Kevin Thomas Jr. wins Haubstadt Hustler for record 10th Tri-State victory
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 20, 2026
A milestone night
Kevin Thomas Jr. put together another strong night at Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway on Saturday night, and it ended with a familiar result. Thomas won the 19th annual Haubstadt Hustler after taking the lead from Robert Ballou on lap 18 and then holding the top spot for the final 23 laps. The payoff matched the performance, a $20,000 victory that added another line to a growing list of accomplishments at the track. It also gave Thomas his sixth career Haubstadt Hustler win, a mark that puts him among the event’s most successful drivers. He did the key work in the middle of the race, made the pass for the lead, then closed the door from there.
The win carried weight beyond the check. Thomas became the fifth driver to reach 50 career USAC National Sprint Car feature wins, a milestone that places him in rare company within the series. That total also tells the story of how often he has found speed in this setting. Tri-State Speedway has become one of his best tracks, and the record he set there on Saturday night underlined that point. Ten of his USAC National Sprint Car feature wins have come at the Indiana oval, the most of any driver. That kind of track record gives the latest result extra value, because it shows more than one strong race. It shows repeated success across different seasons and different visits. Thomas has turned Tri-State into a place where he can control races, make the right move when the opportunity opens and finish the job once he gets to the front. Saturday night fit that pattern from the moment he took the lead from Ballou and settled in for the final run to the finish.
Thomas milestone run
The Tri-State victory added another milestone to Thomas’ career, and it came in a race that rewarded patience and timing. Ballou led early, but Thomas found the opening he needed on lap 18 and took command from there. Once he moved ahead, he led the final 23 laps and never gave the lead back. That sequence matters because it shows how the race changed at one key moment and then stayed in Thomas’ control. The lead swap decided the outcome, and Thomas handled the rest with no room for error. The $20,000 prize matched the significance of the win, but the larger story was the place it now holds in his record book. He owns six Haubstadt Hustler wins, and the 19th annual event gave him another chance to show how well he reads the track. A race can turn on one move, but repeated success takes more than one clean pass. Thomas has made that move pay off again and again at Tri-State, and this victory added another example.
The number that stands out most is 10. That is how many of Thomas’ 50 career USAC National Sprint Car feature wins have come at Tri-State Speedway. No other driver has matched that total at the track, and the record reflects how often he has been in position to win there. He did it again on Saturday night with a race that required him to track down the leader, make the pass and finish the job without giving Ballou or anyone else a way back in. The result fits a career pattern that now includes both a series milestone and a single-track record, and it came in one of the sport’s established events. Thomas left with the win, the money and another mark that belongs to him alone.
Haubstadt Hustler top five
Kyle Cummins finished second behind Thomas, with Ballou in third, C.J. Leary in fourth and Chase Stockon in fifth. That order rounded out a top five that featured several of the familiar names in USAC sprint car competition, but the night belonged to Thomas once he made the decisive move on lap 18. Ballou had the race in hand early, then Thomas closed the gap, took over and held the lead through the closing laps. From there, the front of the field settled into the order that the final results showed. Cummins took the runner-up spot, Ballou stayed on the podium in third, Leary followed in fourth and Stockon completed the top five. It was a clean and clear finish at the front, with Thomas setting the pace after the lead change and the rest of the leaders chasing him home.
