season, and his big-race receipts are undeniable. Stroup opened 2026 by driving from seventh to the podium in the Golden Driller A-Feature out of a 130-driver Junior Sprint field, then hauled to Indiana in May and won the Junior Sprint feature at the inaugural Freedom 50 at Miami County Raceway. Seventeen wins plus hardware from the two biggest stages he's touched this year. The gap between one and two on this list is about the width of a tear-off.
3. Maggie Stroup — 17 top 5s. Seventeen top fives while racing the two seventeen-time winners above her every week, which is the toughest neighborhood in Junior Sprint racing. She backed it up on the biggest stage too, running third in her qualifier at the Tulsa Shootout and battling deep into the elimination rounds against the deepest field of the year. The consistency is elite. The breakthrough win is coming, and nobody in the pit area will be surprised when it lands.
4. Audrey Larson — 5 wins. Five wins including a legitimate national scalp. Larson won a Factory Fourteen NOW600 National Series feature at KAM Raceway in late May, which means she's beaten a touring series field, not just weekly competition. Trophies at that level before the halfway point of the season make her the fastest-rising stock on this entire list.
5. Breck Buoy — 12 top 5s. Twelve top fives against national caliber competition, and he showed exactly why at the biggest race of the year, winning his qualifier at the Tulsa Shootout and rolling off sixth in the Golden Driller A-Feature out of 130 entries. The speed is proven at every level. He's one clean night from turning those top fives into a stack of trophies.
6. Garrett Mohrfeld — 8 wins. Eight wins is one of the best totals in the division, full stop. And he's not hiding from competition to get them, he tested himself in January running qualifiers at the Tulsa Shootout against the deepest Junior Sprint field anywhere. Weekly winner, national-event experience, and an arrow pointing straight up.
7. Lee Uzzell — 13 wins. Thirteen wins Uzzell out of Cali ran in Tulsa in January and then finding victory lane out with a Jr Sprint win at Lemoore Jet bowl and many others! Thirteen victories in a season is elite production no matter the zip code, and racing that many different surfaces is building a driver who's dangerous anywhere they drop the green.
8. Kruize Parson — 5 wins. Five wins plus the most impressive elimination run of anyone's January. Parson won his heat at the Tulsa Shootout, won his B-Main, transferred through the LCQ, and made the Golden Driller A-Feature the hardest way possible before a DNF ended his night. Surviving three do-or-die races in one weekend takes nerve you can't teach, and he's been converting it into trophies ever since.
9. Huxcen Roush — 5 wins. Five wins and ninth on this list, which tells you how deep this class is. Roush has been collecting trophies all season while also taking his shot on the road at the big events, including a win at Port City Raceway, traveling all the way from California. A five-time winner in the nine hole is a temporary situation. He won't stay here long.
10. Bentley Thompson — 3 wins. Three wins and arguably the hardest-earned resume in this post. Thompson finished runner-up at the Port City season opener and grabbed a podium on Night One of the Mini Sprint Nationals at I-44, all while racing weekly against the best Junior Sprint drivers in the country. Sitting atop the Port City points standings while sharing a track with the top of this list says everything. Tenth is going to age terribly.
Honorable Mentions
Cash Wright. Been in the mix at Port City all season, including chasing Bryton Buoy to the line for a runner-up finish in July. Running second to a seventeen-time winner isn't a loss, it's a preview.
Grayson Logan. A weekly top-ten fixture at Port City who also fought his way through the elimination rounds in Tulsa back in January. The kind of steady speed that turns into a breakout season fast.
Everett Knorr. One of the names garnering buzz in the pit area, and the kind of driver this list exists to keep an eye on. Keep him on your radar.
Wesson Whitaker. Took his shot on the road at the Freedom 50 weekend at Miami County in May and has been logging laps against quality fields all year. Building the resume the right way.
Disagree with the order? Good. That's what the comments are for.
Sources: Port City Raceway race recaps and points standings via MyRacePass and portcityraceway.net; Tulsa Shootout official results via tulsashootout.com; POWRi/NOW600 Whelen Engineering Mini Sprint Nationals recaps via STLRacing.com; NOW600 National Series press releases via now600series.com; Keystone Gusher; Lemoore Jet Bowl.
