Still ailing from a big accident at Dominion Raceway, two time Grand National Super Series champion AJ Henriksen will miss his second event in a row at Tri-County Speedway. With a massive hit to the outside wall, Henriksen suffered injuries to his ribs and right wrist. The outlook for Caraway is to be determined, but what is certain is the championship picture being turned on its head yet again, with one of the biggest contenders already nearly being out of the picture.
With former Tri-County winner Henriksen absent, the potential for another showdown between Jamie Mosley and Chris Burns has skyrocketed.
Newport played host to Mosley having a career night, ending both features in victory lane. But it didn’t come easy with Burns keeping Mosley honest and bringing the Volunteer State fans to their feet.
When asked on Thursday how the #19 finally climbs over the hump, Burns was blunt. “We just need everything to line up for us. We had bad luck at Dominion and brought a good car to Newport, had a great race. Jamie was just better than us that night.” Burns said.
“We’ve been working hard to bring a great car to Tri-County. And with a little luck, maybe we can park it in the winner’s circle.” Sitting second in the points, Burns looks to have a solid pair of runs to have a chance to reign over the GNSS points standings. But he’ll have to get through the aforementioned Mosley before he can start planning a title run.
The driver behind the #11 has newfound confidence coming into Granite Falls.
“The confidence factor really goes back to Dominion last year. That was a personally rewarding win.” Mosley recalled. “Then to come back and break the track record there at the first race of 2026, and picking up both wins at Newport certainly helps us feel good about our ability to create speed.”
“Having seen all the tracks on the circuit last year has made things a bit easier for me as well as having laps on the tracks now. The competition is tough and we realize how quickly things can shift, so we are extremely focused on our preparation and commitment to remain relevant in this points chase in hopes of minimizing mistakes.”
With Brandon Kinzer and Isaiah Hogan also within an arm’s length of the points lead, Tri-County could certainly be a tipping point as to what the 2026 banquet looks like in October.
GNSS qualifying starts at 4:35 PM ET on Saturday with the first race going green at 6:30 on the dot. If you can’t make it out to the speedway, watch along live on the official Grand National Super Series Facebook, X, or YouTube pages. And be sure to keep an eye on all of our social media as an announcement is in store that adds another ripple to the remainder of the 2026 season.
