Racing Kane 2026

Luke Garrett delivered the defining mark of the weekend at Elgin Community College by taking first place in the 3x3x3 Cube with a blazing 5.84 winning average and an event-best 4.73 single. The performance set the tone for Racing Kane 2026, where 110 competitors gathered in Elgin, Illinois, USA on April 18, 2026. Across 12 rounds of intense speedcubing action, solvers tackled five different events ranging from lightning-fast side puzzles to stamina-testing big cubes.

Solving puzzles requires immense manual dexterity, ergonomic fingertricks, and precise lookahead, whether navigating a standard puzzle or controlling complex layer alignments with strict efficiency. That technical mastery was visible throughout the 3x3 results as Garrett led a competitive podium. Brian Johnson claimed second place with a 6.52 average, while Mihir Narayan took third place for India with a 6.61 average. The premier Rubik's Cube contest drew all 110 entrants across three elimination rounds.

Big cube mastery belonged entirely to Carter Thomas, who swept the two largest events on the schedule at Racing Kane 2026. In the 5x5x5 Cube, Thomas secured victory across two rounds of play with a winning average of 44.16 and a top single of 40.75. Luke Garrett finished as runner-up with an average of 45.71, while Mihir Narayan earned another podium spot in third with a 49.20 average among 59 entrants.

Thomas carried that same precision into the 7x7x7 Cube, capturing gold with an average of 2:06.94 and a single of 1:58.86 against a field of 34 competitors. Zeke Mackay claimed second place with an average of 2:20.88, while Lucas Lippman-Bruno took third place with a 2:26.79 average. Handling the outer layers and intricate center alignments of the 7x7x7 Cube demands sustained endurance, and Thomas set the pace from the start.

Beyond the championship podiums, the official WCA competition saw massive breakthroughs from competitors across the field. Joshua Paulus-Rosenow tackled five events, slicing his Square-1 personal best to 46.50, which was 71.6 percent faster than his prior mark of 2:43.95, while improving his 7x7x7 Cube best to 4:49.96. Samuel Shulman took on five events and posted a 24.14 in Square-1, a 65.1 percent drop from 1:09.10, alongside first ever attempts in the 7x7x7 Cube with 7:55.87 and 5x5x5 Cube with 2:33.29. Declan Kubajak entered three events and lowered his Square-1 best to 23.82, a 63 percent improvement, while recording a 13.42 personal best in the 3x3x3 Cube. Namit Gaurkar cut his Pyraminx personal best by 53.6 percent down to 5.82 and made a first career attempt in the 5x5x5 Cube with 3:50.42.

Other competitors took on major multi-event schedules while reaching new personal milestones at Racing Kane 2026. Jonathan Zimmerman contested five events, establishing a 32.31 Square-1 personal best that was 37.3 percent faster than before, a 6.77 Pyraminx mark that improved by 36.8 percent, and a first ever 7x7x7 Cube attempt of 8:13.52. Preston Holden-Hergott dropped his Pyraminx personal best by 34.7 percent down to 6.20 while recording first attempts in Square-1 with 2:42.47 and 5x5x5 Cube with 4:02.43. Alexis Delgado entered four events, logging a 1:51.08 personal best in 5x5x5 Cube along with debut attempts in the 7x7x7 Cube at 5:34.75 and Square-1 at 1:19.11. Blake Byl took on five events, improving his Square-1 best by 16.3 percent to 16.42 while registering debut times in the 5x5x5 Cube at 2:02.45 and 7x7x7 Cube at 8:32.02.

The specialized shape-shifting and pyramid categories brought further excitement to the venue floor. In Square-1, Brian Johnson took top honors over 44 entrants with a winning average of 6.94 and a single of 5.16. Zeke Mackay secured second place with an 8.93 average, and Lucas Lippman-Bruno followed in third with a 9.68 average. In Pyraminx, Simon Kellum bested 89 competitors across three rounds, winning with a 2.22 average and 1.63 single ahead of Luke Garrett at 2.39 and Charles Bois at 2.85.

The one-day gathering concluded with the United States collecting 13 podium places and India securing two. From elite sub-six averages in the main event to personal milestones across high-order cubes, the cubing competition showcased tremendous depth in Illinois. Solvers now head into training for the rest of the 2026 speed cubing season with new personal records and memorable performances to build upon.