By Richie Murray
Bloomington, Indiana (May 31, 2022)………Bloomington Speedway has been a part of USAC Indiana Midget Week since nearly the beginning of the mini-series’ institution, which made its first appearance on the schedule in 2008.
However, it finds itself in a new position as the leadoff hitter of the seven-race, nine-night USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship mini-series starting this Friday, June 3, on the southern Indiana red clay.
They say you only get one shot at making a first impression, and for Buddy Kofoid, he made it a lasting impression during last year’s Indiana Midget week round at Bloomington.
In the ensuing moments after earning his first career IMW victory, the Penngrove, Calif. native let it be known that his initial impression of his first visit to Bloomington’s 1/4-mile was that it was now on his personal list of favorite racetracks. And it was easy to see why as he used the win as a springboard to the IMW title and, ultimately, the USAC national crown.
Kofoid enters the event with a 1-0 record in USAC Midget competition at Bloomington, but he will certainly have to contend with a myriad of others who are determined to discover the same launching pad Kofoid utilized in 2021.
Series point leader Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) finished a best of 2nd during IMW at Bloomington in 2017 in addition to a 9th in 2021. The 2020 USAC Silver Crown champ also owns the 10-lap track record for USAC National Midgets at Bloomington, a 2:03.18 set in 2019.
Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) has posted past successes in USAC Sprint Cars at Bloomington, winning twice there in 2019 and 2021. He’s been solid in a midget too, and with his TKH Motorsports No. 21H, he will be looking to build upon his past IMW results at Bloomington which consists of a career-best 4th in 2021 to go along with a pair of 6th place results in 2017 & 2019 and a 7th in both 2008 & 2016.
Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) possesses a pair of top-ten IMW finishes at Bloomington, each of which came nearly a decade apart from each other, finishing 9th in 2010 and 8th in 2019.
Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.), the 2019 Indiana Midget Week champion, used a runner-up finish at Bloomington to elevate himself to IMW champ status that season. Seavey, the 2018 USAC National Midget titlist, scored a 7th at Bloomington in 2021.
Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.) was superb in his first Bloomington IMW go in 2021, finishing 5th in his debut run. Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) experienced one of the finest nights of his young career in 2019 when he set fast time in qualifying and finished a solid 5th in the feature. Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, Pa.) last made an IMW appearance at Bloomington in 2016. His record in the event includes a 5th in 2010, a 6th in 2009 and a 10th in 2011.
Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.) has finished within the confines of the top-ten at Bloomington on two occasions, grabbing 6th in 2014 and 10th in 2017. Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) returns to Bloomington’s IMW event after collecting his best career series finish at the track of 10th in 2021.
Coming back the Bloomington lineup as well are series winners Cannon McIntosh and Kyle Cummins. McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) was 12th in 2021 but did capture the sprint car feature win that same night. Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) has won a handful of sprint car races in his career at Bloomington but would like to add a midget win to his resume there.
Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) took 18th in 2021 while Sam Johnson was 19th in what was each driver’s first USAC starts at the track. Bryan Stanfill (Bakersfield, Calif.), a USAC Midwest Regional winner at Bloomington in 2021, looks to make his first USAC national feature appearance at the track.
A large selection of drivers will be trying to crack the lineup for the first time in their USAC careers at Bloomington on Friday. Among those are third-place points driver Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.), plus multi-time series fast qualifier Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.), third-place Port City finisher Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.), 2017 BCRA Midget champ Maria Cofer (Macdoel, Calif.), third-place Ocala finisher Jade Avedisian (Clovis, Calif.), Badger Midget champion Chase McDermand (Springfield, Ill.), USAC Midwest Regional Midget feature winner Chance Crum (Snohomish, Wash.) and two-time USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget titlist Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio), plus Kiwi Travis Buckley (Auckland, N.Z.), Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.), CB Industries Rookies Dominic Gorden (Clovis, Calif.) and Jace Park (Overland Park, Kan.) as well as Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports newcomers Mariah Ede (Fresno, Calif.) and Cade Lewis (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Bloomington’s Indiana Midget Week round will feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Bloomington Sprint Cars and IMCA Mod Lites.
Pits open at 4pm Eastern with grandstands opening at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and cars on track at 6pm.
Tickets and pit passes will be sold at the gate. Adult general admission tickets at the gate are $30 with ages 10 and under free. Pit passes are $35 for adults while ages 10 and under are $15.
Every Indiana Midget Week event will be streamed LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3u7ID2N.
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2022 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:
Friday, June 3: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, Ind.
Saturday, June 4: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Sunday, June 5: Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, Ind.
Wednesday, June 8: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Ind.
Thursday, June 9: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Ind.
Friday, June 10: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Ind.
Saturday, June 11: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Ind.
BLOOMINGTON INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS:
3-Christopher Bell
2-Tyler Courtney
1-Bryan Clauson, Shane Cottle, Levi Jones, Buddy Kofoid, Brad Kuhn, Kyle Larson & Davey Ray
BLOOMINGTON INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINNERS:
2008: Davey Ray (8/8)
2009: Brad Kuhn (6/12)
2010: Shane Cottle (6/18)
2011: Kyle Larson (6/10)
2012: Levi Jones (6/15)
2013: Bryan Clauson (6/14)
2014: Christopher Bell (6/13)
2015: Christopher Bell (6/12)
2016: Christopher Bell (6/3)
2017: Tyler Courtney (6/9)
2018: Not Held
2019: Tyler Courtney (6/7)
2020: Not Held
2021: Buddy Kofoid (6/4)
BLOOMINGTON USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS:
3-Christopher Bell
2-Tyler Courtney & Russ Gamester
1-Bryan Clauson, Shane Cottle, Tony Elliott, Levi Jones, Buddy Kofoid, Brad Kuhn, Kyle Larson, Davey Ray, Stevie Reeves, Tony Stewart & Bob Tattersall
BLOOMINGTON USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:
1970: Bob Tattersall (10/3)
1992: Russ Gamester (6/26)
1993: Tony Elliott (6/18) & Stevie Reeves (8/27)
1994: Russ Gamester (6/24) & Tony Stewart (8/19)
2008: Davey Ray (8/8)
2009: Brad Kuhn (6/12)
2010: Shane Cottle (6/18)
2011: Kyle Larson (6/10)
2012: Levi Jones (6/15)
2013: Bryan Clauson (6/14)
2014: Christopher Bell (6/13)
2015: Christopher Bell (6/12)
2016: Christopher Bell (6/3)
2017: Tyler Courtney (6/9)
2019: Tyler Courtney (6/7)
2021: Buddy Kofoid (6/4)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 6/3/2016 – Christopher Bell – 11.301 – 79.639 mph
8 Laps – 6/18/2010 – Dave Darland – 1:36.17 – 74.867 mph
10 Laps – 6/7/2019 – Justin Grant – 2:03.18 – 73.064 mph
12 Laps – 6/4/2021 – Kevin Thomas Jr. – 2:34.699 – 69.813 mph
30 Laps – 6/9/2017 – Tyler Courtney – 6:57.95 – 64.601 mph
PAST INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FEATURE RESULTS AT BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY:
2008 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Davey Ray, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Cole Whitt, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Gary Altig, 6. Brad Kuhn, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Levi Jones, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Thomas Meseraull, 12. Jeff Bland Jr., 13. Shane Cottle, 14. Steve Buckwalter, 15. Bobby East, 16. Bradley Galedrige, 17. Dakoda Armstrong,18. Danny Stratton, 19. Brad Loyet, 20. Todd Wanless, 21. Josh Ford, 22. Chad Boat, 23. Bryan Clauson, 24. Dustin Morgan. NT
2009 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Josh Wise, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Steve Buckwalter, 7. Chad Boat, 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 9. Brent Beauchamp, 10. Shane Hmiel, 11. Thomas Meseraull, 12. Darren Hagen, 13. Cole Whitt, 14. Kevin Swindell, 15. Nathan High, 16. Kody Swanson, 17. Ryan Kaplan, 18. Levi Jones, 19. Cole Carter, 20. Dakoda Armstrong, 21. Zach Daum, 22. Matt Sherrell, 23. Brad Loyet, 24. Bobby East. NT
2010 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Brad Sweet, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Brent Beauchamp, 9. Thomas Meseraull, 10. Brad Kuhn, 11. Levi Jones, 12. Brad Loyet, 13. Matt Smith, 14. Billy Pauch Jr., 15. Shane Hmiel, 16. Don Droud Jr., 17. Henry Clarke, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Matt Westfall, 20. Bobby East, 21. Davey Ray, 22. Caleb Armstrong. NT
2011 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Shane Cottle, 4. Caleb Armstrong, 5. Bobby East, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Michael Pickens, 9. Levi Jones, 10. Steve Buckwalter, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Hunter Schuerenberg, 13. Brad Kuhn, 14. Nick Wean, 15. Davey Ray, 16. Trevor Kobylarz, 17. Tanner Swanson, 18. Matt Smith, 19. Kellen Conover, 20. Jerry Coons Jr., 21. Alex Bright, 22. Zach Daum, 23. Billy Pauch Jr., 24. Levi Roberts, NT
2012 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Shane Cottle, 4. Darren Hagen, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Brad Kuhn, 7. Bobby East, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Rico Abreu, 10. Steve Buckwalter, 11. Mario Clouser, 12. Alex Bright, 13. Davey Ray, 14. Chris Bell, 15. Trevor Kobylarz, 16. Nick Wean, 17. Nathan Smee, 18. Scott Hatton, 19. Caleb Armstrong, 20. Dillon Welch, 21. Zach Daum, 22. Michael Pickens, 23. Chase Barber, 24. C.J. Leary. NT
2013 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Christopher Bell, 3. Rico Abreu, 4. Davey Ray, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Michael Pickens, 7. Darren Hagen, 8. Caleb Armstrong, 9. Alex Bright, 10. Austin Brown, 11. Levi Jones, 12. Tanner Thorson, 13. Brad Kuhn, 14. Brady Bacon, 15. Ryan Criswell, 16. Dalton Armstrong, 17. Andrew Felker, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Dillon Welch, 20. Tracy Hines, 21. Zach Daum, 22. Shane Cockrum. NT
2014 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Rico Abreu, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Tanner Thorson, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Michael Pickens, 8. Damion Gardner, 9. Parker Price-Miller, 10. Tracy Hines, 11. Kevin Thomas Jr., 12. Nathan Smee, 13. Trey Marcham, 14. Dave Darland, 15. Tyler Thomas, 16. Steve Buckwalter, 17. Seth Motsinger, 18. Justin Grant, 19. Brock Maskovich, 20. Alex Bright, 21. Tyler Courtney, 22. Brady Bacon, 23. Andrew Felker. NT
2015 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Spencer Bayston, 7. Tyler Thomas, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Chase Stockon, 10. Brad Mosen, 11. Davey Ray, 12. Brenden Bright, 13. Nathan Smee, 14. C.J. Leary, 15. Hayden Williams, 16. Tyler Courtney, 17. Ryan Bernal, 18. Gage Walker, 19. Chett Gehrke, 20. Darren Hagen, 21. Ronnie Gardner, 22. Jake Neuman, 23. Alex Bright, 24. Isaac Chapple. NT
2016 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Shane Golobic, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Chad Boat, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Rico Abreu, 11. Tanner Thorson, 12. Steve Buckwalter, 13. Garrett Aitken, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Ryan Greth, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Austin Brown, 18. Jimi Quin, 19. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 20. David Budres, 21. Jerry Coons Jr., 22. Dayne Kingshott, 23. Zach Daum, 24. Holly Shelton. NT
2017 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Shane Golobic, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Chad Boat, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Gage Walker, 8. Rico Abreu, 9. Michael Pickens, 10. Zach Daum, 11. Holly Shelton, 12. Tyler Thomas, 13. Ronnie Gardner, 14. Ryan Robinson, 15. Tanner Thorson, 16. Spencer Bayston, 17. Dave Darland, 18. Trey Marcham, 19. Tanner Carrick, 20. Alex Bright, 21. Tyler Nelson, 22. Davey Ray. 6:57.95 (New Track Record)
2019 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (4), 2. Logan Seavey (8), 3. Chad Boat (5), 4. Chris Windom (22), 5. Ethan Mitchell (7), 6. Brady Bacon (9), 7. Michael Pickens (6), 8. Thomas Meseraull (2), 9. Andrew Layser (10), 10. Shane Golobic (18), 11. Zach Daum (24), 12. Zeb Wise (23), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (12), 14. Tanner Carrick (11), 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 16. Jesse Colwell (21), 17. Jason McDougal (19), 18. Dave Darland (20), 19. Holley Hollan (16), 20. Justin Grant (1), 21. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15), 22. Karsyn Elledge (3), 23. Noah Gass (17), 24. Tanner Thorson (14). NT
2021 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (3), 2. Chris Windom (2), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 4. Brady Bacon (5), 5. Bryant Wiedeman (1), 6. Tanner Thorson (14), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Daison Pursley (12), 9. Justin Grant (8), 10. Jason McDougal (4), 11. Emerson Axsom (22), 12. Cannon McIntosh (16), 13. Thomas Meseraull (20), 14. Brian Carber (15), 15. Ethan Mitchell (23-P), 16. Cole Bodine (9), 17. Hayden Williams (7), 18. Brenham Crouch (13), 19. Sam Johnson (21), 20. Chase Randall (19), 21. Kyle Cummins (18), 22. Trey Gropp (17), 23. Corey Day (10). NT
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMPIONS: (2005-2021)
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
2021: Buddy Kofoid
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS: (2005-2021)
9-Bryan Clauson & Kyle Larson
5-Christopher Bell & Tanner Thorson
4-Rico Abreu
3-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens & Chris Windom
2-Jerry Coons Jr., Buddy Kofoid, Davey Ray, Logan Seavey, Brad Sweet
1-Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Kyle Cummins, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Corey Day, Jay Drake, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Thomas Meseraull, Johnny Rodriguez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell & Kevin Thomas Jr.