By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (September 24, 2020)………Gas City I-69 Speedway and Kokomo Speedway lie just about 45 minutes apart – a straight, 180-degree angle from each other an hour-plus north of Indianapolis in the Hoosier state.
Though each racetrack is listed as a quarter-mile length of dirt, each track possesses its own characteristics – one with a surrounding concrete wall, one without. One with slightly more banking than the other, and so on and so forth.
When you put the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars and the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets on the same event card, such as it is for both nights of this weekend’s Indiana Donor Network Driven2SaveLives Double Double, Friday, Sept. 25 at Gas City and Saturday, Sept. 26 at Kokomo, you’ll several drivers hopping between both types of cars at both racetracks.
As we dig through the records, we’ve found that no driver has checked all four boxes in play this weekend with USAC National Sprint wins in addition to USAC National Midget victories at both venues. Some have come close over the years to scoring all four, with four drivers reigning victorious in three of those four categories.
A USAC National Midget win at Gas City is the only such item that eluded Bryan Clauson, the winner of a single USAC Sprint Car race at Gas City and four at Kokomo, plus three Midget scores at Kokomo. Oddly enough, the same missing puzzle piece eludes all four individuals with Tyler Courtney, Kevin Thomas Jr. and J.J. Yeley also emerging triumphantly in USAC Sprint competition at both Gas City and Kokomo as well as in a Midget at Kokomo, but with no hardware to show from a Midget win at Gas City.
In all, an impressive array of 22 different drivers have won USAC National features at both Gas City and Kokomo. Brady Bacon and Tracy Hines have flip-flopped with a Sprint win at Gas City and a Midget victory at Kokomo, or in the case of Bacon, three Midget wins at Kokomo. On the other hand, Justin Grant notched a USAC Midget win at Gas City and with the Sprint Car at Kokomo.
Nine drivers have won with the USAC Sprint Cars only at both Gas City and Kokomo in their careers with the likes of past series champions Dave Darland, Jay Drake, Levi Jones, C.J. Leary and Chris Windom along with top-tier racers Cory Kruseman, Hunter Schuerenberg, Jon Stanbrough and Chase Stockon.
Meanwhile, six more have conquered Midget only victories at the two tracks, including four series champs Spencer Bayston, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn and Tanner Thorson. Kyle Larson, the jack of all racing trades in 2020, has also won at both in a USAC Midget as has international racing star, Michael Pickens, of New Zealand.
The cream rises to the top in terms of versatility and drivers finding success at different venues and in the seats of different types of racecars, all in quick succession. This weekend’s Double Double runs the gamut, so to speak, in versatility, and we’ll get to witness who’ll be grabbing their pen and checking off one of those boxes off this weekend.
There are no limits on the number of entries for either of this weekend’s events. Pit gates open Friday for Gas City at 3pm ET, front gates at 5pm and hot laps at 6:30pm. Adult general admission tickets are $25 for adults and free for kids age 12 and under. Pit passes are $35 apiece.
Pit gates and spectator gates open Saturday for Kokomo at 3pm ET with hot laps at 6pm. Adult general admission tickets are $25 for adults and free for kids age 12 and under. Pit passes are $35 apiece. Tickets can be purchased in advance at www.usactickets.com as well as at the gate on raceday.
Tickets can be purchased in advance for both events at www.usactickets.com as well as at the gate on raceday.
Both nights of this weekend’s Double Double can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2Zs7zFP.
USAC NATIONAL WINNERS AT BOTH GAS CITY & KOKOMO: (1956-August 2020)
Bryan Clauson: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 4 Sprint at Kokomo / 3 Midget Kokomo
Tyler Courtney: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 5 Sprint at Kokomo / 2 Midget at Kokomo
Kevin Thomas Jr.: 2 Sprint at Gas City & 3 Sprint at Kokomo / 2 Midget at Kokomo
J.J. Yeley: 2 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Kokomo Sprint / 1 Kokomo Midget
Brady Bacon: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 3 Midget at Kokomo
Spencer Bayston: 1 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Dave Darland: 2 Sprint at Gas City & 9 Sprint at Kokomo
Jay Drake: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Justin Grant: 1 Midget at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Darren Hagen: 2 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Tracy Hines: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Levi Jones: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Cory Kruseman: 2 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Brad Kuhn: 1 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Kyle Larson: 2 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
C.J. Leary: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 3 Sprint at Kokomo
Michael Pickens: 1 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Hunter Schuerenberg: 2 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Jon Stanbrough: 6 Sprint at Gas City & 3 Sprint at Kokomo
Chase Stockon: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 1 Sprint at Kokomo
Tanner Thorson: 1 Midget at Gas City & 1 Midget at Kokomo
Chris Windom: 1 Sprint at Gas City & 3 Sprint at Kokomo