Winchester 400 Recap: Carson Brown Wins as Chase Pinsonneault Survives 400 Laps of Chaos
By Biography Photography | Motorsport photography from Winchester 400 weekend
The Winchester 400 is supposed to be a Sunday afternoon. In 2026 it became a Saturday night, and that turned out to be one of the most memorable days I've had as a motorsport photographer. A modified feature in the afternoon, a 400-lap Super Late Model race under the lights, and a championship driver I'd photographed the night before still out there turning laps. Here's how Saturday, October 10 went at Winchester Speedway.
Why the Winchester 400 Moved to Saturday
The 55th Winchester 400 was originally scheduled for Sunday, October 11. With a poor forecast for Sunday, Winchester Speedway and the ASA STARS National Tour moved the race up to Saturday evening, with a 6:00 PM green flag. The modified, sportsman and street stock programs moved to Saturday afternoon, starting at 2:15 PM, so the whole weekend was compressed into one long day.
It also made history of a different kind. This was the first Winchester 400 run at night, under the speedway's new LED lights, and the first one since longtime track owner Charlie Shaw passed away on September 15 at age 90. His visitation and funeral were held at the track in early October, and the race carried that weight from the start.
The Winchester 400: How It Played Out
Carson Brown wasn't supposed to be here on Saturday. He had planned to race the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series at Charlotte on Saturday and fly to Indiana for a Sunday Winchester 400. When the schedule moved, Charlotte's Saturday track activity was washed out, and he made the flight to Winchester after the first practice session had already run.
It didn't matter. Brown was second-fastest in practice, qualified on the front row and put on a dominant performance in the No. 81 Anthony Campi Racing entry to win the signature Winchester rifle. Stephen Nasse in the No. 51 chased him all night, which gave Anthony Campi Racing a 1-2 finish. Nasse said track position was everything and that every time he got close, the dirty air pushed him back. He also wanted this one badly for Charlie Shaw and for his uncle, who had passed away the week before.
Billy VanMeter finished third, and his weekend is worth noting on its own. He won the Winchester 100 Friday night in the No. 23, then swapped the engine in that same car overnight to run with the Super Late Models. Tristan McKee took fourth and Chris Shannon fifth.
Attrition was heavy, as it always is at Winchester. Of 25 starters, only the top six finished all 400 laps. Seventh-place Kyle Steckly was 75 laps down.
Chase Pinsonneault: A Title on Friday, 400 Laps of Chaos on Saturday
Chase Pinsonneault is the driver I was there for. I photographed his Friday night, when he locked up the Turn One CRA Pro Series championship at the Winchester 100. Less than a day later he was back in the No. 14, running the ASA STARS National Tour with Carson Hocevar Racing, for 400 laps on one of the toughest racetracks in short track racing. Chase is a Canadian driver out of Belle River, Ontario, and Winchester has been a track he keeps coming back to.
The history made Saturday matter. His career-best ASA STARS finish came in the Winchester 400 two years ago, a fourth-place run. Last year he finished 16th, 74 laps down. This year he finished sixth, on the lead lap, and was the last driver in the field to complete all 400 laps. He crossed the line just 0.150 seconds behind fifth-place Chris Shannon.
The race itself was chaos from the start. Chris Munson, John Ebbert and Gabrielle Grigsby were all finished after just three laps. Jeff Myers was out by lap 18, Albert Francis by lap 38, Kyle Crump by lap 60, Jon Beach by lap 78 and Cody Scott by lap 83. That's eight cars gone before the race was a quarter of the way done, and the attrition kept coming as the laps ticked by. Surviving that kind of race on the high banks takes patience, a car that stays under you and a driver who doesn't make the one mistake Winchester punishes.
Chase wasn't immune to the frustrations. Just after lap 30, he came into the pits with what we would later find out was a slew of issues within the right front wheel hub. He came in during a caution period, the field went green for only 3 laps before another yellow, and he rolled out as the field went green again laps later. This was the best fortune that this race could have brought, despite the circumstances. Chase only last 4 laps with around 360 laps to go. This meant by racing his own race, keeping his nose clean, and the team doing their part he took advantage of other yellows to catch up and found himself chasing positions on the lead lap with 100 laps to go. He finished all 400 laps, resulting in a 6th place finish.
A championship Friday and a full 400 laps Saturday, in a field where nineteen of the 25 starters didn't make it to the end, is the kind of weekend a driver remembers. It's also the reason I like staying with one driver and team through an entire race weekend as a motorsport photographer: you get to see the biggest high and the hardest grind inside the same 24 hours.
Winchester 400 Unofficial Results
Carson Brown (No. 81) - 400 laps, winner
Stephen Nasse (No. 51) - 400 laps, +1.226 sec
Billy VanMeter (No. 23) - 400 laps, +3.431 sec
Tristan McKee (No. 5) - 400 laps, +5.286 sec
Chris Shannon (No. 32) - 400 laps, +14.004 sec
Chase Pinsonneault (No. 14) - 400 laps, +14.154 sec
Kyle Steckly (No. 22) - 325 laps, 75 laps down
Derek Thorn (No. 96) - 292 laps, 108 laps down
Jade Avedisian (No. 24) - 286 laps, 114 laps down
Kasey Kleyn (No. 3k) - 257 laps, 143 laps down
What Came Next
The ASA STARS National Tour heads to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on November 8 for the All American 400, with Brown entering the Winchester weekend as the series points leader. The Winchester 400 weekend is a wrap for me, but the memories are going to stay with me for a long time.
The full story from the weekend can be found HERE. The full gallery from the weekend is here: Winchester 400 Weekend gallery.
Read about the Winchester 100 or the Modified Run for the Gun 40.
Need a Motorsport Photographer?
If you're a driver, team, track, or series looking for a motorsport photographer who can deliver fast, shoot the moments that matter, and put in the long days, I'd love to work with you. Biography Photography covers Midwest short track racing, from Late Models and Modifieds to Traditional Sprints, with near-real-time image delivery, in-car and ride-along video, and victory lane coverage for tracks and series.
Book me for your next race: mike@biojpg.com
Sources for race details and results: Racing America's recap of the 2026 Winchester 400, Midwest Racing Central's report on the schedule change, and Short Track Scene's 55th Winchester 400 preview.
