King Walker & The Great Eight, a term that in 2026 tends to refer to National Hockey League all-time goal-scoring leader Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin. Take Interstate 95 nearly 700 miles south of the Nation’s Capital to Callahan Speedway, where the same term could be applied to the 2026 Cory Texter Promotions Mission Foods Winter Throwdown Volume 8, January 17-18.
By Scotty Tayler | Photos by LacyJo Photos
For one weekend in January, the 1/5-mile clay oval in Northern Florida becomes a kingdom of flat track racing. Champions from 29 states and four countries were represented, and the event began with a bracket-style elimination tournament to crown a King of the Throwdown on Thursday night. The finale saw 2024 King, Briar Bauman, face off with a new threat to the throne in Turner Racing Honda rider Walker Porter. When the dust settled, King Walker was crowned to become the fourth rider in as many years to lay claim to the name King of the Throwdown.
“It’s probably my biggest win I’ve had in my career,” said Porter after the event, and his winning streak continued into the weekend. Porter and Trent Lowe split Premier Expert class wins, adding more glory to the Turner Racing Team. The Turner victories ended in Open Expert competition, where Declan Bender earned his first career Winter Throwdown win on Friday. Justin Jones finished the weekend as the final winner in the event’s Open Expert finale.
While Porter may have been crowned King to start the event, a young prince in Cruise Texter set a new event record with seven wins in eight tries, sweeping the 50cc Air-Cooled, 50cc Chain and Mini Open classes. Texter’s perfection was taken away after Boston Werbelo bested Cruise during Saturday’s 65cc main event. Robby “Bobby” McLendon was the second-winningest rider on the weekend, sweeping 30+ competitions and splitting 40+ honors with Adam Beldyga. The three wins by McLendon allowed him to fend off Cruise Texter and remain second on the Winter Throwdown all-time wins list at 13. Greg Boyle and Rick Kent split 50+ wins, while Marcus Ricketts and Ted Freeman earned 60+ victories on the weekend.
A Dillon Durelle disqualification led to Brody Hanson being declared Friday’s 450 Amateur winner before Ryder Bitz-Hay earned his third career Throwdown victory in Friday’s Open Amateur main event. Durelle rebounded on Saturday with a vengeance, holding off pressure from Braxton Ragan and Brody Hanson to win the 450 Amateur main, then checked out for a comfortable Open Amateur win by more than 2.5 seconds.
Brianna McHugh would sweep the event’s Women’s class, which featured female competitors from 10 states and several riders from England. “It’s awesome to see all these girls from overseas come over, and I’m happy that Cory decided to add a Women’s class,” said McHugh following the first year of the Women’s class at Winter Throwdown. Additional double feature winner on the weekend, Brystin Perryman, bested rivals during Friday’s Open Novice and 250 Amateur Main Events. Perryman conceded victories on Saturday to Camlin Durelle in Open Novice and Jackson Settle in 250 Amateur.
The Hooligan class saw Shawn Raggio take the win on Friday, but a crash at the start of Saturday’s Feature would prevent a weekend sweep and see Josh Young score the victory.
The Randy Texter Memorial Amateur Dash for Cash added some funds to the pocket of race winner Jackson Sangals, and the event’s Mission Challenge Expert Dash for Cash was claimed by Trevor Brunner.
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