Jake Crum won Saturday’s Friendly Tire 99 SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic feature at North Wilkesboro Speedway, clinching the 2026 series championship. Paulie Hartwig III and Bobbie Tumbleston III also earned feature victories during the track’s tripleheader.
Crum claimed the 99-lap SMART Modified Tour nightcap, followed by Ryan Newman, Danny Bohn, Sean McElearney and Jacob Perry. The championship battle came down to the season finale, with Crum, Newman and Bohn at one point tied in the standings during the race. Crum ended up on top by a scant three points.
“This thing was so good tonight. I was down on myself really bad after qualifying, and I didn’t know if we had it in us to get back to the front, but we did. I’m honestly speechless. If (SMART Modified Tour officials) didn’t call me over here (to Victory Lane), I think I’d still be out there riding around,” Crum said.
“I’m still kind of in shock. (Ryan) Newman, Danny Bohn, Brandon Ward, they’re all the best. I’m just so grateful. After qualifying, I kind of threw my hands up and was like, ‘Wherever our cards end up, it is what it is.’ Well, we showed our cards there at the end, and we had something for them.”
Newman finished second but fell short of the championship.
“We just needed to win,” Newman said. “We ended up too loose there at the end. Congrats to (Jake) Crum and his guys. They capitalized on these last few races. It’s disappointing, no doubt, but hard to come so close this year, not just tonight, and not win a race. We led a lot this year, but we should’ve definitely won a race somewhere.”
Bohn finished third, closing out the season with a strong run at a track where he had never previously finished a race.