Lonnie Wheatley
FAIRBURY, Neb. (July 9, 2021) – The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget series “Mid-America Midget Week” wraps up in a big way at Fairbury, Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway on July 15-17 with the Fourth Annual Riverside Chevrolet Midwest Midget Championship presented by Westin Packaged Meats and Schmidt’s Sanitation.
After weaving the way through the Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Missouri on Sunday night, July 11, Meeker, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway for “Tuesday Night Thunder on July 13 and then Beloit, Kansas’ Solomon Valley Raceway for the “Chad McDaniel Memorial” on July 14, USAC’s Mid-America Midget Week comes to a grand conclusion at Jefferson County Speedway.
The week culminates with a 40-lap, $10,000-win main event on Saturday night, July 17.
It will wrap up a full weekend of racing atop the 1/5-mile clay oval that includes two full racing cards of qualifying, heats and feature events on Friday and Saturday following a Thursday night practice sessions as the USAC Midgets invade Nebraska for the only time in 2021.
And the community has stepped up to support the marquee event with more than $40,000 in purse money to be distributed during the event made possible a number of community members eager to ensure that the event continues to grow in Fairbury, NE, over the coming years.
And while the racing will be intense, there will be time to decompress and socialize as well with a shrimp boil and bar-b-que to follow the Thursday night practice from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. for all race teams, crews and fans at the campground north of the track with a free concert in the beer garden following each night of racing action as well.
The event co-sanctioned with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association will be accompanied on both nights by the NOW 600/Jay-Husker Non-Wing and Restricted “A” Class Micro Sprints.
After Justin Grant topped the inaugural USAC Midwest Midget Championship in 2018, Tyler Courtney has topped the finale over each of the past two years with Jason McDougal and reigning USAC Midget champion Chris Windom snaring preliminary feature wins.
Windom of Canton, IL, will be one of several past USAC Midget champions in competition at the Midwest Midget Championship along with Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey (2018) and Minden Nevada’s Tanner Thorson (2016).
Penngrove, California’s Michael “Buddy” Kofoid currently holds the upper hand in the USAC Midget title chase aboard one of the potent Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports entries that has cracked victory lane at Jefferson County Speedway just once with a Thorson win in 2017.
After winning the “Indiana Midget Week” crown in June, Kofoid’s advantage in the overall title chase stands at 47 points over Windom entering “Mid-America Midget Week” with others among the current top five including Emerson Axsom (Franklin, IN), Justin Grant (Ione, CA) and Thorson.
Other leading USAC contenders include the likes of Thomas Meseraull, Daison Pursley, Seavey, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Jason McDougal and Cannon McIntosh among others as Wyoming’s Zac Taylor and Colorado’s Keith Rauch lead the way among the RMMRA ranks.
Past USAC National Midget Winners at Jefferson County Speedway:
8/2/16 – Chad Boat
8/1/17 – Tanner Thorson
7/14/18 – Justin Grant
7/12/19 – Jason McDougal
7/13/19 – Tyler Courtney
7/17/20 – Chris Windom
7/18/20 – Tyler Courtney
General admission tickets to the event are just $20 for adults on Friday night and $25 on Saturday with High School students and younger just $5 each night. Reserved seating is $25 per night (available in two-day packages only) and are available online at www.jeffersoncountyspeedway.com under the “Buy Tickets” tab.
Unlimited general admission tickets will be sold day of show beginning at 5:00 p.m. with reserved seating only presale as described above.
All-access pit passes will be unlimited and available at the pit gate on day of show only.
Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with Qualifying at 6:30 p.m. and racing at 7:00 p.m. with a free concert each night after the races at the beer garden.
Camping with electric and water hookups is available just a few hundred feet from the track by reserving online at www.jeffersoncountyspeedway.com under the “Buy Tickets” tab. Additional camping and area information is available at https://www.visitoregontrail.org/ or http://fairburychamber.org/.
For more information, follow the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MidwestMidgetChampionship or call 405-823-8095.