After years of near-misses, C.J. Leary finally has his USAC Silver Crown championship.
Leary capped a remarkably consistent 2026 campaign by securing the first Silver Crown title of his career and the second USAC national championship on his résumé, adding to the AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship he won in 2019.
The title had been building for years. Leary entered 2026 after finishing third, fourth, fourth and second in the Silver Crown standings across the previous four seasons. This time, there was no coming up short.
Driving the No. 21 for Team AZ Racing / Petty-Rossi / Curb-Agajanian, Leary delivered one of the strongest seasons in the series. He won three of the ten races, led a series-best 204 laps, recorded nine top-five finishes and finished inside the top 10 in every event. He also completed all 911 laps contested during the season and closed the year with a 105-point championship margin.
His victories came on both pavement and dirt, showing exactly why the Silver Crown discipline remains one of American open-wheel racing’s toughest tests. Leary won at World Wide Technology Raceway and Iowa Speedway before returning to victory lane at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in September.
The championship season also extended a run of consistency that stretched back into 2025. By September, Leary had established a new series record with 15 consecutive top-five finishes.
A Championship With More Behind It
The numbers alone would make 2026 memorable. But for Leary, the meaning of the championship goes far beyond the stat sheet.
His father, Chuck Leary, died unexpectedly in March 2025 at the age of 59. Chuck was much more than C.J.’s father. He was also his mentor, crew chief and one of the central figures in his racing life.
Their careers are forever connected in USAC history. When C.J. earned his first national Silver Crown victory at Terre Haute in 2016, he and Chuck became the first father-son pairing to both win USAC Silver Crown races as drivers.
Leary continued racing through that loss while life away from the track changed rapidly. He married longtime girlfriend Kristy Bemmes in December 2025. His longtime companion Charlie, a Black Lab that had traveled to USAC events with him for more than a decade, also passed away. Then came happier news: C.J. and Kristy are expecting a baby boy in early 2027.
That combination of grief, change and anticipation gives this championship a weight that goes far beyond one season.
A Team That Finished the Job
Leary joined the Team AZ Racing / Petty-Rossi / Curb-Agajanian operation for the 2025 season. The partnership made an immediate impact, producing two wins and a runner-up finish in the standings in year one.
In 2026, the group took the final step.
The No. 21 was not only fast, it was dependable. The team finished every race without a DNF, allowing Leary to capitalize on the kind of consistency that championships are built around.
The title was the product of a large group behind the scenes, including Mike and Craig Burkhart, Eric and Windy Wilkins, Justin Grau, Joe Devin of DRC, Eric Stanton of Stanton Racing Engines, Jerry Petty of Avanti Windows & Doors, Phil Rossi of Apache Transport and Mike Curb.
A Season Full of Silver Crown Stories
Leary may have owned the championship, but the 2026 Silver Crown season produced plenty of other memorable moments.
Briggs Danner matched Leary with three victories, winning at Winchester Speedway, the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the season finale at Toledo Speedway. Hayden Reinbold opened the year with a remarkable victory at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in his first career Silver Crown start. Dakoda Armstrong captured the Hoosier Hundred, Mitchel Moles won at Terre Haute, and Daison Pursley delivered a dominant Eldora performance in the debut of Spire Motorsports with CB Industries’ Silver Crown program.
Chelby Hinton earned Rookie of the Year honors after finishing eighth in the championship, edging Reinbold by just eight points. In total, 72 drivers competed in Silver Crown competition during the season, the highest total in three years.
At Last, Leary’s Crown
Twelve years after making his Silver Crown debut, the wait is over.
C.J. Leary is a USAC Silver Crown champion.
For a driver who spent years inching closer to the top, the 2026 title represents persistence, consistency and a season executed almost perfectly. But it also carries the memory of the people and experiences that shaped the road there.
It is a championship Leary earned with speed. One he secured with reliability. And one that arrives at a moment in his life where racing, family, loss and the future have all collided at once.
Source: USAC Media / Richie Murray. Hero photo: Rich Forman / USAC.
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