Jacob Denney Holds Off Grant for USAC Midget Victory
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 8, 2026
Denney wins at Mattoon
Jacob Denney kept control from start to finish Monday night and won the Lake Land College King of Coles at Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, Illinois. He led all 40 laps at the sixth-mile dirt track and held off Justin Grant by 0.459 seconds to secure the USAC National Midget feature. The result gave the driver from Galloway, Ohio, his eighth career USAC National Midget victory and his fourth series win of the 2026 season. It also paid $6,000 and added another clean line to a season that has already put Denney near the top of the championship picture.
The win came with Denney carrying a 71-point lead in the 2026 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and four feature wins into the night. He backed up that position with a wire-to-wire performance, and the margin at the finish showed how little room Grant had to make a move over the closing laps. Denney’s pace held through the full distance, and the victory extended his series podium streak to seven straight top-three finishes. That kind of run keeps a driver in control of a championship hunt, and Denney turned in one more result that fit the profile. He left Mattoon with the top prize, another win on the season and a continued grip on the series lead.
The race also marked USAC’s debut at Coles County Speedway, which made Denney’s win part of the track’s first chapter with the sanctioning body. A debut race often brings a premium on adaptation, and Denney won the first USAC race at the venue. He set the tone early, protected the lead through 40 laps and finished at the front. The opening run at the track ended with Denney at the front, and the victory gave the event a clear first benchmark for what a winning night can look like at the venue.
Coles County record
The night began with pace before the feature even rolled, as Kale Drake set a new Coles County track record in qualifying with a lap of 9.850 seconds. That kind of quick time set the standard for the evening and gave the field a sharp target on a track seeing USAC for the first time. Fast qualifying matters on a night like this, where track position and rhythm can shape the entire feature, and Drake’s lap stood out as one of the key marks of the program. It added another layer to the event, giving the debut at Mattoon a record-setting note before the main event even started.
The finishing order behind Denney and Grant also gave the race a full picture of the front runners. Kevin Thomas Jr. finished third, Gavin Miller was fourth and Karter Sarff took fifth. Those results filled out a competitive top five behind the leader and the runner-up, with each driver landing in a spot that reflected the pace of the race up front. The margin at the top was tight, but Denney kept the lead line clean and left the rest of the podium spots to sort out behind him. Thomas, Miller and Sarff each came away with strong finishes on a night when the front of the field had little margin for error.
Bradley Cox delivered one of the move-up drives of the event and earned hard-charger honors by gaining 10 positions to finish 10th. That type of climb often shows up in a race where the field has to work through traffic and adjust to the track throughout the night. Cox made the most of his run and finished inside the top 10. His advance gave the feature another notable performance beyond the battle for the win and the podium. It also underscored the depth in the field at a track that produced a new standard in qualifying and a competitive run through the feature distance.
Denney season
Denney’s victory carried weight beyond one night in Mattoon. The 2026 season has already belonged to him in several respects, and this win added to that profile. Four feature wins on the year, a 71-point series lead and seven straight top-three finishes make for a strong stretch, and the Lake Land College King of Coles result fit right into that run. Every detail of the night pointed to consistency. He arrived with the lead, protected it in the race and left with another check mark in the win column. That combination keeps his season moving in the right direction and puts more pressure on the rest of the field to close the gap.
The eighth career USAC National Midget victory also gives Denney another milestone for his résumé. Career wins matter in a national series, and the latest one came in a race he controlled from the first lap to the last. Grant finished second, but Denney’s ability to lead the full distance set the tone. That is the kind of result that strengthens both a season and a career total at the same time. It adds another entry to his record, another layer to his momentum and another reason his run at the front of the championship stands out.
The night at Coles County Speedway ended with Denney on top, and the result tied together all the key parts of the program. He won the feature, collected the $6,000 top prize and kept his grip on the championship lead. Drake’s record lap, Thomas’s third-place finish, Miller and Sarff in the top five and Cox’s charge to 10th all helped shape the event. Denney’s performance stood above the rest. He led every lap, beat Grant to the line and extended a season that keeps producing the same outcome at the front.
