Tautges vs. the 74, the 9, and a Garage Full of Heavy Hitters

2026 DNQ USACK Series Preview

Tautges vs. the 74, the 9, and a Garage Full of Heavy Hitters

The USACK Series (United States Association of Champ Karts) is where DNQ gets a little more serious – full cages, aero work, longer runs, and very little room to hide. In 2025, Steven Tautges turned that package into a complete season and walked out as the guy everyone has to beat.

2026 keeps him on top of the board… but the cast around him is a lot stronger.

The Benchmark: Steven Tautges – No. 02

Tautges and the No. 02 didn’t just sneak a title; they stamped it.

He locked down the USACK championship, plus both the President’s Cup and Knupp Cup, and was a factor on every layout the series ran. Whether it was Millbridge, the short track, or Darlington-style, the 02 was almost always in clean air or on the verge of getting there.

He comes into this year as the clear reference lap. If you’re talking about winning the 2026 USACK title, you’re really talking about how you’re going to beat the 02 more than he beats you.

Carson Dollarhide – No. 74: The Late Arrival with Big Bite

On the other side of the grid, Carson Dollarhide in the No. 74 spent 2025 writing the “if only” storyline.

Even on a partial schedule, he still grabbed the Clements Cup and turned into Tautges’ main problem on the Darlington and short track layouts. Any time the groove moved up and the race turned technical, the 74 kept showing up in the same camera shots as the 02.

The big variable for 2026 is simple:

• If Carson runs the full slate, he’s not just a spoiler – he’s a championship threat.

We already know he can beat Tautges on the right nights. A complete schedule is what turns that into a full-season fight.

Matt Holzbaur – No. 9: Proven Closer Under the Same Roof

The twist inside the Tautges camp is teammate Matt Holzbaur in the No. 9.

Holzbaur wasn’t just “better at the end of the year” – he’s a past DNQ champion with multiple Cup Series wins on his resume. Once he got comfortable back in the buggy, that experience started to show. The pace came back, the mistakes dried up, and his finishes trended the right direction over the final stretch.

Now, Tautges rolls into 2026 with a teammate who:

• Knows how to win big races.

• Has already handled championship pressure.

• Shares the same notebook and setup direction.

If Holzbaur unloads strong, USACK could quickly turn into a two-headed monster out of the same trailer – with the 9 just as capable of taking plates as the 02.

Roop & Cropps: Constant Pressure from the Core

Mickey Roop and David Cropps don’t always dominate the headlines, but their seasons say plenty.

• Roop put together a genuinely strong year – solid qualifying, smart race craft, and hardly any self-inflicted wounds. He lived near the front half of the board and cashed in whenever the heavy hitters stumbled.

• Cropps brought it home fourth in points, an honest reflection of where his program is: rarely off the radar, usually in position to grab a podium if the race turns his way.

Neither is flashy, but both are close enough that a tiny step forward – one more win, one fewer rough night – pushes them right into the title math.

The Wildcards: Harshaw & Wilburn

Two names everybody circled by the end of 2025:

• Mekhi Harshaw scored a very legit first USACK win – not a fuel-mileage gimmick or chaos lottery, just a straight-up, earned victory. If that wasn’t a one-off, the 14 instantly becomes a threat whenever conditions suit him.

• Billy Wilburn, the old-school sprint car shoe, reminded everyone that racecraft travels well. He came in and won the 100-lap All-Star race, which is exactly the kind of event that exposes anyone who doesn’t understand long runs, traffic, and pace management. He may not be full-time, but any race with the 4W on the grid is automatically harder to win.

They might not be penciled in as championship favorites yet, but both already have the hardware to ruin somebody else’s points night.

How 2026 Is Shaping Up

Zooming out, the USACK battlefield for 2026 looks like this:

• 02 – Steven Tautges: reigning champ, double-plate winner, and still the standard.

• 74 – Carson Dollarhide: Clements Cup winner who was a menace to the 02 whenever he showed up; a full schedule makes him dangerous.

• 9 – Matt Holzbaur: proven winner and past champion under the same roof as Tautges, with his performance curve pointing up.

• Mickey Roop & David Cropps: reliable, sharp, and close enough to pounce if the big three slip.

• Mekhi Harshaw & Billy Wilburn: already race winners, ready-made spoilers in any main they enter.

USACK doesn’t get by on car count – it gets by on how good the people in those cars are. Tautges has the plates and the points banner now, but with the 74 running more, the 9 heating back up, and a garage full of proven winners behind them, repeating in 2026 is going to take every bit of that champion form.