Defending CARS Tour West champion Jace Hansen returns home

The defending 2025 CARS Tour West Super Late Model champion returns home to Colorado National Speedway and through the opening two races of 2026, he’s looked like the driver to beat.

Hansen opened the season in Las Vegas with a runner-up finish to Taylor Mayhew after leading the most laps. He followed that with a win at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway, where he ran second for much of the race before capitalizing late when Kevin Harvick cut a tire inside the final 10 laps.

Through two races, Hansen holds an average finish of 1.5 and has led 133 laps, building a 12-point advantage over Bryce Bezanson.

But despite the early numbers, Hansen isn’t focused on the championship.

“I’ve always been a firm believer in not racing for championships,” Hansen said. “We really just go to the racetrack to win races and if the championship comes, that’s awesome enough. And after last year, to be the first champion in the CARS Tour West Super Late Model series, that was really cool.”

Instead the approach is simple, win races and let the rest take care of itself.

“Everything that these guys are doing to get the series to take off is really awesome,” Hansen said. “Obviously the goal is to keep having the luck that we’re having and the finishes we’re having. We’re gonna follow the series everywhere they go.”

That includes a potential trip to the Pacific Northwest, as Hansen has his sights set on the Wenatchee 200 after missing the event last season due to engine trouble.

“I’m excited to go to a new place,” Hansen said. “I watched a bunch of races, watched the Pro Late Models up there last weekend and I’m really excited to go up there and check that place out. We were excited to go there last year, but had motor problems and couldn’t make it.”

Even with the strong start, Hansen knows anything can happen that could impact a full-time run, choosing to take things as they come.

“So yeah, we’re just going to take it race by race, and if something happens and we can’t make it, then so be it.”

The Greeley, Colorado native returns to a track he knows as well as anyone. Hansen won the 47th Challenge Cup in 2022, becoming the 34th driver to win the event and joining names like four-time winners Larry Phillips and Rick Carelli, two-time winners Brett Yackey and Preston Peltier. He’s also a frequent winner at the ¾-mile track.

That experience shows up in how he approaches the track itself.

“A lot of people underestimate how rough it is,” Hansen said. “It’s not the surface, but the dirt underneath the asphalt moves, so there’s a bunch of pockets and you bounce around a ton. A lot of people struggle to get around that.

“Luckily we have raced here so much, I’ve done millions of laps here so I’m used to the feel.”

And for Hansen, a home race brings something most drivers on the tour don’t often get.

“It’s nice being able to go home and sleep in my own bed,” Hansen said. “It’s nice to be home and have the whole family coming to the track. It’s going to be super nice.

Hansen finished 15th when the series visited for the first time last July. Now, he’s hoping the comfort of his home track will translate into a stronger result.

“I’m just hoping for a little bit better outcome than last year. I’m confident that we’ll have a decent car, but we just need to be smarter in the race, stay out of trouble and hopefully be there at the end.”