By Richie Murray
Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania (August 2, 2021)………Three past USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champions Chris Windom, Tanner Thorson and Logan Seavey as well as June Eastern Storm Grandview winner Justin Grant and the current leader in the series title race, Buddy Kofoid, are among the heavyweights headed out to begin Eastern Midget Week for the Ken Brenn Midget Masters on Tuesday night, August 3, at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania.
The 1/3-mile Grandview dirt oval has hosted just three previous USAC National Midget events, which were won by Rich Vogler in 1988, Russ Gamester in 1989 and Chris Windom in 2019, all USAC National Midget champions in their own right.
Windom (Canton, Ill.) has started every USAC National Sprint Car feature held at Grandview since 2007 and owns one USAC National Midget start there. The USAC Triple Crown champion’s winning performance in 2019 came in a race in which he lost the lead on the final lap in turn one, then regained it back on the back straightaway to win by a single car length in an instant thriller.
Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) has won in both the USAC National Sprint Car and USAC Silver Crown divisions this year but would love to check a first USAC National Midget win for 2021 off the list this Tuesday at Grandview where he was victorious in a 40-lap USAC Sprint Car race in June of 2021 during Eastern Storm.
Thorson (Minden, Nev.) hasn’t finished outside the top-four in any of his three previous Grandview USAC starts. He finished 4th in his lone Grandview USAC Midget appearance in 2019, earning hard charger honors after starting all the way back in 15th. The 2016 USAC National Midget champ has also made two USAC National Sprint Car starts at Grandview in 2021, taking home 3rd and 4th place finishes.
Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) enters Eastern Midget Week fresh off an Indiana Sprint Week championship. He finished 6th in his lone Grandview USAC Midget run in 2019. Grandview’s one-lap USAC National Sprint Car track record holder owns six-straight top-five finishes with the sprints at the track, including a 2nd in April of 2021.
Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) finished 10th in his only USAC National Midget appearance at Grandview in 2019 and finished 13th aboard a USAC National Sprint Car there in June.
Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) possesses the 12-lap USAC National Sprint Car track record at Grandview and was 9th here in the sprint car in 2019. That same year, in the midget, he won his heat race then went on to a 13th place feature finish at Grandview.
Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) took a personal best 4th with the USAC National Sprint Cars at Grandview in 2016. His first USAC National Midget experience at Grandview will come this Tuesday.
Same for Alex Bright (Collegeville, Pa.), the USAC East Coast Sprint Car point leader, who finished 3rd with the series in May. In two USAC National Sprint Car starts at Grandview this year, the 2018 USAC Eastern Midget champ finished the A-Main 7th and 8th. Bright will pilot a team car to Logan Seavey for owner Tom Malloy.
Point leader Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) will make his first USAC National Midget appearance at Grandview on Tuesday. He does have previous experience there in a wing sprint car, finishing 21st during the Hodnett Cup in June of 2021 during Pennsylvania Sprint Speed Week.
For most of the field, Tuesday will present their first Grandview experience, including 2021 first-time USAC National Midget winners Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) and Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.), along with a handful of previous winners looking for a breakthrough win in 2021 such as Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.), Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.) and 2010 ARDC Midget champ Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, Pa.).
Kiwis Hayden Williams and Travis Buckley (Auckland, N.Z.) are on the way to Grandview for their debuts as are series veterans Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) and Kevin Woody Jr. (Victor, New York), plus series Rookies Chase Randall (Waco, Texas), Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.), Jonathan Shafer (Ashland, Ohio) and Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.), who’ll be making her debut with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.
The Ken Brenn Midget Masters is dedicated to Ken Brenn Sr., a winning open wheel and dirt track modified stock car owner for three decades (1954-1983). Brenn’s midget racing involvement included a long association (1954-1972) with the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) where he was president from 1969-1970. Plus, he was also a five-time ARDC champion car owner (1963-1964, 1968-1969 and 1971) and listed on the ARDC’s honor roll as a lifetime member.
Brenn’s efforts in making auto racing a safer sport included designing a universally-accepted roll bar for Midgets in 1958. He owned the first USAC Sprint Car to ever use a roll cage in 1966. He was further instrumental in making roll cages – and shoulder harnesses – mandatory for ARDC in 1970.
Grandview’s Eastern Midget Week opener on Tuesday night, August 3, features the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship & 358 Modifieds.
Gates open at 5pm Eastern, drivers meeting at 5:45pm and hot laps 6:15pm followed by qualifying and racing.
Adult admission tickets are $28, Children 6 to 11 are $10, Children 5 and under will be admitted free. Advance tickets are available by calling (443) 513-4456.
Every lap of all five Eastern Midget will be aired live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2ZpafUr.
========================
2021 EASTERN MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:
Aug 3: Grandview Speedway | Bechtelsville, PA
Aug 4: Action Track USA | Kutztown, PA
Aug 5: Bridgeport Motorsports Park | Swedesboro, NJ
Aug 6: Bloomsburg Fair Raceway | Bloomsburg, PA
Aug 7: Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway | Newmanstown, PA
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Buddy Kofoid-1191, 2-Chris Windom-1154, 3-Emerson Axsom-1123, 4-Justin Grant-1098, 5-Tanner Thorson-1053, 6-Daison Pursley-1023, 7-Logan Seavey-999, 8-Thomas Meseraull-983, 9-Kevin Thomas Jr.-983, 10-Cannon McIntosh-888.
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 7/30/2019 – Kyle Larson – 14.310 – 83.019 mph
8 Laps – 7/30/2019 – Tyler Courtney – 1:58.97 – 80.612 mph
PAST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:
1988: Rich Vogler
1989: Russ Gamester
2019: Chris Windom
PAST RESULTS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY:
1988 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rich Vogler, 2. Billy Hughes, 3. Bill Case Jr., 4. Dave Ray, 5. Bob Cicconi, 6. Ron Dunstan, 7. Dennis Schaeffer, 8. Randy Mausteller, 9. Warren Halligan, 10. J.R. Booth, 11. Dick Williams, 12. John Heydenreich, 13. Brett Mowrey, 14. Ross Triol, 15. Johnny Parsons, 16. Russ Gamester, 17. Ron Lauer, 18. P.J. Roberts, 19. Sandy Rochelle, 20. Hank Rogers Jr., 21. Doug Craig, 22. Terry Wente, 23. Duke Pavlick, 24. Gary Halteman. NT
1989 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Russ Gamester, 2. Rich Vogler, 3. Johnny Parsons, 4. Bill Case, 5. J.R. Booth, 6. John Heydenreich, 7. Gary Halteman, 8. Randy Mausteller, 9. Phil DiMario, 10. Warren Halligan, 11. Tom Howe, 12. Monnie Wonder, 13. Charles Ayres, 14. Mike Piersig, 15. Mike Streicher, 16. Bob Cicconi, 17. Billy Hughes, 18. Mares Stellfox, 19. Brian Jacobs, 20. John Palaia, 21. Kevin Olson, 22. Art Lawshe Sr., 24. Frank Fiore Jr. NT
2019 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (3), 2. Tyler Courtney (5), 3. Tanner Carrick (7), 4. Tanner Thorson (15), 5. Chad Boat (8), 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (10), 8. Kyle Larson (6), 9. Jerry Coons, Jr. (9), 10. Logan Seavey (14), 11. Zeb Wise (1), 12. Andrew Layser (13), 13. Jason McDougal (4), 14. Karsyn Elledge (12), 15. Shawn Jackson (17), 16. Zach Curtis (24), 17. Steven Drevicki (11), 18. Steve Buckwalter (16), 19. Kevin Woody, Jr. (21), 20. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. (18), 21. Steve Craig (22), 22. Brett Conkling (23), 23. Bobby Butler (20), 24. Ryan Greth (19). NT