By Bill Martin
BURLESON, Texas (Oct. 25, 2026) – Racing Saturdays at the track he’d grown up going to as a fan were special for Brady Sexton.
Adding a regular Friday night track to his schedule helped make him rookie of the year in IMCA’s Smiley’s Racing Products Southern SportMod division.
Sexton counted two feature wins and 16 top five finishes in his 32 starts in topping point standings for first-year drivers in the division. A Saturday regular at Kennedale Speedway Park, just 10 minutes from his Burleson, Texas, home, he’d begun making more frequent 45-60 minute Friday trips to Heart O’ Texas Speedway after realizing he was leading rookie points.
“I had tossed around the idea of going for national rookie of the year, but to be entirely honest, I never thought it was entirely feasible,” said Sexton, who’d watched from the stands with grandfather Billy Campbell before getting on the track himself. “Midway through the season, when I noticed I was actually leading rookie standings, is when I started to race more and get more points. That’s when I started to go to Waco weekly, actually, and race both Friday and Saturday.”
He’d made 13 starts at Kennedale, getting his career first win there on March 21, but only two outings at Heart O’ Texas through June.
That win, notably, came in just Sexton’s third start of the season. He drove a 2014 Florio Racing Chassis owned by his father and crew chief Keith. With help from his dad and brother Brenden, the bulk of the wrenching on that ride was done in their home garage.
“I started sixth, picked cars off one at a time, got out front and tried to stay there,” said Sexton, who took checkers a second and a half ahead of Jack Bransom.
“That was really awesome because the motor we had in the car at that time was one my dad and I had built. Later, we started having problems with it. We thought it was a fuel issue and we fought that for probably a third of the season. We were chasing everything possible and it was nice when we finally got it figured out,” he’d add.
“We really emphasized consistency and tried to take care of everything during the week. It was difficult sometimes with work and life in general but we did our best to stay on top of everything,” said Sexton, now 20 years old and an operations lead for Backwoods Suppressors. “It really sucked to have problems, like the ones we had with the engine, and not be able to figure them out.”
“We had some nights when we fell to the back of the field and finished 16th, 17th or 18th. Those were the nights that sucked the most because we were doing everything we could to stay competitive.”
One big positive that kept him competitive was the attention to his tire program. Sexton had only two flats all season, one that resulted in a DNF at Kennedale, while he was able to race back to third after a quick July 31 tire change at HO’T.
Sexton started racing late in 2022, tossing dirt in the junior limited and then the eco mods at Kennedale. He made three late Southern SportMod starts last fall.
Third in points at Kennedale this year, he ended fifth in the Texas State standings and ninth nationally.
“We’re satisfied with the season. Really, the only goal I had during the year was to make rookie national,” Sexton said. “Obviously, it would have been nice to finish higher nationally in points, but we’re happy with how our season went.”
Wins – 2
Top Five Finishes – 16
Starts – 32
HIS CREW: Parents Keith and Ty, brother Brenden, grandfather Billy Campbell, girlfriend Addylan Bedunah and A.J. Gardner.
HIS SPONSORS: Backwoods Suppressors, Twisted Texas Salsa and Higher Standard Construction, all of Burleson; and Undercover Shocks of Rhome.