Stickler Opens 2026 Modifieds of Mayhem Season with World Series Triumph

New Smyrna Beach, Florida (February 15, 2026) — The first event of the 2026 Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Modifieds of Mayhem Tour powered by Chevrolet Performance season saw a familiar face return to victory lane in the form of Cody Stickler.

Despite a rather frustrating World Series of Asphalt campaign at New Smyrna Speedway, the Florida native was able to push the bad luck and misfortune aside and put together a dominant performance on Saturday. From topping the charts in practice, to setting the fast time in qualifying, to scoring the season-opening victory, Stickler’s day was nothing short of spectacular.

Despite setting the quick time in qualifying, Stickler started the 60-lap event from fourth position by virtue of the redraw. The momentary setback proved to be nothing significant for Stickler, as he quickly took the lead on lap 7. From then on, Stickler never looked back, taking home the dominant victory in the World Series 60.

The World Series 60 served as the final race for the Florida Modified division during the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna, with the finale event being the lone event of the week sanctioned by the Rogers-Dabbs Modifieds of Mayhem Tour powered by Chevrolet Performance.

“We struggled, had a really bad week, but it all paid off tonight. We got the one that counts,” said Stickler in victory lane. “The car got going good on restarts, stayed good, we weren’t worried.”

The night was not so straightforward for second-place finisher Chuck Barnes Jr. Despite starting the race from the pole due to the redraw, Barnes bounced around the top five all race long, falling to fifth place around the midway point before rallying back to the runner-up position. Mechanical issues from the night prior looked to plague Barnes’s race as well, but the team overcame nonetheless.

“At 9:00 last night we were getting machine work done so we could put the motor together this morning. Everyone was walking by [in the pits] just shaking their head and looking at us. I was shaking my head and wondering what the hell we were doing as well. I’ll take this as a win. [Stickler] is damn near unstoppable, so coming home in the top three after the week we’ve been through, I’m very happy.”

Third place finisher Jared Maupin rallied from deep in the field, starting in 19th before slowly climbing to a podium position.

“The qualifying run didn’t show it, but we practiced really well,” said Maupin. “Going out first after the sprint cars, either the tires didn’t like each other or just didn’t cooperate. I knew we had a hot rod, we just tried to keep our nose clean and worked our way to the front.”

Behind the podium finishers, Brian Nester and Derrick Griffin rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth places respectively.

The World Series 60 was just the beginning of the 2026 season for the Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Modifieds of Mayhem Tour powered by Chevrolet Performance. The tour will return to action on Saturday, March 7th with the running of the Hunt for the Bear 62 at Montgomery Motor Speedway.

MoM World Series 60 Results