For the fifth straight year, Nashville plays hosts to a week of Bandolero and Legend Car action. The newly renamed INEX Spring Nationals returns to Veterans Motorplex at the Rim after taking a year off in 2024, and the historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway concludes the series.
Seated in Nashville since 2021, a total of 25 championships have been awarded, with 18 drivers capturing titles, including what is believed to be the first ever event co-champions in 2024, when Colt Johnson and Owen Zacharias shared the Outlaws Division crown after all tiebreaker rules were exhausted.
A native of New Jersey, Alex McCollum has captured three of the four Spring Nationals Pro Division titles held in Nashville (2021, ’23, and ’24). He will once again contest for this year’s Pro Division championship, at two tracks that he says fits his driving style, despite being unique from one another.
“Both tracks are completely different. Highland (Veterans Motorplex) is a banked track compared to Nashville, which is a flat track,” says McCollum. “It takes a completely different driving style to adapt to both tracks.”
Veterans Motorplex, formally Highland Rim Speedway, is a narrow quarter-mile with banking. A stark difference from Nashville Fairgrounds' wide, but flat quarter-mile oval.
To perform at both tracks in a single week takes a high level of skill and great support system. McCollum applauds his team for bringing him fast cars, which only makes it easier for him to win. He also shared the mid-week switch adds an extra layer of fun to the week for him when looking back at his favorite memories of previous seasons.
The two-time and defending Semi-Pro Division Spring Nationals Champion, Tennessee native Michael Crafton, has moved to the Pro Division in 2025. Like McCollum, the challenge every driver must conquer is mastering each type of track. “[The two track types] shows drivers’ strengths and weaknesses,” said Crafton.
When he first moved into a Legend Car, Crafton was still racing with a Yamaha 1250 engine. But that didn’t discourage him from competing at his home track.
“A lot of the big teams already had the FZ09 engine,” Crafton said sharing his favorite Spring Nationals memory. “I ended up qualifying on the pole and went on to win the race that night.”
He would grab his first Spring Nationals title in the Semi-Pro Division in 2023, backing it up in 2024. To win once again in 2025 would mean that much more to him.
“I have put a lot of hard work into my equipment, and I have spent many hours testing to make sure I am prepared for the Pro Division,” Crafton said. “I am looking forward to racing with a new group and seeing how I do.”
The only year McCollum has not won the Pro Championship, was when Georgia’s Jensen Jorgensen captured the guitar in 2022, who shared “Highland Rim (Veterans Motorplex) and Nashville require two completely different mindsets when it comes to getting around them fast.”
“Highland Rim is more momentum based and smooth versus Nashville requiring having to get up on the wheel and really man handle the car over all the character that the Fairgrounds has to offer.”
Jorgensen believes that Nashville Fairgrounds requires the most practice to master because of all the character that is ingrained into the track, and once you unlock the “secrets” of the track, you will find the final tenth or two to be the fastest.
While Jorgensen won’t be able to participate in the full event, he looks fondly back on his 2022 Pro Division Championship, where in one race he chased down the leader and performed a bump and run on the final lap to win one of the week’s races.
“Winning the guitar was also a pretty cool to win, and one that I think back to often.”
Kevin Rollins, a native of Tennessee who has won three of the four Spring Nationals in Nashville, will go for a fourth and a third-straight. The Outlaw Division co-champions from a year ago, Colt Johnson and Owen Zacharias, have both moved to Legend Cars in 2025. Another native of Tennessee, Landon Thrasher will compete in both the Legend Cars Young Lions and Bandolero Outlaws Divisions.
The 2025 INEX Spring Nationals and the chase for a guitar kicks off on Monday, April 14 with a practice day at Veterans Motorplex, followed by two days of racing. The event moves to Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Thursday, April 17 for a practice day at Nashville Fairgrounds, followed by two race-packed days on the character-filled quarter-mile.
For more information, please see the full SCHEDULE and PRE-ENTRY LIST. All the racing action can be streamed on USLegendCars.TV, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.