RACING RESULTS RACING RESULTSRA

With the victory, Brady Bacon became the ninth driver to win the first two USAC National Sprint Car features of the year, following Jud Larson (1965), Larry Dickson (1970), Pancho Carter (1978), Rich Vogler (1987), Robbie Stanley (1993), Tracy Hines (2002), Jay Drake (2004) and Damion Gardner (2010).
(Rich Forman Photo)

BACON DOUBLES UP

WITH SECOND STRAIGHT OCALA SCORE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 15, 2020).........Brady Bacon took no chances on his cool down lap following Saturday night's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Winter Dirt Games XI victory at Bubba Raceway Park.

Following a mishap during his heat race that saw him drop from a surefire win to having to transfer through the semi in order to qualify for the feature, Bacon was once again the class of the field, driving from 9th to 1st to capture his second consecutive series main event win in as many nights at the 3/8-mile D-shaped dirt track in Ocala, Fla.

All the meanwhile, the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native was adamant to make sure a victory wasn't going to slip through his fingers twice in one night.

"We made an extra lap in the feature. I wasn't going to stop until we knew it was over," Bacon exclaimed.

For you see, earlier Saturday evening during his heat race, Bacon was fully in charge, dominating the preliminary event until the final lap when his car began to slow dramatically. Was something amiss mechanically with his ride, many pondered.

However, as it turned out, Bacon thought he saw the flagman waving the white. As he came around the stripe the next time, he saw another flag waving and assumed it was the checkered. As it turned out, that flag was, in fact, the white. Bacon let off the gas on the actual last lap, assuming the race was over, and dropped from 1st to 8th as his competitors drove by him to knock him out from a potential second row starting spot.

As a result, Bacon was forced to transfer through the semi-feature, which he won, then rolled off from the 9th starting spot in the 30-lap feature - the same position he started from in his victory just 24 hours prior.

On paper, Saturday's results were a carbon copy of Friday's - a mesmerizing charge to the front that began from the inside of the fifth row. However, with the way all the elements transpired for Bacon, he wouldn't have it any other way en route to his 31st career USAC National Sprint Car feature win and his fourth career Winter Dirt Games sprint car score, tying him for second with Bryan Clauson and one behind Damion Gardner.

"It might've been a blessing in disguise running that B-Main because I ran the bottom in one and two once and I thought it was really good, so I just moved off of it," Bacon explained. "I didn't want to show my hand too much and I didn't want people to see that the bottom was fast."

"It was a lot slicker in the feature," Bacon continued. "But we were able to sneak around there and get a little grip down the back straightaway when everyone else was way up by the fence. It didn't feel like it was going to work because I felt like I was going like 2 mph, but then, all of a sudden, at the end of the back straightaway, I'd be beside or ahead of them. It was a little unconventional, especially for here, but it worked."

That's just how it unfolded for Bacon in a two-lap spurt that saw him slip underneath Chris Windom for second on lap 12 in turn three, then repeated the same move the very next lap in the same spot on Chase Stockon, who had commandeered the opening 12 laps from his outside front row starting position.

As Bacon jetted out to a 2.5 second lead in the waning laps, Windom and resurgent pole sitter Logan Seavey were involved in an intense grapple in which Seavey threw multiple sliders at Windom to no avail as Windom staved off the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champ for the position.

With three laps remaining, 14th running Katlynn Leer banged her right rear tire off the outside wall and flipped wildly down the front straightaway to bring out the feature event's lone red flag and final stoppage, thus erasing Bacon's advantage and setting up a three-lap dash for the win in which the two-time series champ had one of two ways to go.

"I was kind of torn whether to run the top or bottom," Bacon admitted. "I knew the top was probably a little faster, but I would have left a big window open for someone to slide me, and he did. But I was able to cross him over and survive. Thankfully, we just had a really good car tonight and we're able to overcome any obstacle that was thrown at us."

Windom successfully dove to the bottom and slid by Bacon in turn one on laps 28 and 29, but Bacon lowered the boom and tucked in at the exit of turn four, taking a lower entry into the first turn on the final lap to essentially shut the door on Windom's chances for victory and finish off a three-car-length margin of victory ahead of Windom, Seavey and Stockon with Justin Grant rounding out the top-five.

Brady Bacon's 333rd career USAC National Sprint Car start on Saturday elevated him into the top-ten all-time, equaling Sheldon Kinser for 10th on the list.
(Rich Forman Photo)

After Friday's victory, Bacon was relieved to have shaken the cloud that had hung over his head throughout the past three years at Winter Dirt Games. Saturday served up more of the same despite Bacon initially entering the season with tempered expectations based on recent outings at Ocala. Although. he is quick to credit a possibility that they've got the leg up on the competition so far due to the lack of turnover on the team after a busy offseason which saw a multitude of driver, team and mechanical changes around the pit area.

"I would've been happy with two top-fives after the last few years we've had here," Bacon said. "We ended last year really fast and had a chance to win every single race. Then, we just wanted to refine everything and keep getting better. You've got to keep digging because everyone else is going to do it in the offseason. We probably had the least amount of changes, just the sponsor change, but all the nuts and bolts have been the same. That might be our little advantage. All our personnel is the same. We're just in a lot better spot than we started with last year as far as our equipment goes."

With the victory, Bacon became the ninth driver to win the first two USAC National Sprint Car features of the year, following Jud Larson (1965), Larry Dickson (1970), Pancho Carter (1978), Rich Vogler (1987), Robbie Stanley (1993), Tracy Hines (2002), Jay Drake (2004) and Damion Gardner (2010).

Furthermore, Bacon's 333rd career USAC National Sprint Car start elevated him into the top-ten all-time, equaling Sheldon Kinser for 10th on the list.

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Fatheadz Eyewear / EPA Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Logan Seavey

Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Dave Darland

AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Chris Phillips

Indy Race Parts Semi Winner: Brady Bacon

KSE Racing Products / ProSource Hard Charger:

Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher:

Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Harley Burns

Hughes Racing / Indiana Mafia / Flamingo Sandy Passing Master:

Prosource Hard Work Award: Anthony D'Alessio

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 15, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/EPA PHOTOGRAPHY QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 1, Gile- 13.845; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.873; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.873; 4. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.877; 5. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-13.884; 6. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.925; 7. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.925; 8. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-13.933; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.977; 10. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.981; 11. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-14.076; 12. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-14.099; 13. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.157; 14. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-14.186; 15. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-14.219; 16. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-14.337; 17. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-14.385; 18. Scotty Weir, 22, Goodnight-14.408; 19. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-14.414; 20. Kory Schudy, 28K, Sawyer-14.416; 21. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-14.442; 22. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-14.459; 23. Tyler Gunn, 68G, Gunn-14.472; 24. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-14.512; 25. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-14.514; 26. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.612; 27. Harley Burns, 16, Burns-14.945; 28. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-15.474; 29. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Carson Short, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Mario Clouser, 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Anthony D'Alessio, 8. Dustin Clark, 9. Kent Schmidt, 10. Matt Westfall. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Kyle Robbins, 5. Dennis Gile, 6. Katlynn Leer, 7. Kory Schudy, 8. Brandon Mattox, 9. Tyler Gunn, 10. Robert Bell. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Chris Phillips, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Scotty Weir, 5. Sterling Cling, 6. Stephen Schnapf, 7. Matt Goodnight, 8. Brady Bacon, 9. Harley Burns. 1:55.355

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Anton Hernandez, 3. Katlynn Leer, 4. Kory Schudy, 5. Stephen Schnapf, 6. Tyler Gunn, 7. Anthony D'Alessio, 8. Harley Burns, 9. Matt Westfall, 10. Matt Goodnight, 11. Brandon Mattox, 12. Dustin Clark. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (9), 2. Chris Windom (3), 3. Logan Seavey (1), 4. Chase Stockon (2), 5. Justin Grant (5), 6. Carson Short (4), 7. C.J. Leary (6), 8. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 9. Kyle Cummins (12), 10. Dennis Gile (10), 11. Dave Darland (7), 12. Mario Clouser (17), 13. Stephen Schnapf (19), 14. Anton Hernandez (21), 15. Matt Westfall (24), 16. Kory Schudy (18), 17. Scotty Weir (16), 18. Kyle Robbins (15), 19. Anthony D'Alessio (22), 20. Chris Phillips (8), 21. Sterling Cling (13), 22. Brandon Mattox (23), 23. Tyler Gunn (20), 24. Katlynn Leer (14).

**Kent Schmidt flipped during the first heat. Katlynn Leer flipped on lap 28 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Chase Stockon, Laps 13-30 Brady Bacon.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (9th to 1st)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Stephen Schnapf

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Harley Burns

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Anthony D'Alessio

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-155, 2-Chris Windom-146, 3-Justin Grant-140, 4-C.J. Leary-138, 5-Logan Seavey-135, 6-Kyle Cummins-130, 7-Chase Stockon-129, 8-Carson Short-118, 9-Dave Darland-96, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-95.

FINAL HUGHES RACING/INDIANA MAFIA/FLAMINGO SANDY WINTER DIRT GAMES PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-18, 2-Anton Hernandez-10, 3-Mario Clouser-10, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-9, 5-Dave Darland-9, 6-Chris Windom-8, 7-Kyle Cummins-8, 8-Chase Stockon-8, 9-C.J. Leary-7, 10-Logan Seavey-10.

NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-16, 2-Chris Windom-16, 3-Daison Pursley-10, 4-Andrew Layser-9, 5-Mario Clouser-8, 6-Anton Hernandez-7, 7-Dave Darland-7, 8-Zeb Wise-6, 9-Dennis Misuraca-6, 10-Stephen Schnapf-6.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 4, 2020 - Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana

Brady Bacon became just the 13th driver to record at least 30 career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins with Friday's triumph at Bubba Raceway Park.
(Rich Forman Photo)

BACON BOLTS TO VALENTINE'S VICTORY AT OCALA

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 14, 2020).........Entering Friday night's USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season opener, the most recent time Brady Bacon left Bubba Raceway Park with a top-five finish was three years ago.

Furthermore, the Broken Arrow, Okla. native's most recent victory at the 3/8-mile tri-oval came five years prior, leaving him more than eager to quash the early season dry spell that lingered over him entering the 2020 season.

On a weekend that's been anything but a dry spell with heavy rain washing out Thursday's intended opener and threatening Friday's second go with persistent afternoon showers, Bacon rid himself of the early-season cloud of recent years by taking the lead with just four laps remaining to score his third career Winter Dirt Games feature victory.

The win for Bacon in his Dynamics, Inc./Longworth Equipment - Fatheadz Eyewear - DriveWFX.com/Triple X/Rider Chevy notched another milestone for the two-time series champion. With the triumph, Bacon became just the 13th driver to reach the 30-win mark in his USAC National Sprint Car career.

"This win is pretty important to me because we've struggled here the past three years," Bacon admitted. "Getting off to a bad start is not easy. Hopefully, we can keep this momentum going and not start off at a handicap for the rest of the season."

Bacon had quite a long row to hoe in just 30 laps, starting 9th on the grid on a tricky surface before steadily moving his way through the 22-car field. Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Kevin Thomas Jr. lunged to the point on the opening lap from his pole position while outside front row starter Kyle Cummins dug in and charged around Thomas to snare the lead off turn four on the opening circuit.

Cummins quickly gapped Thomas by just a tick under a full second during the early stages before encountering lapped traffic on the tenth lap. Cummins met a five-member single-file train of cars at the tail end of the lead lap where he decisively ripped around the outside of traffic as Thomas gave chase, closing up the canyon between the two ever so slightly.

Just one lap later, young Connor Leoffler, making his first career series start and who had just been put a lap down by Cummins, biked hard in turn one before landing on all fours and smacking the right rear against the outer concrete, ending his night.

On the lap 12 resumption, Thomas peeked his nose underneath the ride of Cummins at the exit of turn four, but Cummins slashed away once again and regenerated his advantage at the front, clicking off the fastest lap of the race one lap after the halfway mark.

Just prior to the last 10-lap stanza, Cummins was greeted by a chorus of traffic, allowing Thomas to subtract the interval between he and the lead car of Cummins. On the 20th lap, while exiting turn four, Cummins experienced "a moment" if you will when he and the car of Katlynn Leer collided near the flagstand, sending both into immediate disarray and near disaster. Although, both carried on without issue.

Thomas pounced on the Cummins/Leer mishap and raced to the lead past Cummins a half lap later on the bottom between turns three and four. However, two laps later, Thomas' bid for victory fell into shambles as his right rear tire went flat on the back straightaway on the 24th lap, granting Cummins the lead as Thomas slowed to a crawl to the work area where his crew swapped out for new rubber, ultimately returning for a 16th place finish.

The ensuing restart with seven laps remaining put Bacon on Cummins' tail where he immediately let it be known he was going to be a contender. At the conclusion of lap 24 at the exit of turn four, Bacon clawed off turn four under Cummins, racing to a near dead heat at the line with Cummins clinging to a slight advantage as he disallowed Bacon from taking hold of the low line entering turn one.

Bacon continued hounding Cummins on both ends of the racetrack, and on lap 27, Bacon was finally able to squeeze through the crack in the door underneath Cummins entering turn one, to pocket the lead once and for all.

"I knew he had been running the bottom in three and four and it was super, super tricky," Bacon recalled. "So, I figured if I could pressure him, he'd slide up enough to where I could slip underneath in three and four. I didn't know if I was going to get him, but I just got enough of a run to slide up and we had a really good car in the middle of one and two. I could turn back down and go the other way without him crossing me over. I felt pretty confident, that if nothing major happened, I could hold on."

Something major nearly did occur, however, as Bacon's tire began to deflate in the waning laps, leaking more air as each lap dissipated. But, 30 laps were just enough to race on without a hindrance. To just get to that point, though, it took a box full of patience to make the winning move, but not too much patience as to allow others to find the path to victory first before he did himself.

"I felt like the bottom was going to be good in three and four early, but it took me awhile to figure out how to hit it right without sliding up on entry," Bacon explained. "Even then, you had to figure out where you were going to put yourself going into the next corner to get a good run. Fortunately, we got by some people just in time before they figured it out too."

Princeton, Indiana's Kyle Cummins led a race-high 24 laps and came oh-so-close to finally scoring his initial Winter Dirt Games victory in his 21st start in the event, finishing 2nd in his Rock Steady Racing/Mid-America Safety Solutions - Greenwell Auto Body - Lucas Oil Center/Mach-1/Foxco Chevy.

"I felt like I had some pressure," Cummins said of Bacon's pursuit of him. "He was pounding the top, so I switched to the bottom. I thought I had him cleared there, but Brady did a good job there. We were really good at the beginning and I really didn't know where to go there in three and four. I went ahead and went to the top. I saw Brady and I tried to save the bottom. He just had a better car there at the end of the race."

Reigning series champion C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Ind. finished 3rd in his debut aboard the Gene Gile Racing/RVB Transport - Valvoline - FK Rod Ends/DRC/1-Way Chevy, while two-time Winter Dirt Games feature winner Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) took 4th and Fatheadz Eyewear/EPA Photography Fast Qualifier Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) rounded out the top-five.

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Fatheadz Eyewear / EPA Fast Qualifier: Chris Windom

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Carson Short

Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Kyle Cummins

AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.

Indy Race Parts Semi Winner: Dave Darland

KSE Racing Products / ProSource Hard Charger: Brady Bacon

Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Sterling Cling

Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Kyle Robbins

Prosource Hard Work Award: Kory Schudy

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 14, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/EPA PHOTOGRAPHY QUALIFYING: 1. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-13.644; 2. C.J. Leary, 1, Gile-13.836; 3. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.846; 4. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.913; 5. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.942; 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.972; 7. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-13.975; 8. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.976; 9. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-14.065; 10. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.072; 11. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.121; 12. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-14.362; 13. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-14.461; 14. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-14.488; 15. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-14.495; 16. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-14.549; 17. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-14.580; 18. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.586; 19. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-14.685; 20. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-14.695; 21. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-14.739; 22. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.838; 23. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-14.843; 24. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-14.890; 25. Harley Burns, 16, Burns-14.908; 26. Connor Leoffler, 22L, Leoffler-14.954; 27. Scotty Weir, 22, Goodnight-15.007; 28. Evan Mosley, 27, Mosley-15.100; 29. Tyler Gunn, 68G, Gunn-15.842; 30. Kory Schudy, 28K, Sawyer-14.053.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Short, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Anton Hernandez, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. Matt Westfall, 7. Kyle Robbins, 8. Harley Burns, 9. Anthony D'Alessio. 1:56.10

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Kent Schmidt, 6. Dustin Clark, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Connor Leoffler, 9. Stephen Schnapf, 10. Tyler Gunn. 1:55.41

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Brandon Mattox, 4. Sterling Cling, 5. Dennis Gile, 6. Scotty Weir, 7. Mario Clouser, 8. Kory Schudy, 9. Chris Phillips, 10. Katlynn Leer. 2:01.38

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Mario Clouser, 3. Connor Leoffler, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Chris Phillips, 6. Kory Schudy, 7. Katlynn Leer, 8. Kyle Robbins, 9. Scotty Weir, 10. Tyler Gunn, 11. Anthony D'Alessio, 12. Harley Burns, 13. Dustin Clark, 14. Stephen Schnapf. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (9), 2. Kyle Cummins (2), 3. C.J. Leary (5), 4. Justin Grant (3), 5. Chris Windom (6), 6. Chase Stockon (11), 7. Logan Seavey (4), 8. Anton Hernandez (8), 9. Carson Short (7), 10. Dave Darland (17), 11. Dennis Gile (10), 12. Brandon Mattox (16), 13. Sterling Cling (12), 14. Matt Westfall (19), 15. Mario Clouser (18), 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 17. Kent Schmidt (15), 18. Katlynn Leer (20), 19. Chris Phillips (14), 20. Kory Schudy (22), 21. Matt Goodnight (13), 22. Connor Leoffler (21). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Kyle Cummins, Laps 21-22 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 23-26 Kyle Cummins, Laps 27-30 Brady Bacon.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (9th to 1st)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Sterling Cling

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Kyle Robbins

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Kory Schudy

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-77, 2-Kyle Cummins-77, 3-C.J. Leary-75, 4-Justin Grant-71, 5-Chris Windom-70, 6-Logan Seavey-63, 7-Chase Stockon-60, 8-Anton Hernandez-54, 9-Carson Short-54, 10-Dave Darland-47.

NEW HUGHES RACING/INDIANA MAFIA/FLAMINGO SANDY WINTER DIRT GAMES PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-10, 2-Dave Darland-7, 3-Matt Westfall-7, 4-C.J. Leary-5, 5-Chase Stockon-5, 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.-5, 7-Kyle Cummins-4, 8-Logan Seavey-4, 9-Chris Windom-4, 10-Brandon Mattox-4.

NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-15, 2-Daison Pursley-10, 3-Andrew Layser-9, 4-Brady Bacon-8, 5-Dave Darland-7, 6-Zeb Wise-6, 7-Dennis Misuraca-6, 8-Steve Buckwalter-6, 9-Oliver Akard-6, 10-Cannon McIntosh-5.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 15, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

WINTER DIRT GAMES SPRINT OPENER RAINED OUT

Ocala, Florida (February 13, 2020).........Thursday's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car event from Bubba Raceway Park has been cancelled due to persistent rain that fell just prior to hot laps.

Fans are to keep their wristbands from Thursday night, which are good for admission this Friday or Saturday night at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida.

Winter Dirt Games XI resumes with complete racing programs both Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15. Pits open each night at 4pm Eastern, the grandstands open at 5pm, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm with cars getting on track at 6:30pm.

Each night, general admission tickets for adults are $30 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $40 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com . You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app as well as on the Race Monitor app.

#19 Chris Windom
(Rich Forman Photo)

WINDOM FASTEST IN WINTER DIRT GAMES

USAC SPRINT PRACTICE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 12, 2020).........Just four days following his latest victory at Bubba Raceway Park, Chris Windom turned the fastest time in Wednesday night's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car practice with a lap of 13.564 seconds around the 3/8-mile D-shaped track.

Windom (Canton, Ill.), who captured the victory in last Saturday's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature at Bubba's, set the fastest time in Wednesday's sprint practice during the second of five sessions. The 2017 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion also topped session three in his Hayward Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink - OILFIRE - B & H Contractors/DRC/Claxton Mopar.

Hayward Motorsports has gotten off to a hot start in USAC competition thus far in 2020. With the midget last weekend at Bubba's, the Hayward team won Friday night's feature with driver Tanner Thorson, then established a new one-lap track record on Saturday, again with Thorson.

Windom was followed in Wednesday's practice by two-time series champ and two-time Bubba's USAC Sprint winner Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) at 13.683. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.), who is seeking his first Bubba's win after being the only driver to finish in the top-five in all three series starts last year at the track, was third at 13.731. Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.), a 2018 Bubba's winner, was fourth at 13.737, while Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.), who finished on the podium at Bubba's all three nights in 2016, rounded out the top-five at 13.804.

Bacon tested two different cars in Wednesday's practice, the No. 69 and the backup No. 69OT, which he took to eighth fastest overall. USAC Triple Crown champ Dave Darland also competed in two different cars for the EZR/Curb-Agajanian team, timing in 21st out of the 29 drivers that hit the track.

No major incidents occurred during the night. Connor Leoffler (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) spun in turn two but continued on without contact. Evan Mosley (Lapel, Ind.) had flame erupt from the engine compartment of his car, forcing him to stop on the track. Reigning series champion C.J. Leary's new team, Gene Gile Racing, changed engines on their ride, but the Greenfield, Ind. driver returned to compete in the final session of the night, taking the 18th overall best time.

Winter Dirt Games XI resumes Thursday, Feb. 13, Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15. Pits open each night at 4pm Eastern, the grandstands open at 5pm, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm with cars getting on track at 6:30pm.

Each night, general admission tickets for adults are $30 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $40 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app as well as on the Race Monitor app.

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRACTICE RESULTS: February 12, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

PRACTICE: 1. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-13.564; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.683; 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.731; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.737; 5. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.804; 6. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.821; 7. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-13.827; 8. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-13.857; 9. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.858; 10. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.918; 11. Kory Schudy, 28K, Sawyer-13.920; 12. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-13.962; 13. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-13.979; 14. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-13.990; 15. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-13.997; 16. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-14.017; 17. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.023; 18. C.J. Leary, 1, Gile-14.074; 19. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.103; 20. Scotty Weir, 22, Goodnight-14.246; 21. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-14.299; 22. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-14.351; 23. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-14.364; 24. Dennis Gile, 13, Gile-14.389; 25. Connor Leoffler, 22L, Leoffler-14.422; 26. Tyler Gunn, 68G, Gunn-14.955; 27. Evan Mosley, 27, Mosley-15.140; 28. Harley Burns, 16, Burns-15.696; 29. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-NT.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 13-14-15, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

Chris Windom captured Saturday night's Winter Dirt Games XI feature at Bubba Raceway Park, his first for Tucker-Boat Motorsports in his second series start for the team. (DB3, Inc. Photo)

WINDOM WINS FIRST FOR NEW TEAM IN OCALA

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Fla. (February 8, 2020).........Chris Windom's second race as a member of Tucker-Boat Motorsports began much the same as his first the night before by having to quickly make up ground and dig his way into contention after starting behind the eight ball, and the first three rows.

Saturday night in the Winter Dirt Games XI finale for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Windom immediately shed his starting spot of 10th with the snap of finger, climbing into the top-five by lap two and, ultimately, into the lead with six laps remaining, capitalizing on a golden opportunity that arose following engine trouble for race leader Tanner Thorson.

The victory provided a third career series feature win for the Canton, Ill. driver who joined TBM for the 2020 campaign and admitted to gaining an extra sense of personal motivation for he and his NOS Energy Drink - Pristine Auction - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"I think I was just kind of pissed that I had to start 10th, so I was driving as hard as I could from the start of the race," Windom said. "I knew our cars were good enough to be up there. With the format change this year, it moved us back a row and we had to come from 10th there. We've been good here all week, especially in the features, and (car owner) Chad (Boat) has brought some badass racecars for us this year."

"To get a win the first weekend out, that's what you strive for at the start of the year," Windom added. "Hopefully we can keep it rolling because we're here to win a bunch of races and win the championship."

From the get-go, however, it once again looked like it was going to be Thorson's stage after capturing the prior night's season opener at the 3/8-mile D-shaped dirt track.

The 2016 series champ set a brand new one-lap track record in qualifying, then proceeded to carve his way from sixth to second on the opening lap, splitting between Petry teammates Kevin Thomas Jr. and Tanner Carrick in turn two, then sliced beneath pole sitter Tyler Courtney for second between turns three and four.

Cannon McIntosh controlled the field from the start but was rapidly encroached by Thorson's blitz that carried him into the race lead under McIntosh entering turn one on the fourth circuit.

The first yellow of the night arrived on lap 11 when seventh-running Tanner Carrick clipped an infield tire in turn three while negotiating lapped traffic, causing the car to stall to a stop in turn four. The 2019 USAC National Most Improved Driver restarted from the tail but came back to finish 10th.

The ensuing restart was where Windom turned up the wick, driving by McIntosh for third on the 14th lap, then underneath Courtney for second on the back straightway on lap 15.

Windom's motive was now right in front of his visor and within a reasonable striking distance. However, the gap between the two wasn't about to close at this rate with Thorson ripping several of his fastest laps of the race through the mid-section to construct a 1.5 second advantage with just 10 laps remaining.

However, with six laps remaining, just when you thought Thorson had all but sewn up a weekend sweep of Winter Dirt Games XI, his evening and his ride went up in a cloud of smoke, prematurely ending a superb weekend and handing the lead over to Windom, who felt like his car was just as good as Thorson's but may not have had enough to run him down if the race went clean and green the remainder of the way.

"I knew he was going to be good again," Windom admitted of Thorson. "I felt like we were just as good as him once we got to second. We probably didn't have the speed to run him down and pass him because it's just such a wide-open track. When there's that caliber of cars out there, you're not going to be a lot better than the next guy. You've got to put yourself in position to get there and that's what we did."

From that point forward, Windom was undeterred like a vapor trail in the empty air, distancing himself from Courtney by a 1.134 second margin at the checkered to earn the first USAC National Midget victory for a car numbered 89 since Parnelli Jones' 100-mile triumph at the Milwaukee Mile on August 12, 1961, for car owner Chuck Benda.

"To get a win the first weekend out, that's what you strive for at the start of the year," Windom said. "Hopefully we can keep it rolling because we're here to win a bunch of races and win the championship."

In the process, Windom earned KSE Products/ProSource Hard Charger Award for the night, advancing nine positions from 10th to 1st and also collected the most cumulative passes over the course of the two nights of feature racing with 14, earning a $200 Passing Master bonus from ProSource in the process.

Tyler Courtney came out of Ocala last year with two victories in two nights. Although 2020 didn't find the exact same winning results, the Indianapolis, Ind. driver and his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink - ZMax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x exited Winter Dirt Games XI with a fourth on Friday and a runner-up finish on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, when you start on the pole, you want to win because that's the best place to start," Courtney said. "It just wasn't in the plans this weekend. We came down here and won both races last year but weren't able to get it done this year. We're still learning a bit on the cars and stuff like that. We've got a really good racecar, but there's just a few things to do here and there. I'm really happy with (our car) and our whole Clauson-Marshall team. We're looking forward to the rest of the season."

Fresh off earning 2019 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year honors, Collegeville, Pennsylvania's Andrew Layser stepped up his game to earn his best career series finish Saturday night with a third-place result in his Tucker-Boat Motorsports/Friedman-Schuman - Top To Bottom Solutions/Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"I can't thank (my crew) enough for all their hard work," Layser praised. "They're so precise on everything to make sure (teammate) Chris (Windom) and I have great cars every time. It's really exciting to put together my first podium finish and hopefully many more. Last year, I struggled with confidence a lot. To start off the season as well as we have is really huge. It started at the Chili Bowl where we had a lot of speed. I knew we were good last night, and it showed tonight."

In addition to Thorson's new one-lap track record earlier on Saturday night, Zeb Wise established the new standard for eight laps in a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget around Bubba Raceway Park at 1:52.636 during the first heat race.

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Tanner Thorson

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Zeb Wise

Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Cole Bodine

AutoMeter / Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney

KSE Racing Products / ProSource Hard Charger: Chris Windom

Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Tanner Thorson

ProSource Passing Master: Chris Windom

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 8, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Thorson, 19, Hayward-13.724 (New Track Record); 2. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.818; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.866; 4. Tanner Carrick, 35, Petry-13.926; 5. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.930; 6. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.948; 7. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-13.958; 8. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-13.979; 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-13.981; 10. Logan Seavey, 21KS, Reynolds-14.028; 11. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.030; 12. Jesse Colwell, 21K, Reynolds-14.088; 13. Zeb Wise, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.139; 14. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.162; 15. Dennis Misuraca, 92, Davis-15.489; 16. Michael Magic, 4m, Magic-15.548; 17. Mark Cole, 6x, Cole-15.556; 18. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-15.679; 19. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Zeb Wise, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Andrew Layser, 4. Tanner Carrick, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Michael Magic. 1:52.636 (New Track Record)

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Cole Bodine, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Cannon McIntosh, 6. Mark Cole. 1:54.200

AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Jesse Colwell, 4. Dennis Misuraca, 5. Oliver Akard, 6. Jerry Coons Jr. 1:53.516

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (10), 2. Tyler Courtney (1), 3. Andrew Layser (9), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 5. Cannon McIntosh (2), 6. Buddy Kofoid (5), 7. Zeb Wise (7), 8. Daison Pursley (12), 9. Jesse Colwell (13), 10. Tanner Carrick (3), 11. Cole Bodine (8), 12. Logan Seavey (11), 13. Tanner Thorson (6), 14. Oliver Akard (17), 15. Michael Magic (15), 16. Mark Cole (16), 17. Steve Buckwalter (19), 18. Dennis Misuraca (14), 19. Jerry Coons Jr. (18). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Cannon McIntosh, Laps 4-24 Tanner Thorson, Laps 25-30 Chris Windom.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (10th to 1st)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tanner Thorson

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-152, 2-Tyler Courtney-146, 3-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-138, 4-Buddy Kofoid-137, 5-Tanner Thorson-132, 6-Cannon McIntosh-128, 7-Zeb Wise-121, 8-Andrew Layser-117, 9-Daison Pursley-108, 10-Tanner Carrick-99.

FINAL WINTER DIRT GAMES PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-14, 2-Daison Pursley-10, 3-Andrew Layser-9, 4-Zeb Wise-6, 5-Dennis Misuraca-6, 6-Steve Buckwalter-6, 7-Oliver Akard-6, 8-Cannon McIntosh-5, 9-Tanner Thorson-4, 10-Jesse Colwell-4.

NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-14, 2-Daison Pursley-10, 3-Andrew Layser-9, 4-Zeb Wise-6, 5-Dennis Misuraca-6, 6-Steve Buckwalter-6, 7-Oliver Akard-6, 8-Cannon McIntosh-5, 9-Tanner Thorson-4, 10-Jesse Colwell-4.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: March 7, 2020 - Southern Illinois Center - Du Quoin, Illinois - Shamrock Classic

Chris Windom earned the first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory for a car numbered 89 since Parnelli Jones' 100-mile triumph at the Milwaukee Mile on August 12, 1961, for car owner Chuck Benda. (Rich Forman Photo)

Tanner Thorson celebrates his victory Friday night at Bubba Raceway Park.
(DB3, Inc. Photo)

THORSON THRIVES IN OCALA USAC MIDGET OPENER

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Fla. (February 7, 2020).........A new year and a new beginning are just the things Tanner Thorson was seeking with the outset of the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season.

A highway crash last March sidelined the 2016 series champion with serious injuries. His eventual comeback was a mixed bag of highlight reel moments as well as an up-and-down closing to the campaign that left him without a full-time drive.

A Chili Bowl prelim victory in January was just a prelude to Friday night's splendid drive by the Minden, Nev. native that witnessed him zip to the front in spectacular fashion just prior to and following a mid-race restart where he exchanged multiple sliders with series Rookie Buddy Kofoid to snare the lead and control the final 16 laps to score the win in the series season-opening Winter Dirt Games XI feature at Bubba Raceway Park.

Thorson's 14th career USAC National Midget feature win in his Hayward Motorsports/OILFIRE - Factory Kahne - Walker Filtration - Smith Titanium/Spike/Stanton SR-11x moved him into the top-50 and in a four-way tie for 48th on the all-time series win list alongside Chuck Arnold, Jack Turner and Leroy Warriner.

The victory also provided Hayward Motorsports its third career USAC National Midget victory as a team, and first since August of 2016 with driver Bryan Clauson at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kans.

In his third consecutive year of competing in a midget at the 3/8-mile D-shaped track, Thorson finally found his groove. He finished 9th and 7th there in 2019, but this year, made a few small mechanical changes and transitioned to Hayward Motorsports for whom he made two USAC starts at the conclusion of 2019 and was slated to do a part-time schedule for this season.

With a superb beginning to 2020, Thorson hopes that this run of success can translate into something even more.

"We were obviously way better than we were here last year," Thorson recalled. "We've got the same package here, minus a couple little things that don't matter. I've been very fortunate to get with Brodie and Sarah Hayward. They've kind of just let me do whatever I really needed and to get what I needed as far as shocks, motors, cars and just everything. It helps to have people behind me like that and allows me to kind of take my mind off the whole thing that happened last year. This is a good start to the season for us and maybe we can see about talking the car owner into running points."

Thorson began the 30-lapper from fifth and steadily moved his way toward the front of the pack while USAC Triple Crown champ Jerry Coons Jr. held the top spot for the first ten circuits and last season's Ocala sweeper Tyler Courtney gripped his talons on the bottom to inch closer to Coons.

Coons nipped Courtney by a nose at the line at the conclusion of lap four, then gapped the defending series champ by four car lengths. Suddenly, the newcomer on the scene was one of the newcomers to the series in Kofoid who raced around the outside of Courtney off turn four and continued to haul the mail ripping the high line while Coons worked the bottom out front.

On the 11th lap, Kofoid maneuvered around the outside of Coons exiting turn two. Rapidly closing on the lapped car of first-time USAC feature starter Dennis Misuraca, the elusive Kofoid ducked low into turn three to snag the lead for the time being.

Three laps later, Thorson was the man on the move, slipping under Coons at the bottom entry to turn one for second. Coons fought back on the inside and the two touched, forcing Coons sideways at the exit of the second turn.

Moments later, the caution fell for Jesse Colwell who slowed to a stop in turn two while running in the eighth position.

Now lined up right on Kofoid's tail tank for the restart, Thorson used a massive run into turn one to slide up in front of Kofoid for the lead. Proving to be a quick-study, Kofoid answered the bell by turning down and returning the favor with a slider of his own in turn three to reobtain the point. However, as Kofoid slid up across turns three and four, that simply opened the door once more for Thorson to drive under off the fourth turn and slide his way back by Kofoid for good at the entry to turn one.

Thorson credited the formation of his success on the experience factor and a set of equipment that helped make the job a tad easier for him.

"I think a lot of it has to do with just having laps around here," Thorson pointed to. "I've watched a lot of races here and I've been here the last three years. I think that helps a lot and I've watched a lot of non-wing races here as well. It helped to have really good shocks that allowed me to maneuver anywhere I really needed to, and it paid off."

Two laps later, on the 17th trip around, Windom scooted by Kofoid for second and put his plan into place to chase down Thorson in the throes of lapping the tail end of the field.

A yellow flag for 14th running Robert Dalby following an apparent engine issue brought about the final stoppage, thus setting up a seven-lap sprint to the finish. Third place Kofoid split the gap between Thorson and Windom on the restart briefly into turn one before falling back behind Windom and into third.

Meanwhile, all that action did was provide Thorson more breathing room as he steadily built his lead up to a 1.969 sec. margin at the checkered over Windom, Kofoid, Courtney and Cannon McIntosh.

"We have a really good piece and we've had a good piece all the way since the Chili Bowl and even the Gateway race last December," Thorson reiterated. "I just can't thank everybody that's involved enough. It's really made it fun and easy."

Chris Windom took a distant second behind Thorson in the Canton, Ill. driver's USAC debut aboard the Tucker-Boat Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink - Pristine Auction - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"Obviously, you want to come out and win the first race of the year, but we've been good all week so far," Windom explained. "Tanner was just a little bit better than us there. I could get to him, but it was like we were the same speed after that restart. I just couldn't quite do anything to gain on him and make a move on him. When we got to lapped cars, it would hurt him one car and I'd get hurt the next car. We kind of just stayed in the same spot."

A career best third-place finish was the result for Penngrove, California's Buddy Kofoid, leading four laps in just his fifth career series start piloting the Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Mobil 1 - JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"We've come a long way since practice yesterday and qualified well today," Kofoid recapped. "I was okay in the heat race, made some changes and was extremely fast in the main. I think we were really first early, then could hang with those guys. I think I kind of messed myself up on that restart and kind of fell apart a little bit at the end. I was good finding the top early; I just wish we could've went green to checker."

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Kevin Thomas Jr.

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas, Jr.

Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Chris Windom

AutoMeter / Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney

KSE Racing Products / ProSource Hard Charger: Zeb Wise

Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Steve Buckwalter

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 7, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.901; 2. Tanner Thorson, 19, Hayward-13.908; 3. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.971; 4. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.044; 5. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.045; 6. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.099; 7. Tanner Carrick, 35, Petry-14.103; 8. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-14.119; 9. Jesse Colwell, 21K, Reynolds-14.133; 10. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.140; 11. Logan Seavey, 21KS, Reynolds-14.143; 12. Zeb Wise, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.212; 13. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-14.219; 14. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-14.231; 15. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.323; 16. Chase Jones, 7K, Irwin-14.370; 17. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-14.527; 18. Dennis Misuraca, 92, Davis-16.111; 19. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-16.191; 20. Mark Cole, 6x, Cole-16.816; 21. Mike Magic, 4m, Magic-NT; 22. Ethan Mitchell, 21, Reynolds-NT; 23. Michael Magic, 5m, Magic-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Tanner Carrick, 3. Cannon McIntosh, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Andrew Layser, 6. Chase Jones, 7. Oliver Akard. 1:55.647

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Robert Dalby, 6. Steve Buckwalter, 7. Mark Cole. 1:54.193 (New Track Record)

AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Zeb Wise, 4. Jesse Colwell, 5. Cole Bodine, 6. Michael Magic (#4m), 7. Dennis Misuraca. 1:56.602

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (5), 2. Chris Windom (7), 3. Buddy Kofoid (3), 4. Tyler Courtney (1), 5. Cannon McIntosh (10), 6. Zeb Wise (12), 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 8. Jerry Coons, Jr. (2), 9. Daison Pursley (15), 10. Andrew Layser (13), 11. Tanner Carrick (8), 12. Logan Seavey (11), 13. Steve Buckwalter (17), 14. Dennis Misuraca (20), 15. Oliver Akard (18), 16. Mark Cole (19), 17. Michael Magic (21), 18. Chase Jones (16), 19. Robert Dalby (14), 20. Jesse Colwell (9), 21. Cole Bodine (4), 22. Ethan Mitchell (22). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Jerry Coons, Jr., Laps 11-14 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 15-30 Tanner Thorson

KSE RACING PRODUCTS / PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Zeb Wise (12th to 6th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Steve Buckwalter

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tanner Thorson-82, 2-Chris Windom-75, 3-Buddy Kofoid-72, 4-Tyler Courtney-70, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-66, 6-Cannon McIntosh-64, 7-Zeb Wise-61, 8-Jerry Coons Jr.-57, 9-Daison Pursley-53, 10-Tanner Carrick-48.

NEW WINTER DIRT GAMES PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Zeb Wise-6, 2-Daison Pursley-6, 3-Dennis Misuraca-6, 4-Chris Windom-5, 5-Cannon McIntosh-5, 6-Tanner Thorson-4, 7-Steve Buckwalter-4, 8-Michael Magic-4, 9-Andrew Layser-3, 10-Oliver Akard-3.

NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Zeb Wise-6, 2-Daison Pursley-6, 3-Dennis Misuraca-6, 4-Chris Windom-5, 5-Cannon McIntosh-5, 6-Tanner Thorson-4, 7-Steve Buckwalter-4, 8-Michael Magic-4, 9-Andrew Layser-3, 10-Oliver Akard-3.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: February 8, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - Winter Dirt Games XI

Tanner Thorson's 14th career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature win moved him into the top-50 and in a four-way tie for 48th on the all-time series win list alongside Chuck Arnold, Jack Turner and Leroy Warriner.
(Rich Forman Photo)

#5 Kevin Thomas, Jr.
(Rich Forman Photo)

THOMAS LEADS THE WAY ON OCALA PRACTICE NIGHT

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Fla. (February 6, 2020).........Kevin Thomas, Jr., the owner of both the one-lap and eight-lap track records at Bubba Raceway Park in a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget, led the way with the fastest practice lap in Thursday night's open session leading into the season openers, February 7-8 at the 3/8-mile D-Shaped track in Ocala, Fla.

Thomas, of Cullman, Ala., set the pace with a lap of 14.015 in his Petry Motorsports/FK Rod Ends - Petry Excavating - Keizer Aluminum Wheels/Bullet/Speedway Toyota. Thomas is aiming for his first USAC-sanctioned midget win at Ocala following a pair of wins in a POWRi event there in 2018.

All three Petry Motorsports entries were in the top-seven in overall practice. Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) was third while Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.) took seventh.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) was second in his USAC debut with Tucker/Boat Motorsports at 14.082. Reigning series champion and sweeper of both nights at Ocala one year ago, Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) was fourth while Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.) was fifth in his first USAC ride for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.

Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.), Carrick, Cole Bodine (Rossville, Ind.), Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) and Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) rounded out the top-ten.

Twenty cars were in the pits on Thursday night, with 19 taking an official time.

Winter Dirt Games XI officially begins this Friday night, February 7, Pits open at 4pm Eastern, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm with cars getting on track at 6:30pm. The action gets underway an hour earlier on Saturday night, February 8, with the drivers meeting set for 5pm and cars on track at 5:30pm.

General admission tickets both nights for adults are $25 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $35 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com or listen to free audio of the broadcast on the USAC app or on your desktop or laptop at http://mixlr.com/usac-official/. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app.

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PRACTICE RESULTS: February 6, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - "Winter Dirt Games X"

PRACTICE RESULTS: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. , 5, Petry-14.015; 2. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-14.082; 3. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.182; 4. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.187; 5. Zeb Wise, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.201; 6. Tanner Thorson, 19, Hayward-14.209; 7. Tanner Carrick, 35, Petry-14.217; 8. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.231; 9. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.376; 10. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.393; 11. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.424; 12. Logan Seavey, 21KS, Reynolds-14.453; 13. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-14.530; 14. Jesse Colwell, 21K, Reynolds-14.581; 15. Robert Dalby, 4D, Dalby-14.725; 16. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-14.737; 17. Chase Jones, 7K, Irwin-14.837; 18. Michael Magic, 5m, Magic-15.832; 19. Mark Cole, 6x, Cole-16.728; 20. Mike Magic, 4m, Magic-NT.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 7-8, 2020 - Bubba Raceway Park - Ocala, Florida - "Winter Dirt Games XI"

Kyle Larson (right) poses with Ventura Raceway promoter Jim Naylor following Friday night's Turkey Night Grand Prix victory.

(Rich Forman Photo)

12-RACE USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET SCHEDULE RELEASED

Speedway, Indiana (February 13, 2020).........USAC's Midwest Regional Midget series will compete in 12 events at seven different dirt tracks throughout the states of Indiana and Illinois during the 2020 season.

Each event will utilize an open format, allowing both current National and SpeeD2 engines. Each feature race on the schedule will pay $1,200 to win and $125 to start along with tow money for non-qualifiers.

All events on the schedule will pay points toward the USAC Midwest Regional Midget standings and a champion will be crowned at the conclusion of the season. Furthermore, USAC SpeeD2 licensed competitors will be eligible for bonuses and will earn points toward the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midget Championship.

The series opens April 17 on the quarter-mile red clay of Indiana's Bloomington Speedway, an event which will be held in conjunction with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship event, the first of two dates for the Regional Midgets at the southern Indiana venue along with an additional trip on June 26.

Two visits to Paragon (Ind.) are on the docket on both May 1 and August 14, along with two dates at fellow Indiana tracks Gas City I-69 Speedway on May 22 and October 2, Kokomo Speedway on May 24 and October 16, as well as USAC's first ever trips to Circus City Speedway in Peru, Ind. on August 15 and October 3.

The Regional Midgets are in action on Independence Day night, July 4, at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind., a doubleheader with the USAC National Sprint Cars.

Meanwhile, the series' lone visit outside of the Hoosier State takes them to neighboring Illinois and the Land of Lincoln on May 2 at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Ill.

2020 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET SCHEDULE

Apr 17: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

May 1: Paragon Speedway (Paragon, IN)

May 2: Wayne County Speedway (Wayne City, IL)

May 22: Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

May 24: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Jun 26: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

Jul 4: Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)

Aug 14: Paragon Speedway (Paragon, IN)

Aug 15: Circus City Speedway (Peru, IN)

Oct 2: Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

Oct 3: Circus City Speedway (Peru, IN)

Oct 16: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

(Dave Olson Photo)

MUTLIPLE USAC NATIONAL DIVISION WINS

BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 10, 2020).........The early part of the season in Florida is noted for being the place to climb out of the cold and dreary months of winter and heat up with both the weather and the racing action on hand.

A few noted individuals have taken to bringing the heat themselves with victories in multiple USAC National divisions prior to the conclusion of the month of February.

At press time, only five drivers have won in at least two USAC National divisions before the end of February in a single season: Billy Vukovich (1968), Tony Stewart (1998), Dave Steele (2006), Darren Hagen (2009) and Levi Jones (2010).

One driver this week, Chris Windom, has an opportunity to join that exclusive group this week with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car portion of Winter Dirt Games XI on February 13-14-15 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.

Windom captured last Saturday's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature victory and will compete for Hayward Motorsports in the sprint car this week at Bubba's where he was victorious in last season's series opener.

Very few have accomplished what Windom is facing this week. After all, the Canton, Ill. native has erased one streak thus far in the new year, breaking the 59-year drought for a USAC Midget numbered 89 reaching victory lane.

Looking back, Vukovich, son of the legendary 1953-54 Indianapolis 500 winner, the "Mad Russian" Bill Vukovich. The younger Vukovich, himself, was named top Rookie at Indy in 1968. Just a few months before his first Indianapolis start, the Californian made history as the first driver to win both a USAC National Sprint Car feature and a USAC National Midget feature before the end of February in the same season.

A January sprint win for Vukovich at Rivergrade Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. got the ball rolling, followed by a midget win at El Cajon, Calif. He added another midget win for good measure in mid-February at San Jose, Calif., all three wins coming for car owner Doug Caruthers.

It wasn't until three decades later when the feat was duplicated by Columbus, Indiana's Tony Stewart, who on one afternoon on the first day of February in 1998 at Phoenix International Raceway, swept both ends of the USAC portion of the Copper World Classic with triumphs in both the Silver Crown car, for owner George Snider, and the Midget series, in the famed Steve Lewis-owned machine.

Just eight years later in 2006, pavement master Dave Steele would replicate Stewart's dominance at Phoenix, sweeping both the Midget portion in one of Steve Lewis' "Nine" cars. The National Sprint Car Hall of Famer from Tampa, Fla. then collected the Silver Crown portion of the event for 6R Racing, his fifth consecutive Silver Crown scores at the one-mile paved track.

Darren Hagen became the next, and first to do so on the dirt, when the National Sprint Cars and Midgets ventured west for early season dates. On Feb. 21, the Riverside, Calif. native crossed the stripe first with the sprints at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. for Dustin Morgan Motorsports. To close out the month of February, Hagen notched a midget score at the half-mile Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway for RFMS Racing.

The most recent of all drivers to accomplish two National victories before the end of February was seven-time USAC National champion Levi Jones whose successful evening at USA raceway in Tucson, Ariz. in February of 2010 saw him collect both the USAC National Sprint Car and Silver Crown features for Tony Stewart Racing.

Winter Dirt Games XI resumes this week, Thursday, Feb. 13, Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15. Pits open each night at 4pm Eastern, the grandstands open at 5pm, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm with cars getting on track at 6:30pm.

Each night, general admission tickets for adults are $30 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $40 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app as well as on the Race Monitor app.

A practice night for the sprints opens the second week of Winter Dirt Games XI festivities on Wednesday, February 12, at Bubba Raceway Park. Grandstand tickets are free while pit passes are $20 apiece. The Bilstein Modified Lite Stars will also be on the event card with the sprints all three nights.

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WON IN MULTIPLE USAC NATIONAL DIVISIONS

BEFORE THE END OF FEBRUARY:

1968: Billy Vukovich (Sprint & Midget)

1998: Tony Stewart (Silver Crown & Midget)

2006: Dave Steele (Silver Crown & Midget)

2009: Darren Hagen (Sprint & Midget)

2010: Levi Jones (Silver Crown & Sprint)

(Dave Olson Photo)

WINTER DIRT GAMES SUCCESS

TRANSLATES TO CHAMPIONSHIPS

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (February 10, 2020).........The beginning of a new USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season is one in which drivers and teams either resume their cohesiveness or, for new teams, try to meld successful relationships that will ultimately reap their rewards with wins, and if everything works out just right, a championship at season's end.

Five drivers and teams over the past seven seasons have used a Winter Dirt Games victory as a springboard to a championship, a number that seems less coincidental than it does a trend that should not be taken lightly entering this week's slate at Ocala, Florida's Bubba Raceway Park, February 13-14-15.

C.J. Leary debuted with a new team in Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports in 2019, winning the final of the three nights in Ocala, then translated that into a string of consistency throughout the year that saw only one more victory, in November at Perris, Calif., but netted 32 top-ten finishes in 34 starts.

The Greenfield, Ind. driver corralled the season title at the end of 2019, and this year will carry the #1 on his ride as he makes his debut for Gene Gile Racing out of Arizona.

Similarly, Tyler Courtney was victorious on the two final nights of the three-race pack at Ocala in 2018. The Indianapolis, ind. driver was strong right out of the box, stamping his winning footprint on 11 occasions during the year for one of the most prolific seasons in the history of the series en route to the title.

Robert Ballou also notched two early season wins in February at Winter Dirt Games in 2015 but did so at two different tracks back when the mini-series spanned two weekends at both Bubba's and East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton.

The Rocklin, Calif. native was nearly unbeatable in the 2015 campaign, racking up 13 wins for the second winningest USAC Sprint season in series history behind only Tom Bigelow's 14 in 1977. Ballou aims to make his return to the cockpit as soon as possible in 2020 following an arm injury last summer in a Kokomo Speedway sprint car feature.

Brady Bacon snared a victory at Ocala in February of 2014 during Winter Dirt Games. The win catapulted him into championship contention immediately, and the Broken Arrow, Okla. native cruised to the first of his two USAC National Sprint Car driving titles, also duplicating the feat in 2016. Bacon, the winningest driver for the Hoffman family in USAC competition with 21 triumphs, returns to the team's No. 69 for another championship run in the 2020 season.

The trend of Winter Dirt Games winners to go on to capture the USAC National Sprint Car championship later that same season began in 2013 with Bryan Clauson. Interestingly, like Courtney in 2018 and Leary in 2019, Clauson was in the midst of his debut weekend with a new team. For Clauson, it was Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing, for whom he would capture the championship with later in the year.

We very well could see history repeat itself once again this week. It's happened in five of the last seven years with the eventual champ standing in victory lane at Winter Dirt Games. This year could be no different with a driver and team finding the right combination on opening weekend and sustaining that success throughout a whole year - a string of success that ultimately begins right from the first time the car's rolled out of the trailer at Winter Dirt Games.

Each night, general admission tickets for adults are $30 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $40 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app as well as on the Race Monitor app.

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WINTER DIRT GAMES WINNERS

TO CAPUTRE USAC SPRINT TITLE IN SAME YEAR:

2013: Bryan Clauson

2014: Brady Bacon

2015: Robert Ballou

2018: Tyler Courtney

2019: C.J. Leary

(Josh James Artwork)

YOUTH MOVEMENT MAKES WAVES

ENTERING 2020 USAC MIDGET SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (February 5, 2020).........The youth movement is no stranger to USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing, especially over the past decade, which has seen just one champion over the age of 28 since the 2008 season.

This year's crop of talent with the series may be young, chronologically speaking. However, the majority of the wheelmen arriving this weekend for the season opening Winter Dirt Games XI on February 7-8 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. are extensively experienced.

Statistically, midget racing champions and race winners in the early years of USAC was primarily the showcase of individuals in their 30s and 40s. In fact, the USAC National Midget division didn't find its first driver champion under the age of 30 until its 15th year of existence when 25-year-old Jimmy Caruthers captured the crown in 1970.

The run of the twenties continued for a four-year string, followed by Jimmy's 21-year-old brother, Danny Caruthers, in 1971, 22-year-old Pancho Carter in 1972 and 27-year-old Larry Rice in 1973. Veteran Mel Kenyon, at age 41, halted the streak in 1974. Kenyon is the only driver to win USAC National Midget championships in his thirties, forties and fifties with his seventh and final title coming at the age of 52 in 1985.

In contrast, the set of talented shoes set to compete this weekend at Winter Dirt Games have an average age around 22 years old. That number includes two handfuls of racers between the ages of 15 and 18, three of whom are already USAC National Midget feature winners in their careers: Zeb Wise (17), Cannon McIntosh (17) and Tanner Carrick (18).

Angola, Indiana's Wise already owns four career series wins and became the series' youngest ever winner in 2018 at Lanco during Pennsylvania Midget Week at the age of 15 years, 8 months and 21 days. Meanwhile, McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) and Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.) both became first-time winners with the series a year ago.

McIntosh and Wise are among a four-car Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports lineup that is highlighted by four teenagers with 15-year-old Daison Pursley and 18-year-old Buddy Kofoid joining the fray for the coming season. Funny enough, the combined age of McIntosh, Wise and Pursley is still three years younger than the age of Kenyon when he captured his 1985 title.

Meanwhile, last season's series top Rookie Andrew Layser is still just 18 while Oklahoman Noah Gass and Floridian Oliver Akard are 16.

Five teenagers have previous won the USAC National Midget driving championship, led by eventual four-time NASCAR Cup champ Jeff Gordon in 1990 at the age of 19. Bobby East in 2004 and Spencer Bayston in 2017 were both 19 when they captured their series titles. Christopher Bell was an 18-year-old series Rookie when he snagged the championship in 2013. In 2008, Cole Whitt secured his place in series history as both the winner of the closest championship battle (1 point) while also becoming the youngest champ at 17.

The dynamics of racing are its peak when it pits drivers of various backgrounds, ages and experience against each other in a battle for victory. We've witnessed a plethora of different drivers join victory lane over these past five years, 22 in fact. However, only one of those drivers was over the age of 30 at the time of his victory, Michael Pickens.

Obviously, age isn't the sole reason for success. It's about talent and being in the right position at the right time with the right team on the right day. There's loads of talent among all ages, including past USAC National champions Logan Seavey (22), Tanner Thorson (23), Tyler Courtney (25), Chris Windom (29) and Jerry Coons, Jr. (47) along with series winners Kevin Thomas, Jr. (28) and Steve Buckwalter (42), just to name a few.

Bottom line, there's talent from top to bottom in this year's field. On track excitement and competitive racing is fun for all ages, and you can expect to see that this weekend in the Sunshine State whether your age 8 or 80.

Winter Dirt Games XI begins this Friday night, February 7, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm Eastern with cars getting on track at 6:30pm. The action gets underway an hour earlier on Saturday night, February 8, with the drivers meeting set for 5pm and cars on track at 5:30pm.

A practice night for the midgets opens the Winter Dirt Games XI festivities on Thursday, February 6, from 6-9pm at Bubba Raceway Park. Grandstand tickets are free while pit passes are $20 apiece. The Sunoco Southern Fuels Gladiators will also be on the event card with the midgets all three nights.

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USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONS:

(Age at time of championship is in parentheses)

1956: Shorty Templeman (37)

1957: Shorty Templeman (38)

1958: Shorty Templeman (39)

1959: Gene Hartley (33)

1960: Jimmy Davies (31)

1961: Jimmy Davies (32)

1962: Jimmy Davies (33)

1963: Bob Wente (30)

1964: Mel Kenyon (31)

1965: Mike McGreevy (39)

1966: Mike McGreevy (40)

1967: Mel Kenyon (34)

1968: Mel Kenyon (35)

1969: Bob Tattersall (45)

1970: Jimmy Caruthers (25)

1971: Danny Caruthers (21)

1972: Pancho Carter (22)

1973: Larry Rice (27)

1974: Mel Kenyon (41)

1975: Sleepy Tripp (22)

1976: Sleepy Tripp (23)

1977: Mel Kenyon (44)

1978: Rich Vogler (28)

1979: Steve Lotshaw (28)

1980: Rich Vogler (30)

1981: Mel Kenyon (48)

1982: Kevin Olson (31)

1983: Rich Vogler (33)

1984: Tom Bigelow (45)

1985: Mel Kenyon (52)

1986: Rich Vogler (36)

1987: Kevin Olson (36)

1988: Rich Vogler (38)

1989: Russ Gamester (24)

1990: Jeff Gordon (19)

1991: Mike Streicher (34)

1992: Stevie Reeves (25)

1993: Stevie Reeves (26)

1994: Tony Stewart (23)

1995: Tony Stewart (24)

1996: Kenny Irwin, Jr. (27)

1997: Jason Leffler (22)

1998: Jason Leffler (23)

1999: Jason Leffler (24)

2000: Kasey Kahne (20)

2001: Dave Darland (35)

2002: Dave Darland (36)

2003: J.J. Yeley (27)

2004: Bobby East (19)

2005: Josh Wise (22)

2006: Jerry Coons, Jr. (34)

2007: Jerry Coons, Jr. (35)

2008: Cole Whitt (17)

2009: Brad Kuhn (28)

2010: Bryan Clauson (21)

2011: Bryan Clauson (22)

2012: Darren Hagen (26)

2013: Christopher Bell (18)

2014: Rico Abreu (22)

2015: Tracy Hines (43)

2016: Tanner Thorson (20)

2017: Spencer Bayston (19)

2018: Logan Seavey (21)

2019: Tyler Courtney (25)

(Danny Clum)

FIRST-TIME USAC MIDGET WINNERSTHAT COULD EMERGE IN 2020

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (February 5, 2020).........The past season with the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets proved to be the most balanced in terms of the variety of winners throughout the season. A total of 14 drivers reached victory lane with the series in 2019, five of which were first-time winners, the most since 2008.

That crew consisted of Cannon McIntosh, Chris Windom, Jason McDougal, Tanner Carrick and Gio Scelzi, a solid mix of talent both new to the series like McIntosh and Scelzi as well as those who've attained extensive experience under their belt like Windom.

That begs the question of who's next to knock down a first career win with the series. There's plenty who are capable, many of whom will be in action in this weekend's series season openers February 7-8 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. for Winter Dirt Games XI.

Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports two teenage series Rookies arrive to the series with a winning pedigree. Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) was the 2019 Fremont Speedway Sprint Car track champion while teammate Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) captured the 2017 USAC Micro Sprint title.

Both made four USAC National Midget starts at the conclusion of the 2019 season and progressively made strides, Kofoid earning 6th at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in Ventura, Calif. while Pursley bagged a pair of heat race wins at the speedy Arizona Speedway in his first two series appearances.

Andrew Layser finished within the top-ten on eight occasions in 24 starts during 2019 en route to series Rookie of the Year honors, with best finishes of 7th twice, both coming in his home state of Pennsylvania at Action Track USA and Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway.

Robert Dalby (Anaheim, Calif.) enters the National scene full-time in 2020 as the reigning USAC Western States Midget champion with three wins to his credit. He was the best of the full-time western contingent last season, making eight feature starts with the National Midgets in experiencing several venues for the first time, topping it with a top-ten run at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb.

In his first year with the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets in 2019, Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, Calif.) saw vast improvement the more experience he gained throughout the course of a season. He captured the POWRi Midget crown and earned his first two career top-five finishes with USAC in the final four races, a 3rd at Placerville, Calif. and a 5th at Bakersfield, Calif.

In a limited schedule as a sub for the injured Zeb Wise in 2018, Cole Bodine (Rossville, Ind.) made the most of the opportunity and nearly scored a victory in his first week as a midget driver, leading a race-high 28 laps of the 40-lap feature and took 2nd after being passed by Logan Seavey with only four laps remaining at Sweet Springs, Mo. Bodine returns to the same Clauson/Marshall Racing team he raced for in 2018, the same team that earned a series-best 13 feature wins in 2019.

Furthermore, Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) set fast qualifying time and finished 5th at Bloomington Speedway during Indiana Midget Week in 2019. Chase Jones (Greenwood, Ind.) earned a USAC Regional Midget series victory at Bloomington. Noah Gass (Mounds, Okla.) showed impressive speed in just a handful of USAC appearances one year ago.

Perhaps there's even someone who you don't expect who'll jump to the forefront and become the next to find victory with the series. In racing, there's always things you expect to see that wind up coming to fruition while, other times, the unexpected is the aspect that's expected. That's the beauty of it all, and we're eager to find out who that may be with the beginning of the new season.

This Friday night, February 7, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm Eastern with cars getting on track at 6:30pm. The action gets underway an hour earlier on Saturday night, February 8, with the drivers meeting set for 5pm and cars on track at 5:30pm.

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USAC NATIONAL MIDGET FIRST-TIME WINNERS BY YEAR:

1956: (26) Shorty Templeman, Jack Turner, Eddie Sachs, Gays Biro, Gene Force, Johnnie Tolan, Andy Linden, Chuck Rodee, Gene Hartley, George Amick, Jimmy Davies, Jimmy Knight, Leroy Warriner, Rex Easton, Tony Bettenhausen, Al Alpern, Al Herman, Bud Clemons, Chuck Weyant, Earl Motter, Edgar Elder, Forrest Parker, Jimmy Reece, Johnnie Parsons, Mel McGaughy & Rodger Ward

1957: (12) Billy Garrett, Johnny Boyd, Len Sutton, A.J. Foyt, Danny Oakes, Frank Burany, Bill Chennault, Bob Tattersall, Don Branson, Hank Nykaza, Lloyd Ruby & Norm Hall

1958: (10) Bill Homeier, Bob Wente, Eddie Johnson, Joe Garson, Jim Packard, Johnny Moorhouse, Johnny Roberts, Mauri Wilson, Russ Congdon & Tony Bonadies

1959: (11) Cliff Spalding, Davey Moses, Tommy Copp, Bob McLean, Bob Veith, Dale Swaim, Don Boorse, Jiggs Peters, Johnny Baldwin, Larry McCloskey & Van Johnson

1960: (8) Billy Cantrell, Billy Wood, Bobby Grim, Bud Bogard, Buddy Rackley, Dick Northam, Johnny White & Potsy Goacher

1961: (8) Allen Crowe, Parnelli Jones, Porky Rachwitz, Arnie Knepper, Bobby Marshman, Danny Frye, Joe Walter & Verne Harriman

1962: (8) Roger McCluskey, Mel Kenyon, Ronnie Duman, Dwight Brown, Harry Beck, Jim McElreath, Johnny Riva & Russ Moynagh

1963: (8) Bobby Unser, Don Horvath, Allen Heath, Bob Harkey, Chuck Hulse, Dean Holden, Elmer George & Mike McGreevy

1964: (5) Ray Elliott, Don Meacham, Bob Hogle, George Snider & Lowell Sachs

1965: (6) Les Scott, Dick Atkins, George Benson, Henry Pens, Ned Spath & Sonny Ates

1966: (9) Chuck Arnold, Billy Vukovich, Billy Mehner, Cotton Farmer, Larry Dickson, Dave Strickland, Frank Secrist, Mario Andretti & Tom Sellberg

1967: (7) Gary Bettenhausen, Bob Hare, Bob Hauck, Bob Richards, Dutch Schaefer, Gene Roehl & Jimmy Caruthers

1968: (10) Sam Sessions, Tom Bigelow, Burt Foland, Gene Pastor, Jigger Sirois, Lee Kunzman, Merle Bettenhausen, Paul Bates, Roger West & Steve Troxell

1969: (7) Don Vogler, Billy Engelhart, Bill Kollman, Bruce Walkup, Hank Butcher, Larry Cannon & Larry Rice

1970: (3) Jerry McClung, Mel Cornett & Johnny Parsons

1971: (7) Danny Caruthers, Gary Ponzini, John Batts, Eddie Jackson, Jim McClean, Jimmy Kirk & Steve Cannon

1972: (8) Pancho Carter, Rich Vogler, Rick Goudy, Danny O'Neill, J.P. Standley, Joe Saldana, Sam Sauer & Tony Simon

1973: (7) Bobby Olivero, Billy Shuman, Tommy Astone, Chuck Gurney, Jim Beckley, Leo Tucker & Mike Gregg

1974: (4) Danny McKnight, Gary Byers, Richard Powell & Sleepy Tripp

1975: (3) Dana Carter, Ken Nichols & Larry Patton

1976: (6) Jan Opperman, Bruce Robey, Bubby Jones, Buddy Taylor, Steve Lotshaw & Tom Steiner

1977: (6) Buddy Irwin, Gary Patterson, Jerry Nuckles, Jerry Stone, Ron Shuman & Roy Cook, Jr.

1978: (3) Jeff Heywood, Jerry Weeks & Billy Cassella

1979: (4) Lonnie Caruthers, Barry Butterworth, Jeff Nuckles & Stan Fox

1980: (4) Ken Schrader, Dave Ray, Mack McClellan & Terry Wente

1981: (3) Warren Mockler, Dave Strickland, Jr. & Gene Gennetten

1982: (4) Alan Brown, Dick Pole, Doug Wolfgang & Greg Leffler

1983: (6) Kevin Olson, Jim Hines, Mike Fedorcak, Nick Fornoro, Jr., Todd Forbes & Tommy White

1984: (2) Bob Cicconi & Rick Hood

1985: (6) Bruce Field, Barry Reed, Brent Kaeding, Drew Fornoro, John Andretti & Russ Gamester

1986: (5) Blake Hollingsworth, John Heydenreich, Kevin Doty, Kevin Koch & Sam Isenhower

1987: (6) Steve Knepper, Dan Boorse, Jack Hewitt, Lee Smith, Mike Appio & Stevie Reeves

1988: (7) Jack Calabrase, Jim Keeker, Danny Pens, Dean Billings, J.R. Miller, Mike Streicher & P.J. Jones

1989: (6) Robby Flock, Don Schilling, Jeff Gordon, Richard Myhre, Steve Gennetten & Terry Farrar

1990: (4) Graham Standring, Jim Hettinger, John Meyers & Keith Rauch

1991: (6) Page Jones, Donnie Beechler, Johnny Cofer, Michael Lang, Tony Elliott & Wally Pankratz

1992: (6) Doug Kalitta, Kenneth Nichols, Dan Drinan, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Eric Wilkins & Joe Gaerte

1993: (7) Andy Michner, Critter Malone, Jimmy Sills, Mike Bliss, Randy Tolsma, Tony Stewart & Tyce Carlson

1994: (3) Brian Gerster, Jordan Hermansader & Ted Hines

1995: (2) Billy Boat & Jack Runyon

1996: (4) Tracy Hines, Jay Drake, Jerry Coons, Jr. & Randy Koch

1997: (4) Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Dave Darland & Jimmy McCune

1998: (2) Ricky Shelton & Dave Steele

1999: (3) Ed Carpenter, J.J. Yeley & Ron Smoker

2000: (4) Kasey Kahne, Aaron Pollock, Dane Carter & Michael Lewis

2001: (2) Bobby East & A.J. Fike

2002: (4) Aaron Fike, Mike Hess, Ryan Scott & Teddy Beach

2003: (1) Josh Wise

2004: (5) Davey Ray, Billy Wease, David Gough, Ron Gregory & Travis Miniea

2005: (5) Brad Kuhn, Bryan Clauson, Danny Stratton, Johnny Rodriguez & Scott Hatton

2006: (7) Bobby Santos, Brady Bacon, Bud Kaeding, Darren Hagen, Kevin Swindell, Ryan Durst & Shane Cottle

2007: (4) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Cory Kruseman, Levi Jones & Michael Pickens

2008: (6) Brad Sweet, Cole Whitt, Bradley Galedrige, Brian Olson, Chuck Gurney, Jr. & Kody Swanson

2009: (1) Caleb Armstrong

2010: (3) Shane Hmiel, Steve Buckwalter & Tanner Swanson

2011: (2) Kyle Larson & Zach Daum

2012: (1) Kyle Hamilton

2013: (2) Christopher Bell & Rico Abreu

2014: (0) None

2015: (2) Tanner Thorson & Kevin Thomas, Jr.

2016: (3) Chad Boat, Shane Golobic & Spencer Bayston

2017: (2) Tyler Courtney & Justin Grant

2018: (3) Logan Seavey, Tyler Thomas & Zeb Wise

2019: (5) Cannon McIntosh, Chris Windom, Jason McDougal, Tanner Carrick & Gio Scelzi

#25 Jerry Coons, Jr.
(Rich Forman Photo)

USAC MIDGET STARS SEEKING MILESTONE WINS IN 2020

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (February 4, 2020).........While Bubba Raceway Park has produced just a single winner after making its debut on the schedule one year ago, the Ocala, Fla. venue itself will host numerous drivers who, themselves, have produced a chunk of victories throughout their USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget careers.

Nine previous winners are expected to compete in this year's series openers February 7-8 at the 3/8-mile D-shaped track. While Mel Kenyon's 111 career wins are practically insurmountable for any current series driver for the time being, there are current standouts on the win list who can reach their own personal milestones in 2020.

Two-time USAC National Midget champion Jerry Coons, Jr. ranks with the most victories among the batch of expected entrants for the 2020 Winter Dirt Games openers in Ocala. The Tucson, Ariz. native currently stands at 19 victories, tied with Stan Fox, Kyle Larson and Jason Leffler for 33rd all-time.

One more win with the series by Coons would equal him with the great A.J. Foyt and would also place him on another exclusive list alongside Bobby Unser as only the second driver to win USAC feature events in five decades, the first of which for Coons came during a USAC Arizona Regional Midget event at Raven Raceway in 1987. Coons has padded his stats with numerous USAC National victories in Midgets, Sprints and Silver Crown cars since the 1996 season.

Two past USAC National Midget champions Tanner Thorson (2016) and 2019 Ocala sweeper Tyler Courtney (2019) are knotted up at 13 series victories apiece. Both Thorson (Minden, Nev.) and Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) can make up substantial ground on the series win list with their next, which would move them into the top-50 all-time if they were to get to win number 14 and equal a trio of names from the early days of USAC - Chuck Arnold, Jack Turner and Leroy Warriner.

Likewise, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Logan Seavey can scale up another story on the all-time series win list with a single victory. Both currently stand at six USAC National Midget feature triumphs apiece. One more would move Thomas (Cullman, Ala.) and Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) over the threshold into the top-100 all-time and into the seven-win club along with the likes of Tommy Astone, Jack Hewitt, Don Horvath, Page Jones, Kenneth Nichols, Larry Patton, Les Scott, Len Sutton and Johnnie Tolan.

Four additional drivers have all racked up their initial wins with the series in the last year-and-a-half and appear to be capable of quickly rising up to secure more tallies in the win column on any given night. While he only plans on competing with the series on a part-time basis in 2020, Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.) is always a threat to win and currently stands at four victories, including three in the last year.

Chris Windom earned each of his two victories just this past summer after having to wait until his 102nd career series start at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway in June of 2019. It only took about another month-and-a-half to reach win number two and the Canton, Ill. driver shall be a top contender once again this year to add onto his total.

Cannon McIntosh and Tanner Carrick were each first-time USAC National Midget victors a year ago and will be prime contenders, like Windom, to tack on first place finishes in the coming year along with series returnees Jesse Colwell, Cole Bodine and Andrew Layser or newcomers Robert Dalby, Daison Pursley, Buddy Kofoid and several others.

You can't begin to rise up the win list without getting a first one and this group is highly capable. But they'll have some of the series greats, veterans and rising talents to contend with on a nightly basis. Last year proved to be the most balanced season in terms of the different number of winners in over a decade with 14 reaching victory lane. This season appears as if it very well could shake out in the same manner. Only time will tell.

On Friday night, February 7, the drivers meeting begins at 6pm Eastern with cars getting on track at 6:30pm. The action gets underway an hour earlier on Saturday night, February 8, with the drivers meeting set for 5pm and cars on track at 5:30pm.

ALL-TIME USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS

(Entering the 2020 season)

1. [111 wins] Mel Kenyon

2. [95 wins] Rich Vogler

3. [78 wins] Bob Wente

4. [63 wins] Bob Tattersall

5. [59 wins] Sleepy Tripp

6. [48 wins] Jimmy Davies

7. [38 wins] Bryan Clauson

8. [35 wins] Tracy Hines

9. [31 wins] Gene Hartley & Chuck Rodee

11. [30 wins] Dave Darland, Mike McGreevy & Johnny Parsons

14. [27 wins] Gary Bettenhausen & Tony Stewart

16. [25 wins] Darren Hagen, Parnelli Jones & Dave Strickland

19. [24 wins] Billy Engelhart

20. [23 wins] Christopher Bell, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Tommy Copp, Kevin Olson & Billy Vukovich

26. [22 wins] Bobby East & Shorty Templeman

28. [21 wins] Steve Cannon, Jimmy Caruthers, Rex Easton & Ken Schrader

32. [20 wins] A.J. Foyt

33. [19 wins] Jerry Coons, Jr., Stan Fox, Kyle Larson & Jason Leffler

37. [18 wins] Dave Steele

38. [17 wins] Jay Drake & J.J. Yeley

40. [16 wins] Rico Abreu, George Amick, Billy Cantrell, Lee Kunzman, Bobby Olivero & Henry Pens

46. [15 wins] Don Branson & Larry Rice

48. [14 wins] Chuck Arnold, Jack Turner & Leroy Warriner

51. [13 wins] Tyler Courtney, Steve Knepper, Don Meacham, Ryan Newman, Stevie Reeves & Tanner Thorson

57. [12 wins] Danny Caruthers, Gene Force, Russ Gamester, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Grim & Ron Shuman

63. [11 wins] Kasey Kahne, Jimmy Knight, Bob McLean, Johnny Moorhouse, Bobby Santos & Brad Sweet

69. [10 wins] Allen Heath, Doug Kalitta, Brad Kuhn, Steve Lotshaw, Jerry McClung & Chuck Weyant

75. [9 wins] Billy Boat, Chad Boat, Tony Elliott & Chuck Gurney

79. [8 wins] Brady Bacon, Merle Bettenhausen, Tony Bettenhausen, Hank Butcher, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Ronnie Duman, Brian Gerster, Kenny Irwin Jr, Eddie Johnson, Michael Lewis, Andy Michner & Josh Wise

92. [7 wins] Tommy Astone, Jack Hewitt, Don Horvath, Page Jones, Kenneth Nichols, Larry Patton, Les Scott, Len Sutton & Johnnie Tolan

101. [6 wins] Donnie Beechler, George Benson, Dana Carter, Bob Cicconi, Robby Flock, Nick Fornoro, Jr., Arnie Knepper, Logan Seavey, Ricky Shelton, Mike Streicher, Dave Strickland, Jr., Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Roger West

114. [5 wins] Spencer Bayston, Mike Bliss, Lonnie Caruthers, Larry Dickson, Mike Fedorcak, Burt Foland, Mack McClellan, Danny McKnight, Cliff Spalding, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. & Jerry Weeks

125. [4 wins] Caleb Armstrong, Teddy Beach, Johnny Boyd, Frank Burany, Russ Congdon, Ray Elliott, Aaron Fike, Danny Frye, Billy Garrett, Justin Grant, Mike Gregg, Jim Hettinger, John Heydenreich, Bubby Jones, Levi Jones, Andy Linden, Bobby Marshman, Roger McCluskey, Billy Mehner, Ken Nichols, Jeff Nuckles, Jan Opperman, Michael Pickens, Gary Ponzini, Davey Ray, Eddie Sachs, Don Schilling, Sam Sessions, George Snider, Dale Swaim, Kevin Swindell, Rodger Ward & Zeb Wise

158. [3 wins] John Batts, Gays Biro, Shane Cottle, Allen Crowe, Zach Daum, Bruce Field, A.J. Fike, Drew Fornoro, Gene Gennetten, Rick Goudy, Bob Hare, Bob Hauck, Jeff Heywood, Bill Homeier, Sam Isenhower, Jim Keeker, Jim McClean, Warren Mockler, Dave Moses, Earl Motter, Jerry Nuckles, Danny Oakes, Johnnie Parsons, Porky Rachwitz, Johnny Riva, Johnny Roberts, Lowell Sachs, Billy Shuman, Tom Steiner, Bobby Unser & Billy Wease

189. [2 wins] Al Alpern, Sonny Ates, Johnny Baldwin, Jim Beckley, Dean Billings, Alan Brown, Jack Calabrase, Johnny Cofer, Mel Cornett, Cotton Farmer, Terry Farrar, Joe Garson, Chuck Gurney, Jr., Kyle Hamilton, Bob Hogle, Rick Hood, P.J. Jones, Critter Malone, Jimmy McCune, Jason McDougal, Aaron Pollock, Barry Reed, Lloyd Ruby, Joe Saldana, Tom Sellberg, Tony Simon, Danny Stratton, Kody Swanson, Steve Troxell, Don Vogler, Bruce Walkup, Terry Wente, Johnny White, Tommy White, Cole Whitt & Chris Windom

225. [1 win] John Andretti, Mario Andretti, Mike Appio, Dick Atkins, Paul Bates, Harry Beck, Bud Bogard, Tony Bonadies, Dan Boorse, Don Boorse, Dwight Brown, Steve Buckwalter, Barry Butterworth, Gary Byers, Larry Cannon, Tyce Carlson, Ed Carpenter, Tanner Carrick, Dane Carter, Billy Cassella, Bill Chennault, Bill Clemons, Roy Cook, Jr., Ryan Durst, Edgar Elder, Todd Forbes, Joe Gaerte, Bradley Galedrige, Steve Gennetten, Elmer George, Potsy Goacher, Shane Golobic, David Gough, Ron Gregory, Norm Hall, Bob Harkey, Vern Harriman, Scott Hatton, Al Herman, Jordan Hermansader, Mike Hess, Jim Hines, Ted Hines, Shane Hmiel, Dean Holden, Blake Hollingsworth, Chuck Hulse, Buddy Irwin, Eddie Jackson, Van Johnson, Brent Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, Jimmy Kirk, Kevin Koch, Randy Koch, Bill Kollman, Cory Kruseman, Michael Lang, Greg Leffler, Larry McCloskey, Jim McElreath, Mel McGaughy, Cannon McIntosh, John Meyers, J.R. Miller, Travis Miniea, Russ Moynagh, Richard Myhre, Dick Northam, Hank Nykaza, Brian Olson, Danny O'Neill, Jim Packard, Wally Pankratz, Forrest Parker, Gene Pastor, Gary Patterson, Danny Pens, Jiggs Peters, Dick Pole, Richard Powell, Buddy Rackley, Keith Rauch, Dave Ray, Jimmy Reece, Bob Richards, Bruce Robey, Johnny Rodriguez, Gene Roehl, Jack Runyon, Sam Sauer, Gio Scelzi, Dutch Schaefer, Ryan Scott, Frank Secrist, Jimmy Sills, Jigger Sirois, Lee Smith, Ron Smoker, Ned Spath, J.P. Standley, Graham Standring, Jerry Stone, Tanner Swanson, Buddy Taylor, Tyler Thomas, Randy Tolsma, Leo Tucker, Bob Veith, Joe Walter, Eric Wilkins, Mauri Wilson, Doug Wolfgang & Billy Wood

Dave Olson Photo

FIRST MULTI-TIME WINNERS CAN GAIN EDGE

IN USAC MIDGET TITLE PURSUIT

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (February 3, 2020).........Throughout the span of a season, it can take a little while, or a short while, for one driver to rise above the rest to become the first two-time winner in USAC's NOS Energy Drink National Midget division.

The 64-year history of the series has run the gamut from seasons in which balance has been the staple during the early-going, such as 1956, 1960 and 1977 where it took Shorty Templeman, Jimmy Davies and Rich Vogler, respectively, 11 races to become the first two-time winner. In Templeman and Davies' quests, their second tallies helped elevate them toward becoming the series champion that same year.

In other cases, as recently as last year in 2019, it took Tyler Courtney just two races to become the series' first multi-time winner of the season where he swept both ends of the opening weekend at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., the same place where the series meets again this weekend, Friday, February 7 and Saturday, February 8.

While Courtney's double-dip weekend a year ago set him on a course for a championship-winning season, as well as the winningest campaign by any driver with the series in nearly three decades (Jeff Gordon, 1990) with eight victories, he became just the latest in a line of drivers who've used repeat victories in the first two races to the start of the year as a springboard to a championship: Bryan Clauson (2011), Rico Abreu (2014) & Tyler Courtney (2019).

On average, it has taken 5.2 races for the first multi-time winner to emerge during a USAC National Midget season. On 10 occasions in the history of the series, the first repeat victor came during race number five: Bob Wente (1961), Billy Vukovich (1968), Jimmy Caruthers (1973), Bob Wente (1979), Jeff Nuckles (1981), Dan Drinan (1995), Ricky Shelton (1998), Ryan Newman (1999), Darren Hagen (2009) & Tracy Hines (2012).

Oddly enough, in those "average" years of five races before a driver first reached victory lane twice in a season, not a single USAC National Midget champion arose.

In fact, across the board, it's almost a scattershot of whether a first multi-time winner will eventually become the champion later that year. Sometimes it occurs, sometimes not so much. What isn't accounted for is consistency, which is the ultimate statistic that defines a champion.

One correlation seems to have rung true in most recent years with a driver winning the first two. There's no discounting a hot start, but that hot start must transition into repeatedly finishing within the top-five and top-ten on a night when winning isn't in the cards. The last three to have been down that road, Clauson, Abreu and Courtney, mastered the course of consistency throughout their championship seasons.

And it's a safe bet that a driver and team that win the first two of the year will be one to keep an eye on. However, from night one (and night two) onward, these individuals have already made you sit up and take notice. The opportunity will arise once again this weekend and we'll be certain to have our eyes affixed on who'll quickly make a strong case for what could become the beginning to a possible championship season.

General admission tickets for adults are $25 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $35 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com or listen to free audio of the broadcast on the USAC app or on your desktop or laptop at http://mixlr.com/usac-official/. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app.

A practice night for the midgets opens the Winter Dirt Games XI festivities on Thursday, February 6, at Bubba Raceway Park. Grandstand tickets are free while pit passes are $20 apiece. The Sunoco Southern Fuels Gladiators will also be on the event card with the midgets all three nights.

NUMBER OF RACES UNTIL A FIRST REPEAT USAC MIDGET WINNER:

Race 11: *Shorty Templeman (1956), *Jimmy Davies (1960) & Rich Vogler (1977)

Race 10: Mel Kenyon (1969)

Race 9: Frank Burany (1958), Don Branson (1959), Merle Bettenhausen (1970), Steve Lotshaw (1980), Mel Kenyon (1986), *Kevin Olson (1987)

Race 8: *Mel Kenyon (1974), Ken Schrader (1982) & Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2018)

Race 7: Doug Kalitta (1992), *Tony Stewart (1994), Michael Lewis (2005), Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (2007), Bobby East (2008), Rico Abreu (2015) & *Tanner Thorson (2016)

Race 6: Chuck Weyant (1962), *Bob Wente (1963), Ken Schrader (1983) & Mike Fedorcak (1989)

Race 5: Bob Wente (1961), Billy Vukovich (1968), Jimmy Caruthers (1973), Bob Wente (1979), Jeff Nuckles (1981), Dan Drinan (1995), Ricky Shelton (1998), Ryan Newman (1999), Darren Hagen (2009) & Tracy Hines (2012)

Race 4: Billy Garrett (1957), Mel Kenyon (1965), Chuck Rodee (1966), *Mel Kenyon (1967), Jimmy Caruthers (1971), *Rich Vogler (1978), *Stevie Reeves (1993), Jay Drake (2000), Kasey Kahne (2001) & Kyle Larson (2013)

Race 3: Parnelli Jones (1964), Gary Bettenhausen (1976), Sam Isenhower (1988), Russ Gamester (1990), Jim Hettinger (1991), Kenneth Nichols (1996), Tracy Hines (1997), *J.J. Yeley (2003), J.J. Yeley (2004), Bobby Santos (2006) & Brady Bacon (2017)

Race 2: Lee Kunzman (1972), Gary Bettenhausen (1975), Rich Vogler (1984), Rich Vogler (1985), Dave Steele (2002), Brad Sweet (2010), *Bryan Clauson (2011), *Rico Abreu (2014) & *Tyler Courtney (2019)

* represents the eventual series champion

(Rich Forman Photo)

KOFOID AND PURSLEY EYE

USAC MIDGET ROOKIE OF THE YEAR HONORS

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (February 3, 2020).........When you're a member of Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, there's an inherent expectation to produce results. That's no exception when it comes to the Rookies on the team as well - Buddy Kofoid and Daison Pursley - both of whom begin their quests as first-year full-time drivers on the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget trail in 2020.

Both were able to get their feet wet, so to speak, in USAC competition toward the tail end of 2019 with each making four starts on the west coast swing in November. Kofoid, who also captured a 2019 sprint car track championship at Ohio's Fremont Speedway, progressively improved in each start, finished with a 6th place run at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in Ventura, Calif., the second best Rookie finisher in the event behind 2020 KKM teammate Cannon McIntosh who took second.

Meanwhile, 2017 USAC Micro Sprint champion Pursley captured heat race victories in his first two nights aboard a KKM midget at Arizona Speedway's Western World Championships in 2019 and earned a top finish of 12th on the second night at Arizona.

As it stands now, Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) and Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) appear to be the main contenders for the series' Rookie of the Year award, something of which is not too unfamiliar for a KKM driver to accomplish throughout the past decade-plus.

Eight different KKM drivers have earned their place as USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year since 2005: Darren Hagen (2005), Bryan Clauson (2006), Kyle Larson (2011), Rico Abreu (2012), Christopher Bell (2013), Carson Macedo (2016), Tanner Carrick (2017) and Logan Seavey (2018).

Abreu, Bell and Seavey became series champions for KKM and, in fact, Bell and Seavey each earned their championships in their Rookie years with the series. All but Macedo, a highly successful driver on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car circuit these days, won USAC National Midget feature events for KKM.

Rookies in general have had their share of success in USAC National Midgets during their first full-time year. Since the inception of the RoY honor for the series in 1969, 15 drivers have won a feature event and the Rookie of the Year award in the same season.

Danny Caruthers had the most successful Rookie USAC National Midget season, capturing 12 wins and clinching the title in his one and only full-time year with the series. With just three races remaining, Caruthers was fatally injured at California's Corona Raceway, yet had enough of a cushion in the standings to secure the title posthumously.

Four KKM drivers won in their Rookie USAC National Midget season, including Bryan Clauson in 2006 with one victory. He's also the only driver in the group to win prior to his Rookie of the Year season as well, capturing victory in October of 2005 at Ohio's Columbus Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson won four times in 2011, Christopher Bell seven during his title season and Logan Seavey three on his road to a series championship.

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. stepped into the seat of Tony Stewart Racing's No. 21 during the 2007 season and was a heavyweight from the word "go," notching five victories including the Hut 100, the Knoxville Midget Nationals and the 4-Crown Nationals. Larry Patton won three of his seven in his first go-around with the series in 1975 while Bobby East collected three in 2001.

Jim Keeker won his first two on a single weekend in his Rookie year of 1988. A year later, future four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon burst onto the scene with a pair of wins in 1989. Grabbing one victory apiece during their USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year seasons were Billy Engelhart (1969), Mike Gregg (1973), Richard Powell (1974), Barry Butterworth (1979) and Teddy Beach (2002).

Kofoid and Pursley have the combination of winning potential and quality equipment behind them provided by the series' second all-time winningest series team owner, Keith Kunz (110 wins). Perhaps 2020 will be their time to not only add their name to the extensive Kunz win list, but also to the list of winners during their maiden voyage as a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget driver.

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET ROOKIES OF THE YEAR:

(Number of wins during their Rookie season is in parentheses)

1969: Billy Engelhart (1)

1970: Danny Brown (0)

1971: Danny Caruthers (12, Champion)

1972: Tommy Astone (0)

1973: Mike Gregg (1)

1974: Richard Powell (1)

1975: Larry Patton (3)

1976: James McElreath (0)

1977: Lonnie Caruthers (0)

1978: Tommy Thomas (0)

1979: Barry Butterworth (1)

1980: Trevor Boys (0)

1981: Sherman Armstrong, Jr. (0)

1982: Chris Maxson (0)

1983: John Andretti (0)

1984: Russ Gamester (0)

1985: Bobby Allen (0)

1986: Steve Enlow (0)

1987: John Meyers (0)

1988: Jim Keeker (2)

1989: Jeff Gordon (2)

1990: Dan Ford (0)

1991: Doug Kalitta (0)

1992: Brian Gerster (0)

1993: Chuck Leary (0)

1994: David Bridges (0)

1995: Ryan Newman (0)

1996: Carl Olsen (0)

1997: Nick Lundgreen (0)

1998: Michael Lewis (0)

1999: A.J. Fike (0)

2000: Aaron Fike (0)

2001: Bobby East (3)

2002: Teddy Beach (1) & Ron Gregory (0)

2003: Ryan Durst (0)

2004: Todd Beach (0)

2005: Darren Hagen (0)

2006: Bryan Clauson (1)

2007: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (5)

2008: Chad Boat (0)

2009: Zach Daum (0)

2010: Daniel Bedford (0)

2011: Kyle Larson (4)

2012: Rico Abreu (0)

2013: Christopher Bell (7, Champion)

2014: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (0)

2015: Spencer Bayston (0)

2016: Carson Macedo (0)

2017: Tanner Carrick (0)

2018: Logan Seavey (3, Champion)

2019: Andrew Layser (0)

#39 Matt Goodnight (Winchester, Ind.)
(Dave Olson Photo)

USAC SPRINT WINTER DIRT GAMES PREVIEW

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (January 30, 2020).........On several occasions over the past decade, winning at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. has served as a boon to a driver's championship hopes and dreams.

While it's always pertinent to launch off with a solid start to the season, the rhythm stayed true to the beat one year ago with C.J. Leary. Although he bagged just two wins over the course of the season, one of the eventual 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champ's victories came in Ocala, which for the 11th time will host Winter Dirt Games Feb. 13-14-15.

At this time last year, Leary was in a similar position as he is this year - with a new team. This year, he's linked up with Gene Gile Racing for the full tour and is the first driver in five years to sport the No. 1 following a championship season. The Greenfield, Ind. driver won the finale in Ocala one year ago.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) finds himself in a similar boat, joining Hayward Motorsports for a run at the title after previously capturing the 2017 series crown. Like Leary, Windom debuted with a new team a year ago and found success right off the bat at Ocala, winning the season opener in dramatic fashion.

Ione, California's Justin Grant returns for a third season in the TOPP Motorsports No. 4, a combo which was victorious on the second night of Winter Dirt Games last year where he took control for the final two circuits following Windom's flat right rear tire. Grant's picked up two victories in Ocala over the last three years after taking the finale in 2017.

Three-time Winter Dirt Games winner Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) continues to recover following a major arm injury during the 2019 season and aims to return to Ocala in time for the start of the 2020 campaign. Two of the 2015 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion's three Winter Dirt Games victories came at Ocala in 2015 and 2016. He holds the 8-lap and 12-lap USAC Sprint Car track records at Bubba Raceway Park.

Brady Bacon, a two-time Winter Dirt Games winner in 2014 and 2015, has displayed the ability to get the ball rolling on multi-race weekends, which he did on two occasions in the past season. On a two-race weekend at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway last July, the Broken Arrow, Okla. native swept both ends. In November at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway, he took two of the first three for Hoffman Auto Racing.

USAC's winningest National Sprint Car driver (62 wins) and starter (756 starts) Dave Darland is back in the saddle of the Darland/EZR No. 36D at Ocala where he previously won in the 2015 finale at the 3/8-mile D-shaped dirt track. The USAC Triple Crown champ is one of five drivers expected to compete in this year's event who raced in the first ever Winter Dirt Games feature in 2010 along with Grant, Windom, Ballou and Kyle Cummins.

USAC's ironman Chase Stockon has won a USAC National Sprint Car feature in eight consecutive seasons. The Fort Branch, Ind. driver snared the WDG opener in 2018 and collected a pair of 4th place finishes on the first and third nights at Bubba Raceway Park in 2019.

Kevin Thomas, Jr. seems more than primed for victory at Ocala after four 2nd place finishes in five Winter Dirt Games starts in 2019 (2 Midget, 3 Sprint). The Cullman, Ala. native is back the seat of the KT Motorsports No. 9K. He owns the track record in the midgets and won twice in POWRi Midget competition at the track in 2018. His lone Winter Dirt Games victory came at East Bay Raceway Park in 2015.

Carson Short was superb in his qualifying efforts at Ocala one year ago, breaking his own track record on night one, then lowering it once again on the second night to 13.398 sec. The Marion, Ill. driver is set to roll in a new ride in 2020, the Daigh/Phillips Motorsports No. 71p with whom Darland won at Ocala in 2015.

Taking over for Leary in the seat of the Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports No. 19AZ is 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.). The six-time USAC Midget winner and 2019 night two Sprint Car Smackdown winner at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway makes his first sprint car appearance at Ocala since 2018 where he finished a best of 9th in the opener. He took 8th and 12th in last year's midget events at Winter Dirt Games.

Princeton, Indiana's Kyle Cummins, who won on three occasions in USAC Sprint Car competition in 2019, finished on the podium in all three Winter Dirt Games sprint races at Ocala in 2016 with a 2nd and two 3rd place runs. Stephen Schnapf (Evansville, Ind.) had a career-best 2nd place finish behind Cummins during Indiana Sprint Week at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. last summer. Schnapf will return to Ocala after making his WDG debut in 2019, finishing a best of 16th on the final night.

USAC National Sprint Car winners Matt Westfall of Ludlow Falls, Ohio (2005 Eldora) and Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind. (2016 Gas City) are expected to compete at Ocala along with 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Dustin Clark of Washington, Ind. and this year's crop of Rookie of the Year hopefuls, Anthony D'Alessio (Apollo Beach, Fla.), Anton Hernandez (Arlington, Texas) and Sterling Cling (Tempe, Ariz.) among several others.

Each night, general admission tickets for adults are $30 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $40 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com or listen to free audio of the broadcast on the USAC app or on your desktop/laptop at http://mixlr.com/usac-official/. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app.

WINTER DIRT GAMES USAC SPRINT WINS:

1. (5) Damion Gardner

2. (4) Bryan Clauson

3. (3) Robert Ballou

4. (2) Brady Bacon, Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant & Tracy Hines

8. (1) Dave Darland, Darren Hagen, C.J. Leary, Thomas Meseraull, Hunter Schuerenberg, Chase Stockon, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Chris Windom

(Dave Olson Photo)

USAC MIDGET WINTER DIRT GAMES XI PREVIEW

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Ocala, Florida (January 30, 2020).........A new year beckons, and all the questions for the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season will be answered in due time with the opening of the season nearing, February 7-8 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., for the second straight year at Winter Dirt Games XI.

Of course, what's top of mind to many observers are the plethora of new driver/team combos that have amassed throughout the winter months. Much of last year's field remains intact for this year's edition. However, many find themselves in new cars, new colors and new surroundings.

One that remains is the driver and team that captured both nights of last year's Midget events in Ocala, Tyler Courtney and Clauson-Marshall Racing. The defending driver and owner series champs return after a stellar campaign which saw them win on eight occasions during 2019, the most with the series in nearly three decades. Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) also won his heat on night one last year and was fast qualifier on night two. Courtney and CMR also captured two consecutive sprint wins at the track in 2018.

Courtney's CMR teammate is Cole Bodine of Rossville, Ind. who competed on a partial schedule with the series in 2019. His 11th place run on night one at Ocala 12 months ago was his best of the 2020 season. He returns to CMR after last competing with the team in 2018 where he very nearly picked up a victory, finishing 2nd at Sweet Springs (Mo.) Motorsports Complex.

Kevin Thomas, Jr. finished as the runner-up to Courtney both nights at Ocala a year ago. On night one, the Cullman, Ala. driver established the one-lap track record for the series at the 3/8-mile D-shaped track of 13.773 sec. In 2018, Thomas swept both nights of a POWRi Midget event at Ocala, meaning in four midget starts there, he has yet to finish outside of the top-two.

Thomas is back on a Petry Motorsports squad that also includes USAC Triple Crown champ Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz., who took 10th and 16th at Ocala in 2019. Lincoln, California's Tanner Carrick, the 2019 USAC Most Improved Driver and a newcomer to Petry Motorsports, finished 6th and 11th at Ocala last season in addition to scoring a heat race win on night two.

Carrick joins Petry following three years at Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, who has experienced a wholesale driver lineup change from 2019. Angola, Indiana's Zeb Wise, a 5th place finisher at Ocala last year for CMR, will take on Winter Dirt Games for a second straight year.

Joining Wise at KKM are 2019 Shamrock Classic and 2020 Chili Bowl prelim night winner Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.), plus 2019 Fremont Speedway Sprint Car champ Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) and 2017 USAC Micro Sprint titlist Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Calif.). The latter two competed for KKM during last year's USAC western swing and will be competing for series Rookie of the Year honors in 2020.

Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.), the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion will team alongside former KKM teammate Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, Calif.) with Team Ripper for Ocala. Seavey came out of Ocala a year ago with finishes of 12th and 8th while Colwell was 14th and 6th on each of his two nights.

Chris Windom has joined Tucker/Boat Motorsports for 2020. Windom, the 2016 USAC Silver Crown and 2017 USAC National Sprint Car champion from Canton, Ill., finished 3rd on the opening night and 9th on the final night last year at Ocala. His 3rd place run came after starting 11th, earning him hard charger honors for the evening. Windom's teammate at TBM for 2020 is last year's USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year, Andrew Layser of Collegeville, Pa., a top-10 runner on night two of Ocala in 2019.

Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) scored a pair of top-ten runs at Ocala in 2019, a 9th and a 7th. The 2016 USAC National Midget champion's run to 7th came after starting from the tail in 24th. He'll race for Hayward Motorsports at Winter Dirt Games, for whom he captured a Chili Bowl prelim night win earlier this month.

Expected returnees from last year's field include Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) who took 19th at one night of Ocala in 2019, along with Noah Gass (Mounds, Okla.) who made his series debuts a year ago there, finishing 20th and 21st in a pair of starts. Chase Jones (Greenwood, Ind.) took 23rd in one Ocala appearance in 2019 while Oliver Akard (Ft. Myers, Fla.) aims to make his first feature start with the series in his home state.

Eight previous USAC National Midget points-paying events have been held in the state of Florida. Bob Wente and Tyler Courtney are only drivers to win multiple times with two apiece. Johnny Riva won the first event at Palmetto Speedway in Miami on March 3, 1963, followed by Chuck Rodee at Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa on March 6, 1963. Wente won the final two in 1963 in the Sunshine state at Palmetto on March 8 and Golden Gate on March 10.

Kyle Larson won at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna, Fla. on Feb. 17, 2013 while Bobby Santos took top honors the following night at the same 1/2-mile paved oval.

Additionally, the USAC Midget Tangerine Tournament was held during the 1957 season with Andy Linden taking the crown. Linden notched four of the 11 victories with the series, three at Sunbrock Speedway in Orlando and once at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa for car owner Lee Elkins. Al Keller won twice at Hialeah Speedway and West Palm Beach Speedway. Meanwhile, Jimmy Knight (Pensacola Speedway), Sonny McDaniel (Fort Pierce Speedway), Al Alpern (Lakeland Speedway), Leroy Warriner (Fort Pierce) and Len Duncan (Jacksonville Speedway) each collected single wins.

General admission tickets for adults are $25 and $20 for kids age 11-15. Pit passes are $35 apiece. You can watch all the action live on www.FloRacing.com or listen to free audio of the broadcast on the USAC app or on your laptop/desktop at http://mixlr.com/usac-official/. You may also follow along with live timing from the event on the USAC app.

A practice night for the midgets opens the Winter Dirt Games XI festivities on Wednesday, February 6, at Bubba Raceway Park. Grandstand tickets are free while pit passes are $20 apiece. The Sunoco Southern Fuels Gladiators will also be on the event card with the midgets all three nights.

BUBBA RACEWAY PARK USAC MIDGET WINNERS:

2019: Tyler Courtney (2/8) & Tyler Courtney (2/9)

FLORIDA USAC NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS RACE WINS:

1. (2) Tyler Courtney & Bob Wente

3. (1) Kyle Larson, Johnny Riva, Chuck Rodee & Bobby Santos

NASCAR CHAMPION JIMMIE JOHNSON TO SERVE AS USAC.25 SERIES HONORARY GRAND MARSHAL AT DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY

Seven-time NASCAR champion and two-time Daytona 500 winner, Jimmie Johnson, has been named the Honorary Grand Marshal for the USAC.25 Series' national race at Daytona International Speedway Feb 6-9, 2020.

The driver of the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports is the only driver to win five consecutive NASCAR championships (2006-2010). Since his rookie year in 2002, Johnson has earned 83 wins (tied with Cale Yarborough) and holds the most wins at Dover International Speedway (11), Charlotte Motor Speedway (8) and Texas Motor Speedway (7). He returns to Daytona Speedweeks as the most recent winner of the NASCAR Clash.

The 2020 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup season marks Johnson's 19th and final season as a full-time NASCAR driver.

"I'm looking forward to this event," said Johnson, who hails from El Cajon, Calif. "I can only imagine how exciting it is for these kids to be competing at Daytona and being able to see the drivers they look up to at the same time. There could be another future NASCAR driver among the kids who are racing in USAC now, so I'm proud to be the Honorary Grand Marshal and looking forward to checking it out - kids rule."

Johnson complements the long and impressive list of former USAC.25 Honorary Grand Marshals. Iconic and legendary drivers like Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, Josef Newgarden, Arie Luyendyk, James Hinchcliffe, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Alexander Rossi and Kyle Busch have all taken the time to speak to these young passionate drivers.

The 2020 event marks the third consecutive time the USAC.25 series has kicked off its season at the world-renowned motor sports facility. A 1/20th mile-long tri-oval racetrack will be temporarily constructed on a paved section inside DIS. Young drivers and their families from all over the country will travel to DIS to compete in this event.

With at least 48 USAC.25 clubs located all across the country, thousands of kids ages five and up, along with their families, participate in USAC-sanctioned quarter midget series events. Some notable NASCAR graduates of quarter midget racing include Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Alex Bowman, Justin Allgaier, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland.

Tickets for all DAYTONA Speedweeks Presented By AdventHealth events can be purchased online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com or by calling 1-800-PISHOP. Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Snapchat, and by downloading Daytona International Speedway's mobile app.

#01 Anthony D'Alessio at speed during USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition in July of 2019 at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway.
(Rich Forman Photo)

D'ALESSIO TO CONTEND

FOR USAC SPRINT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR IN 2020

Speedway, Indiana (January 10, 2020).........Anthony D'Alessio is stepping up to challenge for USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year honors in the upcoming 2020 season.

D'Alessio, in conjunction with Parallax Motorsports, will field one entry as an owner/driver for the 2020 slate, which features 46 events at 23 different venues, most of which D'Alessio will be experiencing for the first time, beginning in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. for Winter Dirt Games XI.

"I am beyond excited for the upcoming season," D'Alessio exclaimed. "It is a dream come true, and I can't wait to hit the track in February in my home state of Florida. I want to thank everyone who has helped me get this far. We still have plenty of work to do."

The 19-year-old from Apollo Beach, Fla., is approaching the 2020 season with tenacity and drive after relocating to Indiana in 2018 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional race car driver. In preparation, D'Alessio ran Indiana Sprint Week in 2019 along with racing at many local Indiana tracks in his first full year in a non-wing sprint car.

D'Alessio made one USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature start in 2019, winning his heat race and finishing 20th at Kokomo Speedway during Indiana Sprint Week.

He moved from Florida with a plethora of racing experience and several accolades. Starting at a young age in go karts as well as one season in dirt modifieds, he transitioned to sprint car racing in Florida, earning 2016 Top Gun Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year and 2017 Rookie of the Year honors with the Southern Shootout Sprint Car Series in the Sunshine State.

The 2020 season openers for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship begin in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. Midgets hit the track for practice on Feb. 6 with two full nights of racing to follow on Feb. 7-8. The sprints take their turn the following week with practice on Feb. 12 and three-straight nights of full racing programs on Feb. 13-14-15.

The Five Three Motorsports No. 53 which will be driven in 2020 on the dirt portion of the USAC Silver Crown schedule by Shane Cockrum.
(Lee Greenawalt Photo)

COCKRUM TEAMS WITH FIVE-THREE FOR 2020 SILVER CROWN RUN

January 9, 2020 (Joliet, Illinois).........Shane Cockrum, a three-time winner on the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series trail during his career, has joined Five Three Motorsports for the dirt portion of the series schedule for the 2020 season.

Cockrum, of Benton, Ill. and the Joliet, Ill.-based Schuck family's Five-Three Motorsports form a formidable pairing of USAC winning driver and a team who is eager to win its first ever USAC Silver Crown race in the coming season.

"I've had a relationship with the Schuck family since they entered USAC Silver Crown racing as a team and I've watched them steadily grow into a serious contender," Cockrum said. "They work hard, field great equipment and are what's right about Silver Crown racing. I'm looking forward to putting our minds together for a celebration in victory lane."

The FTM team had fielded Steve Buckwalter in the No. 53 since 2015, but the combo announced it had parted ways one week ago. FTM and Buckwalter nearly reached victory lane in 2019 at Williams Grove Speedway Mechanicsburg, Pa.

With the combo of a proven race winner and a hungry race team seeking its initial victory, FTM feels they have the pilot to get the job done in Cockrum, a two-time Ted Horn 100 winner at the Du Quoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds in 2014-2015 and at the Terre Haute Action Track's Sumar Classic in 2015.

"Five Three Motorsports looks forward to the addition of Shane to the team," an FTM spokesperson stated. "He brings with him a race winning pedigree that is unrivaled."

The series' newest combo will make its debut on Thursday, May 21 at Terre Haute for the Sumar Classic, which comes nearly five years following Cockrum's most recent Silver Crown victory at the western Indiana dirt half-mile.

Carson Short (Marion, Ill.)
(Steve Koletar Photo)

SHORT TEAMS UP WITH DAIGH/PHILLIPS

FOR 2020 USAC SPRINT CAMPAIGN

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (January 2, 2020).........Marion, Ill. pilot Carson Short will compete on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car trail in 2020 for Daigh/Phillips Motorsports beginning with the season openers on February 13-14-15 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.

Short, a one-time winner with the series during the 2016 Indiana Sprint Week round at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., has driven his family-owned No. 21 on the circuit since 2014. For 2020, the ninth-place driver in last season's standings will be back in black, this time with the No. 71p for the team which has won 19 series events since 2013 with drivers Dave Darland (17) and Jason McDougal (2).

McDougal vacated the Daigh/Phillips Motorsports seat during the offseason, allowing Short the opportunity to jump in the seat for 2020.

"I got word that Jason was going to do something else this year and not run the sprint car, so I called them up," Short recalled. "I try to keep a good close relationship with everybody, but I related more to them just because they're a smaller team, a family team per se, and just good, dedicated racers. I kind of based my stuff off that as well. They're family owned and they're there to race and not much else, and they're strongly passionate about it."

Short, whose offseason job throughout this winter involves laying pipeline in North Carolina, is proud to join a team whose 19 career wins with the series rank them within the 25 in USAC National Sprint Car history. Short's three top-fives and 14 top-tens in 26 starts during the 2019 season ranked him within the top-ten in all three categories, and he feels the transition to Daigh/Phillips should be a match, considering their passion, talent and both having regularly competed utilizing the DRC chassis.

"(Steve Phillips) isn't there for any BS," Short stated. "He's there to win races and contend for a championship because that's what pays the bills. I can relate a lot to that. When I race my car, that race dictates what race I'm going to after that. With him setting up the cars for as many different drivers as he has, I don't think there'll be a problem with him and I mending well."

The debut of the Short and Daigh/Phillips combo will begins in February in Ocala, Fla. where Short recorded fast qualifying time and established new one-lap USAC Sprint Car track records on successive nights to open the year.

David Byrne (Shullsburg, Wisc.)
(Dave Olson Photo)

BYRNE REFRESHES FOR 2020

AFTER CAREER-BEST USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (January 2, 2020).........For David Byrne, 2019 was a season of promise that saw him display the championship and race-winning potential that he has been building toward since becoming a full-time competitor with the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series in 2016.

For Byrne, 2019 was also a season that saw a number of coulda, shoulda moments for wins and a position in the championship race that managed to slip through his grip. However, success was still plentiful for Byrne and crew with a career-best third place finish in the standings at season's end.

In 2020, Byrne and crew aim to up their game once more, although Byrne felt the team took a small step backwards in terms of speed on the pavement side of things last year. With a step up in their dirt program, they are bound and determined to get the pavement part of the deal up to snuff and compete for a title with the likes of Kody Swanson and Justin Grant who occupied the top two spots in the series in each of the past two years.

"I actually thought we were down a little bit on speed on pavement which is why we're building a brand-new car and everything for next year," Byrne explained. "I thought we exceeded expectations on the dirt, except for Eldora. I would grade us a B for the season overall."

The team plans to keep last year's primary pavement car as a spare, and put a newer, lighter Beast chassis with newer parts, plus the same popular Pancho Carter/Steve Stapp throwback color scheme and the same goals.

"If we're not battling for the championship this year, it would be a bit of a disappointment," Byrne stated. "Obviously, running stronger on the half-mile dirt tracks would be great and we're right there on the dirt miles. We just maybe need a little more experience and more patience on that."

Byrne's start to the 2019 season had its share of challenges. He led 20 laps in the opener at Memphis and was at the front before a power steering failure dropped him to 10th, a similar issue that reared its ugly head while running second later in August at the Salem high banks.

Following up Memphis was a 19th on the pavement of Toledo following late-race engine woes which saw him running as high as third two-thirds of the way in. From there, the team dug in and performed strong on what had previously served as their Achilles Heel - the dirt.

Byrne qualified for the outside of row three and ran in the top-five for the first 95 laps of the Hoosier Hundred on the Indiana State Fairgrounds dirt mile, dropping back to a still-solid 7th at race's end. The following night on pavement, it was a 6th at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis and a 7th three weeks later on the half-mile dirt oval of Williams Grove.

A late June stop at Wisconsin's Madison International Speedway provided Byrne his lone shot to compete in front of his home crowd. Byrne shined in his best result of the year, a front row start, 12 laps led and a 3rd place finish in which he performed in front of an impressive throng of supporters, and where the series returns in 2020, on Friday, June 19.

"It means a lot to do well there," Byrne admitted. "I think we had 60 people up there this year, so it's always nice because you talk about all these good things you're doing and how great you did, and finally, people can lay eyes on how good you are how steep the competition is."

The second of Byrne's two top-fives came at Salem where he was in contention throughout despite a power steering fault late in the game. Another top-ten start and a seventh-place finish came to Byrne on the magic mile of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds dirt track. He rounded out the pavement portion of the schedule at LOR in September with a 6th, the place where he retains fond memories of a last lap, last corner pass to win at during July of 2014.

Byrne, admittedly, struggled at Eldora in the season finale on the half-mile, high-banked dirt oval where he started 13th and finished 15th in the 27-car field.

At the end of the campaign, Byrne and crew had plenty to reminisce fondly over. The Shullsburg, Wisc. native's eighth season of USAC Silver Crown competition was his best overall, a season in which he churned out a stretch of seven consecutive top-seven finishes throughout the spring and summer months en route to a career-best third-place overall standing in the final points.

That achievement put Byrne up on the stage for USAC's Night of Champions in December of 2019 for the first-time, an experience in which he relishes, never forgetting just how far he's come since making his first USAC appearance, in a midget, at the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway in 2002.

"It was pretty awesome," Byrne exclaimed. "I didn't know what the length of the speeches consisted of because I had never even been to (the USAC banquet) before. For myself, my family and the race team, before (crew chief "Chuy" Sandberg) and even with Chuy, I think we had been to something like ten Night Before the 500s and never even made the race. To get third in the Silver Crown points, I think it's my family's will and persistence and getting with somebody of Chuy's caliber that's stuck with us for this many years. It's finally kind of taken this long to click."

Byrne and company will open the 2020 USAC Silver Crown Champ Car season with the series' debut at Tennessee's Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Sunday afternoon, May 3.

Zeb Wise of Angola, Ind.
(Dave Dellinger Photo)

WISE AND HOLLAN TO RUN PART-TIME

MIDGET SCHEDULE FOR KUNZ IN 2020

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 17, 2019).........Zeb Wise and Holley Hollan will compete on a part-time basis for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian throughout the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season.

Angola, Indiana's Wise will hit a handful of USAC Midget events on the schedule with Kunz that don't conflict with his recently announced deal to compete on the Ollie's Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions tour. Wise has tentative plans to run a partial Indiana Midget Week schedule, BC39 and assorted November events on the west coast.

Eighteen-year-old Hollan, meanwhile, will take on a similar part-time USAC Midget role with Kunz to coincide with her plans to compete in a stock car this year. The exact midget schedule for the Broken Arrow, Okla. native is yet to be determined for the driver who, in 2019, competed as a Rookie with the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship.

She finished 16th in points, fourth best among all Rookies, with two heat race wins and a top finish of 11th in March at the Shamrock Classic.

Wise, who just recently turned 17 years old, became USAC's youngest ever National series winner at the age of 15 in 2018 at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway during Pennsylvania Midget Week. Racing out of the Clauson/Marshall Racing stable, Wise finished 5th in the final USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget standings for 2019 with three wins at Action Track USA, Linda's Speedway (both in Pennsylvania) and snagged the BC39 at The Dirt Track at IMS in September.

Wise's capability to step in the car, even on a part-time basis, has Kunz elated to bring him into the fold for the car owner who has captured 10 previous USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget owner titles and the second most wins in USAC National Midget history with 109.

"I'm really excited to have Zeb because he went toe-to-toe with Kyle (Larson) there a few times and came out on top," Kunz recalled. "I've been watching him for the last couple of years and he's come a long way. He's definitely one of the major players in midget racing right now and with him coming to our team, I'm just really looking forward to it."

Wise and Hollan join previously announced full-time teammates Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) and Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) on the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget trail.

Logan Seavey on the night of his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in August of 2019.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

SEAVEY JOINS REINBOLD-UNDERWOOD

FOR 2020 USAC SPRINT TITLE CHASE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 15, 2019).........A pairing between a USAC National championship winning driver and team will greet the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour as Logan Seavey has agreed to partner up with Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports for a full-time run with the series in 2020.

Seavey, of Sutter, Calif. captured the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget title and finished as the runner-up to Tyler Courtney during this year's campaign with three victories and an Indiana Midget Week title under his belt.

The 22-year-old driver joins Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports, who snagged the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car owner championship with driver C.J. Leary in 2019. Last week, Leary announced his plans to race for Gene Gile Racing for 2020.

In turn, Seavey steps into the championship-ready seat as the new driver for the team, although he has plenty of previous experience with the Arizona-based operation.

In 2019, Seavey's eight starts all came in a second Reinbold/Underwood car, resulting in his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory on the second night of Sprint Car Smackdown VIII at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in August where he led all 30 laps.

Seavey was 5th the following night during the Smackdown finale and was the fastest qualifier during the Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway in November. Seavey was also victorious in USAC Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Car competition with Reinbold/Underwood in April of 2019 at Arizona Speedway.

Through the bevy of offseason shuffling, Seavey and Reinbold/Underwood feel their previous experience will allow them to hit the ground running to start the 2020 season in pursuit of a series title.

"Our team chemistry is good," Seavey relayed. "I've been racing with the team for a little over a year and we've run 20 or so races together, so that's a big start. I've already run a couple of USAC seasons, so I've been to a lot of the racetracks we're going to and raced against pretty much every guy we're going to be racing against next year. We're definitely not starting from scratch by any means. I think we'll come out of the gate good and compete for a championship."

Seavey's made just 21 career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car starts but has been impressive in limited appearances. His efforts in 2018 resulted in being named the series co-Rookie of the Year along with Timmy Buckwalter. It's those intangibles that Seavey possesses that team co-owner Andy Reinbold sought in his decision to put the talented driver in the seat of his No. 19AZ.

"He brings a lot of qualities, but the best is the car control that he has," Reinbold said of Seavey. "He understands what it takes to win a championship, but our primary goal is to win races. We ran limited sprint car races together in the big scheme of things compared to what I have back west with other people, myself, with C.J. and Davey Jones. That experience is what it takes to win championships and we're both like-minded in wanting to win races. That's our primary goal. Every race, we want to be there to compete."

"We're thrilled to provide Logan his first opportunity to chase a USAC National Sprint Car title," Reinbold continued. "We're into the development of racecar drivers and can't wait to see first-hand how Logan develops throughout this coming season."

2016 USAC Silver Crown champion Chris Windom of Canton, Ill.
(Cameron Neveu Photo)

2020 USAC SILVER CROWN SEASON TO OPEN AT NASHVILLE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Nashville, Tennessee (December 14, 2019).........The 2020 USAC Silver Crown Champ Car season will open with the series' debut at Tennessee's Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on Sunday afternoon, May 3.

The half-mile, high-banked pavement oval has hosted six previous USAC National events, but none yet thus far with USAC's Silver Crown division. The last visit came during the 2004 season with Sprint Cars, a twin bill of 77-lap main events won by Bobby East and Dave Steele.

USAC National Midgets have raced on the famed track three times. The first such meeting came in a 100-lap event won by three-time series champ Jimmy Davies in 1960. Dale Swaim captured the Nashville victory the following year in 1961 while 2017 National Midget Hall of Fame inductee Tommy Copp took the final series visit there in 1963.

Ken Schrader took a victory in the city of Nashville in 1988, winning indoors at the Municipal Auditorium in a 100-lap midget feature on the concrete surface.

Silver Crown cars tested at nearby Nashville Superspeedway in 2001, but not yet has a Silver Crown car made a lap in competition in the Music City.

The Silver Crown Champ Cars have made five previous appearances in the state of Tennessee, all of which have occurred in Memphis. Dave Steele won the first in 1998, followed by Brad Noffsinger in 1999, Brian Tyler in 2000, Steele again in 2004 and Kody Swanson just last year during the 2019 season opener.

Kingsburg, California's Swanson, a five-time Silver Crown champion who is the series all-time leader in wins and poles with 29 in each category, is among the expected entries along with 2019 series runner-up Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.), May 2019 Lucas Oil Raceway winner Kyle Hamilton (Danville, Ind.), 10-time Silver Crown winner Bobby Santos (Franklin, Mass.) and 2019 third-place driver David Byrne (Shullsburg, Wisc.) among many others.

Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Calif.)
(Devin Mayo Photo)

KOFOID & PURSLEY GO FULL-TIME FOR KUNZ IN 2020

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 14, 2019).........Buddy Kofoid and Daison Pursley will fill two slots on the full-time driver roster for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian as the pair pursue Rookie of the Year honors with the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship in 2020.

Penngrove, California's Kofoid came aboard to pilot a midget for KKM on the November western swing in 2019 where he made four feature starts, topping out with a 6th place result in the season finale at California's Ventura Raceway, finishing as the second-best Rookie at the Turkey Night Grand Prix.

The 17-year-old versatile 2019 Fremont (Ohio) Speedway wing sprint car champion is pumped for his opportunity to join a legendary team which has produced 11 USAC National Midget owner titles between team principles Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby with drivers Jason Leffler, Cole Whitt, Bryan Clauson, Christopher Bell, Rico Abreu, Tanner Thorson, Spencer Bayston and Logan Seavey over the past two-plus decades.

"I'm really excited to run for Keith and Pete next year with Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian," Kofoid said. "I've always wanted to drive for them, and it's been a fun experience so far this year. I'm looking forward to doing a lot more next year. They have a great reputation and have had some of the best drivers, so I know I will learn a lot."

Pursley, of Locust Grove, Okla., also made four series starts for KKM on the 2019 western trip, finishing a best of 12th on the final night of the Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway.

The 15-year-old 2017 USAC Micro Sprint champion got off to a fast start in his USAC Midget career, winning his heat race in each of his first two career series appearances in November at Arizona.

"Everybody races really clean," Pursley observed. "There's a lot of respect on the USAC tour and there's a bunch of good guys out there. I need to work on things to get better because they've got more experience than I do. USAC's been around a long time and this is where you want to be if you want to be the best in dirt racing."

As Rookie hopefuls Kofoid and Pursley take their turn behind the wheel, they aim to follow in the footsteps of previous USAC National Midget ROY's out of the KKM fleet such as Darren Hagen, Clauson, Kyle Larson, Abreu, Bell, Carson Macedo, Tanner Carrick and Seavey.

The 2019 USAC National Champions (left to right): Kody Swanson (Silver Crown), C.J. Leary (Sprint) and Tyler Courtney (Midget).
(Jeremey Rhoades Photo)

SWANSON, LEARY AND COURTNEY

SHARE SPOTLIGHT AT 2019 NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 13, 2019).........USAC National driving champions Kody Swanson, C.J. Leary and Tyler Courtney shared the spotlight along with other 2019 USAC champions and special award recipients at Friday night's 64th USAC Night of Champions celebration at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis, Ind.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS:

The record books were rewritten once again by Kingsburg, California's Kody Swanson who, it seems, is able to withstand and thrive in every challenging situation thrown at him. After joining a new team and fighting through mechanical woes at certain points throughout the season, he won five times and led a staggering 404 laps, just under half of all laps run in the series this year, en route to an unprecedented fifth Silver Crown driving title.

With a combo of pavement specialist Kyle Hamilton and dirt guru Brady Bacon, the white No. 6 of Klatt Enterprises out of Hastings, Neb. was a mainstay at the front of the field on both surfaces with both drivers, each of whom collected their first Silver Crown victories for the team in 2019, with Bacon adding one more in the finale at Eldora to clinch the Silver Crown owner title for longtime entrant Terry Klatt.

After teaming up during last year's offseason, C.J. Leary and Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports immediately found a winning groove during their USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season 2019 on their journey to a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car driver and owner title. They won their third race out of the box in Ocala, Fla. and took the lead for good in May and held it for the remainder of the season. The team's first finish outside the top-ten didn't come until August, leading to an extreme knack for consistency that saw them finish in the top-ten 32 times in 34 starts. Along the way, they captured both the Eastern Storm and Indiana Sprint Week title and the Oval National in Perris, Calif. Their 11 fast qualifying times rank as the third most ever in a single USAC National Sprint Car season.

Becoming a National Sprint Car entrant champion is an incredible achievement that is the ultimate reward for a car owner at the conclusion of a hard-fought year. This year's award carried an extra special meaning after Richard Hoffman's passing this past April. Hoffman was the most prolific car owner in USAC National Sprint Car history whose teams have earned more victories and more championships than any other team in the history of the series. This year, and forever more, the National Sprint Car entrant champion trophy will be named in honor of Richard Hoffman, and its first recipient was Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports.

A banner year in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition for Tyler Courtney and Clauson/Marshall Racing saw the combo claim their second USAC National title in as many years following a 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title. Their eight feature wins in 30 starts were the most victories by any team/driver combo in a single USAC National Midget season since Jeff Gordon and Rollie Helmling in 1990. In addition, they led the series in all major categories with 175 laps led, 20 top-fives, 26 top-tens, 8 fast qualifying times and 9 heat race wins to win the title by 179 points.

REGIONAL SERIES:

USAC's Regional Sprint Car and Midget series hit dirt tracks from coast-to-coast throughout 2019, leading to a total of 103 races being contested and producing six different champions across the six series.

With domination over the series for much of the past decade, Damion Gardner, of Concord, Calif., earned his seventh consecutive AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car title and eighth overall, grabbing three wins at Bakersfield, Perris and Santa Maria along with 11 top-fives, 18 top-tens and a remarkable 10 fast times in 23 starts.

A nearly perfect campaign in the Rapid Tire Service East Coast Sprints saw Reading, Pennsylvania's Steven Drevicki driver earn a series-leading 5 victories and 11 top-five finishes in all 11 starts, please welcome to the stage for a second straight year.

Another driver reaching the big stage again with his second Wingless Sprints Oklahoma driving title in as many years was Brett Wilson of Coweta, Okla., who accumulated a series best in every statistical category with three wins and 11 top-fives in 12 starts.

Knocking out three wins in 2019 at California's Ventura, Tulare and Santa Maria Raceways, Tristan Guardino, of Fremont, Calif., took an early season point lead in March that he never relinquished, picking up 3 feature scores, 9 top-fives and 11 top-tens and a pair of fast times in 13 starts.

Garden Grove, California's utilized three different teams en route to the 2019 Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Car title. Despite that, he managed wins in two of those rides at Canyon Speedway in April and September, and connected on 10 top-fives, 13 top-tens and one quick time in 18 starts for his third career USAC championship in three different divisions (2009 Western Focus Midget & 2017 West Coast Sprint).

In a championship battle that came down to the final event, Robert Dalby of Anaheim, Calif. emerged with his first career USAC Western States Midget title after clicking off a trio of consecutive victories at Merced, Santa Maria and Ventura during a summer stretch which also saw him garner 6 top-fives, 8 top-tens and a single fast qualifying time among his 13 starts.

DEVELOPMENTAL SERIES:

The four Speed2 Midget series, plus the Midwest Mini Sprint Association took part in a total of 76 events spanning 11 different states in 2019 from the Northeast to the East Coast to the Midwest, producing five champions.

On the strength of 3 wins, 11 top-fives and a top-ten finish in all 12 of his starts throughout the season, Springfield, Ohio's Aaron Leffel won his third consecutive Midwest Thunder Speed2 Midget championship by a 22-point margin over Stratton Briggs.

No driver has won more often and won as many titles in Engler Machine IMRA Midget competition under the USAC banner as Mason City, Illinois driver Andy Baugh who notched his second consecutive series crown 8 wins, 13 top-fives and 14 top-tens in 16 series starts.

Five victories and 11 top-three finishes in 13 starts were more than enough to secure a first career USAC DMA Speed2 Midget title for Will Hull of Plainfield, Vermont.

No female driver has ever won three USAC championships, let alone three-in-a-row, which Jessica Bean did this year with the USAC Eastern Speed2 Midget series, closing out strong with victories in the final three races of the year to win the title by a comfortable 185-point margin.

Continuing a theme, the Midwest Mini Sprint Association crowned a back-to-back champ after Cody Trammell of Bloomington, Ind. secured a series-high six victories during his 2019 campaign.

ACTION TRACK USA CHAMPIONS:

Action Track USA in Kutztown, Pennsylvania served as host to a myriad of events throughout the summer events, culminating with its 2019 champions, Billy Pauch, Jr., Kenny Miller and Dylan Hoch.

SpeedSTR champion Billy Pauch, Jr. of Milford, N.J. is the all-time leader in victories at Action Track USA with 18, and this year, he earned his fourth career SpeedSTR championship and second in a row following three wins and an 85-point margin.

Kenny Miller, of Morgantown, Pa., a Millersville University sophomore, captured his first Action Track USA championship on the strength of one victory and consistent top-ten finishes throughout the year to capture the title in the final race of the year by 81 markers to capture the Hyper Racing EVO Injection 600 Sprint championship.

Mertztown, Pennsylvania's Dylan Hoch recorded his third All Star Slingshots title on the basis of four feature wins in six races and dominated the division in 2019, defeating his nearest competitor by a whopping 195 points at season's end.

The state of Oklahoma has been a hotbed of USAC racing talent over the past several seasons, and a track where many of them cut their teeth - Port City Raceway - celebrated their first season under the USAC banner in 2019 with seven different division championships being crowned.

PORT CITY RACEWAY CHAMPIONS:

Brody McClelland, of Broken Arrow, Okla., scoring a pair of wins, 18 top-fives and 23 top-tens in 28 feature starts to claim the Port City Junior Sprint title.

Shawn Mahaffey, of Tulsa, Okla., doubled up as both the A-Class and Non-Wing division champion at Port City, picking up just one victory, but was the mark of consistency with 41 top-ten finishes in 50 combined starts.

In the restricted class, there was nothing holding back Rees Moran, of Tulsa, Okla., with three wins, 17 top-fives and 22 top-tens in 26 starts to edge out the title by 19 points.

Domination is the one word to describe Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native Ryan Cody's season in the Port City Sportsman division, with a series-high 13 wins, 24 top-fives and 26 top-tens in 28 starts.

Prevailing in a close battle throughout the 2019 season, Joel Smith, of Tulsa, Okla., scrapped his way back into title contention and ultimately triumphed by a mere 13 points to capture the Port City Outlaw championship.

A series-leading 4 wins, 17 top-fives and a top-ten finish in all 23 starts netted Matt Cash of Sperry, Okla. the Port City Masters driver championship for 2019.

.25 NATIONAL MIDGETS

Honored as USAC .25 Midget National Champions as a result of their accomplishments were multiple series titlists Gavin Miller (Sr. Honda Dirt, Sr. Animal Dirt, Light World Formula Dirt & Sr. Honda Pavement), Hunter Wise (Unrestricted Animal Dirt, Heavy World Formula Dirt & Heavy 160 Pavement), Jacob Denney (Unrestricted Animal Pavement & Heavy World Formula Pavement) and Collin Mitchell (Light World Formula Pavement & Light Formula Mod Pavement).

USAC .25 Dirt Midget champions for 2019 included Paul Hartwig III (Jr. Honda Dirt), Carson Dillion (Heavy Honda Dirt), Gunnar Pio (Light 160 Dirt), Thomas Prychka (Heavy 160 Dirt), Chase Schott (Jr. Animal Dirt) and Alex Ruppert (Light Formula Mod Dirt).

Pavement USAC .25 Midget champions included Case James (Jr. Honda Pavement), Holly Clark (Heavy Honda Pavement), Jackson White (Light 160 Pavement), Emory Johnson (Jr. Animal Pavement), Gavan Boschele (Sr. Animal Pavement) and Chase Spicola (Heavy Formula Mod Pavement).

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS:

Levi Jones earned a trio of major honors during the night, being named winner of the Roger McCluskey award as well as the inaugural Bryan Clauson Heart of a Hero Award presented by Driven2SaveLives. During USAC president Kevin Miller's presentation of the McCluskey Award, he named Jones as USAC's Executive Vice President beginning with the 2020 season. Following Taylor McClean's Heart of a Hero Award presentation, Jones announced he would award the $1,000 prize to the first driver during the 2020 USAC National season to record fast time and win the feature on the same night.

This year, USAC presented a new award, the Dick Jordan Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of an individual who's displayed tireless dedication and commitment to the betterment of USAC, photographer, USAC official, race promoter and car owner, John Mahoney. He's one who has had a profound positive impact within the USAC family and has earned the ultimate respect of his or her peers within the sport and whose legacy will persist for generations to follow. One who's set the standard for a lifetime of devotion to USAC as Dick Jordan did throughout his 50-year career and who was so integral to this Night of Champions. Mahoney is a man who's spent decades by D.J.'s side, traveling to races together and experiencing probably more D.J. adventures than all others combined. Like D.J., Mahoney's passion for racing is infectious and his dedication is solely based on his love for the sport, and in particular, USAC racing.

The Jason Leffler award exudes intense appreciation of the sport's history reflected in his professionalism and outstanding representation as an ambassador of the United States Auto Club, exhibiting the same standard of ideals upheld by the late Jason Leffler during his USAC racing career. Chase Stockon, of Fort Branch, Ind., is one who's stood among those giants and whose dedication to the sport and conduct has been exemplary and has set a high standard for other drivers to follow. We're talking about a man who, for eight straight year, and nearly 300 consecutive USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races, has rolled the car into the trailer, headed out onto the highway and qualified for the feature, setting a new standard among his peers and in the history books.

Dedicated to the memory of three-time USAC National Drivers Champion Bryan Clauson, the Mike Curb Super License went to Tyler Courtney by virtue of amassing the most total points between USAC's three National divisions throughout the year: Silver Crown, National Sprint and National Midget. This year, for the second year in a row, the $5,000 award was awarded to Courtney following an 18-win season on the USAC National trail in 2019 to equal A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones, who both had 18 in 1964, as the third most prolific season in the club's 64-year history

Along with the driver and car owner, there is a crew chief who works long hours in the trenches. These individuals don't usually get the limelight or the glory that drivers experience, but they're a key component to what it takes to make a racecar go fast, get to the front, win races, and ultimately a championship. For Davey Jones, a USAC National championship had eluded him until this season. You can call him a champion, but now you can also call him the USAC Chief Mechanic of the Year for 2019.

For their overall support of USAC racing and the contributions made to the series, teams, drivers, tracks and fans throughout the 2019 season, USAC recognized NOS Energy Drink as the winner of the Corporate Special Appreciation Award after going above and beyond to help elevate USAC racing to greater levels, providing an extra boost of energy to USAC and in establishing the BC39 event as well as activation of the series across all platforms, which has made NOS Energy Drink an outstanding addition to the USAC family.

Throughout the 2019 USAC National season, there've been drivers who've made an impact with their respective series that stood above their peers in their first season while one driver, in particular, has made impressive strides in becoming a regular contender at the front of the pack.

A pavement specialist by trade, Derek Bischak of Angola, Ind. was certainly special in his Rookie campaign on the Silver Crown in 2019, earning 4 top-tens in 6 starts, with a best of 7th at Wisconsin's Madison International Speedway and a 14th place finish in the standings to collect Silver Crown Rookie of the Year honors. Bischak will also be presented with a custom ear mold courtesy of Racing Electronics.

After a regular stint in the midgets out east the past couple of seasons, Collegeville, Pennsylvania's Andrew Layser made the leap the National trail in 2019 for Clauson/Marshall Racing, recording 8 top-ten finishes in 24 starts, including leading his first laps in July at Sweet Springs, Mo. Finishing 11th in points and collecting the Bob Stroud National Midget Rookie of the Year.

A true Rookie of sprint car racing in 2019, Dustin Clark, of Washington, Ind., made his first career sprint car start of any kind during the USAC season opener in Ocala, Fla. in February of this year. Ten months later, he's standing on the stage after collecting four heat race wins, 18 feature starts and an 14th place finish in the standings.

In his third full year on the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget trail, Tanner Carrick upped his game to a career-best 6th place finish in the standings and was one of only three drivers to start all 31 feature events during the 2019 season. The Lincoln, California native's six top-five finishes were highlighted by his first career series victory in July at Sweet Springs, Missouri.

In 2019, the legendary Knoxville Raceway brought to life what has already become one of the marquee events on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car calendar with the inaugural Corn Belt Nationals. The individuals at Knoxville have an unwavering support of sprint car racing, its teams and its drivers and have dedicated themselves to preserving history and, at the same time, creating new history. USAC is grateful to be a part of history in the making at Knoxville, and proudly presented this year's Race Organizer of the Year to Knoxville Raceway, who was represented by track promoter John McCoy.

Stacie Girard is an individual who's gone the extra yard in all aspects for the benefit of racers, teams, the events and the USAC community. She's sacrificed her time behind the scenes, in addition to working a full-time job, and is willing to step in to take on any task big or small without hesitation at the racetrack. With unmatched energy and enthusiasm, few have been as integral to the success of USAC and its events than her, the 2019 USAC Individual Special Appreciation award recipient.

Wilwood showed their continual support throughout the 2019 season and, they in turn have shown their support for USAC National drivers Tanner Carrick, Dustin Clark and Kyle Robbins with racing supplies heading into the 2020 season.

IRACING USAC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:

Meanwhile, USAC's newest series made its debut in a virtual way in 2019. With a three-race win streak in September and October, David Heileman locked up the iRacing USAC World Championship presented by FloRacing championship a week early to claim a two-day Cory Kruseman Driving School experience and a nice payday.

Andrew Layser has joined Tucker-Boat Motorsports for the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season.
(Dave Olson Photo)

LAYSER JOINS TUCKER-BOAT FOR 2020 USAC MIDGET SLATE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 14, 2019).........Andrew Layser, who on Friday was named Rookie of the Year for the 2019 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season, has teamed up with Tucker-Boat Motorsports to tackle the entire series schedule in his sophomore season of 2020.

After serving as a regular in the midgets out east in 2017-18, the Collegeville, Pa. native made the leap to the National trail this past year for Clauson/Marshall Racing where he recorded eight top-ten finishes in 24 starts, including leading his first laps in July at Sweet Springs, Mo.

The three-time winner in USAC's Eastern Speed2 Midget division finished 11th in USAC National Midget points for 2019, but the 18-year old gasser is eager to up his game this coming season with a full season now under his belt.

"I think it's a great opportunity for me," Layser exclaimed. "(Team owner) Chad (Boat) is a great driver, a great crew chief and a great mentor, and I'm really looking forward to working with him for the whole 2020 season. They have a great foundation for a team, and I think that showed with how strong they were this past year."

Tucker-Boat Motorsports captured two victories in 2019 with team owner Boat behind the wheel at Pennsylvania's Path Valley Speedway Park and with Gio Scelzi at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway. Layser will be paired as a teammate alongside Chris Windom, a two-time USAC National Champion who scored a pair of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget wins himself in 2019.

"Seeing the results that Chad's had over the years, and with the others who've driven for him, it's obvious his cars are top notch," Layser relayed. "On any given night, you can win, and that's the goal for me this year, to go out there and have good runs, and hopefully, the wins will fall into place. I see what he's doing not only as a team, but what he does for his drivers. That really appealed to me and I really couldn't be more excited to be working with him."

Boat has observed Layser both on-track and off in recent years and is confident in what he's witnessed, a driver who is continually growing and can very well develop into a premier contender as he gains more experience.

"I think Andrew has a great foundation," Boat said. "Obviously, he's worked with some good teams and I think that foundation will carry him into next year. I believe that by him going to these tracks for a second time, he'll be able to pick up right where he left off. When somebody gains experience then has a little bit of an offseason to think about, you see them excel. I think you saw that with Zeb (Wise) last year and I think there's no reason Andrew can't put up the same results."

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) has joined Tucker-Boat Motorsports for the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season.
(Josh James Artwork)

WINDOM SIGNS WITH TUCKER-BOAT

FOR 2020 USAC MIDGET SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 13, 2019).........Two-time USAC National champion Chris Windom will compete for Tucker-Boat Motorsports on the full USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship schedule during the 2020 season.

Windom's 2016 Silver Crown and 2017 AMSOIL National Sprint Car titles have him just one USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship shy of becoming the seventh USAC Triple Crown champion to have won all three National series titles in his career, which would join him with Tony Stewart, J.J. Yeley, Pancho Carter, Dave Darland, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Tracy Hines.

The Canton, Ill. native, who now resides in St. Louis, Mo., believes Tucker-Boat Motorsports provides him with an opportunity to become the next in that group.

"They run a top-notch operation," Windom said. "They pay close attention to detail, as does everyone at the top of the midget standings, but I just felt like I've always gotten along great with Chad, and at this point I'm at in my career, this is the right move for me."

Windom arrives at Tucker-Boat Motorsports following a successful 2019 campaign with Clauson/Marshall Racing with whom he collected his first two career series wins at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and Pennsylvania's Grandview Speedway. Following the season, Windom and CMR parted ways. The free agent driver then scoped out the possible landing spots and a deal was made with Tucker-Boat to step into a full-time ride.

"I have nothing bad to say about anybody at CMR," Windom stated. "We had a great year, and without Tyler having a record setting season, I think we would've been battling for a championship. I have nothing but good things to say about all those guys there. They definitely worked their butts off to give me a great car all year, but once I left there, I felt this was the best opportunity out there to go to."

With primary sponsorship from NOS Energy Drink, Windom takes on the role for a team which won two events in 2019 with two different drivers, team owner Chad Boat at Pennsylvania's Path Valley Speedway Park and with Gio Scelzi at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway.

"I've had the opportunity to race with Chris for a long time," Boat recalled. "We've both been around USAC and done other types of racing and I think we'll complement each other very well. I think, as a driver, I have an understanding of what he'll need in the car. We definitely have high expectations for the team that we can go out and compete for wins every night."

4-wide USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget action was more the rule than the exception in 2019.
(Danny Clum Photo)

2020 USAC NATIONAL MIDGET SCHEDULE IS LARGEST SINCE 1988

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 12, 2019).........USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets will embark on their largest schedule of events in over three decades when the series hits the trail for the start of their 65th season on Feb. 7-8 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., the opening night of Winter Dirt Games XI.

The series schedule has grown to 39 events for the 2020 campaign, the most events on the slate since 1988. It's a schedule which includes a mix of first-time venues and returns to tracks after lengthy absences along with traditional, annual events which have seen a tweak for the coming year.

March 7 marks the season's lone indoor event, the fifth running of the Shamrock Classic at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin. April roars like a lion with two nights at "The Ditch" on April 10-11 for the series' return to Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Arkansas for the first time since 2016. Meanwhile, back-to-back nights at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway for the Kokomo Grand Prix fill the calendar on April 24-25.

The 1/8-mile bullring of Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. debuts on the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget stage in 2020 with consecutive nights of racing on May 15-16.

Thirty-four years ago, John Andretti scored his first and only career USAC National Midget feature win at Paragon Speedway. It's been absent from the series schedule ever since, but this year on June 2, that all changes when the 1/4-mile paperclip-shaped oval welcomes the series as the opener to the 16th edition of Indiana Midget Week. Indiana Midget Week continues to groove for each of the following five nights with Gas City I-69 Speedway on June 3, Lincoln Park Speedway on June 4, Bloomington Speedway on June 5, Lawrenceburg Speedway on June 6 and Kokomo on June 7.

Dirt Oval 66 in Joliet, Ill. is back on the tour again on June 20, leading into the third edition of the BC39 at The Dirt Track at IMS in Speedway, Ind. which will be showcased on a brand-new summertime slot, July 1-2. Mid-America USA is the next stop for the Midwest Midget Championships on July 17-18 at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb., followed by a yet-to-be-announced event on July 19 and Tuesday Night Thunder at Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla.

The newly-christened Eastern Midget Week has expanded beyond the state of Pennsylvania for the first time in its six-year existence, although the Keystone state still possesses four of the five nights beginning at Grandview Speedway (Bechtelsville) on August 4, Action Track USA (Kutztown) on August 5, New Jersey's Bridgeport Speedway debuts on August 6, with the last pair of nights going back to Pennsylvania for Path Valley Speedway Park (Spring Run) on August 7 and Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Newmanstown) on August 8.

Missouri's Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex has expanded to back-to-back nights on Labor Day weekend, September 4-5, as has Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, which has added a full midget show to Friday night's 4-Crown Nationals festivities, followed by another round on Saturday at the famed half-mile dirt oval.

October takes the series to two tracks which witnessed two barnburner shows in 2019, Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Ill. for the Jason Leffler Memorial on October 9, followed by the Harvest Cup on October 10 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.

November of 2019 was the busiest stretch out west in the history of USAC National Midget racing. In 2020, the schedule gets even busier beginning with two nights of the 53rd Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway on November 13-14. Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway moves to a new Tuesday night slot on November 17 while the Hangtown 100, which debuted with much fanfare last month at California's Placerville Speedway, has expanded from two to three nights for 2020 on November 19-20-21. The 80th edition of the prestigious Turkey Night Grand Prix returns to the seaside oval of California's Ventura Raceway on Thanksgiving night on November 26.

2020 USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET SCHEDULE

Feb 7: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Feb 8: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Mar 7: (A) Southern Illinois Center (Du Quoin, IL)

Apr 10: Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)

Apr 11: Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)

Apr 24: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Apr 25: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

May 15: Port City Raceway (Tulsa, OK)

May 16: Port City Raceway (Tulsa, OK)

Jun 2: Paragon Speedway (Paragon, IN)

Jun 3: Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

Jun 4: Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)

Jun 5: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

Jun 6: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Jun 7: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Jun 20: Dirt Oval 66 (Joliet, IL)

Jul 1-2: (A) The Dirt Track at IMS (Speedway, IN)

Jul 17: Jefferson County Speedway (Fairbury, NE)

Jul 18: Jefferson County Speedway (Fairbury, NE)

Jul 19: TBA

Jul 21: Red Dirt Raceway (Meeker, OK)

Aug 4: Grandview Speedway (Bechtelsville, PA)

Aug 5: Action Track USA (Kutztown, PA)

Aug 6: Bridgeport Speedway (Swedesboro, NJ)

Aug 7: Path Valley Speedway Park (Spring Run, PA)

Aug 8: Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway (Newmanstown, PA)

Sep 4: Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (Sweet Springs, MO)

Sep 5: Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex (Sweet Springs, MO)

Sep 25: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Sep 26: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Oct 9: (A) Wayne County Speedway (Wayne City, IL)

Oct 10: Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)

Nov 13: Arizona Speedway (San Tan Valley, AZ)

Nov 14: Arizona Speedway (San Tan Valley, AZ)

Nov 17: Bakersfield Speedway (Bakersfield, CA)

Nov 19: (A) Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)

Nov 20: (A) Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)

Nov 21: (A) Placerville Speedway (Placerville, CA)

Nov 25-26: Ventura Raceway (Ventura, CA)

-----------------------------

(A) = Appearance Points Only

C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.)
(Josh James Artwork)

CHAMP LEARY TO RUN #1 FOR GILE ON 2020 USAC SPRINT TRAIL

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Indianapolis, Indiana (December 12, 2019).........Recently crowned champion C.J. Leary is on the move to Gene Gile Racing where he will pilot car No. 1 on the full USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car trail in 2020.

Leary makes the move to the Phoenix, Arizona-based GGR team following a single season at Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports in 2019, which resulted in a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title following two victories and series best 32 top-ten finishes in 34 starts.

However, the GGR team, led by Gene and his son, USAC Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprint Car driver Dennis Gile, have had an eye on putting a program in place for Leary of Greenfield, Ind.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to drive for these guys," Leary said. "Dennis has been trying to get me to run for him this whole past year. He had been hinting to me that he's been wanting to do something. Finally, everything came together."

Leary's exodus from Reinbold/Underwood came just days following their championship celebration at Arizona Speedway in mid-November. The team moved forward with other plans, leaving Leary with the opportunity to team up with Gile this next season.

"Andy (Reinbold) let me go at the end of the season," Leary explained. "He just said he couldn't make a commitment to me. He did everything he said he was going to. We set out to win a championship and that's what we did. There's no hard feelings there."

Along with Leary, his championship winning crew chief Davey Jones has made the migration to GGR as well. With two months remaining until the season opener, the combo now has a team to put together basically from scratch and they're up to the task.

"We've got a long two months ahead of us before Florida," Leary reiterates. "I'm really looking forward to getting started. I don't really like the offseason with the down time and what not. The biggest part is the waiting game. We ordered four new motors from 1-Way Technology, ordered six new DRC cars from Joe Devin and six new rear ends from DMI. This stuff just doesn't happen overnight. Until we get all the parts to assemble the cars, we're just going to sit around and wait. When we get everything, it'll only take a couple days to build the cars. We've got a truck and trailer and a new mule on order. It's an all new team and it's going to be top notch. We're going to come out of the gate swinging."

With the switch to No. 1 for 2020, Leary becomes the first reigning USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion to sport the number since Robert Ballou in 2016, something of which the 23-year-old driver has yet to do in his career.

"I've never run the No. 1 before," Leary admitted. "I figured, after winning the biggest title I've ever won, it's probably the best time to do it. Being No. 1, you unload with some clout, you could say, and maybe a little pressure. Everybody knows you're the past champion. My dad thinks it might be cursed, but I think it's going to be a really good year."

The growl of the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series thunder under the bridge on the back straightaway of Williams Grove Speedway during the 2019 season.
(Dave Dellinger Photo)

USAC SILVER CROWN SLATED FOR 12 RACES IN 2020;

ADDS SELINSGROVE DEBUT & GATEWAY RETURN

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 12, 2019).........The 50th season of USAC Silver Crown racing features the versatile talent in the series tackling both dirt and pavement throughout its 12 race docket during the 2020 campaign, which includes a first-time venue in Pennsylvania's Selinsgrove Speedway dirt half-mile and a return visit to the ultra-fast paved 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in southern Illinois for the first time in four years.

The series gets underway on May 3 with a yet-to-be-announced event before moving onto the dirt for the 19th running of the Sumar Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track on May 21, the second of two consecutive nights of USAC racing at the western Indiana half-mile dirt oval following the May 20 Tony Hulman Classic for the AMSOIL National Sprint Cars.

One night following the Sumar, the series hits the pavement of Brownsburg, Indiana's Lucas Oil Raceway for the Dave Steele Carb Night Classic on May 22. The event will mark just the seventh time the series has competed on back-to-back nights.

Williams Grove Speedway welcomes the series on June 12 to the famed half-mile whose history with the champ cars dates to the AAA era in 1946. The race falls on the Friday amidst the five-night Eastern Storm series for the AMSOIL National Sprint Cars through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. It's back to the pavement exactly one week later on June 19 for the third running of the Dairyland 100 at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, Wisc.

World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. returns to the series fold for the first time since 2016 when the track formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park brings the series to the largest track on the schedule at 1.25 miles in length.

August 9 will mark the first occasion since 1983 that the Keystone state of Pennsylvania will serve as host to two Silver Crown events within the same season. That night arrives at the tail end of the previous five nights of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget action August 4-8 during Eastern Midget Week. For Silver Crown, it will mark its debut at the half-mile dirt oval of Selinsgrove Speedway, which will also be USAC's first trip to the track since Mitch Smith's National Sprint Car victory there in 1971.

The Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial has been a staple of Salem (Ind.) Speedway's event calendar for nearly seven decades. The venerable paved .555-mile high banks bring the big cars to the hills on August 15. The following weekend, on August 22, features another classic of the Silver Crown schedule, the Bettenhausen 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds dirt mile in Springfield.

The second of the two remaining dirt miles resides in southern Illinois on the Magic Mile of the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds where the Silver Crown series treks to on its traditional Labor Day weekend date on September 6 for the Ted Horn 100. The month of September winds down with one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, the 39th 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Ohio's Toledo Speedway will serve as the season finale for 2020, just as it was in both 2010 and 2011, on October 4 for the Rollie Beale Classic, honoring the 1973 USAC National Sprint Car champ, USAC official and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee who hailed from the Glass City.

2020 USAC SILVER CROWN SCHEDULE

May 3: TBA (TBA)

May 21: (D) Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)

May 22: (P) Lucas Oil Raceway (Brownsburg, IN)

Jun 12: (D) Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, PA)

Jun 19: (P) Madison International Speedway (Oregon, WI)

Aug 2: (P#) World Wide Technology Raceway (Madison, IL)

Aug 9: (D) Selinsgrove Speedway (Selinsgrove, PA)

Aug 15: (P) Salem Speedway (Salem, IN)

Aug 22: (D#) Illinois State Fairgrounds (Springfield, IL)

Sep 6: (D) Du Quoin State Fairgrounds (Du Quoin, IL)

Sep 25-26: (D) Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Oct 4: (P#) Toledo Speedway (Toledo, OH)

-----------------------------

(P) = Pavement Race

(D) = Dirt Race

# = Daytime Race

usAC.25 SERIES RELEASES 2020 NATIONAL SCHEDULE;

ADDS RICHMOND RACEWAY AND PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

Speedway, Indiana (December 12, 2019).........The United States Auto Club (USAC) .25 Series has announced its popular quarter midgets national championship schedule for the 2020 season.

The series begins its national season once again at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 5-9 coinciding with NASCAR's famed The Clash at Daytona weekend. Kids ages 5 and up will travel from all over the country to showcase their talents on a temporarily constructed 1/20th mile-long racetrack located inside the World Center of Racing.

For the first time, the series will be competing on site at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, both in conjunction with their respective NTT INDYCAR Series race weekends. The pavement national schedule wraps up with a return visit to Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 22-25.

Two USAC.25-sanctioned clubs will play host to national pavement races in 2020. The dirt national championship will visit two east coast clubs and two in the Midwest. A fifth dirt national championship race will be announced in the forthcoming weeks.

With approximately 45 USAC.25 clubs located across the country, thousands of kids ages five and up, along with their families, participate in USAC-sanctioned quarter midget series events.

2020 USAC .25 NATIONAL MIDGET SCHEDULE

Feb 5-9: Daytona International Speedway (Daytona, FL) (P)

Apr 30-May 3: Road Runner QMA (Albuquerque, NM) (P)

Jun 11-14: Hagerstown QMA (Hagerstown, MD) (D)

Jun 25-28: Richmond Raceway (Richmond, VA) (P)

Jul 9-12: Northwest Ohio QMRA (Toledo, OH) (P)

Jul 30-Aug 2: Terre Haute QMA (Terre Haute, IN) (D)

Aug 13-16: Montgomery County QMRC (Phoenixville, PA) (D)

Sep 3-6: Portland International Raceway (Portland, OR) (P)

Sep 17-20: Christian County QMA (Taylorville, IL) (D)

Oct 22-25: Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, TX) (P)

**TBA Dirt National Race - Location & Date TBA

--------------------

(P) = Pavement Race

(D) = Dirt Race

Dave Olson Photo

2020 USAC NATIONAL SPRINT SCHEDULE RELEASED

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 11, 2019).........Forty-six events at 23 different venues across 14 states dot the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car calendar for the 2020 season with many of the familiar favorites joining a bevy of racetracks making their return to the schedule.

For the 11th consecutive season, the series begins the campaign with three-straight events in Florida, at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala on Feb. 13-14-15. From there, the season kicks into gear in the Midwest springtime with an April 4 visit to Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, followed by a southern Indiana doubleheader weekend at Bloomington Speedway on April 17 and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt on April 18.

Seven races are slated for the Month of May with a double-dip weekend on May 1 and May 2 at Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, Kans.) and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 (Pevely, Mo.). The banks of Eldora Speedway welcome the series on May 8-9 for #LetsRaceTwo along with the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws. The Week of Indy commences with the 50th running of the Tony Hulman Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track on May 20. May rounds up with two consecutive nights at Minnesota's Jackson Motorplex, the series' first trip to the track since 2016.

The 14th edition of Eastern Storm takes the series eastbound to Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey for five sprint races in a six-night span, June 9 at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., June 10 at the newly-reconfigured Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J., June 11 at BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., June 13 at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania and the finale, June 14 at New York's Weedsport Speedway. June comes to a close with a northern two-fer, first at Indiana's Plymouth Speedway on June 26 and a return to the state of Michigan and I-96 Speedway for the first time since 2013 on June 27.

Putnamville, Indiana's Lincoln Park Speedway celebrates Independence Day in style with the Bill Gardner Sprintacular on July 4, followed a week later by the series' lone visit to Nebraska and I-80 Speedway on July 9. The second edition of the Corn Belt Nationals arrives on July 10-11 at Iowa's Knoxville Raceway. From one fabled half-mile dirt track to another goes the series on July 15 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Late July brings about the 33rd installment of Indiana Sprint Week for seven races in nine days across the Hoosier state, opening with Gas City I-69 Speedway on July 24, before heading to Kokomo Speedway on July 25 and Lawrenceburg on July 26. The series hits the road again for the second half of ISW at Terre Haute on July 29, Lincoln Park on July 30, Bloomington on July 31 and Tri-State on August 1, the first time the ISW series has ventured into the month of August since 1993.

The lone non-points, special event of the year, #GYATK Night, takes place at Kokomo on August 26, leading into the ninth running of Sprint Car Smackdown at the quarter mile dirt oval for three nights in a row on August 27-28-29.

Terre Haute's Jim Hurtubise Classic has the series back at the Action Track for the third time on Sep. 18 as will the Haubstadt Hustler at Tri-State on September 19. Gas City's James Dean Classic brings the USAC Sprints East of Eden and North on I-69 on September 24, followed by the 39th edition of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway. The Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg wind down the Midwest portion of the season on October 3.

For USAC, November signals the time to head west for a pair of prestigious events in California and Arizona. First up is the 25th running of the Oval Nationals at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway for three nights on Nov. 5-6-7. The following week is set for the series' finale along with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA and Sands Chevrolet Southwest Sprints on Nov. 13-14 at Arizona Speedway for the 53rd Western World Championship in San Tan Valley.

-------------------------------------------

2020 USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SCHEDULE

Feb 13: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Feb 14: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Feb 15: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Apr 4: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Apr 17: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

Apr 18: (M) Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)

May 1: Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, KS)

May 2: Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 (Pevely, MO)

May 8: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

May 9: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

May 20: Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)

May 29: Jackson Motorplex (Jackson, MN)

May 30: Jackson Motorplex (Jackson, MN)

Jun 9: Grandview Speedway (Bechtelsville, PA)

Jun 10: Bridgeport Speedway (Swedesboro, NJ)

Jun 11: BAPS Motor Speedway (York Haven, PA)

Jun 13: Port Royal Speedway (Port Royal, PA)

Jun 14: Weedsport Speedway (Weedsport, NY)

Jun 26: Plymouth Speedway (Plymouth, IN)

Jun 27: I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, MI)

Jul 4: Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)

Jul 9: I-80 Speedway (Greenwood, NE)

Jul 10: (A) (W) Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA)

Jul 11: (A) (W) Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, IA)

Jul 15: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Jul 24: Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

Jul 25: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Jul 26: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Jul 29: Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)

Jul 30: Lincoln Park Speedway (Putnamville, IN)

Jul 31: Bloomington Speedway (Bloomington, IN)

Aug 1: Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)

Aug 26: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN) (SE)

Aug 27: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Aug 28: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Aug 29: Kokomo Speedway (Kokomo, IN)

Sep 18: Terre Haute Action Track (Terre Haute, IN)

Sep 19: (M) Tri-State Speedway (Haubstadt, IN)

Sep 24: Gas City I-69 Speedway (Gas City, IN)

Sep 26: Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH)

Oct 3: Lawrenceburg Speedway (Lawrenceburg, IN)

Nov 5: (C) (S) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)

Nov 6: (C) (S) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)

Nov 7: (C) (S) Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, CA)

Nov 13: (C) (S) Arizona Speedway (San Tan Valley, AZ)

Nov 14: (C) (S) Arizona Speedway (San Tan Valley, AZ)

-----------------------------

(M) = Co-sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series

(A) = Event awards appearance points only

(W) = Co-sanctioned by WAR

(S) = Co-sanctioned by the USAC Southwest

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.)
(Dave Olson Photo)

WINDOM ONWARD WITH HAYWARD

FOR 2020 USAC SPRINT SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 9, 2019).........Two-time USAC National champion Chris Windom will suit up for Hayward Motorsports to drive car No. 19 on the full USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car trail in 2020.

Along with Windom, his longtime sidekick and crew chief Derek Claxton will be turning the wrenches on the machine that will carry sponsorship from NOS Energy Drink. Additional corporate sponsors will be announced by the team during the Performance Racing Industry show this week in Indianapolis.

Windom, the 2016 USAC Silver Crown and 2017 National Sprint Car champion, began the 2019 AMSOIL National Sprint Car campaign in similar fashion with a new team, Parallax Group/Goacher Racing. Their first race out of the box, they won at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. Windom aims for a similar grand opening in his new digs with Hayward.

"It came together, I guess you could say, last minute." Windom explained. "It was Sunday night (on Thanksgiving weekend) that he gave me a call and we chatted for a while. I was at a point right now to where I was unsure with what I had for a sprint car deal next year. I could've stayed with the same deal, but all the logistics weren't really put together yet. Brody called me and basically offered me the full-time deal and to bring Derek along full-time as well. That was something I couldn't really turn down. I know they want to run a top-notch situation over there too. I think it's going to be a good deal."

The Canton, Ill. native, who now resides in St. Louis, Mo., is the owner of 25 career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victories, tied for 21st all-time with Steve Butler and Jay Drake. In 2019, with Parallax/Goacher, Windom notched four victories, 22 top-fives and 29 top-tens in 34 starts.

Ironically, in last year's season debut victory, Windom passed the Hayward Motorsports car driven by Kevin Thomas, Jr. on the final lap to score the win. Windom gained additional victories at Granite City, Ill., Kokomo, Ind. and Gas City, Ind. to round out a year that saw him finish sixth in the final standings.

Hayward Motorsports, meanwhile, had Kevin Thomas, Jr. at the controls in 2019, and together, the combo captured a pair of victories during the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season at Bloomington, Ind. and Lawrenceburg, Ind. Last week, Thomas announced his return to the KT Motorsports No. 9K for the 2020 USAC season.

Since 2015, Hayward Motorsports has won 13 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature events as a team, nine with Bryan Clauson and two with Brady Bacon came under the Dooling/Hayward Motorsports banner while Thomas won a pair with Hayward a year ago. Hayward expects the success to continue with Windom starting in February of 2020 in the Sunshine State.

We're very excited to bring Chris on board," Hayward exclaimed. "Chris is a USAC champion and he ran really well this past year, is always a front runner and we're glad to have him at Hayward Motorsports in 2020."

Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.)
(John Mahoney Photo)

CARRICK CATCHES RIDE WITH PETRY

FOR 2020 USAC MIDGET SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 9, 2019).........Tanner Carrick, who this past year became one of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget division's five first-time winners, has found a new home with Petry Motorsports to chase a USAC Midget championship in 2020.

The 17-year-old Carrick, of Lincoln, Calif., will join the Petry Motorsports team after spending the past three seasons behind the wheel for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, for whom he captured 2017 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year honors as well as his first career series victory in July of 2019 at Missouri's Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex.

Major strides were made during Carrick's 2019 season where he garnered career highs in top-fives (6) and top-tens (18) while making all 31 feature events. Carrick aims to take his game to another level in 2020 with a team that itself won twice this past year in the series with driver Kevin Thomas, Jr.

"I'm super excited," Carrick exclaimed. "How it all sounds and from everything I've watched them do, it seems like it's going to be a better fit for me. I feel like it'll be really good, starting out with something new and starting out fresh for a new season and getting the opportunity to work with (teammates) Kevin Thomas, Jr., Jerry Coons, Jr. and (car owner) Scott (Petry)."

Carrick's initial plans for 2020 were to head back to the west coast for a schedule made up primarily of sprint car races near his California home. However, a deal was worked out between he and team owner Scott Petry for Carrick to join a surging team that also features Thomas and Coons, the former of which won in 2019 at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and at Arizona Speedway in San Tan Valley, while Coons is a USAC Triple Crown champion.

"Tanner is a young gun with a lot of talent," Petry was quick to acknowledge. "Obviously, he proved a lot with Keith. He really came on at the end of this year. It's a perfect opportunity for us to bring in the young kid with talent that we've always wanted with a couple veterans that we know can help mentor and coach the younger kids. That's been our goal from day one, to bring in young talent and help build them up."

Jason McDougal (#76m) was one of five first-time USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget winners in 2019, the most in a single season with the series since 2008.
(Dave Dellinger Photo)

2019 USAC NATIONAL MIDGET SEASON IN REVIEW

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 5, 2019).........With the 64th USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season in the books, we reflect on the most balanced season in recent times in terms of the variety of venues and the number of teams and drivers who stepped to the forefront to compete at an elite level throughout the duration of the most expansive schedule of events in more than two decades.

Firstly, Tyler Courtney and Clauson/Marshall Racing earned their first driver and owner championship, respectively, in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget ranks just one year following their 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car championship. They're only the second driver/team combo to accomplish winning each of the titles in USAC's National Midget and National Sprint divisions in consecutive years following Josh Wise and Tony Stewart Racing's reign during 2005-06.

Courtney led nearly every statistical category with the series in 2019, including feature wins (8), laps led (175), top-fives (20), top-tens (26), fast qualifying times (8) and heat race wins (9). Courtney was the first USAC National Midget champion driver since Cole Whitt in 2008 to win the title without starting every feature run during the season after missing the transfer in late November's Hangtown 100 opener.

The Indianapolis, Ind. native's eight series victories this year were the most by any one driver since Jeff Gordon won nine in 1990. Courtney's 18 overall USAC National series wins in 2019 (8 Midget, 9 Sprint & 1 Silver Crown) are tied for the third most in a single season alongside A.J. Foyt's and Parneilli Jones' 1964 seasons and trail only J.J. Yeley's 23 National wins in 2003 and Foyt's 19 in 1961.

Courtney led the championship from start to finish following victories in the first two races of the season in Ocala, Fla., the first driver to lead the standings for the entire USAC National Midget season since Rico Abreu in 2014. He's also just the ninth driver to win two in a row to start the season with the series since 1956.

His two victories in the Sunshine State during February made him just the eighth driver to win the season opener and the series championship in the same season, and the second in a row following Logan Seavey in 2018.

In only his sixth start of the season, Courtney picked up his fourth win of the 2019 campaign in May at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., making him the fastest driver ever to reach the four-win mark with the series.

Courtney's 179-point final margin of victory in the standings was the largest since Darren Hagen's 201-point advantage to conclude the 2012 USAC National Midget season.

Five first time USAC National Midget winners took the checkered flag this season with Cannon McIntosh (Southern Illinois Center), Chris Windom (Lawrenceburg Speedway), Jason McDougal (Jefferson County Speedway), Tanner Carrick (Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex) and Gio Scelzi (Placerville Speedway) capturing their initial series scores, the most in a single year since 2008.

The number of race winners with the series this year totaled 14, which is the most in a USAC National Midget season since 17 reached victory lane in 2008.

Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. won twice, first with a last lap, lap corner pass to win April's Kokomo Grand Prix at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway, then scored again in November during Western World at Arizona Speedway.

Logan Seavey's Indiana Midget Week opening night victory catapulted him into the 2019 IMW title and served as the first of his three wins on the season which was the most by a reigning series champion since Rico Abreu in 2015. The Sutter, Calif. driver took additional wins during Mid-America Midget Week at Oklahoma's Red Dirt Raceway and Pennsylvania Midget Week at Lanco.

Ione, California's Justin Grant took RAMS Racing to its first USAC National Midget victory in June at Gas City I-69 Speedway during Indiana Midget Week. The following night, Tanner Thorson capped off one of the most incredible comebacks in USAC history, with wounds and scars still readily evident on his body after sustaining a broken left arm and right foot, a cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung following a multi-car incident just three months earlier, the Minden, Nevada native delivered the victory at Lincoln Park Speedway during IMW, after starting 15th, the furthest back any winner started in the series in 2019.

In minimal appearances, Kyle Larson was second behind Courtney amongst all drivers with four wins. The Elk Grove, Calif. driver won in June for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian in the series' return to the Dirt Oval at Route 66 in Joliet, Ill. following a 15-year hiatus.

Larson then brought out his own car for the final four races during the western swing. He pocketed a $32,000 payday in the richest USAC Midget event ever held, in November at Placerville. He followed up with two more victories at Bakersfield, Calif. and in the finale at Ventura, Calif. to become the fourth ever driver to win at least three Turkey Night Grands Prix.

That Thanksgiving night win marked just the third occasion in USAC National Midget history that a driver won the final three races to conclude the season (Billy Boat 1995 and Larson in 2012). Larson also became the first driver in 24 years to win three-straight USAC National Midget races in the state of California (also Boat in 1995).

Zeb Wise earned his second and third career victories in the Keystone State in July and August at Action Track USA and Linda's Speedway after capturing his first a year prior at Lanco in the same state. He finally broke through in the Hoosier state with a major triumph in the BC39 in September at The Dirt Track at IMS.

Chad Boat saw victory lane from both sides, first as a driver in August during Pennsylvania Midget Week at Path Valley Speedway Park, then again as a car owner/crew chief for Scelzi's win at Placerville. Brady Bacon, who scaled back to a part-time role with FMR Racing after three full seasons for the team between 2016-18, returned to his winning ways with the team in the Western World finale at Arizona.

In the end, with eight victories between Courtney and his Clauson/Marshall Racing team at Ocala, Fla. twice, Kokomo, Ind., Granite City, Ill., Bloomington, Ind., Fairbury, Neb., Rossburg, Ohio's Eldora Speedway and Wayne City, Ill., CMR snapped Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian's seven year run of consecutive series owner championships.

Andrew Layser (Collegeville, Pa.) finished as the top Rookie in the standings (11th). Carrick, Seavey and Thomas were the lone three drivers to start all 31 series events. The most positions advanced by any one driver in a feature event throughout the series season was 19 by Kyle Larson (23rd to 4th) on the opening night of the Hangtown 100 at Placerville.

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET STAT LEADERS:

Driver Champion: Tyler Courtney

Owner Champion: Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC

Rookie of the Year: Andrew Layser

Most Feature Wins: (8) Tyler Courtney

Laps Led: (175) Tyler Courtney

Top-Fives: (20) Tyler Courtney

Top-Tens: (26) Tyler Courtney

Fast Qualifying Times: (8) Tyler Courtney

Heat Race Wins: (9) Tyler Courtney

Feature Starts: (31) Tanner Carrick, Logan Seavey & Kevin Thomas, Jr.

Most Positions Gained in a Feature: (19) Kyle Larson (23rd to 4th on Nov. 19 at Placerville Speedway)

2019 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & WINNERS:

Feb 8: Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Feb 9: Ocala, FL - Bubba Raceway Park

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Mar 9: &&& Du Quoin, IL - Southern Illinois Center

WINNER: Cannon McIntosh (Dave Mac Motorsports #08)

Apr 5: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Apr 6: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway

WINNER: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Petry Motorsports #5)

May 17: Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Jun 4: @@@ Montpelier, IN - Montpelier Motor Speedway

WINNER: Logan Seavey (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #67)

Jun 5: @@@ Gas City, IN - Gas City I-69 Speedway

WINNER: Justin Grant (RAMS Racing #4A)

Jun 6: @@@ Putnamville, IN - Lincoln Park Speedway

WINNER: Tanner Thorson (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #98)

Jun 7: @@@ Bloomington, IN - Bloomington Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Jun 8: @@@ Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg Speedway

WINNER: Chris Windom (Clauson/Marshall Racing #17BC)

Jun 29: Joliet, IL - Dirt Oval at Route 66

WINNER: Kyle Larson (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #97)

Jul 9: Meeker, OK - Red Dirt Raceway

WINNER: Logan Seavey (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #67)

Jul 12: Fairbury, NE - Jefferson County Speedway

WINNER: Jason McDougal (FMR Racing #76m)

Jul 13: Fairbury, NE - Jefferson County Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Jul 14: Sweet Springs, MO - Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex

WINNER: Tanner Carrick (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #71K)

Jul 30: *** Bechtelsville, PA - Grandview Speedway

WINNER: Chris Windom (Clauson/Marshall Racing #17BC)

Jul 31: *** Kutztown, PA - Action Track USA

WINNER: Zeb Wise (Clauson/Marshall Racing #39BC)

Aug 1: *** Spring Run, PA - Path Valley Speedway Park

WINNER: Chad Boat (Tucker/Boat Motorsports #84)

Aug 2: *** Jonestown, PA - Linda's Speedway

WINNER: Zeb Wise (Clauson/Marshall Racing #39BC)

Aug 3: *** Newmanstown, PA - Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway

WINNER: Logan Seavey (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #67)

S ep 5: Speedway, IN - The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

WINNER: Zeb Wise (Clauson/Marshall Racing #39BC)

Sep 28: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Oct 17: Wayne City, IL - Wayne County Speedway

WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC)

Oct 19: Haubstadt, IN - Tri-State Speedway

WINNER: Jason McDougal (FMR Racing #76m)

Nov 15: ### San Tan Valley, AZ - Arizona Speedway

WINNER: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Petry Motorsports #5)

Nov 16: ### San Tan Valley, AZ - Arizona Speedway

WINNER: Brady Bacon (FMR Racing #76E)

Nov 19: ### Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway

WINNER: Gio Scelzi (Tucker/Boat Motorsports #84)

Nov 20: ### Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway

WINNER: Kyle Larson (Kyle Larson Open Wheel #1K)

Nov 23: ### Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway

WINNER: Kyle Larson (Kyle Larson Open Wheel #1K)

Nov 28: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway

WINNER: Kyle Larson (Kyle Larson Open Wheel #1K)

------------------------ KEY DEFINITIONS -------------------------

Races noted with &&& represent an indoor race.

Races noted with @@@ represent Indiana Midget Week.

Races noted with *** represent a race with the USAC Eastern Midgets presented by ARDC.

Races noted with ### represent a Co-Sanctioned race with the USAC Western States Midget Championship.

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2019 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS

1. (2,040) Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, IN)

2. (1,861) Logan Seavey (Sutter, CA)

3. (1,853) Chris Windom (Canton, IL)

4. (1,784) Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, AL)

5. (1,749) Zeb Wise (Angola, IN)

6. (1,605) Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, CA)

7. (1,581) Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, AZ)

8. (1,531) Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, OK)

9. (1,421) Tucker Klaasmeyer (Paola, KS)

10. (1,255) Chad Boat (Phoenix, AZ)

11. (1,188) ®Andrew Layser (Collegeville, PA)

12. (1,056) Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV)

13. (979) ®Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, CA)

14. (896) ®Karsyn Elledge (Mooresville, NC)

15. (768) Justin Grant (Ione, CA)

16. (756) ®Holley Hollan (Broken Arrow, OK)

17. (702) Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK)

18. (665) ®Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, NC)

19. (634) ®C.J. Leary (Greenfield, IN)

20. (631) Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK)

21. (448) Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL)

22. (447) Michael Pickens (Auckland, NZ)

23. (422) Shane Golobic (Fremont, CA)

24. (388) ®Cole Bodine (Rossville, IN)

25. (348) Sam Johnson (St. Peters, MO)

26. (301) ®Zane Hendricks (Stillwater, OK)

27. (176) ®Sterling Cling (Tempe, AZ)

28. (170) ®Oliver Akard (Ft. Myers, FL)

29. (141) Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA)

30. (130) Tyler Nelson (Olathe, KS)

31. (124) Tony DiMattia (Malvern, PA)

32. (104) ®Steve Craig (Levittown, PA)

33. (93) ®Curtis Spicer (Marysville, KS)

34. (71) ®Karter Sarff (Mason City, IL)

35. (49) Adam Pierson (East Corinth, VT)

36. (10) ®Kenney Johnson (Bethany, CT)

® = USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Rookie

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2019 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS

1. (2,040) Clauson/Marshall Racing #7BC (Fishers, IN)

2. (1,861) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #67 (Columbus, IN)

3. (1,853) Clauson/Marshall Racing #17BC (Fishers, IN)

4. (1,784) Petry Motorsports #5 (Greenfield, IN)

5. (1,749) Clauson/Marshall Racing #39BC (Fishers, IN)

6. (1,708) FMR Racing #76m (Palm City, FL)

7. (1,613) Tucker/Boat Motorsports #84 (Mooresville, NC)

8. (1,605) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #71K (Columbus, IN)

9. (1,581) Petry Motorsports #25 (Greenfield, IN)

10. (1,421) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #27 (Columbus, IN)

11. (1,188) Clauson/Marshall Racing #47BC (Fishers, IN)

12. (979) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #71 (Columbus, IN)

13. (975) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #98 (Columbus, IN)

14. (896) Tucker/Boat Motorsports #1 (Mooresville, NC)

15. (815) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #97 (Columbus, IN)

16. (768) RAMS Racing #4A (Lees Summit, MO)

17. (756) Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian #67K (Columbus, IN)

18. (672) RMS LLC #7x (Western Springs, IL)

19. (631) Tyler Thomas Motorsports #91T (Collinsville, OK)

20. (622) Steve Reynolds #21KS (Springfield, IL)

21. (518) Bundy Built Motorsports #19m (Mooresville, NC)

22. (493) Petry Motorsports #15 (Greenfield, IN)

23. (448) Daum Motorsports #5D (Pocahontas, IL)

24. (432) Matt Wood Racing #17w (Elk Grove, CA)

25. (376) FMR Racing #76E (Palm City, FL)

26. (301) Zane Hendricks Racing #27z (Stillwater, OK)

27. (275) Petry Motorsports #35 (Greenfield, IN)

28. (275) RMS LLC #36 (Western Springs, IL)

29. (170) Dan & Shellie Akard #41 (Fort Myers, FL)

30. (130) Tyler Nelson Racing #88 (Indianapolis, IN)

31. (124) Tony DiMattia Motorsports #50 (Malvern, PA)

32. (111) Tri-C Motorsports #3c (West Sacramento, CA)

33. (104) Steve Craig #55 (Levittown, PA)

34. (102) Brian Buckwalter #0 (Douglassville, PA)

35. (93) Spicer Racecraft #4 (Marysville, KS)

36. (84) Bus Racing Team #17 (Prescott, AZ)

37. (70) Steve Reynolds/Jetson Motorsports #19J (Springfield, IL)

38. (49) Mancini/Manafort Racing #74m (Plainville, CT)

39. (10) Jeff Johnson #46 (Bethany, CT)

40. (10) Cornell Racing Stables #8 (Monee, IL)

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2019 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE DRIVER POINT STANDINGS

1. (1,188) Andrew Layser (Collegeville, PA)

2. (979) Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, CA)

3. (896) Karsyn Elledge (Mooresville, NC)

4. (756) Holley Hollan (Broken Arrow, OK)

5. (665) Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, NC)

6. (634) C.J. Leary (Greenfield, IN)

7. (388) Cole Bodine (Rossville, IN)

8. (301) Zane Hendricks (Stillwater, OK)

9. (176) Sterling Cling (Tempe, AZ)

10. (170) Oliver Akard (Ft. Myers, FL)

11. (104) Steve Craig (Levittown, PA)

12. (93) Curtis Spicer (Marysville, KS)

13. (71) Karter Sarff (Mason City, IL)

14. (10) Kenney Johnson (Bethany, CT)

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2019 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS

FEATURE WINS:

1. (8) Tyler Courtney (Feb 8 at Bubba Raceway Park, Feb 9 at Bubba Raceway Park, Apr 5 at Kokomo Speedway, May 17 at Tri-City Speedway, Jun 7 at Bloomington Speedway, Jul 13 at Jefferson County Speedway, Sep 28 at Eldora Speedway & Oct 17 at Wayne County Speedway)

2. (4) Kyle Larson (Jun 29 at Dirt Oval at Route 66, Nov 20 at Placerville Speedway, Nov 23 at Bakersfield Speedway & Nov 29 at Ventura Raceway)

3. (3) Logan Seavey (Jun 4 at Montpelier Motor Speedway, Jul 9 at Red Dirt Raceway & Aug 3 at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway)

(3) Zeb Wise (Jul 31 at Action Track USA, Aug 2 at Linda's Speedway & Sep 5 The Dirt Track at IMS)

5. (2) Jason McDougal (Jul 12 at Jefferson County Speedway & Oct 19 at Tri-State Speedway)

(2) Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Apr 6 at Kokomo Speedway & Nov 15 at Arizona Speedway)

(2) Chris Windom (Jun 8 at Lawrenceburg Speedway & Jul 30 at Grandview Speedway)

8. (1) Brady Bacon (Nov 16 at Arizona Speedway)

(1) Chad Boat (Aug 1 at Path Valley Speedway Park)

(1) Tanner Carrick (Jul 14 at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex)

(1) Justin Grant (Jun 5 at Gas City I-69 Speedway)

(1) Cannon McIntosh (Mar 9 at the Southern Illinois Center)

(1) Gio Scelzi (Nov 19 at Placerville Speedway)

(1) Tanner Thorson (Jun 6 at Lincoln Park Speedway)

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FEATURE LAPS LED:

1. (175) Tyler Courtney

2. (129) Logan Seavey

3. (124) Kyle Larson

4. (107) Cannon McIntosh

5. (98) Kevin Thomas, Jr.

6. (71) Justin Grant

7. (55) Chris Windom

8. (48) Zeb Wise

9. (41) Brady Bacon

10. (40) Jason McDougal

11. (38) Chad Boat

12. (37) Tyler Thomas

13. (36) Tanner Thorson

14. (30) Gio Scelzi

15. (25) Tucker Klaasmeyer

16. (24) Tanner Carrick

17. (21) Thomas Meseraull

18. (15) Aaron Reutzel

19. (10) Michael Pickens

20. (4) Jerry Coons, Jr.

21. (2) Jesse Colwell & Andrew Layser

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TOP-FIVE FEATURE FINISHES:

1. (20) Tyler Courtney

2. (15) Logan Seavey

3. (14) Chris Windom

4. (13) Zeb Wise

5. (12) Kevin Thomas, Jr.

6. (10) Chad Boat & Jason McDougal

8. (7) Kyle Larson & Tanner Thorson

10. (6) Tanner Carrick, Jerry Coons, Jr. & Justin Grant

13. (4) Cannon McIntosh

14. (3) Rico Abreu & C.J. Leary

16. (2) Jesse Colwell, Carson Macedo & Tyler Thomas

19. (1) Brady Bacon, Spencer Bayston, Jonathan Beason, Christopher Bell, Ryan Bernal, Kyle Cummins, Zach Daum, Shane Golobic, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Ethan Mitchell, Michael Pickens, Gio Scelzi & Dillon Welch

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TOP-TEN FEATURE FINISHES:

1. (26) Tyler Courtney

2. (25) Logan Seavey & Chris Windom

4. (20) Kevin Thomas, Jr.

5. (18) Tanner Carrick, Jerry Coons, Jr. & Zeb Wise

8. (17) Jason McDougal

9. (14) Chad Boat & Tanner Thorson

11. (13) Tucker Klaasmeyer

12. (9) Kyle Larson

13. (8) Justin Grant & Andrew Layser

15. (6) Shane Golobic

16. (5) Brady Bacon, Jesse Colwell, Zach Daum, C.J. Leary, Cannon McIntosh, Thomas Meseraull & Tyler Thomas

23. (4) Rico Abreu & Gio Scelzi

25. (3) Spencer Bayston, Michael Pickens & Dillon Welch

28. (2) Ryan Bernal, Carson Macedo & Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

31. (1) Jonathan Beason, Christopher Bell, Steve Buckwalter, Timmy Buckwalter, Kyle Cummins, Robert Dalby, Sam Johnson, Buddy Kofoid, Ethan Mitchell, Daryn Pittman, Aaron Reutzel, Daniel Robinson & Matt Sherrell

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FATHEADZ EYEWEAR FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:

1. (8) Tyler Courtney

2. (4) Kyle Larson & Zeb Wise

4. (3) Logan Seavey

5. (2) Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Dillon Welch

7. (1) Shane Golobic, Justin Grant, Ethan Mitchell, Gio Scelzi & Chris Windom

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HEAT RACE WINS: (Presented by Simpson Race Products, Competition Suspension, Inc., AutoMeter & Indy Race Parts)

1. (9) Tyler Courtney

2. (8) Chad Boat & Tanner Carrick

4. (7) Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Zeb Wise

6. (6) Jason McDougal

7. (5) Tucker Klaasmeyer, Thomas Meseraull, Logan Seavey & Tyler Thomas

11. (4) Brady Bacon, Jesse Colwell & Chris Windom

14. (3) Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Andrew Layser & Cannon McIntosh

18. (2) Zach Daum, Karsyn Elledge, Justin Grant, Holley Hollan, Ethan Mitchell, Jake Neuman, Daison Pursley & Tanner Thorson

26. (1) Rico Abreu, Spencer Bayston, Jonathan Beason, Cole Bodine, Colby Copeland, Robert Dalby, Colton Heath, Chase Johnson, Sam Johnson, Kyle Larson, Ace McCarthy, Daniel Robinson, Gio Scelzi, Jake Swanson & Dillon Welch

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C-MAIN WINS:

1. (1) Brady Bacon, Michael Faccinto, Sam Johnson, Buddy Kofoid & Michael Pickens

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D-MAIN WINS:

1. (1) Jonathan Beason & Brent Beauchamp

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QUALIFYING RACE WINS:

1. (2) Jesse Colwell, Tyler Courtney & Tyler Thomas

4. (1) Christopher Bell, Tanner Carrick, Colten Cottle, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Kyle Larson, Michael Pickens, Daniel Robinson, Gio Scelzi, Dillon Welch & Zeb Wise

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DASH/PURSUIT WINS:

1. (1) Kyle Larson & Jason McDougal

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SEMI WINS:

1. (3) Tanner Thorson

2. (2) Christopher Bell & Logan Seavey

4. (1) Brady Bacon, Ryan Bernal, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Justin Grant, Sam Johnson, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Kyle Larson, Carson Macedo, Cannon McIntosh, Thomas Meseraull, Jake Neuman, Aaron Reutzel, Gio Scelzi, Brad Sweet, Chris Windom & Zeb Wise

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FEATURE STARTS:

1. (31) Tanner Carrick, Logan Seavey & Kevin Thomas, Jr.

4. (30) Jerry Coons, Jr., Tyler Courtney, Chris Windom & Zeb Wise

8. (29) Tucker Klaasmeyer

9. (28) Jason McDougal

10. (24) Andrew Layser

11. (23) Chad Boat

12. (22) Jesse Colwell

13. (18) Tanner Thorson

14. (17) Karsyn Elledge

15. (16) Holley Hollan & Thomas Meseraull

17. (14) Justin Grant

18. (13) Brady Bacon

19. (12) Tyler Thomas

20. (11) Kyle Larson, C.J. Leary & Cannon McIntosh

23. (10) Cole Bodine & Michael Pickens

25. (9) Dave Darland, Ethan Mitchell & Gio Scelzi

28. (8) Robert Dalby, Zach Daum & Shane Golobic

31. (7) Rico Abreu, Zane Hendricks, Sam Johnson & Dillon Welch

35. (5) Spencer Bayston & Steven Drevicki

37. (4) Bobby Butler, Kyle Cummins, Noah Gass, Buddy Kofoid, Shannon McQueen, Jake Neuman Daison Pursley, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. & Jake Swanson

46. (3) Christopher Bell, Ryan Bernal, Colby Copeland, Steve Craig, Zach Curtis, Cory Elliott, Shawn Jackson, Carson Macedo, Aaron Reutzel, Daniel Robinson & Curtis Spicer

57. (2) Lance Bennett, Olivia Bennett, Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., Steve Buckwalter, Timmy Buckwalter, Sterling Cling, Brett Conkling, Conor Daly, Ryan Greth, Chase Johnson, Ace McCarthy, Adam Pierson, Karter Sarff, C.J. Sarna, Tyler Seavey, Brad Sweet, A.J. Valim, Kevin Woody, Jr. & Alex Yankowski

76. (1) Jonathan Beason, Clinton Boyles, Joe Boyles, Alex Bright, Chase Briscoe, Colten Cottle, Hank Davis, Andrew Deal, Tony DiMattia, Chad Frewaldt, Russ Gamester, Casey Hicks, Chase Jones, Tommy Kunsman, Austin Liggett, Critter Malone, Marvin Mitchell, Kameron Morral, Kyle O'Gara, Billy Pauch, Jr., Justin Peck, Daryn Pittman, Kendall Ruble, Matt Sherrell, Jamie Speers, Presley Truedson, Matt Veatch, Chad Winfrey, Ben Worth & J.J. Yeley

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KSE RACING PRODUCTS "HARD CHARGER" OF THE RACE

Feb 8: Bubba Raceway Park - Chris Windom (11th to 3rd)

Feb 9: Bubba Raceway Park - Tanner Thorson (24th to 7th)

Mar 9: Southern Illinois Center - Chad Boat (15th to 2nd)

Apr 5: Kokomo Speedway - Dave Darland (21st to 11th)

Apr 6: Kokomo Speedway - Andrew Layser (22nd to 16th)

May 17: Tri-City Speedway - Cannon McIntosh (18th to 7th)

Jun 4: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Jerry Coons, Jr. (20th to 11th)

Jun 5: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Tyler Courtney (15th to 6th)

Jun 6: Lincoln Park Speedway - Tanner Thorson (15th to 1st)

Jun 7: Bloomington Speedway - Chris Windom (22nd to 4th)

Jun 8: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Chad Boat (15th to 2nd)

Jun 29: Dirt Oval at Route 66 - Jason McDougal (19th to 9th)

Jul 9: Red Dirt Raceway - Jonathan Beason (17th to 5th)

Jul 12: Jefferson County Speedway - Tyler Courtney (12th to 2nd)

Jul 13: Jefferson County Speedway - Tyler Thomas (11th to 5th)

Jul 14: Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex - Daniel Robinson (23rd to 8th)

Jul 30: Grandview Speedway - Tanner Thorson (15th to 4th)

Jul 31: Action Track USA - Chris Windom (12th to 3rd)

Aug 1: Path Valley Speedway Park - Timmy Buckwalter (16th to 9th)

Aug 2: Linda's Speedway - Zeb Wise (8th to 1st)

Aug 3: Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway - Jason McDougal (12th to 3rd)

Sep 5: The Dirt Track at IMS - Tyler Courtney (20th to 2nd)

Sep 28: Eldora Speedway - Tucker Klaasmeyer (18th to 9th)

Oct 17: Wayne County Speedway - Logan Seavey (19th to 4th)

Oct 19: Tri-State Speedway - Justin Grant (16th to 5th)

Nov 15: Arizona Speedway - Kyle Cummins (21st to 14th)

Nov 16: Arizona Speedway - Rico Abreu (18th to 5th)

Nov 19: Placerville Speedway - Kyle Larson (23rd to 4th)

Nov 20: Placerville Speedway - Tyler Courtney (24th to 8th)

Nov 23: Bakersfield Speedway - Thomas Meseraull (20th to 8th)

Nov 29: Ventura Raceway - Shane Golobic (24th to 9th)

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WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHERS:

Feb 8: Bubba Raceway Park - Tyler Thomas

Feb 9: Bubba Raceway Park - Zane Hendricks

Mar 9: Southern Illinois Center - Tanner Carrick

Apr 5: Kokomo Speedway - Tyler Thomas

Apr 6: Kokomo Speedway - Jake Neuman

May 17: Tri-City Speedway - Tanner Carrick

Jun 4: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Michael Pickens

Jun 5: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Andrew Layser

Jun 6: Lincoln Park Speedway - Holley Hollan

Jun 7: Bloomington Speedway - Jerry Coons, Jr.

Jun 8: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Jesse Colwell

Jun 29: Dirt Oval at Route 66 - Zach Daum

Jul 9: Red Dirt Raceway - Shannon McQueen

Jul 12: Jefferson County Speedway - Tanner Thorson

Jul 13: Jefferson County Speedway - Shannon McQueen

Jul 14: Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex - Joe Boyles

Jul 30: Grandview Speedway - Jason McDougal

Jul 31: Action Track USA - Tucker Klaasmeyer

Aug 1: Path Valley Speedway Park - Kyle Larson

Aug 2: Linda's Speedway - Steven Drevicki

Aug 3: Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway - Zeb Wise

Sep 5: The Dirt Track at IMS - Michael Pickens

Sep 28: Eldora Speedway - Dave Darland

Oct. 17: Wayne County Speedway - Gio Scelzi

Oct. 19: Tri-State Speedway - Jerry Coons, Jr.

Nov 15: Arizona Speedway - Tucker Klaasmeyer

Nov 16: Arizona Speedway - Shannon McQueen

Nov 19: Placerville Speedway - Brady Bacon

Nov 20: Placerville Speedway - Chris Windom

Nov 23: Bakersfield Speedway - Buddy Kofoid

Nov 29: Ventura Raceway - Jerry Coons, Jr.

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SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFERS:

Feb 8: Bubba Raceway Park - Ethan Mitchell

Mar 9: Southern Illinois Center - Zane Hendricks & Jake Neuman

Apr 5: Kokomo Speedway - Jake Neuman

Apr 6: Kokomo Speedway - Ethan Mitchell

May 17: Tri-City Speedway - Andrew Layser

Jun 4: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Noah Gass

Jun 5: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Ethan Mitchell

Jun 6: Lincoln Park Speedway - Kyle Cummins

Jun 7: Bloomington Speedway - Cannon McIntosh

Jun 8: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Sterling Cling

Jun 29: Dirt Oval at Route 66 - Jake Neuman

Jul 9: Red Dirt Raceway - Andrew Layser

Sep 5: The Dirt Track at IMS - Sam Johnson

Oct. 17: Wayne County Speedway - Holley Hollan

Oct. 19: Tri-State Speedway - Sam Johnson

Nov 15: Arizona Speedway - Shannon McQueen

Nov 16: Arizona Speedway - Robert Dalby

Nov 19: Placerville Speedway - Tyler Courtney, Zeb Wise & Cory Elliott

Nov 20: Placerville Speedway - Zeb Wise

Nov 23: Bakersfield Speedway - Andrew Layser

Nov 29: Ventura Raceway - Andrew Layser

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET DRIVER ROSTER:

Rico Abreu/St. Helena, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #97)

®Oliver Akard/Ft. Myers, FL (Dan & Shellie Akard #41)

Chris Andrews/Tulsa, OK (Miller Racing #95)

Brady Bacon/Broken Arrow, OK (Daryl Saucier #1ST, TKH Motorsports #21H, Keith Ford #73T, FMR Racing #76, FMR Racing #76E, FMR Racing #76m & Central Motorsports #85)

Tyler Baran/Joliet, IL (B-Boyz Motorsports #11)

Chris Baue/Indianapolis, IN (Chris Baue #9)

Spencer Bayston/Lebanon, IN (Hayward Motorsports #19)

Cody Beard/Huntingburg, IN (Cody Beard #7)

Jonathan Beason/Broken Arrow, OK (Hard Eight Racing #8J, Steve Reynolds Motorsports #21FS & Six8 Motorsports #68)

Brent Beauchamp/Avon, IN (Kevin Arnold #43)

Brett Becker/Odessa, TX (Brett Becker Racing #2B)

Kyle Beilman/Mar Vista, CA (Beilman Motorsports #31B)

Christopher Bell/Norman, OK (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #21 & Tucker- Boat Motorsports #84x)

Robert Bell/Colfax, IA (Robert Bell #71B)

Blaze Bennett/Parker, CO (Blaze Bennett #10B & Olivia Bennett #77B)

Lance Bennett/Aurora, CO (Olivia Bennett #10)

Olivia Bennett/Aurora, CO (Olivia Bennett #77)

Ryan Bernal/Hollister, CA (Matt Wood Racing #77w)

Travis Berryhill/American Canyon, CA (Manic Racing #31)

Chad Boat/Phoenix, AZ (Tucker-Boat Motorsports #84)

®Cole Bodine/Rossville, IN (Petry Motorsports #15 & Petry Motorsports #35)

Blake Bower/Brentwood, CA (Tony Boscacci & Chris Walker #10B)

Clinton Boyles/Greenwood, MO (Mounce Motorsports #9)

Joe Boyles/Greenwood, MO (Joe Boyles #98B)

Alex Bright/Collegeville, PA (Daryl Saucier #1ST & Seymour Performance #29A)

Chase Briscoe/Mitchell, IN (Chase Briscoe Racing #5B)

Kaidon Brown/Sydney, AU (Matt Wood Racing #97w)

Kaylee Bryson/Muskogee, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports #11B)

Jake Bubak/Arvada, CO (Patrick Bourke #27B)

Bruce Buckwalter, Jr./Mechanicsburg, PA (Bruce Buckwalter, Sr. #83)

Steve Buckwalter/Royersford, PA (Brian Buckwalter #0 & Brian Buckwalter #25B)

Timmy Buckwalter/Douglassville, PA (Seymour Performance #29B)

David Budres/Beloit, WI (Manic Racing #23m)

Bobby Butler/Bridgeport, NJ (Rusty Myers #5B)

Tanner Carrick/Lincoln, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #71K)

Robert Carson/Concord, CA (Howard & Karen Segur #99x)

Grady Chandler/Piedmont, OK (Mounce Motorsports #19s)

Thomas Chandler/Festus, MO (Rich Roney #1T)

Mark Chisholm/Cheyenne, WY (Mark Chisholm #56x)

®Sterling Cling/Tempe, AZ (Petry Motorsports #35)

Maria Cofer/Macdoel, CA (Steve Reynolds Motorsports #21m, Johnny Cofer #57 & Marcie Campbell #71s)

®Jesse Colwell/Red Bluff, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #71)

Brett Conkling/Westwood, NJ (Brett Conkling #0NJ)

Jerry Coons, Jr./Tucson, AZ (Petry Motorsports #25)

Colby Copeland/Roseville, CA (Matt Wood Racing #27w)

Colten Cottle/Kansas, IL (Travis Young #56AP)

Tyler Courtney/Indianapolis, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC)

®Steve Craig/Levittown, PA (Steve Craig #55)

Tim Crawley/Benton, AR (Tim Crawley #4J)

Braydon Cromwell/Lone Jack, MO (Mounce Motorsports #9)

Kyle Cummins/Princeton, IN (Jack Yeley & Glenn Styres #1G, Jack Yeley, Glenn Styres #2G & RMS LLC #71x)

Zach Curtis/Spring City, PA (Jack Curtis #75)

Robert Dalby/Anaheim, CA (Ken Dalby #4D & Tucker-Boat Motorsports #85)

Conor Daly/Noblesville, IN (Petry Motorsports #15 & Petry Motorsports #35)

Dave Darland/Lincoln, IN (Petry Motorsports #15, RMS LLC #36 & Del Morris #71R)

Zach Daum/Pocahontas, IL (Daum Motorsports #5D)

Hank Davis/Sand Springs, OK (Dean Franklin #42)

Andrew Deal/Caney, KS (Mike & Karen Deal #15D)

Justin Dickerson/Pittsboro, IN (Mike Dickerson #21D)

Tony DiMattia/Malvern, PA (Tony DiMattia #50)

Nick Drake/Mooresville, NC (CR Motorsports #7R & Troy Cline #55)

Ken Drangmeister/Hobart, IN (Ken Drangmeister #76)

Rich Drangmeister/Hobart, IN (#3 Rich Drangmeister)

Steven Drevicki/Reading, PA (Randy Heckman #12)

Bryan Drollinger/San Pedro, CA (Drollinger Bros. Racing #71D)

Tyler Edwards/Salina, OK (Jake Swanson #17s)

®Karsyn Elledge/Mooresville, NC (Tucker-Boat Motorsports #1)

Cory Elliott/Bakersfield, CA (Mitch Elliott #11E)

Michael Faccinto/Hanford, CA (Mitch Elliott #11F & D el Morris #47m)

Andrew Felker/Carl Junction, MO (Chad Shields #44)

Frank Flud/Pryor, OK (Bobby Springer #25s)

Chad Frewaldt/Kansas City, KS (Chad Frewaldt #4F)

Russ Gamester/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing #46)

Damion Gardner/Concord, CA (Klatt Enterprises #4)

Ronnie Gardner/Riverside, CA (Six8 Motorsports #68)

Carson Garrett/Littleton, CO (Broc Garrett #15x)

Noah Gass/Mounds, OK (Randy Gass #20G)

Dustin Golobic/Fremont, CA (Matt Wood Racing #17w)

Shane Golobic/Fremont, CA (Matt Wood Racing #17w)

Justin Grant/Ione, CA (RAMS Racing #4A)

Ryan Greth/Newport, PA (Mullet Racing #4)

Tony Gualda/Hollister, CA (Kruseman Motorsports #18K)

Derek Hagar/Marion, AR (Hagar-Proctor Racing #9JR)

Ryan Hall/Midlothian, TX (Mark Bush #2)

Ron Hazelton/Chatsworth, CA (Ron Hazelton #15H)

Colton Heath/Marysville, WA (Carla & Gaylon Stewart #99)

®Zane Hendricks/Stillwater, OK (Zane Hendricks Racing #27z)

Johnathon Henry/Stockton, CA (LKK Racing #1K)

Anton Hernandez/Arlington, TX (Bear Wood #8JR)

John Heydenreich/Bloomsburg, PA (John Givens #22)

Casey Hicks/Platt City, MO (Casey Hicks #5H)

®Holley Hollan/Broken Arrow, OK (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #67K)

Emilio Hoover/Broken Arrow, OK (James Hoover #9H)

Luke Howard (Overland Park, KS (Jay Mounce #00)

Dylan Ito/Ventura, CA (Keith Ford #73)

Dakota Jackson/Elizabethtown, IN (Kevin Arnold #43)

Shawn Jackson/Bear, DE (Shawn Jackson #7J)

Chris Jagger, Jr./Warsaw, IN (Chris Jagger, Jr. #32J)

Chase Johnson/Penngrove, CA (Tom Malloy #25x)

Colby Johnson/Penngrove, CA (Del Morris #71m)

Kenney Johnson/Bethany, CT (Jeff Johnson #46)

Sam Johnson/St. Peters, MO (Stev e Reynolds-Jetson Motorsports #19J & Joe Johnson #72)

Chase Jones/Greenwood, IN (SFH Racing Development #1BR, Bill Ecker #57B & SFH Racing Development #68)

Curtis Jones/Sand Springs, OK (Wayne Simmons #77s)

Kyle Jones/Kennedale, TX (Trifecta Motorsports #7u)

Robby Josett/Santa Clarita, CA (Keith Ford #73x)

Tucker Klaasmeyer/Paola, KS (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #27)

Michael Klein/Elsmere, KY (Mike Wallace #10A)

Buddy Kofoid/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #97K & Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #98)

Michael Koontz/Bloomington, IN (Michael Koontz #17x)

Tommy Kouns/Lebanon, IN (Chuck Taylor #11T)

Tommy Kunsman/Bethlehem, PA (Tommy Kunsman #21)

Kyle Larson/Elk Grove, CA (Kyle Larson Open Wheel #1K, Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #24 & Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #97)

®Andrew Layser/Collegeville, PA (Clauson-Marshall Racing #47BC)

Mike Leach, Jr./Orange, CA (Mike Leach, Sr. #33p)

®C.J. Leary/Greenfield, IN (Gene Gile Racing #13, Steve Reynolds Motorsports #21KS & FMR Racing #76m)

Aaron Leffel/Springfield, OH (Chuck Taylor #11L)

Matt Linder/Hoschton, GA (Mark Bush #2x)

Anthony Lopiccolo/Yorba Linda, CA (Anthony Lopiccolo #21)

Brayton Lynch/Springfield, IL (Rusty Kunz #1K)

Carson Macedo/Lemoore, CA (Tarlton Motorsports #21)

Critter Malone/Pittsboro, IN (Seven LLC #7)

Ace McCarthy/Tahlequah, OK (Jim Neuman #28)

Jason McDougal/Broken Arrow, OK (Steve Reynolds Motorsports #21KS & FMR Racing #76m)

Cannon McIntosh/Bixby, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports #08)

Shannon McQueen/Bakersfield, CA (McQueen Racing #7 & Broc Garrett #15s)

Thomas Meseraull/San Jose, CA (#7x RMS LLC & Gene Gile Racing #13)

Ethan Mitchell/Mooresville, NC (Dave Mac Motorsports #08m & Bundy Built Motorsports #19m)

Marvin Mitchell/Madera, CA (Marvin Mitchell #78)

Mitchel Moles/Fresno, CA (Matt Wood Racing #27w)

Howard Moore/Memphis, TN (Chris Chappue #41)

Jake Morgan/Fair Oaks, CA (Mike Sala #19w & Gary Morgan #45)

Shane Morgan/Morton, IL (Shane Morgan #15m)

Kameron Morral/Hagerstown, MD (Mullet Racing #4)

Chance Morton/Coweta, OK (Blane Morton #7m)

Kade Morton/Coweta, OK (Blane Morton #8m)

Johnny Murdock/Dallas, TX (Zero Moto #0)

Ty ler Nelson/Olathe, KS (Tyler Nelson Racing #88)

Jake Neuman/New Berlin, IN (Jim Neuman #3N)

Terry Nichols/Delano, CA (Kelly Nichols #1NP)

Austin O'Dell/Rochester, IL (Patrick O'Dell #97A)

Kyle O'Gara/Beech Grove, IN (SFH Racing Development #67F)

Trey Osborne/Columbus, OH (Mel Kenyon #61)

Ryan Padgett/Anadarko, OK (Wayne Crow #98p)

Randi Pankratz/Atascadero, CA (Wally Pankratz #8)

Billy Pauch, Jr./Frenchtown, NJ (Heffner Racing Enterprises #72)

Justin Peck/Monrovia, IN (Bus Racing Team #17)

James Picardi/Mapleton, IL (James Picardi #127)

Michael Pickens/Auckland, NZ (RMS LLC #1NZ)

Adam Pierson/East Corinth, VT (Mancini-Manafort Racing #74m)

Daryn Pittman/Owasso, OK (Pittman Motorsports #21)

David Prickett/Fresno, CA (Neverlift Motorsports #15DJ)

Daison Pursley/Locust Grove, OK (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #9 & Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #98)

G unner Ramey/Sedalia, MO (Mounce Motorsports #19s)

Davey Ray/Davenport, IA (Cornell Racing Stables #8)

Aaron Reutzel/Clute, TX (Tucker-Boat Motorsports #87)

Kiely Ricardo/Hollister, CA (Ted Finkenbinder #3F)

Tyler Robbins/Collinsville, IL (Tyler Robbins #35T)

Daniel Robinson/Ewing, IL (Harris Racing #11 & McCreery Motorsports #57D)

Kendall Ruble/Vincennes, IN (Brian Martin #11m)

Gage Rucker/Truxton, MO (Kruseman Motorsports #11K & Amati Racing #45L)

®Karter Sarff/Mason City, IL (Steve Reynolds Motorsports #21KS)

C.J. Sarna/Palm Desert, CA (C.J. Sarna #20)

Audra Sasselli/Selma, CA (Kelly Nichols #1p)

Gio Scelzi/Fresno, CA (Tucker-Boat Motorsports #84 & Tucker/Boat Motorsports #85)

Aaron Schuck/Joliet, IL (Five-Three Motorsports #53)

Ray Seach/Beloit, WI (Manic Racing #54m)

Logan Seavey/Sutter, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #67)

Tyler Seavey/Sutter, CA (Randy Washburn #117)

Shaun Shapel/Wichita, KS (Phil Shapel #84s)

Steven Shebester/Mustang, OK (Ray Williams #22x)

Chris Sheil/Aurora, CO (Cappy Mason #91)

Matt Sherrell/Owasso, OK (Bubba Hunt #10)

Carson Sousa/Red Bluff, CA (Ken Dalby #01)

Jamie Speers/New Holland, PA (Jamie Speers #00)

Curtis Spicer/Marysville, KS (Spicer Racecraft #4)

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr./Olive Branch, MS (Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC)

Matt Streeter/Napa, CA (Ted Finkenbinder #3F)

Kevin Studley/Plainfield, IN (Kevin Studley #57K)

Cody Swanson/Norco, CA (Marcie Campbell #71s)

Jake Swanson/Anaheim, CA (Broc Garrett #15s & Keith Ford #73K)

Brad Sweet/Grass Valley, CA (Willie Kahne #67z)

Adam Taylor/Dwight, IL (Taylor Motorsports #7T)

Garrett Thomas/Highland, IL (Mark Chisholm #56x)

Kevin Thomas, Jr./Cullman, AL (Petry Motorsports #5)

Tyler Thomas/Collinsville, OK (Tyler Thomas Motorsports #91T)

Tanner Thorson/Minden, NV (Tri-C Motorsports #3c, Hayward Motorsports #19 & Keith Kunz Motorsports-Curb-Agajanian #98)

Presley Truedson/Kennedy, MN (Daum Motorsports #5T)

A.J. Valim/Monument, CO (A.J. Valim #4T)

Matt Veatch/Ewing, IL (McCreery Motorsports #57D)

Brent Watson/Daleville, IN (Brent Watson #17K)

Billy Wease/Noblesville, IN (Amanda Wease #12w)

Cody Weisensel/Sun Prairie, WI (Kevin Weisensel #20)

Dillon Welch/Carmel, IN (Tucker-Boat Motorsports #81)

Matt Westfall/Pleasant Hill, OH (Steve Bordner #54)

Garet Williamson/Columbia, MO (Mounce Motorsports #19s)

Clint Wilson/Paradise, CA (Mounce Motorsports #c27)

Jeff Wimmenauer/Indianapolis, IN (Jeff Wimmenauer #15J)

Chris Windom/Canton, IL (Clauson-Marshall Racing #17BC)

Chad Winfrey/Gladstone, MO (Chad Winfrey #321)

Joe Wirth/Waterloo, IL (Joe Wirth #77w)

Zeb Wise/Angola, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing #39BC)

Kevin Woody, Jr./Victor, NY (Brian Buckwalter #0 & Brian Buckwalter #25B)

Ben Worth/Coalinga, CA (Dean Alexander #5G)

Alex Yankowski/Covington Township, PA (Brian Buckwalter #0)

J.J. Yeley/Phoenix, AZ (Jeff Taylor #2J & RMS LLC 36)

® = USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Rookie

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ALL-TIME USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS

1. [111 wins] Mel Kenyon

2. [95 wins] Rich Vogler

3. [78 wins] Bob Wente

4. [63 wins] Bob Tattersall

5. [59 wins] Sleepy Tripp

6. [48 wins] Jimmy Davies

7. [38 wins] Bryan Clauson

8. [35 wins] Tracy Hines

9. [31 wins] Gene Hartley & Chuck Rodee

11. [30 wins] Dave Darland, Mike McGreevy & Johnny Parsons

14. [27 wins] Gary Bettenhausen & Tony Stewart

16. [25 wins] Darren Hagen, Parnelli Jones & Dave Strickland

19. [24 wins] Billy Engelhart

20. [23 wins] Christopher Bell, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Tommy Copp, Kevin Olson & Billy Vukovich

26. [22 wins] Bobby East & Shorty Templeman

28. [21 wins] Steve Cannon, Jimmy Caruthers, Rex Easton & Ken Schrader

32. [20 wins] A.J. Foyt

33. [19 wins] Jerry Coons Jr., Stan Fox, Kyle Larson & Jason Leffler

37. [18 wins] Dave Steele

38. [17 wins] Jay Drake & J.J. Yeley

40. [16 wins] Rico Abreu, George Amick, Billy Cantrell, Lee Kunzman, Bobby Olivero & Henry Pens

46. [15 wins] Don Branson & Larry Rice

48. [14 wins] Chuck Arnold, Jack Turner & Leroy Warriner

51. [13 wins] Tyler Courtney, Steve Knepper, Don Meacham, Ryan Newman, Stevie Reeves & Tanner Thorson

57. [12 wins] Danny Caruthers, Gene Force, Russ Gamester, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Grim & Ron Shuman

63. [11 wins] Kasey Kahne, Jimmy Knight, Bob McLean, Johnny Moorhouse, Bobby Santos & Brad Sweet

69. [10 wins] Allen Heath, Doug Kalitta, Brad Kuhn, Steve Lotshaw, Jerry McClung & Chuck Weyant

75. [9 wins] Billy Boat, Chad Boat, Tony Elliott & Chuck Gurney

92. [7 wins] Tommy Astone, Jack Hewitt, Don Horvath, Page Jones, Kenneth Nichols, Larry Patton, Les Scott, Len Sutton & Johnnie Tolan

114. [5 wins] Spencer Bayston, Mike Bliss, Lonnie Caruthers, Larry Dickson, Mike Fedorcak, Burt Foland, Mack McClellan, Danny McKnight, Cliff Spalding, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & Jerry Weeks

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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS

1956: Shorty Templeman, 1957: Shorty Templeman, 1958: Shorty Templeman, 1959: Gene Hartley, 1960: Jimmy Davies, 1961: Jimmy Davies, 1962: Jimmy Davies, 1963: Bob Wente, 1964: Mel Kenyon, 1965: Mike McGreevy, 1966: Mike McGreevy, 1967: Mel Kenyon, 1968: Mel Kenyon, 1969: Bob Tattersall, 1970: Jimmy Caruthers, 1971: Danny Caruthers, 1972: Pancho Carter, 1973: Larry Rice, 1974: Mel Kenyon, 1975: Sleepy Tripp, 1976: Sleepy Tripp, 1977: Mel Kenyon, 1978: Rich Vogler, 1979: Steve Lotshaw, 1980: Rich Vogler, 1981: Mel Kenyon, 1982: Kevin Olson, 1983: Rich Vogler, 1984: Tom Bigelow, 1985: Mel Kenyon, 1986: Rich Vogler, 1987: Kevin Olson, 1988: Rich Vogler, 1989: Russ Gamester, 1990: Jeff Gordon, 1991: Mike Streicher, 1992: Stevie Reeves, 1993: Stevie Reeves, 1994: Tony Stewart, 1995: Tony Stewart, 1996: Kenny Irwin Jr., 1997: Jason Leffler, 1998: Jason Leffler, 1999: Jason Leffler, 2000: Kasey Kahne, 2001: Dave Darland, 2002: Dave Darland, 2003: J.J. Yeley, 2004: Bobby East, 2005: Josh Wise, 2006: Jerry Coons, Jr., 2007: Jerry Coons, Jr., 2008: Cole Whitt, 2009: Brad Kuhn, 2010: Bryan Clauson, 2011: Bryan Clauson, 2012: Darren Hagen, 2013: Christopher Bell, 2014: Rico Abreu, 2015: Tracy Hines, 2016: Tanner Thorson, 2017: Spencer Bayston, 2018: Logan Seavey, 2019: Tyler Courtney

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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL MIDGET OWNER CHAMPIONS

1956: Ashley Wright, 1957: Lloyd Rahn, 1958: Lloyd Rahn, 1959: Ray Bolander, 1960: Jimmy Davies, 1961: Howard Linne, 1962: Jimmy Davies, 1963: Robert Shadday, 1964: Willard Coil, 1965: Mel & Don Kenyon, 1966: Don Kenyon, 1967: Mel & Don Kenyon, 1968: Mel & Don Kenyon, 1969: Jack Stroud, 1970: Doug Caruthers, 1971: Doug Caruthers, 1972: Shannon Buick Company, 1973: Doug Caruthers, 1974: Don Kenyon, 1975: Ron Tripp, 1976: Ron Tripp, 1977: Sherman Armstrong, 1978: Doug & Dana Caruthers, 1979: 3-K Racing Enterprises, 1980: Don Kenyon, 1981: 3-K Racing Enterprises, 1982: Nick Gojmeric, 1983: Streicher Racing, 1984: Wilke Racing, 1985: 3-K Racing Enterprises, 1986: Jonathan Byrd, 1987: Jonathan Byrd, 1988: Wilke Racers, 1989: George & Gary Gamester, 1990: Streicher Racing, 1991: Streicher Racing, 1992: Ralph Potter, 1993: Steve Lewis, 1994: Ralph Potter, 1995: Steve Lewis, 1996: Steve Lewis, 1997: Pete Willoughby, 1998: Steve Lewis, 1999: Steve Lewis, 2000: Steve Lewis, 2001: Steve Lewis, 2002: Steve Lewis, 2003: Steve Lewis, 2004: Steve Lewis, 2005: Wilke-Pak Racers, 2006: Keith Kunz Motorsports, 2007: Wilke-Pak Racers, 2008: Keith Kunz Motorsports, 2009: RW Motorsports, 2010: Corey Tucker Racing/Keith Kunz Motorsports/BCI, 2011: Corey Tucker Racing/BCI/Curb-Agajanian, 2012: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2013: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2014: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2015: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2016: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2017: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2018: Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian, 2019: Clauson/Marshall Racing

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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL MIDGET ROOKIES OF THE YEAR

1969: Billy Engelhart, 1970: Danny Brown, 1971: Danny Caruthers, 1972: Tommy Astone, 1973: Mike Gregg, 1974: Richard Powell, 1975: Larry Patton, 1976: James McElreath, 1977: Lonnie Caruthers, 1978: Tommy Thomas, 1979: Barry Butterworth, 1980: Trevor Boys, 1981: Sherman Armstrong, 1982: Chris Maxson, 1983: John Andretti, 1984: Russ Gamester, 1985: Bobby Allen, 1986: Steve Enlow, 1987: John Meyers, 1988: Jim Keeker, 1989: Jeff Gordon, 1990: Dan Ford, 1991: Doug Kalitta, 1992: Brian Gerster, 1993: Chuck Leary, 1994: David Bridges, 1995: Ryan Newman, 1996: Carl Olsen, 1997: Nick Lundgreen, 1998: Michael Lewis, 1999: A.J. Fike, 2000: Aaron Fike, 2001: Bobby East, 2002: Teddy Beach & Ron Gregory, 2003: Ryan Durst, 2004: Todd Beach, 2005: Darren Hagen, 2006: Bryan Clauson, 2007: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 2008: Chad Boat, 2009: Zach Daum, 2010: Daniel Bedford, 2011: Kyle Larson, 2012: Rico Abreu, 2013: Christopher Bell, 2014: Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2015: Spencer Bayston, 2016: Carson Macedo, 2017: Tanner Carrick, 2018: Logan Seavey. 2019: Andrew Layser

Kevin Thomas, Jr. of Cullman, Ala.
(Dave Olson Photo)

KEVIN THOMAS, JR. BACK IN THE #9K

FOR 2020 USAC SPRINT SEASON

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 4, 2019).........Kevin Thomas, Jr. will return to the KT Motorsports No. 9K for the full 2020 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car campaign with sponsorship from McDonald's and Dr. Pepper.

Thomas, of Cullman, Ala., made his USAC National Sprint Car debut aboard the No. 9K in 2009, won his first career USAC Sprint race in the car in 2012, and reeled off five victories during a strong 2017 campaign with the team.

The 2018 series runner-up and 28-time USAC National Sprint Car feature winner, which ranks 11th all-time in series history, is excited to be back with the family-owned team to kick off the new decade of the 2020s.

"I kind of feel like when we run under our own banner, that's where we get our best results," Thomas said. "We're going to go with what got us here and do things on our own. It was a decent season last year, but I think we can build off of it."

Thomas' 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season consisted of a pair of wins, including a thrilling last lap victory during Indiana Sprint Week in July at Bloomington Speedway, plus a triumph in the Midwest season finale in October during the Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway en route to a fourth place finish in the final standings.

Thomas is aiming to up that to a title run this year following three top-four finishes in the final series standings in each of the past three years: a 3rd in 2017, a 2nd in 2018 and a 4th in 2019.

"We want to run for a championship and for as many wins as we can," Thomas stated. "Under our family name, with my dad as car owner and me as a driver, we have a lot of pride in what we do with this race team."

Also, Thomas announced he will return to the Petry Motorsports team for a full run at the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget championship in 2020 as well, with whom he captured two victories in 2019 at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway and Arizona Speedway.

Dennis Krieger Imagery

2020 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SLATE SET

Speedway, Indiana.........Indiana Midget Week enters its 15th year in 2020 with a new look with the addition of Paragon Speedway as the opener to the star studded six-straight nights of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing June 2-7.

On Tuesday, June 2, the tricky quarter mile of Paragon, located just a little less than an hour southwest of Indianapolis, will make its debut on the Indiana Midget Week schedule by hosting its first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget race since 1985 and its first USAC-sanctioned race of any kind since 1998.

Paragon Speedway has hosted USAC Midgets only three times in its existence, a 1977 event won by Johnny Parsons, a 1978 victory by Mel Kenyon and the 1985 race, which served as the only career USAC National win for John Andretti.

Following the opener at Paragon, on Wednesday, June 3, the series travels northbound to the quarter-mile Gas City I-69 Speedway, whose origins with the IMW series date to the inaugural year in 2005. Next, on Thursday, June 4, the 5/16 Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville is back on the IMW docket for the 11th straight year.

The quarter-mile red clay of Bloomington Speedway provides the surface as IMW enters the weekend on Friday, June 5. The three-eighths of a mile Lawrenceburg Speedway, which hosted the very first IMW event in 2005, serves as the penultimate race of the mini-series on Saturday, June 6. The 2020 IMW finale at Kokomo Speedway comes to the quarter mile venue on Sunday, June 7, which first hosted USAC Midget racing in USAC's inaugural season of 1956.

Indiana Midget Week debuted in 2005, and throughout the past decade and a half, has developed into one of the ultimate racing destination weeks of the year. It's a racer's delight with each night providing a salivating offering of both USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget and local sprint car racing where several drivers will pull double duty in each type of car throughout the week for six consecutive nights.

"Indiana Midget Week is annually one of the most thrilling weeks of the USAC season," USAC National Series Director Levi Jones said. "USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing right now is the most intense and unpredictable it's ever been as proven by nine different winners in nine races during Indiana Midget Week over the past two seasons. Witnessing that over six nights in 2020 will be something you won't want to miss."

Logan Seavey is the reigning IMW champion after capturing the 2019 title. Bryan Clauson owns the most IMW career feature victories with nine. Additional past champions of IMW include Shane Cottle (2005-06), Jerry Coons, Jr. (2007), Tracy Hines (2008-10), Clauson (2009-11-16), Brad Kuhn (2010), Darren Hagen (2012), Christopher Bell (2013), Rico Abreu (2014-15), Shane Golobic (2017) and Spencer Bayston (2018).

2020 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:

Tue., June 2: Paragon Speedway - Paragon, Indiana

Wed., June 3: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana

Thu., June 4: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana

Fri., June 5: Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana

Sat., June 6: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana

Sun., June 7: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana