Brady Schad was able to record wins in Senior Light and Senior Medium at CKNA Grand Nationals 10 (Photo: EKN)

A decade’s worth of history was celebrated this past weekend with the running of the Cup Karts North America Grand Nationals 10 presented by Odenthal Racing Products. The October 8-11 event at the New Castle Motorsports Park welcomed 502 entries with over 400 drivers in attendance, representing three different countries. The racing was action-packed all weekend long in the nine Briggs & Stratton 206 categories, with each providing a chapter in the history books. The headline note of the main events on Sunday was Senior rookie Brady Schad securing two victories in the same event, becoming only the fourth driver to do so in the 10-year history of the event.

Maverick Reddick went wire-to-wire for the victory in Kid Kart (Photo: EKN)

The Kid Kart division opened up the Grand Finals on Sunday, running on rain tires per CKNA officials on what was a drying track after the LCQ’s and warm-ups for all the categories. Maverick Reddick (Kart CRG USA) took his perfect score over the first two days of competition into Sunday with the pole position. Reddick was able to retain the lead as the green flag waved for the 16-lap main event around the ‘Kid Kart’ layout. Hal Byrd (Kart CRG USA) was able to slot into second with Sullivan Baudoin (RMS / CRG) holding third over the opening laps. Fourth place starter Beckett Boudreaux (Reed / CRG) was the driver on the move. Up to third by lap three, Boudreaux ran down and passed Byrd for second by lap 10. As the laps clicked off, Boudreaux was closing in on Reddick. They hit lap traffic with about two laps to go, and Reddick knifed his way through with Boudreaux following. At the checkered flag, Reddick recorded his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory in his last career Kid Kart race. Boudreaux was second with Byrd – the youngest competitor at the event – finishing third. Baudoin was fourth as Aubrey Babock (Coyote) drove up to fifth.

Kid Kart Stats:

• Reddick became the 10th different winner, second straight year on the podium (3rd-2025)
• First win for CRG in category (8 different brands over 10 winners)
• Three of five podium finishers making first CKNA GN start (Babcock P13th-2025)

Aidan Go navigated the damp conditions in the Final to win Sportsman (Photo: EKN)

Second in the order on Sunday was the Sportsman division, featuring 38 drivers on the weekend to match the categories highest total since the Cadet class was created in 2023. 2026 Winter Nationals winner Anderson Hemphill (MGM) was able to secure the fast time in qualifying with a lap of 1:16.492, over one tenth clear of Liam Fohr (NewGen / Haase). Spring Nationals winner Austin Taylor (MPG / Kart Republic) came up from seventh on the grid to win the opening heat race and held the top spot through the final two heats. All three were with Hemphill in second, including two finishes within six hundredths. They made up the front row for the 16-lap Final with Chase Thixton and Zayden Alexander (Margay). Starting sixth was California driver Aidan Go (Top Kart USA), making his first CKNA Grand Nationals start. Thixton jumped out to the lead over the first three laps until Taylor took over. At the same time, a mist surrounding the area made its way over the track, dampening the circuit for the young drivers. Taylor led two laps until Go navigated his way to the lead on lap six. From there, Go put on a clinic in the wet conditions on dry Vega tires, running away to a 10-second advantage for his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory. Aiden Harbaugh (PKC / Redspeed), fresh off a podium finish at the T4 Nations Cup 2026 in Spain, fell back to 11th at one point after starting fifth. He drove back up to the second position until contact with a lapped kart in ‘Scoreboard’ Turn 14 took him out of the race. Taylor went on to win the battle for second over Hemphill and Mikey Todd (RMS / CRG) up from ninth. Hemphill was penalized twice for ‘avoidable contact’, dropping him out of the top five and promoted Todd to third, Ryan Hall (Timmy Tech / Pantano) to fourth after starting 18th and Mace Lejsek (IRM / Exprit) into fifth.

Sportsman Stats:

• 11th different winner in Sportsman class
• First victory for Top Kart in category (6 total brands)
• All five drivers with first podium in category

Race Liberante competed a near sweep to take his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory in Senior Heavy (Photo: EKN)

The story going into the afternoon classes on Friday was the addition of Race Liberante to the Senior Heavy division. Liberante replaced Marc Stehle, piloting the same Stehle Motorsports / Birelart machine in Masters, to race in Senior. With no practice, Liberante put in a 1:16.387 lap time to top the charts in qualifying over the 54 driver field. He won the opening heat race on the track but was penalized two spots for tram line violation. This gave Henry Wheeler (Stehle / Birelart) the win over Dalton Hanes (Mach 1). Liberante bounced back on Saturday to win Heat Two over Wheeler and 2024 winner Owen Lloyd (SGK / VLR) before leading every lap of Heat Three, once again ahead of Wheeler and Christopher Wakefield (PPK / Coyote). Liberante and Wheeler led the field to the green flag with Liberante leading the first four laps until a red flag involving Wakefield, who was sideways in I-70 and hit hard by Eli Fox (BA / MGM). Wakefield was able to walk to the ambulance under his own power, with the race restarted. Lloyd was able to get the lead from Liberante at the restart, showing the way only two laps before Liberante went back to the point. From there, Liberante held off the field for the rest of the distance, recording his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory. Lloyd held on for a second with Nick Ksobiech (RLV / VLR) up from eighth to third. Hanes, who flipped earlier in the weekend, drove from 17th to fourth with AJ Roderick (RRD / Coyote) in fifth.

Senior Heavy Stats:

• Liberante becomes the eighth different winner in eight editions of class
• Second win for BirelART (2019 – Curtis Fox), five different brands have won
• Lloyd only returning podium finisher from 2025

Daniel Draganov held on to secure victory in Junior (Photo: EKN)

The Junior category welcomed an 11th different winner at the CKNA Grand Nationals. Henryk McKay (Stehle / BirelART) was able to top the charts in qualifying over the 87 driver field with a time of 1:16.797. He would finish outside the top five in all three of his heat races. The action was led by Ezekiel Haight (RLV / VLR) with two heat wins over the three rounds. AJ Stoner (PPK / Coyote) and former Sportsman winner Daniel Draganov (RLV / VLR) won the opening round races on Friday. Haight won both his races on Saturday while Sawyer Chambers (RMS / Intrepid) and Isaac Payn (Stehle / Birelart) won the other two races. Draganov and Haight earned front row starting spots with Chambers and Darren Kidd (MPG / Kart Republic) in row two. Starting in seventh was Clayton Stiles (IRM / Tony Kart), who was the early leader. He jumped to the top spot by lap three after Draganov and Chambers each had a turn. Stiles led to lap seven until he was shuffled down the order with Stoner taking control. He showed the way for four laps before Haight took over. It was only for one lap before Draganov went back to the lead. From there, Draganov was able to fend off field behind him, reaching the line first by 24 thousandths with Haight on the outside in second. Stoner crossed the line in third but was penalized twice for ‘failure to leave room’ with Chambers, dropping him to 10th in the final order. That promoted last year’s Sportsman winner Will Feichtinger (BA / MGM) to third. Minnesota driver Giana Lunski (Tony Kart) drove up from 18th on the grid to end up fourth with Chambers placed in fifth.

Junior Stats:

• Draganov becomes 11th different winner, third different driver to win both Sportsman and Junior (Logan Adams, Isaac Malcuit)
• Haight only returning podium finisher from last year (4th – 2025)
• First win for VLR in category (10 different brands in 11 wins)

Tim Shutt won the battle in Legends to become the third different class winner (Photo: EKN)

The Legends category welcomed a third different winner since the class was introduced in 2021. Tim Shutt (Timmy Tech / Pantano) cleared the 33-driver field in qualifying by over two tenths with a lap of 1:17.357. Fifth in the session was four-time defending winner Ryan Cassity (Coyote). Cassity drove up to the win in the opening heat over James Perkins (CRG), and they went 1-2 in the second heat. Cassity swept the heat races with the final win over Jeff Scott (BirelART). Cassity and Perkins made up the front row for the Final with Doug Cook (RRD / Coyote) and Shutt in row two. The lead pack was a large group however it eventually became four drivers breaking away in the final laps, including Cassity, Shutt, James Inscoe (Lowkey / Sodikart) and Canadian Eli Yanko (YPM). After Perkins and Shutt led the first half of the race, Inscoe led for the start of the second half before Cassity took the lead with two laps remaining. Shutt made the move to take over the lead and held on over the final laps, reaching the line first to claim his first CKNA Grand Nationals victory. Inscoe was second with Cassity in third ahead of Yanko. Todd Bolton (BBR / Coyote) recorded the fast lap of the race, coming from 10th to finish fifth.

Legends Stats:

• Shutt becomes the third different winner (Cassity, Baron-2021)
• Pantano becomes the third different brand to win (Deadly, Coyote)
• Top four finishers finished on podium in 2025 (Falcone-2025)

Brady Schad won in his Senior Light debut (Photo: EKN)

Senior Light matched the entry total of 88 drivers from last year, led in Friday qualifying by David Barnes (Prime / BirelART). The Canadian posted a time of 1:15.219 to set the benchmark for the category. Five drivers came away with win in the split heat format. Cale Zimmermann (RLV / VLR) and Caleb Gafrarar (Timmy Tech / Pantano) were winners under the lights on Friday evening to open the racing action. Shane Ready (Mill-Rite / Coyote) and Zimmermann won Round Two to begin Saturday with Eli Warren (Stehle / Birelart) and Canadian Mitchell Morrow (PPK / Coyote) taking the Round Three wins. Zimmermann and Warren made up the front row for the Final with Ready and last year’s Junior winner Sam Tutwiler (Stehle / Birelart) in row two. A small group was able to break away, and grew to six halfway through the race until the final two laps when it was a massive pack all trying to find their way to the front. Zimmermann led the opening four laps before the lead changed eight times at the line over the last 12 laps. Starting seventh was Brady Schad (Mill-Rite / Coyote), who was double Kid Kart winner at the inaugural CKNA Grand Nationals. Schad was as high as second and back to eighth within the middle portion of the race. By lap 14, Schad was up into the lead with Isaac Malcuit (Stehle / BirelART) in second after starting 20th. Malcuit took the lead at the white flag, however, Schad was able to grab the lead and win the drag race to the line, securing his first Senior Light victory. Malcuit was 67 thousandths off in second, just ahead of Dylan Amundsen (Reserve / VLR). Barnes and Zimmermann completed the top five.

Senior Light Stats:

• First Senior win for Schad in his class debut, becomes fifth different winner since 2020
• Coyote records fourth straight win in class (BirelART and VLR)
• No one from last year’s podium in the top five

Spencer Haight went from third to first in the final run to the line to claim victory in Cadet (Photo: EKN)

The Cadet division welcomed a fourth different winner in the fourth year of the category. With no defending winner Hudson Howard, the 40 driver field was aiming to be the next name in the history book. Elam Stoner (PPK / Coyote) began as the top qualifier with a time of 1:17.441, beating out former Kid Kart winner Spencer Hite (PPK / Coyote) and Grand Heckman (HBR / VLR). Heckman took over the top spot in the opening heat race and went on to win all three. The first ahead of Hite, the second over Franco Schiavo (Kart CRG USA), and the third over Hite. Heckman and Hite made up the front row with James Fox (Top Kart USA) and Schiavo going from row two. Heckman, Fox and Schiavo all led over the first five laps until Heckman secured the position on lap six. He led the next nine circuits before Schiavo grabbed the spot to lead at the white flag. On the final circuit, Heckman and Schiavo battled for the top spot and went side by side coming out of the I-70 corner. Hite however, got a run on both, sliding to the inside of the Schiavo with Heckman on the outside. In a three-wide finish, Hite reached the line first by 10 thousandths of a second. Heckman and Schiavo crossed the line at the same time, down to the thousandths with Heckman earning the runner-up position. Stoner ended up fourth with Canadian Max Koutsoukis (Kart Republic) recording the fast lap of the race in his fifth place performance after starting sixth.

Cadet Stats:

• Hite becomes fourth different winner, first to win both Kid Kart and Cadet (6th – 2025)
• Coyote becomes fourth different brand in four years of class (CompKart, Nitro Kart, Kart Republic)
• All five drivers recording first Cadet podium finishes

AJ Roderick won in his Masters debut (Photo: Seibel Studios)

Masters class was another category to welcome a first time winner in his first start. Two-time winner Marc Stehle (Stehle / BirelART) set the bar in qualifying with a 1:16.367 to clear the 36-driver field by over four tenths. He went on to win the opening two heat races, the first by 25 thousandths ahead of AJ Roderick (RRD / Coyote), and the second by 15 thousandths over 2022 winner Eric Fagan (BFR / Tony Kart). Roderick was able to edge out Stehle for the win in Heat Three by only three thousandths of a second. Stehle and Roderick earned the front row starting spots with Fagan and Sean Meier in row two. Stehle jumped out to the lead to begin the 16-lap Final, showing the way until lap four contact with he and Fagan. Stehle got the worst of it and retired in the I-70 corner. Fagan took over the lead, but for only three laps until Roderick took control with Canadian Eric Lessard (RLR / Intrepid) rolling in third. They ran that way until lap 14 when contact involving Fagan, Lessard and Sean Meier (Coyote) at the ‘Scoreboard’ corner took all three out of the running. This promoted Ryan Curtin (Stehle / BirelART) and Canadian Corey Walsh (Kosmic) into second and third. Roderick was able to hold their late charge over the last two laps, taking the victory in his class debut. Curtin was off by only 40 thousandths at the line while recording the fast lap of the race, however, was penalized three positions back to fifth. That promoted Walsh to second, Wade Lynn (Coyote) to third, Scott Falcone (PPK / Coyote) into fourth.

Masters Stats:

• Roderick becomes ninth different winner (Stehle and Michael Welsh repeat winners)
• Coyote records its second straight win (eight different brands in 11 wins)
• All five drivers recorded first podium in category

An amazing performance by Brady Schad to go from 38th to first in Senior Medium (Photo: EKN)

The final class to hit the track for the main events on Sunday was Senior Medium. It began with 99 drivers vying for the 60 grid positions when qualifying began, led by local driver Landon Buher (BA / MGM) with a time of 1:15.263. Three other drivers, however, came away with the heat race wins, led by Chase Jones (MPG / Kart Republic). Qualifying 11th overall, Jones drove to the win in BvsC before winning AvsC and then CvsD to secure the pole position for the Final. Dylan Amundsen (Reserve / VLR) won two of his heat races after finishing second to Jones in the opening round, earning the outside front row starting spot. John Antonino (MPG / Kart Republic) was the other heat race winner, starting back in 12th after issues in his other heat races. The main event was like watching a race at Talladega or Daytona for NASCAR with nearly the entire field lined up nose to tail, all looking for openings to move forward. Jones was the pied piper, leading the train for the first nine laps of the 16-lap race with multiple drivers slotting into second. On lap 10, Brady Schad (Mill-Rite / Coyote) – who started back in the 38th position – knifed his way forward and up into the lead. He had gained 16 positions in just the opening lap and was into the top 10 by lap four. He led only for one lap before Antonino grabbed the spot with Jones returning to the point one lap later. Jones led the field to the white flag with Schad up into second. He spent the entire lap looking for a way past as Jones kept the defensive line. Schad set up the over-under at the I-70 turn, getting to the inside on the exit and through the kink. Jones did not have enough momentum or a push from behind to set up a run to the line. This allowed Schad to celebrate early, reaching the line first to claim his second victory of the day, career first in Senior Medium in his first class start. Jones was penalized for ‘failure to leave room’ with Sam Tutwiler (Stehle / BirelART) on lap nine, putting him back to eighth in the final order. Lucas Thek (PPK / Coyote) was promoted to second with Camryn Reed (RMS / CRG) up to third after starting ninth. Amundsen was fifth at the line but penalized two positions for avoidable contact, dropping him to sixth in the final order and promoting Aidan Lourenco (PPK / Coyote) onto the podium in fifth.

Senior Medium Stats:

• Schad becomes ninth different winner in category (Colin Warren has three wins – 2017, 2021, 2024)
• Schad is now fourth driver to win twice in same CKNA Grand Nationals – Warren (2017), Warren (2021), McKeithan (2025)
• All five drivers recorded first podium in category

The CKNA Grand Nationals 10 is complete. Over 400 different stories played out over the week at New Castle Motorsports Park, and the 10th chapter of the event was written as well. The atmosphere of the event is still like no other, and the organization can now start looking to the second decade of the event with CKNA Grand Nationals 11 coming in 2027.

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