Dirt City gave us just about everything in the last rounds.

Chris came into Lena riding a three-race win streak, and Saturday started exactly the way we wanted it to: fastest qualifier, valuable bonus points, and a strong starting position even after the invert put him fourth on the grid. He was charging toward the front when Nick Visser suffered a flat tire, spun in front of Chris, and collected the #66.

Chris got shuffled deep in the field, but kept digging. He fought his way back to seventh, set the fastest lap of the race, and picked up more bonus points along the way. It was not the finish we wanted — and it brought the win streak to an end — but the championship picture had a different story to tell. Visser finished a lap down, which moved Chris into the points lead.

Sunday brought another fourth-place start, but this time Chris was able to get to the front quickly. He led most of the race, including at halfway for even more bonus points, as the Dirt City track got rougher and slicker with blue groove building in every corner.

Then came one final full-course caution with just a lap remaining. The field bunched up. Green dropped. And the last lap became an all-out sprint.

Visser sent it on a Hail Mary move, jumping from third to first in one corner. Chris had one short lap to answer, but there simply wasn’t enough time to take it back. He crossed the line second — bummed to miss the win, of course, but with plenty of respect for a move he says he would have made himself.

It may not have felt like our best weekend in the moment, but we’re leaving Dirt City with a podium, bonus points, and Chris now holding the championship lead by 9 points.

Bark River is one of short-course racing’s legendary natural-terrain tracks — built around elevation changes, long straights, and high-speed sweepers — and 2026 marks the event’s 50th anniversary.

It’s a track that holds every kind of memory for Chris. It was the site of his worst wreck, back in his Pro Buggy days in 2019, but it’s also a place where he has won plenty of races — including last year’s surreal foggy doubleheader, when fans, spotters, and drivers could barely see, but Chris still brought home the win.

This year, come find us in a new pit spot on the main pit lane leading up the hill. Chris arrives as the championship leader, ready to defend those nine points — and chase a few more wins at a track that has already written a big chapter in his story.