Carson Loftin dominates Carteret Clash

Carson Loftin picked up his third SMART Modified Tour win of the 2026 season at Carteret County Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Loftin, who was fastest in practice and qualifying on Saturday afternoon, started in third after a redraw, and methodically worked his way to the lead.  On the 34^th lap of the 99 lap race, Loftin made the pass in the apex of turns 3 and 4 to take the lead and drove away from the field to score the victory.

“I love this place,” Loftin said in victory lane.  “I’ve always struggled here.  The guys gave me a really good car.  I knew Brandon [Ward] was going a little hard in [turns] 1 and 2 at the beginning.  I feel like he started to fall off there around lap 30.  He made a mistake in turn four and I had to capitalize on it because I wanted to control the race.  Super thankful for this opportunity.”

Two-time defending series champion Luke Baldwin finished in the runner-up position.

“It’s never super fun to finish second but I felt like my guys brought a really good piece,” Baldwin said.  “I think, a lot of years, a racecar of this caliber probably wins the race.  That 15 has just been really lights out all year.  Carson Loftin’s really good all year and I think they showed, when they rolled out of the box yesterday, that they were the car to beat and, you know, I can’t complain.  We’ve had such a rough year but I feel like we’re back on track.  We’ve been a top-three car and some things haven’t gone our way.  I feel like today went about as good as we could ask for.”

Danny Bohn, who won the Carteret Clash in 2024, finished in third while Brandon Ward and Carter McMurray rounded out the top-five.  The race was slowed by two cautions, both within the race’s first 10 laps.

The Carteret Clash was originally scheduled to be run on Saturday evening, but torrential downpours and severe weather forced the track to postpone the race to Sunday afternoon.

The SMART Modified Tour will resume its season at Caraway Speedway on Saturday night.

Unofficial Results

1. Carson Loftin
2. Luke Baldwin
3. Danny Bohn
4. Brandon Ward
5. Carter McMurray
6. Ryan Newman
7. Jake Crum
8. Joey Coulter
9. Jack Baldwin
10. Burt Myers
11. Slate Myers
12. Jsaon Myers
13. Sean McElearney
14. Joey Braun
15. John Holleman, IV
16. Ethan Truell
17. Junior Snow
18. William Lambros
19. Jimmy Wallace
20. Jonny Kievman
21. Rich Hunter