Carson Brown Dominates Clyde Hart Memorial at New Smyrna

Carson Brown dominated Tuesday's Clyde Hart Memorial 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, winning the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour season opener.

Brown took the lead from pole-sitter Tristan McKee during the first stage of the 200-lap event and led the rest of the way for a convincing victory in the No. 81 for Anthony Campi Racing.

Last year's Rookie of the Year and second-place points finisher on the ASA STARS National Tour, Brown won at Madison International Speedway in 2025. The Richard Childress Racing development driver starts his 2026 campaign with a trip to victory lane at New Smyrna Speedway, donning the cowboy hat trophy with the win in the Clyde Hart Memorial.

"Everyone with the ACR crew, P1 Chassis, RCR, the whole Wise group, GBS Corp., ebb Logistics, everybody that makes this thing happen," said Brown in victory lane. "This thing was on rails tonight. I kind of wanted to ride in third there for a little bit, and knew that the front row was kind of brawling it out there a little bit.

"I knew that if I got into second, I might be able to get into the lead on a restart. I kind of hung back for a little bit, let them roll it out, waited on that, and then kind of pounced when I could."

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Dawson Sutton continues to appear in Super Late Model contests when his schedule allows, and perform at a high level while doing so. The 2025 winner of the Redbud 400 and All American 400 finished second to Brown in Tuesday's event before venturing to Daytona International Speedway in three days.

"My Rackley team brought me an amazing car all week long," said Sutton. "Saturday, we had a really good night and finished second, just came up a little bit short as well. Finishing second hurts a little bit, but congrats to Anthony and his team. Hopefully, we'll come back here in the future and try to get another one."

McKee started on the pole in the No. 5 Wauters Motorsports entry, leading the opening laps and staying in front of several multi-car melees that slowed the pace for the first quarter of the event. McKee faded to third after losing the lead to Brown, where he'd finish the night.

"We led the first little bit there and kind of faded back to around third for pretty much the whole rest of the race," said McKee. "We ran third the last 150 laps. We just kind of plateaued there.

"We just needed a little bit more for those front two. They were really good, they had really fast cars, so props to them. We just needed a little bit more drive, a little turn, a little bit of both."

Two more nights remain at New Smyrna Speedway for Super Late Model competitors during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, with features scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, February 11-12.

For the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour, they'll hit the track next on March 14 at Five Flags Speedway in the Sunshine State 200.

-Photo credit: Grady Lundberg