By Richie Murray
Haubstadt, Indiana (June 2, 2021)………Never before has Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway hosted an Indiana Midget Week event, but its time will come this Sunday night, June 6, when the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets pay a visit to the 1/4-mile dirt oval for round four of the eight-race series.
Nine venues have previously hosted an Indiana Midget Week event with Tri-State (June 6) and Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind. (June 9) representing the 10th and 11th locations to hold an IMW race.
“First” and “new” are kind of common themes around these parts for the USAC National Midgets. Eleven previous appearances by the series at Tri-State since 1969 have produced a new winner each time, leaving us to wonder the possibilities of another first-time “Class Track” winner this Sunday.
After two decades of trying, Thomas Meseraull (RMS #7x) finally broke through for his first career USAC National Midget feature win at Tri-State last October. In five total Tri-State USAC Midget starts, the San Jose, Calif. driver has finished 10th in 2010, 3rd in 2011, 12th in 2012 and 8th in 2019. His 8th place finish in 2019 came after he led three laps just past halfway when he was involved in an incident while battling for the lead.
The winner that night in 2019 was Jason McDougal (Dalby #4) who scored the Harvest Cup midget victory, which consisted of one of the most furious battles in recent memory between he and Kevin Thomas Jr. The pair slugged it out during the 30-lap main event, exchanging the lead seemingly every single lap on both ends of the track, delivering slider after slider until the final bell tolled.
In all, the baton for the lead was passed between Thomas and McDougal, as well as Logan Seavey and Meseraull, officially speaking, six times at the line, but a whopping 26 times unofficially in the first 20 laps, until McDougal, of Broken Arrow, Okla., emerged with the lead for good 10 laps from the finish to score his second and most recent USAC National Midget win.
Brady Bacon (TKH #21H) of Broken Arrow, Okla., won the Hut 100 at TSS in 2012 and was 9th back in 2007. The three-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion has been victorious in a USAC Sprint race at TSS as well, winning in the Spring of 2015.
Princeton, Indiana’s Kyle Cummins (Styres #3G) recently picked up his all-time leading sixth USAC National Sprint Car victory at Tri-State in April of this year. He enters as one of the prime suspects to earn a first career USAC National Midget feature win, especially with his home track of Tri-State Speedway on the horizon. He finished a career-best 3rd with the USAC National Midgets at Tri-State in both 2019 and 2020.
Tanner Thorson (Reinbold-Underwood #19T) came within a half-car length of winning last fall’s USAC Midget race at TSS, just falling short of the victory behind Meseraull. The 2016 USAC National Midget champ from Minden, Nev. made an impressive charge in the 2019 A-Main at TSS, starting 17th and finishing 9th.
Kevin Thomas Jr. (Petry #5) is a five-time USAC Sprint winner at TSS between 2013 and 2018. The Cullman, Ala. native finished 2nd to McDougal in 2019’s USAC Midget go at TSS, leading twice for a total of eight laps and was 6th in 2020 after starting 10th. This past Spring, he was the fastest qualifier at TSS for a USAC National Sprint Car event.
Chris Windom (CBI #89) was 16th in 2020 and 11th in 2019 in USAC National Midget competition at TSS, but the Canton, Ill. driver’s impressive 2nd place finish in the 100-lap USAC Midget feature at the track in 2012 stands as his best. The reigning USAC National Midget titlist, USAC career Triple Crown champion and final night Kokomo Grand Prix winner on May 1, won at Tri-State in a USAC National Sprint Car feature in the spring of 2017.
Opening night 2021 Kokomo Grand Prix winner Emerson Axsom (Petry #15) was the biggest mover in his TSS debut with the USAC National Midgets in October of 2020. After experiencing a mechanical issue in the semi-feature, the Franklin, Ind. driver and team used a provisional, then tore through the field in the 30-lapper, starting 23rd and finishing 5th.
Justin Grant (RMS #2J) earned KSE Racing Products hard charger honors in the 2019 TSS USAC Midget feature, ripping through the field to finish 5th after starting 16th. Grant took 8th in his latest USAC Midget escapade at TSS in 2020. The defending USAC Silver Crown champ from Ione, Calif. was the fastest qualifier twice in 2019 at TSS in USAC Sprint competition and was a 4th place finisher this past Spring.
Logan Seavey (Malloy #25) led the first seven laps of the 2019 USAC Midget race at TSS and finished 6th in the final rundown. The 2018 USAC National Midget champ and 2019 Indiana Midget Week king from Sutter, Calif. was superb in his USAC Sprint Car debut at Tri-State in the spring of 2018, qualifying 2nd and finishing 3rd. In August of 2020, during the Indiana Sprint Week finale at TSS, Seavey set fast time.
First-time USAC National Midget feature starts at TSS in 2020 were turned in by Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Kaylee Bryson (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #71), 9th; Rossville, Indiana’s Cole Bodine (Clauson Marshall #39BC), 11th; USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget point leader, Penngrove, California’s Buddy Kofoid (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #67), 12th; Waco, Texas’ Chase Randall (Reinbold-Underwood #19A), 13th; Locust Grove, Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #71K) 19th; and Bixby, Oklahoma’s Cannon McIntosh (Dave Mac #08), 20th.
Drivers aiming to compete in their first USAC National Midget feature at Tri-State this Sunday include top-ranking Rookie, Colby, Kansas driver Bryant Wiedeman (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #01); Mooresville, North Carolina’s Ethan Mitchell (Bundy Built #19m); Lubbock, Texas’ Brenham Crouch (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #97); New Berlin, Illinois native Jake Neuman (Neuman #3N); Gilbert, Arizona’s Hayden Reinbold (Reinbold-Underwood #19AZ); and Pipersville, Pennsylvania’s Brian Carber (Hayward #19).
Hayden Williams is one of a trio of New Zealand natives making the trip over from their native land to race in “The States” along with Travis Buckley and Max Guilford. All will be hoping to repeat the magic turned in by fellow New Zealander Barry Butterworth, who captured his one and only USAC National Midget feature win at Tri-State Speedway in 1979.
Sunday’s Indiana Midget Week round will feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship & the Midwest Sprint Car Series.
You can save $5 with the purchase of advance tickets at www.TracPass.com. Tickets and pit passes will also be sold at the gate. Adult general admission tickets are $30, students aged 13-18 are $20 and kids aged 12 & under are free. Pit passes are $35.
Pits open at 3:30pm CDT with grandstands opening at 4:30pm, drivers meeting at 5pm and hot laps at 6pm.
Every Indiana Midget Week event will be streamed LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.
============================
2021 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:
Jun 3: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, IN
Jun 4: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, IN
Jun 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN
Jun 6: Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN
Jun 9: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, IN
Jun 10: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, IN
Jun 11: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, IN
Jun 12: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:
None
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINNERS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:
None
TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS:
1-Brady Bacon, Barry Butterworth, Lonnie Caruthers, Bryan Clauson, Zach Daum, Jason McDougal, Mike McGreevy, Thomas Meseraull, Johnny Parsons, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & Sleepy Tripp
TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:
1969: Mike McGreevy (6/27)
1978: Sleepy Tripp (5/5)
1979: Johnny Parsons (6/15) & Barry Butterworth (8/24)
1980: Lonnie Caruthers (5/2)
2007: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5/12)
2010: Bryan Clauson (5/8)
2011: Zach Daum (5/21)
2012: Brady Bacon (6/2)
2019: Jason McDougal (10/19)
2020: Thomas Meseraull (10/10)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 5/8/2010 – Bryan Clauson – 13.629 – 66.036 mph
3 Laps – 6/27/1969 – Bob Tattersall – 50.000 – 54.000 mph
8 Laps – 6/8/2011 – Hunter Schuerenberg – 1:43.14 – 69.808 mph
10 Laps – 5/21/2011 – Thomas Meseraull – 2:20.38 – 64.112 mph
12 Laps – 10/19/2019 – Tanner Thorson – 2:59.89 – 60.037 mph
40 Laps – 6/15/1979 – Johnny Parsons – 11:07.40 – 53.941 mph
50 Laps – 6/27/1969 – Mike McGreevy – 14:15.27 – 51.563 mph
PAST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET RESULTS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:
2020: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (7), 2. Tanner Thorson (4), 3. Kyle Cummins (12), 4. Tyler Courtney (9), 5. Emerson Axsom (23*), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (10), 7. Clinton Boyles (18), 8. Justin Grant (5), 9. Kaylee Bryson (22), 10. Chase Johnson (15), 11. Cole Bodine (2), 12. Buddy Kofoid (16), 13. Chase Randall (13), 14. Logan Seavey (17), 15. Jerry Coons Jr. (21), 16. Chris Windom (6), 17. Jason McDougal (3), 18. Sam Johnson (14), 19. Daison Pursley (11), 20. Brady Bacon (19), 21. Andrew Layser (1), 22. Stephen Schnapf (8), 23. Cannon McIntosh (20). NT
2019: (Starting position in parentheses) 1. Jason McDougal (5), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 3. Kyle Cummins (7), 4. Tyler Courtney (2), 5. Justin Grant (16), 6. Logan Seavey (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (18), 8. Thomas Meseraull (12), 9. Tanner Thorson (17), 10. Zeb Wise (19), 11. Chris Windom (11), 12. Tyler Thomas (8), 13. Jerry Coons, Jr. (13), 14. Robert Dalby (3), 15. Andrew Layser (10), 16. C.J. Leary (21), 17. Tanner Carrick (14), 18. Karsyn Elledge (9), 19. Critter Malone (15), 20. Jake Swanson (22), 21. Gio Scelzi (6), 22. Kendall Ruble (20).
2012: 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Ryan Bernal, 6. Jerry Coons, Jr., 7. Darren Hagen, 8. Brett Anderson, 9. Levi Roberts, 10. Steve Buckwalter, 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Thomas Meseraull, 13. Davey Ray, 14. Mario Clouser, 15. Bobby East, 16. Caleb Armstrong, 17. Tyler Thomas, 18. Rico Abreu, 19. Cameron Hagin, 20. Dalton Armstrong, 21. Zach Daum, 22. Austin Brown, 23. Bubba Altig, 24. Chett Gehrke, 25. Colten Cottle, 26. Andy Malpocker, 27. Ryan Criswell, 28. Ted Hines, 29. Tyler Robbins, 30. Daniel Robinson, 31. Tracy Hines, 32. Mike Hess, 33. C.J. Leary, 34. Jimmy Simpson.
2011: 1. Zach Daum, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Darren Hagen, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Caleb Armstrong, 8. Davey Ray, 9. Bobby East, 10. Kyle Larson, 11. Kellen Conover, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Mario Clouser, 14. Travis Berryhill, 15. John Campbell, 16. Levi Roberts, 17. Bubba Altig, 18. Shane Cockrum, 19. Tanner Swanson, 20. Kody Aldrich, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Kody Swanson, 23. Jimmy Simpson, 24. Seth Motsinger, 25. Kent Schmidt, 26. Chase Barber, 27. Michael Koontz, 28. Tyler Robbins, 29. Gavin Galbraith, 30. Mike Hess, 31. Brad Kuhn, 32. Doug Day, 33. Dalton Armstrong.
2010: 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Caleb Armstrong, 4. Shane Hmiel, 5. Zach Daum, 6. Dereck King, 7. Nick Knepper, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Brad Loyet, 10. Thomas Meseraull, 11. Henry Clarke, 12. Brad Kuhn, 13. Tim Siner, 14. Daniel Adler, 15. Shane Cockrum, 16. Kyle Hamilton, 17. Mario Clouser, 18. Tyler Robbins, 19. Levi Jones, 20. Kent Schmidt, 21. Hud Cone, 22. Bobby East, 23. Tracy Hines, 24. Austin Brown, 25. Davey Ray, 26. Evan Lents, 27. Alex Bowman, 28. Darren Hagen, 29. Gavin Galbraith, 30. Kellen Conover, 31. Andrew Felker, 32. Levi Roberts, 33. Travis Berryhill.
2007: 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2. Hud Cone, 3. Darren Hagen, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Cole Carter, 7. Davey Ray, 8. Tom Hessert III, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Danny Stratton, 11. Kevin Swindell, 12. Shane Cottle, 13. Mike Hess, 14. Bobby East, 15. Levi Jones, 16. Brad Loyet, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Mat Neely, 19. Gary Taylor, 20. Donnie Lehmann, 21. A.J. Felker, 22. Nick Knepper, 23. Damion Gardner, 24. Josh Wise, 25. Dave Darland.
1980: 1. Lonnie Caruthers, 2. Jerry Weeks, 3. Johnny Parsons, 4. Sleepy Tripp, 5. Steve Lotshaw, 6. Jeff Heywood, 7. Mel Kenyon, 8. Bob Wente, 9. Nick Gojmeric, 10. Marty Davis, 11. Warren Mockler, 12. Dave Keith, 13. Bob Bennett, 14. Kenneth Nichols, 15. Alan Brown, 16. Jerry Nuckles, 17. Tracy Potter, 18. Bob Carey, 19. Bobby Grim, Jr., 20. Jerry Harris.
1979: (8/24) 1. Barry Butterworth, 2. Sleepy Tripp, 3. Rich Vogler, 4. Bob Wente, 5. Mel Kenyon, 6. Steve Lotshaw, 7. Lonnie Caruthers, 8. Chuck Gurney, 9. Ken Schrader, 10. Jeff Nuckles, 11. Warren Mockler, 12. Nick Gojmeric, 13. Chris Cumberworth, 14. Jerry Weeks, 15. Kenneth Nichols, 16. Bob Bennett, 17. Bill Renshaw, 18. Stan Fox, 19. Dave Ray, 20. Danny Frye, Jr.
1979: (6/15) 1. Johnny Parsons, 2. Jerry Weeks, 3. Steve Lotshaw, 4. Dana Carter, 5. Rick Goudy, 6. Rich Vogler, 7. Wes Stafford, 8. Barry Butterworth, 9. Stan Fox, 10. Lonnie Caruthers, 11. Lee Carey, 12. Ken Schrader, 13. Terry Wente, 14. Tim Pangborn, 15. Steve Cannon, 16. Mel Kenyon, 17. Ron Mullen, 18. Bob Wente, 19. Jerry Nuckles, 20. Chuck Gurney.
1978: 1. Sleepy Tripp, 2. Ron Shuman, 3. Lonnie Caruthers, 4. Mel Kenyon, 5. Steve Cannon, 6. Larry Gates, 7. Jeff Heywood, 8. Mack McClellan, 9. Steve Lotshaw, 10. Jeff Nuckles, 11. Ron Eden, 12. Dave Stoltz, 13. Bubby Jones, 14. Tim Pangborn, 15. Rich Vogler, 16. Jerry Weeks, 17. Stan Fox, 18. Chris Cumberworth, 19. Kevin Olson, 20. Wes Stafford.
1969: 1. Mike McGreevy, 2. Dave Strickland, 3. Roger West, 4. Les Scott, 5. Clark Templeman, 6. George McBeath, 7. Gary Irvin, 8. Dave Ward, 9. Bill Renshaw, 10. Sonny Ates, 11. Mel Cornett, 12. Rob Greentree, 13. Merle Bettenhausen, 14. Bob Tattersall, 15. Larry Kirkpatrick, 16. Mel Kenyon, 17. Jack Fitzpatrick, 18. Steve Troxell.
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMPIONS: (2005-2020)
2005: Shane Cottle
2006: Shane Cottle
2007: Jerry Coons Jr.
2008: Tracy Hines
2009: Bryan Clauson
2010: Tracy Hines & Brad Kuhn
2011: Bryan Clauson
2012: Darren Hagen
2013: Christopher Bell
2014: Rico Abreu
2015: Rico Abreu
2016: Bryan Clauson
2017: Shane Golobic
2018: Spencer Bayston
2019: Logan Seavey
2020: Kyle Larson
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS: (2005-2020)
9-Bryan Clauson & Kyle Larson
5-Christopher Bell
4-Rico Abreu & Tanner Thorson
3-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens
2-Jerry Coons Jr., Davey Ray, Brad Sweet & Chris Windom
1-Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Jay Drake, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Johnny Rodriguez, Logan Seavey, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell & Kevin Thomas Jr.