Fenton, Rougeux, Fields, McMillen, Fields, and Hadden Victorious In 2026 Season Opener At Hummingbird
For Immediate Release
Saturday, May 30th, 2026
By: Steven Curry - Race Reporter
Reynoldsville- After nearly a month's delay, it was finally time to embark on the 2026 season at Hummingbird Speedway on Saturday night. It was an emotional evening as Opening Night marked the first event at the track since track owner Louie Caltagarone's passing last October. Each of the six features that took to the track ran a pace lap in "missing man" formation to honor Louie. It was also the first race for new Program Director, Brian Nestor, who was named to the position back in March. Trophies on the night were sponsored by Race-1 Motor Speedway in DuBois. A piece of Hummingbird Speedway history was made Saturday night as there were seven women competing across all of our six divisions. That is the largest turnout of women drivers on a single night of racing in the tracks' 62 year history. Those seven women were: the #47 of Shawnee Sturgeon in the Pro Stocks, the #9G of Arianna Samuelson, #9JR of Emily Stoyer, and #41 of Anastasia Vassen in the Economods, the #50 of Ashley Kilhoffer and #56K of Renae Meyer in the Pure Stocks, and the #21.5 of Bryanna Anderson in the Four-Cylinders. Feature winners on Opening Night included: the #55 of Denny Fenton in the Srock Contracting Super Late Models, the #96R of Tyler Rougeux in the Semi Late Models, the #28 of Fuzzy Fields in the Pro Stocks, the #50 of Bob McMillen in the Economods, the #88 of Josh Fields in the Pure Stocks, and the #3H of Shawn Hadden in the Four-Cylinders. The win for Rougeux was the first of his career.
The first division to the track at feature time was the Srock Contracting Super Late Models with defending track champion Denny Fenton and Paul Kot leading the way for their 25-lap main. Fenton jumped out to the lead on the start and led lap 1 as Clay Ruffo made the pass on Kot for the second position. Fenton extended his lead out a bit over Ruffo, Kot, and the rest of the field through the opening handful of laps. Ruffo began to close in on Fenton for the lead as the race neared halfway. At the cross flags on lap 13, it was Fenton still leading the way over Ruffo and Kot. A couple of laps later, on lap 15, Ruffo pushed up the track in turns 3 and 4 which allowed Kot to get by to the inside to move into second behind Fenton. Over the course of the next 8 laps or so, Kot slowly began to work his way closer to Fenton. With a couple of laps remaining, Kot took his #36 car to the outside line to try to get to the outside of Fenton who was committed to the inside line. Kot gave it all he had on the outside, even pulling door-to-door at one point, but it was to no avail as Fenton fended off the challenge and took the checkers in a caution-free race over Kot, Ruffo, Kenny Schaffer, Dylan Fenton, and Orvis Newcome lll. The win for Fenton was his 9th career win in a Super Late at Hummingbird. There were time trials run in place of heat races due to low car count with Denny Fenton setting fast time.
Tyler Rougeux and Doug Surra led the Semi Late Models trackside for their 20-lap feature. Rougeux got out to the lead on the start and led the opening lap as both Gary Little and Rich Runyan Jr. were able to make their way past Surra to move into second and third, respectively. Rougeux began to extend his lead over the field over the course of the next handful of laps as the race approached the midway point. On lap 7, Surra was able to use the inside line to his advantage to make the pass on Runyan Jr. for the third spot. At the halfway mark on lap 10, it was still Rougeux leading the way over Little, Surra, Kyle Shannon, and Runyan Jr.. A few more laps were completed before the first caution flag of the 2026 season for a spin in turns 3 and 4. On the restart, it was Rougeux out front as Little felt the pressure from Surra on the lowside for second. On lap 15, Surra slipped up the track in turns 3 and 4 which allowed Shannon to get to his inside and make the pass to move into the third position behind Rougeux and Little. Rougeux extended his lead to over 5 seconds throughout the final 5 laps enroute to notching his first career win over Little, Shannon, Surra, and Runyan Jr.. Rougeux won the lone heat race.
The Pro Stocks took to the track next with Nathan Brady and Fuzzy Fields on the front row for their 20-lap feature event. Brady pulled out to the lead on the start and led lap 1 over Fields and Raven Fuller. On the third lap of the race, a mechanical issue on Brady's car in front of the field allowed Fuller to get by and into the lead as Dennis Curry Jr. made the pass on Fields for second. Brady had to retire from the race as a result of the mechanical gremlins. One lap later, Curry Jr. had a mechanical issue that brought out the caution flag and forced him to retire from the race as well. All this moved Fields and defending track champion Jim Bloom into second and third for the restart. On the restart, Fuller led the way, but went wide in turns 1 and 2 which allowed both Fields and Rich Howell to move into second and third, respectively. At the halfway point on lap 10, it was Fields continuing to lead the way over Howell and Fuller. Another lap was completed before a caution for a spin in turn 4. A handful of laps after the ensuing restart, on lap 15, Fuller and Bloom were both able to take advantage of Howell pushing up the track and make the pass to the inside to move into the second and third spots behind Fields. No one had anything for Fields in the closing laps as he cruised to his 37th career win in a Pro Stock at the Bird. The win was Field's first at the Speedway in nearly three years. Fuller, Bloom, Howell, and Allen Lamb rounded out the top 5. Brady and Fields won the heat races.
Bob Connor and Gary Sullivan led the field of 10 Economods to flagman Earl Jackson's green flag for their 20-lap feature race. After a quick caution flag on the initial start of the race, Connor was able to jump out to the lead as defending track champion Bob McMillen was able to work his way past Sullivan on the inside for the second position. The first two laps of the race were completed before the caution flag was displayed again for a spin on the frontstretch. On the ensuing restart, it was Connor leading the way as Sullivan was putting the pressure on McMillen for second. On lap 3, Sullivan was able to edge ahead of McMillen on the highside for the second spot. McMillen was able to retake the position from Sullivan on the inside on the following lap. A few laps later, on lap 7, McMillen was able to close in on and make the pass on Connor to take the race lead. At the cross-flags on lap 10, it was McMillen continuing to lead the way over Connor and Sullivan. A couple of additional cautions would fall throughout the second half of the race, but it did not phase McMillen as he would go on to capture his 10th career checkered flag in an Economod. Connor, Sullivan, Arianna Samuelson, and Dalton Gustafson completed the top 5. Sullivan and Connor won the heat races.
The Pure Stocks were next up on the 1/3-mile bullring with Dominic Marchiori and Dustin Challingsworth making up the front row for their 15-lap main. Challingsworth was able to get out to the lead on the start and lead the opening lap over Marchiori and Josh Fields. The first two laps of the race were completed before a caution for Marchiori spinning out of second place in turn 1. This moved Fields up to second and Ashley Kilhoffer to third for the restart. Four more laps were completed on the restart before another caution with the top 3 remaining Challingsworth, Fields, and Kilhoffer. On the restart following the caution, it was Challingsworth leading the way with Fields in second as Kilhoffer was feeling the pressure from Andy Frey on the highside for third. On lap 7, Frey completed the pass on the highside of Kilhoffer to move into the third spot. At halfway on lap 8, Challingsworth, Fields, and Frey were in the top 3. Fields was glued to the back bumper of Challingsworth for the next several laps as the two battled hard, but clean for the top spot. The race remained under green flag conditions all the way until lap 13 as Challingsworth and Fields battled side-by-side lap after lap, putting on a great show for the fans in attendance. The final caution flag of the race was displayed for a spin in turn 3, setting up a two-lap shootout. On the final restart, Challingsworth went low entering turn 1, Fields went high and was able to pull even with Challingsworth down the backstretch using the momentum on the highside. Fields was able to use that momentum on the highside to complete the pass for the lead off of turn 4 as the field came to take the white flag. There was no looking back for Fields on the final lap as he collected his division-leading 41st career win in a Pure Stock at the Bird and completed the Fields sweep of the Pro Stock and Pure Stock divisions on Opening Night. The top 5 was completed by: Challingsworth, Frey, Kilhoffer, and Marchiori. Challingsworth and Marchiori won the heat races.
The final feature of the night were the Four-Cylinders with Andy Thompson and Andrew Thompson at the front to begin their 15-lap feature race. Andy Thompson got the advantage on the start and led lap 1 over Andrew Thompson and Shawn Hadden who was driving the Kephart Racing #007 car due to mechanical issues on his own car suffered Friday night at Dog Hollow Speedway. On lap 3, Hadden used the high line to his advantage to make the pass on Andrew Thompson for the second position. Hadden then set his sights on Andy Thompson and began to close in little by little each lap as the race progressed towards halfway. At the midway point on lap 8, it was Andy Thompson continuing to pace the field with Hadden close behind and Andrew Thompson in third. The race stayed green until a caution for a stopped car in turns 3 and 4 on lap 11. On the restart, it was Andy Thompson still out front over Hadden and Andrew Thompson. Andy Thompson continued to lead until two to go when a mechanical failure forced another caution flag and Andy to retire from the race. This moved Hadden into the lead with Andrew Thompson second and Bruce Long third for a green-white-checkered finish. Hadden led the field back to green and never looked back as he picked up his division-leading 27th career Four-Cylinder win at Hummingbird. Hadden was followed in the top 5 by: Andrew Thompson, Long, Scott Robison, and Allen Robison. Andy and Andrew Thompson won the heat races.
Speedway Notes: 55 cars were on-hand for Opening Night 2026. That breaks down to: 6 Super Late Models, 5 Semi Late Models, 10 Pro Stocks, 11 Economods, 11 Pure Stocks, and 13 Four-Cylinders. We will be back in action this coming Saturday, June 6th, with a regular 6-Division Program on the card. It will be a non-points event for the Pure Stock class due to a special at Marion Center Speedway. The Ken Schaffer Excavating Kids Club gets underway every Saturday night at 6pm by the pit gate entrance. It is a great place to take your kids to do some fun kids club activities prior to racing getting started. For more information regarding the June 6th racing action and future events, keep it tuned to the track Facebook page @ Hummingbird Speedway and website @ www.hummingbirdspeedway.com for the latest updates.
Results:
Srock Contracting Super Late Models
1st) #55 Denny Fenton
2nd) #36 Paul Kot
3rd) #14R Clay Ruffo
4th) #13X Kenny Schaffer
5th) #56 Dylan Fenton
6th) #66N Orvis Newcome lll
Semi Late Models
1st) #96R Tyler Rougeux
2nd) #2 Gary Little
3rd) #11 Kyle Shannon
4th) #3xAA Doug Surra
5th) #18 Rich Runyan Jr.
Pro Stocks
1st) #28 Fuzzy Fields
2nd) #10R Raven Fuller
3rd) #37A Jim Bloom
4th) #3 Rich Howell
5th) #104 Allen Lamb
6th) #47S Shawnee Sturgeon
7th) #150 Kyle Corah
8th) #24C Dennis Curry Jr.
9th) #77 Nathan Brady
10th) #54S Mitch Stiles
Economods
1st) #50 Bob McMillen
2nd) #818 Bob Connor
3rd) #47S Gary Sullivan
4th) #9G Arianna Samuelson
5th) #1 Dalton Gustafson
6th) #9JR Emily Stoyer
7th) #777 Justin Lapcevich
8th) #13M Virgil Meyer
9th) #41 Anastasia Vassen
10th) #24R Derrick Randolph
11th) #923 Shane Wilson
Pure Stocks
1st) #88 Josh Fields
2nd) #46 Dustin Challingsworth
3rd) #55X Andy Frey
4th) #50 Ashley Kilhoffer
5th) #01D Dominic Marchiori
6th) #79 Devon Trayer
7th) #56K Renae Meyer
8th) #23M Bo Murray
9th) #88P Cory Price
10th) #37B Noah Bloom
11th) #49 George Bailey
Four-Cylinders
1st) #3H Shawn Hadden
2nd) #45 Andrew Thompson
3rd) #44B Bruce Long
4th) #THE99 Scott Robison
5th) #4T1 Allen Robison
6th) #29L Josh Lindenmuth
7th) #6 Adam Pluebell
8th) #8F Sam Fye
9th) #5 Andy Thompson
10th) #778 Duane Hinderliter
11th) #87M Matthew Mitchell
12th) #64E Isaac Exley
13th) #21.5 Bryanna Anderson