BARBERVILLE, FL (Jan. 26, 2026) — Six months ago, Tyler Courtney laid in a hospital bed recovering from surgery, pondering his future and his odds to ever race a Sprint Car again.

A violent crash in July 2025 destroyed his race car, but not his drive to pursue his passion.

“I think there were times when I didn’t see a lot of progress happening. Those are tough times, I’ll tell you that,” said Courtney, of Indianapolis, IN. “Those are tough times when you kinda think your career might be over.

“But it never stopped me from working hard to get back to where I am now.”

This weekend, the national 410 Sprint Car regular will get back behind the wheel of the Clauson Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC for the first time since the accident with a 360c.i. engine under the hood as the American Sprint Car Series opens its 35th season of competition at Volusia Speedway Park.

Over the last 28 weeks, Courtney said he’s spent enough time in doctor’s appointments and physical therapy sessions to last him a lifetime. Being out of the race car was hard for the 31-year-old, but his wait is finally over. It’s time to put the helmet on once again.

“I would say excited is an understatement,” Courtney said. “I live, sleep, breathe, eat and drink racing. So, not doing anything to that nature… obviously, I was around the racetrack, but not being in the car the last six months really eats at you. Being able to get back behind the wheel is… exciting isn’t the right word. If there was a better word than ‘excited’ I’d use it.”

Courtney’s high-speed rollover crash at Eldora Speedway last summer led to safety officials extracting him from his car before medical personnel transported him to a hospital for evaluation. What doctors found forced him out of the seat for the remainder of his 2025 campaign.

“I broke my T7 (vertebrae) and they fused me from T5 to T9,” Courtney said. “I got 10 screws. I know for sure two, but there might be three plates in there, I’m not sure.”

He spent the next four months resting in recovery from the procedure and began physical therapy in November. Courtney also went through a period of wearing glasses to correct double vision — a temporary symptom of cranial nerve damage he suffered in the crash. Now fully healed from injury and cleared by all doctors, “Sunshine” is just thankful for a sense of normalcy to return to his schedule after questioning his future in the sport.

“I don’t think there was ever a point I thought I’d willingly not get back into it, but there were definitely points that I thought in the whole process that I might not be able to,” Courtney said. “Once I got cleared from my doctors, they were kinda up front with me on that, saying that they didn’t think I would be either. But obviously, they can’t just come out and tell you that. They want to keep your hopes up and make you work hard to get back to where you were.

“Obviously, that worked.”

A former standout in the non-winged variety of open-wheel racing, the two-time United States Auto Club champion made a transition to the 410 Winged Sprint Car world full-time in 2021, where he’s spent nearly every minute of his on-track time since. What few 360 Sprint Car starts he’s made in that time have come mostly with the American Sprint Car Series at Knoxville Raceway in the 360 Knoxville Nationals, which he won in 2024.

This Thursday–Saturday, he’ll make his first appearance with the Series since that triumphant night in Iowa.

“I got talking with my team, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we just go down there and run with the 360s? That would probably be a better way for me to kinda get my footing underneath me,’” Courtney said. “Obviously, it’s still fast in a 360 at Volusia, but it’s not quite a 410. So, we decided to go down there and get our feet wet. We put a deal together with our engine builder at Stanton Racing Engines to get a 360 built.”

The speed of the historic Florida 1/2-mile oval that is Volusia Speedway Park is not unfamiliar to Courtney. In 18 career starts, he’s compiled 13 top-10s, three top-fives and one memorable Feature win with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars in a last-corner pass on Rico Abreu.

“I think Volusia’s gonna be a great place, honestly, because it’s typically pretty smooth, it’s fast, and it races well when they have the track right,” Courtney said. “I think it’s gonna be a good place to get me back up to speed. I think speed is the one thing I’ve been lacking over the last six months — the raw speed of everything. Obviously, I’ve driven my streetcar around and stuff, but that’s not going 120 miles an hour around other cars.”

In the early stages of his recovery, Courtney set himself a goal to be fully recovered and ready for competition again by February. Opening night of competition at Volusia lands on January 29. He admits his physical recovery process exceeded his expectations, and he may have found some additional fortitude along the way as well.

“I think it’s made me stronger mentally,” Courtney said. “I always felt like I was pretty strong mentally before, but just not letting anything creep in or deter me from my ultimate goal was important for me to realize. I think the people around me helped me with that.”

His last six months have been difficult. But he’s taken the steps, he’s traveled the road to recovery and is ready for the biggest return of his career with one goal in mind.

“I think, for me, it was more important to prove to people that this can happen to you, but it’s up to me to make it happen and get back to where I was before,” Courtney said. “I think injuries don’t get talked about a lot in our sport; I think it’s just kind of a scary thing. But at the end of the day, racing is dangerous, and these things are gonna happen to people.

“I guess I just wanted to show people that you can get hurt and come back and be who you were before.”

The 35th American Sprint Car Series season gets underway Thursday–Saturday, Jan. 29–31, at Volusia Speedway Park in the 55th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. Tickets are on sale now; click here to purchase.

SUN RISING: Tyler Courtney Returns to Sprint Car Racing with ASCS at Volusia

BARBERVILLE, FL (Jan. 26, 2026) — Six months ago, Tyler Courtney laid in a hospital bed recovering from surgery, pondering his future and his odds to ever race a Sprint Car again.

A violent crash in July 2025 destroyed his race car, but not his drive to pursue his passion.

“I think there were times when I didn’t see a lot of progress happening. Those are tough times, I’ll tell you that,” said Courtney, of Indianapolis, IN. “Those are tough times when you kinda think your career might be over.

“But it never stopped me from working hard to get back to where I am now.”

This weekend, the national 410 Sprint Car regular will get back behind the wheel of the Clauson Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink No. 7BC for the first time since the accident with a 360c.i. engine under the hood as the American Sprint Car Series opens its 35th season of competition at Volusia Speedway Park.

Over the last 28 weeks, Courtney said he’s spent enough time in doctor’s appointments and physical therapy sessions to last him a lifetime. Being out of the race car was hard for the 31-year-old, but his wait is finally over. It’s time to put the helmet on once again.

“I would say excited is an understatement,” Courtney said. “I live, sleep, breathe, eat and drink racing. So, not doing anything to that nature… obviously, I was around the racetrack, but not being in the car the last six months really eats at you. Being able to get back behind the wheel is… exciting isn’t the right word. If there was a better word than ‘excited’ I’d use it.”

Courtney’s high-speed rollover crash at Eldora Speedway last summer led to safety officials extracting him from his car before medical personnel transported him to a hospital for evaluation. What doctors found forced him out of the seat for the remainder of his 2025 campaign.

“I broke my T7 (vertebrae) and they fused me from T5 to T9,” Courtney said. “I got 10 screws. I know for sure two, but there might be three plates in there, I’m not sure.”

He spent the next four months resting in recovery from the procedure and began physical therapy in November. Courtney also went through a period of wearing glasses to correct double vision — a temporary symptom of cranial nerve damage he suffered in the crash. Now fully healed from injury and cleared by all doctors, “Sunshine” is just thankful for a sense of normalcy to return to his schedule after questioning his future in the sport.

“I don’t think there was ever a point I thought I’d willingly not get back into it, but there were definitely points that I thought in the whole process that I might not be able to,” Courtney said. “Once I got cleared from my doctors, they were kinda up front with me on that, saying that they didn’t think I would be either. But obviously, they can’t just come out and tell you that. They want to keep your hopes up and make you work hard to get back to where you were.

“Obviously, that worked.”

A former standout in the non-winged variety of open-wheel racing, the two-time United States Auto Club champion made a transition to the 410 Winged Sprint Car world full-time in 2021, where he’s spent nearly every minute of his on-track time since. What few 360 Sprint Car starts he’s made in that time have come mostly with the American Sprint Car Series at Knoxville Raceway in the 360 Knoxville Nationals, which he won in 2024.

This Thursday–Saturday, he’ll make his first appearance with the Series since that triumphant night in Iowa.

“I got talking with my team, and I was like, ‘Why don’t we just go down there and run with the 360s? That would probably be a better way for me to kinda get my footing underneath me,’” Courtney said. “Obviously, it’s still fast in a 360 at Volusia, but it’s not quite a 410. So, we decided to go down there and get our feet wet. We put a deal together with our engine builder at Stanton Racing Engines to get a 360 built.”

The speed of the historic Florida 1/2-mile oval that is Volusia Speedway Park is not unfamiliar to Courtney. In 18 career starts, he’s compiled 13 top-10s, three top-fives and one memorable Feature win with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars in a last-corner pass on Rico Abreu.

“I think Volusia’s gonna be a great place, honestly, because it’s typically pretty smooth, it’s fast, and it races well when they have the track right,” Courtney said. “I think it’s gonna be a good place to get me back up to speed. I think speed is the one thing I’ve been lacking over the last six months — the raw speed of everything. Obviously, I’ve driven my streetcar around and stuff, but that’s not going 120 miles an hour around other cars.”

In the early stages of his recovery, Courtney set himself a goal to be fully recovered and ready for competition again by February. Opening night of competition at Volusia lands on January 29. He admits his physical recovery process exceeded his expectations, and he may have found some additional fortitude along the way as well.

“I think it’s made me stronger mentally,” Courtney said. “I always felt like I was pretty strong mentally before, but just not letting anything creep in or deter me from my ultimate goal was important for me to realize. I think the people around me helped me with that.”

His last six months have been difficult. But he’s taken the steps, he’s traveled the road to recovery and is ready for the biggest return of his career with one goal in mind.

“I think, for me, it was more important to prove to people that this can happen to you, but it’s up to me to make it happen and get back to where I was before,” Courtney said. “I think injuries don’t get talked about a lot in our sport; I think it’s just kind of a scary thing. But at the end of the day, racing is dangerous, and these things are gonna happen to people.

“I guess I just wanted to show people that you can get hurt and come back and be who you were before.”

The 35th American Sprint Car Series season gets underway Thursday–Saturday, Jan. 29–31, at Volusia Speedway Park in the 55th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. Tickets are on sale now; click here to purchase.

How can you watch the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.