Drag Racing Capital of the World, Brownsburg, Indianapolis played host to the latest round of Championship Darts Circuit (CDC) action, with a trio of action-packed and tungsten-fuelled races on the cards.

With the WDF World Masters confusingly clashing, a few of the regulars had popped down to Vegas to try their luck there too. I say ‘popped’ – it’s a couple of thousand miles away, so not one you’d fancy walking unless you enjoy blisters, dehydration and appearing on a missing persons poster somewhere in Utah.

One of those North American superstars who rolled the dice on both events was Jeff Smith. As great on the oche as the Canadian is, when it comes to travelling, his fortunes are entirely different. Anywhere he attempts to go either seems to result in a delay or his luggage ending up somewhere like Uganda. At this point, airport baggage handlers probably have a sweepstake running on which continent Jeff’s suitcase is going to visit next.

It must have reached the stage with The Silencer where a few days driving feels like the safer and more reliable option than using airports. The only hazard there is a moose, which normally wins most battles with a car. A collision between the two generally ends with the vehicle resembling a crushed drinks can and the beast obliviously continuing on its merry little way.

Anyway, enough of Canadian wildlife and onto Saturday’s action – the fifth event on the 2026 CDC calendar and named The Winmau Darts Trophy.

Claiming the prize was a familiar face in the winners’ circle – Mr Adam Sevada. His third title of the year and eleventh in total for the Arizona arrow-smith, who strikes me as the kind of bloke who isn’t sharing his popcorn at the cinema.

Adam is extremely generous off the oche. On it, he’s rarely giving anyone so much as a bite of his Snickers. If opportunities were sweets, Sevada would be the kid clutching the entire bag and telling everyone else they should have brought their own.

And why not adopt that ruthless strategy? It’s exactly that streak which makes him one of the most dangerous opponents on the circuit.

Aside from a battle midway through his campaign against Canadian Albert Anstey, The Reaper sewed his way neatly into the semi-finals. There he overcame another man from north of the border in Jeff Smith, who somehow made it there on time – suitcase and all. A feat in itself for The Silencer.

Then in the final it was friendly rival – or so I like to think – Leonard Gates. Another player who tends to collect silverware like Pac-Man does with small pellets after a hunger strike.

It was a typically brilliant showdown between two of North America’s finest. High quality throughout, big moments, big scoring and enough tungsten to sink a small fishing boat. But in the end there could only be one winner, and that was Sevada courtesy of coming out on top in a superb 7-3 encounter.

Then it was time for a Canadian to take centre stage as Brayden Hall claimed the Cosmo Darts Classic – his maiden CDC crown.

Hailing from Ontario, famously home to Niagara Falls, the 23-year-old made quite the splash as he largely took out compatriots en route to the final. Once again Jeff made it to the semis only to be edged out in a last-leg decider by his younger countryman.

Then, to cap off a fine event, Hall switched off USA’s Jason Watt 7-4 which, to be fair, practically invited an electricity-themed pun. I fancy one more. Brayden is one of the shining lights on the tour and finally has a nice trophy to show for it. His performance was positively electrifying. There, I’ve got that out of my system now. Well done, Mr Bullshark. Something to really get your teeth into, son.

Finally, it was on to the cleverly named CDC Indianapolis 501 tournament – cute because it’s a play on words with the famous race which is a digit less. Marketing departments absolutely love that sort of thing. The same people probably still congratulate themselves every Christmas for calling a festive sale ‘Yule Love These Deals’. I know!

And we had another first-time winner in the scarily named Fred Krueger.

Ever since Nightmare on Elm Street came out in the 1980s, I imagine the Rhode Island chucker has heard every joke under the sun. Probably not too bad if Robert Englund’s character had been a suave gentleman or some kind of sophisticated super spy. Anything but a psychotic serial killer with a face that looks like it’s spent a week being sneezed on by an angry dragon.

Anyway, after winning this title, it’s doubtful Fred would have cared if he’d been christened Donald Duck.

Quite the journey for the man who has clearly embraced his famous movie namesake by going under the moniker of The Nightmare. Krueger negotiated his path to the last four with both intrepidity and skill, plus a healthy helping of bottle whenever it was required. There are easier ways to win a CDC title than navigating a field packed with seasoned campaigners and serial trophy collectors.

Following a gruelling tussle in which he pipped Scott Estle, he then put an end to Sevada’s excellent weekend with a 7-4 victory. Suddenly the man who had spent two events behaving like the final boss in a video game found himself eliminated.

Then, in the final, the other giant of the circuit awaited in Leonard Gates. On paper, it looked a tough assignment. In reality, Krueger tore up the script, ignored the odds and produced the performance of his CDC career. The Providence man prospered and ended up a comprehensive 7-2 victor.

So, in a nutshell, a man who normally reaps the rewards on CDC duty added another title to his collection, while a couple of newcomers gate-crashed the honours list for what was another thrilling weekend of darts across the pond. Three tournaments, three worthy champions, countless maximums and, most impressively of all, Jeff Smith not having to emergency buy shower gel and a toothbrush.