Leapfrog Tri-State Triple CrownChallenge Announces Suspension ofProgram for the 2026 Season

BY: TSN's Brogan Whitworth

On Monday, August 3rd, the Facebook Page of the Leapfrog Tri-State Triple

Crown Challenge released a statement from Jody Chandler announcing the suspension

of the series for the 2026 season. Jody Chandler wrote,

“As of August 3" 2026, Leapfrog Lawncare and Landscaping felt that this

program never garnered the support it needed with only 8 competitors for the first event

(Anderson) and 9 competitors for the second event (Newport). After two events, we only

had three eligible contenders remaining. Options were discussed to allow a drop after

the first event. However, with the investment that Leapfrog Lawncare and Landscaping

made in this project I did not feel that we should reward a lack of support with a dropped

event. ”

The Leapfrog Tri-State Triple Crown was an initiative brought up by Jody

Chandler, Kerry Bodenhamer, and Gina Schild-Knowles in an effort to connect local

short track racing across the tri-state area. The challenge was set to host two races at

each track with Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina, Hickory Motor Speedway

in North Carolina, and Newport Speedway in Tennessee. The team with the most points

across the 6 events would win the $10,000 Grand Prize.

While the series up to this point had raced at all three tracks in the challenge

(Anderson, Newport, and Hickory), the eligibility requirements to maintain fairness

among competitors left only 3 teams even eligible for the remaining 3 races. Later in the

statement, Chandler writes that the decision had been made to suspend the Challenge

in 2026 due to the lack of support.

Chandler took time to also thank the fans, officials, teams, and tracks for their

help in supporting them, and gave a special thanks to Kerry Bodenhamer and Gina

Schild-Knowles for their effort in making the Leapfrog Tri-State Triple Crown Challenge

possible. The statement does not confirm a total suspension of the challenge, possibly

leaving the door open to a return in 2027.

Kerry Bodenhamer released his own statement on the Leapfrog Tri-State Triple

Crown Challenge Facebook page the following day, echoing similar gratitude to those

who had helped keep the program going for the benefit of local short track racing.

According to Bodenhamer,

“In my opinion, weekly short track racing is on life support unless meaningful

changes are made. That isn't meant as criticism—it's a call for all of us to come together

and find ways to move the sport forward for the next generation of racers and fans.”

The program had been suspended with 3 events left on the season, being

August 7th at Anderson Motor Speedway, August 15th at Newport Speedway, and the

season finale on October 10th at Hickory Motor Speedway. While this may be the end

for their 2026 season, it is still unknown what they may have in store to help benefit the

future of local short-track racing.