Stambaugh Survives Slow Start, Bags Fifth Great Lakes Super Sprints Title
Merrill, MI - When the 2026 season began, teams and drivers alike wondered what would come of the new tire rule put in place for the Great Lakes Super Sprints Presented by PERFIT & ARP (GLSS). Among those with questions was four-time and defending GLSS Tour Champion, Max Stambaugh.
Starting the season second on the all-time wins list with GLSS, Stambaugh has had great success during his dominating championship runs. A 27-time winner with the series, Stambaugh’s career-best year in 2025 included nine wins. The season prior, Stambaugh took the Smith Motorsports No.71H to victory lane six times; in 2023 it was four wins, and in 2022 three victories. This year, although adding another championship to his trophy case, Stambaugh was held out of victory lane in all 20 features completed.
Although frustrating, Stambaugh did exactly what he needed to do to stay in contention for the title. The Elida, Ohio native finished inside the top five in six of the first seven races of the season, including three podium finishes and a runner-up performance at Tri City Motor Speedway in June.
The middle part of the season proved difficult for Stambaugh. Needing to transfer out of a B-Main at Butler Motor Speedway on June 13th, then finishing outside the top 10 at Ohsweken Speedway on June 26th before posting a seventh-place finish at Buxton Speedway on June 27th, Stambaugh lost the Tour Championship points lead to Chase Dunham heading into July. Mother Nature proved to be against GLSS in July, with multiple rainouts, including a July 4th show at Limaland Motorsports Park that was concluded after Qualifying. The following week after struggling in qualifying, Stambaugh fought from 15th to finish ninth in the Series’ first-ever visit to Circle City Raceway.
Stambaugh finished July on a high note, with back-to-back top-five finishes at I-96 Speedway and Crystal Motor Speedway. For the rest of the 2026 season, Stambaugh never finished worse than 8th (Hartford Speedway, August 14th). In the final seven races of the year, the No.71H finished second four times, with a fourth and sixth-place finish to accompany the eigth-place finish at Hartford.
“No doubt the American Racers threw us a curveball this year,” Stambaugh said. “We found a couple of mechanical issues that were giving us problems this year, too, which was no fault of our Smith Motorsports team. But, I’m proud of my guys for pushing through it and giving us a fast car every week. Hats off to Chase [Dunham] and his dad; they gave us a hard time this year, and they’re capable of winning one of these deals.”
For Smith Motorsports, Stambaugh’s fifth consecutive Tour Championship ran their Tour total up to six, going back to Ryan Ruhl’s 2021 title run. Including Stambaugh’s 2026 MacAllister CAT (Michigan) Division Championship and his other regional titles since the GLSS acquisition of NRA, Smith Motorsports now holds nine Great Lakes Super Sprints sanctioned titles.
“When Steve [Smith] hired me to drive their car five years ago, I knew it was good equipment,” Stambaugh recalled. “We built and improved our program every year, and to win a championship every season I’ve raced for Smith Motorsports is something I’m proud of.”
The final points standings show that Stambaugh held off Dunham by a final of 145 points, a wider margin than when the pair began the final two weeks of racing. In the MacAllister CAT (Michigan) Division, Stambaugh held off 2018 GLSS Tour Champion, Dustin Daggett by just 11 points, with Daggett finishing the season in victory lane at Winston and Crystal Motor Speedways.
The Ohio CAT (Ohio) Division crowned Mason Hannagan as the Champion in 2026, his first career title in just his second year behind the wheel of a sprint car. Hannagan grabbed one win this season, and won the title by 31 points over Dunham.
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