Tanner Huddleston kept his championship hopes alive Saturday night, leading all 75 laps to score his first SPEARS CARS Tour Southwest Limited Late Model victory of the season in the Haddad 75 October Classic at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.
Huddleston entered the penultimate round of the 2026 season 23 points behind championship leader Kenna Mitchell and had to hold off Jeffrey Peterson, who entered the evening undefeated in five series starts this season.
“It was a rocket ship,” Huddleston said. “From the start of the weekend until the end, I think we were top of the board pretty much the entire time. It was just on rails. This one feels really good to dethrone the king to some extent. It was really, really just a good car. It was a good one.”
For Huddleston, the victory keeps him within striking distance of Mitchell entering the season finale at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in November, a track where he believes his team can once again contend for the win.
“The last time we were in Vegas, we ran pretty good,” Huddleston said. “We’ve already got it close, and the car obviously ran well this weekend. We just need to find a little bit more speed, but it’s there. I think we have a shot to win again at Vegas. We’ll see what happens.”
Huddleston began the evening by winning his third pole position of the season, leading the field of 14 Limited Late Models to the green flag for the 75-lap feature around the half-mile Bakersfield oval.
The driver of the No. 56 quickly jumped out to the early lead with Peterson following closely behind, while further back in the field, Christian Bazen was beginning his charge toward the front.
Bazen entered the evening third in the championship standings, just 24 points behind Mitchell, and found himself in an early battle with Joey Iest over the fifth position.
The two battled back and forth before the first caution of the evening flew on Lap 5 when Mia Wright spun exiting Turn 2 and made contact with the inside wall, ending her night just five laps into the race.
When racing resumed, Huddleston once again jumped out to the lead with Peterson following right behind, while Bazen and Iest resumed their battle, this time with Skyler Schoppe joining the fight.
Down the backstretch on the opening lap of the restart, the three drivers found themselves three-wide with Schoppe stuck in the middle groove.
Schoppe fell from fourth to sixth as Bazen and Iest continued side by side, now battling over the fourth position.
Bazen, however, began fighting a loose handling condition on the exit of the corners around the fast half-mile oval.
He repeatedly drew alongside Iest through the center of the turns, but on corner exit, the Saugus driver couldn’t complete the pass as Iest continued to hold off his challenges over multiple laps.
As Bazen backed off slightly to cool his tires, Iest began setting his sights on third position, closing in on Huddleston’s High Point Racing teammate Brenden Ruzbarsky.
Ruzbarsky had worked his way into third following the early restart but was beginning to lose touch with the leaders of Huddleston and Peterson.
On Lap 27, Iest got underneath Ruzbarsky for position, but much like Iest had done to Bazen, Ruzbarsky began a defense of his own on the outside groove.
Ruzbarsky continued to hold Iest down on the bottom of the racetrack, preventing the driver of the No. 88 from completing the pass and allowing Bazen, Schoppe and championship leader Mitchell to close in on the battle.
Iest eventually completed the pass for third on Lap 33, but the fight behind him continued as Ruzbarsky now had his hands full with Bazen.
Bazen’s car continued to get looser on corner exit, and on Lap 37, while battling over fourth position, he slid wide exiting Turn 4.
Although Bazen was able to save the car, the mistake cost him two positions as Schoppe and Mitchell moved past.
The battle continued over the next 10 laps, with Ruzbarsky holding off repeated challenges as the drivers behind him raced nose to tail and, at one point, three-wide.
On Lap 49, the battle took a dramatic turn.
Ruzbarsky had begun pulling away from Schoppe and Mitchell, who were now battling over fifth position, when the two approached the slower car of Chris Monez.
Exiting Turn 2, Schoppe found himself caught in the middle of a three-wide battle with Mitchell and Monez when the three made contact.
Schoppe, sandwiched between the two cars, made heavy contact with Monez as both drivers suffered significant damage.
The two limped back toward the work area, where they made additional contact entering the pits, but neither driver would return to the race.
Mitchell was able to continue despite suffering right-rear damage to her car.
For the championship leader, it was another close call in what had already been a difficult weekend.
Mitchell entered Kern looking to rebound after suffering her worst finish of the season two weeks earlier at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where she finished 14th.
Her weekend at Kern began with more adversity when the team was forced to replace the engine following Friday’s second practice session.
The team completed the engine change overnight, allowing Mitchell to return to the racetrack for Saturday’s final practice.
Under the Lap 49 caution, Bazen also brought his car to the work area in an attempt to correct his loose handling condition, giving up track position in the process.
When the race resumed, Huddleston once again pulled away with Peterson following right behind as the two leaders began distancing themselves from Iest in third.
Further back, Bazen quickly found himself battling Mitchell for position as the two championship contenders continued working their way through the field.
By Lap 53, Ruzbarsky, still running fourth, was once again under attack from Mitchell and Bazen.
Mitchell repeatedly drew alongside Ruzbarsky over the next several laps but couldn’t complete the pass as the driver of the No. 51 continued to hold his position.
On Lap 65, entering Turn 3, Ruzbarsky and Mitchell made contact, sending Ruzbarsky up the racetrack and dropping him to sixth as Mitchell and Bazen moved past for position.
While the battles continued behind him, Huddleston remained in control at the front of the field.
Peterson began closing the gap in the final laps, looking to extend his undefeated streak in SPEARS CARS Tour Southwest Limited Late Model competition, but Huddleston had enough to hold off the challenge.
Huddleston led every lap to score his first victory of the season, becoming the first driver to defeat Peterson in series competition in 2026.
For Peterson, the runner-up finish marked his first defeat in six Limited Late Model starts this season after winning each of his previous five appearances.
Iest held on to finish third, completing the podium after spending much of the evening battling his way through the field.
Mitchell recovered from her eventful weekend to finish fourth, recording her seventh Top 5 finish of the season and maintaining her championship lead entering the finale.
“It was a really crazy weekend,” Mitchell said. “During Friday’s practice I felt something was wrong and we changed the motor. Then I went out for practice today and after I qualified ninth, I knew I had 75 laps to make something happen.”
Mitchell also reflected on the contact involving Skyler Schoppe and Chris Monez on Lap 49 that nearly ended her night.
“Coming out of Turn 2, I felt something on my right rear and I thought I was going to be headed for the wall but I was able to save it and finished the race in fourth,” Mitchell said.
Bazen rounded out the Top 5, followed by Ruzbarsky, Donald Witkowski, Keatin Lyons, Will Martyn and Caden Cordova.
Following the 75-lap feature, Huddleston’s car underwent an extensive teardown during post-race technical inspection. The car passed inspection, confirming his first SPEARS CARS Tour Southwest Limited Late Model victory of the season.
The 2026 SPEARS CARS Tour Southwest Limited Late Model season concludes November 14 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
RACE RESULTS: CARS Tour Southwest Limited Late Models- Haddad 75
Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway
October 17, 2026
- Tanner Huddleston
- Jeffrey Peterson
- Joey Iest
- Kenna Mitchell
- Christian Bazen
- Brenden Ruzbarsky
- Donald Witkowski
- Keatin Lyons
- Will Martyn
- Caden Cordova
- Byron Borneman
- Chris Monez
- Skyler Schoppe
- Mia Wright
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Treyten Lapcevich wins CARS Tour finale in JR Motorsports debut
Granite State Pro Stock Series
Shaw smashes GSPSS records with $20,700 Bar Harbor Bank & Trust 200 win
Late Model Stock Cars
NASCAR issues lengthy Martinsville 300 penalty sheet
Super Late Models
ASA, CARS Tour West ownership merge to form national sanction
Late Model Stock Cars
Qualifying Times, Heat Race Lineups for 2026 ValleyStar Credit Union 300
Late Model Stock Cars
Caraway reveals $10,000 marquee LMSC race; loose weekly schedule
Late Model Stock Cars
Heim and Lapcevich’s tangle leads to fight at Martinsville
