Race Story

ABREU GRABS HIGH LIMIT FEATURE WIN. PURSLEY SWEEPS USAC PORTION.

(Story courtesy of Richie Murray)

Rossburg, Ohio (September 20, 2025)………”I love Eldora.”

It’s clear to see that Eldora Speedway loves Daison Pursley back after the 20-year-old Locust Grove, Oklahoma made history on Saturday night during the 43rd running of the 4-Crown Nationals Presented by NKTELCO at the Rossburg, Ohio 1/2-mile dirt oval.

After winning two out of the three USAC main events one year ago, Pursley topped himself, and then some, on Saturday night as he became just the fourth driver in the event’s history to sweep the USAC portion of the 4-Crown by capturing successive victories in USAC’s AMSOIL National Sprint Car, NOS Energy Drink National Midget and Silver Crown divisions.

Pursley joins an elite club that includes only Jack Hewitt, who won all four in a single night back in 1998,  plus Kyle Larson in 2011 and Logan Seavey in 2023 as the only individuals to win three USAC events in one night at the 4-Crown. For his efforts, Pursley collected $15,000 for each of his three USAC victories on Saturday night, a quite lucrative $45,000 evening.

“I love Eldora; there’s not much else to say,” Pursley stated matter of factly. “This place is absolutely phenomenal. This is what dreams are made of, getting to race on the fence like that.”

In 2024, Pursley picked up USAC Sprint Car and USAC Midget feature wins during the 4-Crown and narrowly missed out on the sweep after leading the first 12 laps before finishing fourth in the USAC Silver Crown finale.

This time, Pursley left no doubt. In the USAC Sprint Car feature, he charged from third to first on the opening circuit, then led all 30 laps en route to the victory in his CB Industries/Avanti Windows & Doors – Pristine Auction – NOS/Spike/Stanton Chevy by a 1.438 second margin.

Pursley followed up in the subsequent 25-lap midget main by racing from seventh to first. Steven Snyder Jr. led the initial six laps before catching the turn two cushion and colliding with the wall. Kevin Thomas Jr. held the point from laps seven through 13 until Pursley slipped by on the 14th trip and led the final 12 laps in his CB Industries/PristineAuction.com – NOS Energy Drink – TRD – Mobil 1/Spike/Speedway Toyota, closing out a 3.536 second victory. Pursley’s plus-six run also earned him Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors.

After running 18th in the High Limit Sprint Car feature, Pursley strapped in for the 50-lap USAC Silver Crown finale. There, starting on the outside of the front row, he wasted little time getting to the front. He slid early race leader C.J. Leary for the lead in turn one on the eighth lap before Leary cut back under to retake the lead. But by the time the pair reached turn three a half lap later, Pursley repeated the maneuver to take the lead for good in his Chris Dyson Racing/Concord American Flagpole – High Performance Lubricants – Macri Concrete/Maxim/Ott Chevy. From there, it was curtains as Pursley paced the final 43 laps to win by a commanding 2.386 seconds.

Couple the USAC success with his Great Lakes Super Sprint Series 360 victory on Friday night at Eldora, Pursley had the Midas touch all weekend long. It’s a long way from where he started just a handful of years ago when The Big E seemed majorly daunting.

“When I started coming to Eldora in 2021, this place intimidated me,” Pursley admitted. “Now, it’s changed after getting hooked up with the right people and just watching so much film from around here. This is where a lot of big races are and I knew that if I wanted to put my name in that hat, I had to really start getting good at Eldora. I’ve grown to love this place and run right up against the fence. It takes a lot of bravery for sure. But I feel like you can throw my hat in there now that I’ve almost kind of mastered it.”

In addition to all the other accolades, Pursley also earned the 4-Crown Nationals Parallax Group Passing Master title after passing 24 cars throughout the weekend’s USAC events between Thursday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s festivities. Overall, Pursley now owns five 4-Crown feature victories, which already ranks among the upper echelon in the event, which dates back to 1981. Jack Hewitt towers over all with 19 4-Crown victories. Tyler Courtney and Dave Darland each have seven. Tracy Hines, Logan Seavey, Rich Vogler, Chris Windom, Rico Abreu and now Pursley now have five.

In the USAC tally, Pursley’s Silver Crown score was the third of his career. The USAC Sprint Car win was his fourth, while his USAC Midget triumph was his 10th, tying him for 74th place all-time alongside Allen Heath, Doug Kalitta, Brad Kuhn, Steve Lotshaw, Jerry McClung, Thomas Meseraull and Chuck Weyant.

Pursley was the lone driver to compete in all four divisions on Saturday night, and five total throughout the week. With a heavy workload, he was able to shine like so few have at the legendary 1/2-mile dirt oval.

“It’s a lot of racing for sure, but I’m still super young and I don’t really get tired because of old age, as I’ve heard a lot of people say,” Pursley said with a laugh. “I just love racing and I love racing anytime I can. I know that I’m not going to be able to race as much as I am long-term. I’m thankful for the position I’m in and the opportunity to get to drive not just one great racecar, not three, but five really great racecars.”

Additional hard chargers on Saturday night were Brady Bacon (12th to 4th in USAC Sprints) and Carmen Perigo (20th to 3rd in USAC Silver Crown). Perigo was also the recipient of the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night for his Silver Crown performance while Keith Sheffer II collected the honors for a career best USAC Sprint Car finish of ninth. Drake Edwards, meanwhile, bounced back from a rough go in Thursday’s Midget feature to finish fifth on Saturday night.

Finally, Justin Grant finished off the season and the night with his second career USAC Silver Crown driving championship, and his second overall, after previously earning the 2020 series title. For his Hemelgarn Racing team, it was their second series entrant crown and second for crew chief Dennis LaCava.

_________________________

(Story courtesy of High Limit PR)

In a role reversal of Friday’s finish at Eldora Speedway, the 4-Crown Nationals finale once again came down to Aaron Reutzel and Rico Abreu with the No. 24 getting the best of the No. 87 in the late stages of Saturday’s show.

Earning the pole position through preliminary action, Reutzel controlled the opening 23 laps of the 30-lap finale before a series of sliders broke out between himself and eighth-starting Abreu. The action so hot at one point that the thrilled crowd at “The Big E” rose to their feet with five laps left.

Finding redemption from a heartbreaking loss on Friday, Abreu was not to be denied on Saturday and did everything in his power to make sure the RAR boys found Whiskey Myers Victory Lane for the 11th time this season with High Limit and 18th win overall.

The win marked his 13th career score at the Rossburg, Ohio facility and his fifth in 4-Crown Nationals competition – which is tied fourth-most all-time behind only Jack Hewitt (19), Tyler Courtney (7) and Dave Darland (7).

With seven races left in the 2025 Kubota High Limit Racing campaign, Abreu now leads the Driver Championship by 72-points over Brad Sweet and the $250,000 Owner Championship by 28-points over Ridge & Sons Racing.

Giovanni Scelzi earned his best finish yet with Clauson-Marshall Racing on Saturday, taking the NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC to second-place in the late stages. After leading the opening portion, Reutzel held on to finish third in the No. 87.

Closing out the top-10 at Eldora was Ashton Torgerson from 21st, Justin Peck, Brad Sweet, Tanner Thorson, Danny Sams III, Chase Dietz, and Chase Randall.


Race Results

Event Box Score

09-20-2025

USAC Sprint Cars

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 21B-Ryan Barr[1]; 2. 17GP-Stevie Sussex III[2]; 3. 19-Hayden Reinbold[3]; 4. 57-Logan Seavey[4]; 5. 5T-Jake Swanson[5]; 6. 39-Briggs Danner[6]; 7. 28-Brandon Mattox[7]; 8. 51-Mike Haggenbottom[8]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 21AZ-CJ Leary[1]; 2. 92-Chase Stockon[4]; 3. 3P-Kyle Cummins[6]; 4. 15-Carson Garrett[2]; 5. 54-Matt Westfall[5]; 6. 2B-Mario Clouser[3]; 7. 71B-Braxton Cummings[7]; 8. 23D-Bryce Dues[8]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5GG-Gunnar Setser[4]; 2. 3R-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]; 3. 19AZ-Mitchel Moles[5]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman[2]; 5. 83C-Chance Crum[3]; 6. 4K-Kayla Roell[1]; 7. 10-Aric Gentry[7]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 4-Justin Grant[3]; 2. 20-Brady Bacon[5]; 3. 86-Daison Pursley[6]; 4. 98-Saban Bibent[2]; 5. 86S-Keith Sheffer II[4]; 6. 4J-Nathan Carle[1]; 7. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[7]

B-Feature – (12)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 17GP-Stevie Sussex III[2]; 2. 2B-Mario Clouser[1]; 3. 4J-Nathan Carle[4]; 4. 4K-Kayla Roell[3]; 5. 71B-Braxton Cummings[6]; 6. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[8]; 7. 28-Brandon Mattox[5]; 8. 51-Mike Haggenbottom[9]; 9. 23D-Bryce Dues[10]; 10. 10-Aric Gentry[7]

A-Feature – (25)Laps
1. 86-Daison Pursley[3]; 2. 3P-Kyle Cummins[5]; 3. 3R-Kevin Thomas Jr[4]; 4. 20-Brady Bacon[12]; 5. 5T-Jake Swanson[2]; 6. 21AZ-CJ Leary[10]; 7. 92-Chase Stockon[14]; 8. 5GG-Gunnar Setser[7]; 9. 86S-Keith Sheffer II[15]; 10. 54-Matt Westfall[1]; 11. 19AZ-Mitchel Moles[11]; 12. 2B-Mario Clouser[16]; 13. 98-Saban Bibent[21]; 14. 19-Hayden Reinbold[8]; 15. 57-Logan Seavey[13]; 16. 83C-Chance Crum[17]; 17. 17GP-Stevie Sussex III[18]; 18. 4K-Kayla Roell[23]; 19. 39-Briggs Danner[6]; 20. 4-Justin Grant[9]; 21. 4J-Nathan Carle[24]; 22. 49-Brian Ruhlman[20]; 23. 21B-Ryan Barr[22]; 24. 15-Carson Garrett[19]

_______________________________

High Limit Sprint Cars

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 2. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 3. 23-Chase Dietz[3]; 4. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[5]; 5. 7A-Will Armitage[7]; 6. 64-Andy Pake[8]; 7. 15K-Creed Kemenah[6]; 8. 5-Brenham Crouch[1]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 13-Daison Pursley[2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[4]; 3. 21H-Brady Bacon[1]; 4. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[6]; 5. 24D-Danny Sams III[3]; 6. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[5]; 7. 14K-Keith Sheffer Jr[7]; 8. 9X-Tyler Duff[8]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 42-Sye Lynch[2]; 2. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 3. 27H-Steven Snyder Jr[5]; 4. 14-Justin Sanders[3]; 5. 9-Chase Randall[4]; 6. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[6]; 7. 11C-Kory Crabtree[8]; 8. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[7]

Heat #4 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 51-J.J. Hickle[3]; 2. 19-Brent Marks[1]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[2]; 4. 26-Justin Peck[4]; 5. 10RR-Darin Naida[5]; 6. 5J-Jeremy Weaver[6]; 7. 23L-Jimmy Light[7]; 8. 5C-DJ Christie[8]

B-Feature – (8)Laps – Top 4 Transfer
1. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[2]; 2. 5-Brenham Crouch[1]; 3. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[4]; 4. 23L-Jimmy Light[9]; 5. 10RR-Darin Naida[5]; 6. 64-Andy Pake[3]; 7. 15K-Creed Kemenah[6]; 8. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[11]; 9. 5C-DJ Christie[12]; 10. 14K-Keith Sheffer Jr[7]; 11. 11C-Kory Crabtree[8]; 12. 9X-Tyler Duff[10]

A-Feature – (30)Laps
1. 24-Rico Abreu[8]; 2. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[9]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[1]; 4. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[21]; 5. 26-Justin Peck[6]; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[10]; 7. 88-Tanner Thorson[2]; 8. 24D-Danny Sams III[19]; 9. 23-Chase Dietz[11]; 10. 9-Chase Randall[5]; 11. 19JR-Joel Myers Jr[23]; 12. 42-Sye Lynch[7]; 13. 6K-Kaleb Johnson[15]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[12]; 15. 5-Brenham Crouch[22]; 16. 14-Justin Sanders[16]; 17. 23L-Jimmy Light[24]; 18. 13-Daison Pursley[4]; 19. 27H-Steven Snyder Jr[13]; 20. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[14]; 21. 19-Brent Marks[3]; 22. 7A-Will Armitage[18]; 23. 5J-Jeremy Weaver[20]; 24. 51-J.J. Hickle[17]

__________________________________

USAC Midgets

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 86-Daison Pursley[1]; 2. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[2]; 3. 57-Logan Seavey[3]; 4. 67-Jacob Denney[4]; 5. 14JB-Jakeb Boxell[5]; 6. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[6]; 7. 4R-Ronnie Gardner[7]; 8. 21K-Cord Kisthardt[8]; 9. 71B-Braxton Cummings[9]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Kevin Thomas Jr[6]; 2. 83-Drake Edwards[2]; 3. 4-Steven Snyder Jr[4]; 4. 87-Justin Grant[5]; 5. 43-Gunnar Setser[8]; 6. 97-Gavin Miller[3]; 7. 63-Cale Coons[1]; 8. 40x-Mack Leopard[9]; 9. O7-Tim Kent[7]

A-Feature – (25)Laps
1. 86-Daison Pursley[7]; 2. 14-Kevin Thomas Jr[5]; 3. 57-Logan Seavey[8]; 4. 87-Justin Grant[3]; 5. 83-Drake Edwards[11]; 6. 14JB-Jakeb Boxell[4]; 7. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[10]; 8. 67-Jacob Denney[2]; 9. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[6]; 10. 63-Cale Coons[12]; 11. 97-Gavin Miller[9]; 12. 43-Gunnar Setser[16]; 13. 71B-Braxton Cummings[17]; 14. 4R-Ronnie Gardner[13]; 15. 40X-Mack Leopard[18]; 16. O7-Tim Kent[14]; 17. 4-Steven Snyder Jr[1]; 18. 21K-Cord Kisthardt[15]

_______________________________

Silver Crown

A-Feature – (50)Laps
1. O9-Daison Pursley[2]; 2. 21-C.J. Leary[1]; 3. 52-Carmen Perigo[20]; 4. 91-Justin Grant[4]; 5. 9-Brady Bacon[3]; 6. 86-Chase Dietz[6]; 7. 20-Mario Clouser[8]; 8. 10-Briggs Danner[5]; 9. 19-Mitchel Moles[9]; 10. 54-Matt Westfall[12]; 11. 24-Kevin Thomas Jr[10]; 12. 8-Kyle Steffens[21]; 13. 69-Chase Stockon[13]; 14. 22-Logan Seavey[18]; 15. 49-Brian Ruhlman[19]; 16. 6-Jake Swanson[7]; 17. 88-Saban Bibent[15]; 18. 32-Gregg Cory[26]; 19. 78-Rob Caho Jr[25]; 20. 92-Shane Cottle[17]; 21. 118-Jimmy Light[16]; 22. 38-Tom Savage[22]; 23. 31-Dave Berkheimer[27]; 24. 65-Travis Mahoney[24]; 25. 166-Joe Trenca[23]; 26. 7-Kyle Robbins[14]; 27. 81-Chelby Hinton[11]


Photos

Images from the Event

Photos by Mike Campbell


Videos

Video Highlights From The Event

09.20.25 43rd 4-Crown Nationals | Feature Highlights