By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (June 3, 2024)………The first week of June in the Hoosier state is reserved for the biggest slate of USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship racing action on the planet!
The 20th edition of USAC Indiana Midget Week presents six events at six dirt tracks across six consecutive nights between June 4-9.
For the first time in its young history, Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis launches the frenzied week of racing on Tuesday, June 4. Lawrenceburg Speedway follows up on Wednesday, June 5 with Lincoln Park Speedway’s round set for Thursday, June 6.
Bloomington Speedway begins the weekend portion of the schedule on Friday, June 7 while Tri-State Speedway hosts the penultimate round on Saturday, June 8. Kokomo Speedway will serve as the finale on Sunday, June 9.
USAC Indiana Midget Week is the hottest ticket in town with sprint cars also serving as the support class each and every night. A plethora of drivers will be jumping back-and-forth between the two machines throughout the night in double-duty mode.
The Indiana Midget Week champion will earn a prize of $6,000 for their efforts in a week that truly tests the physical, mental and mechanical abilities of each driver, crew and machine.
Let’s dig into it! Here are six storylines we’re watching entering USAC Indiana Midget Week 2024.
26 FULL-TIMERS CHASING THE TITLE
Twenty-six drivers are set for full-time duties at USAC Indiana Midget Week, the most in the 20-year history of the event.
Among the full-timers are defending series champion Logan Seavey, plus past Indiana Midget Week winners Michael Pickens (3 wins) and Jacob Denney (2) as well Steve Buckwalter, Zach Daum, Justin Grant, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Ryan Timms, all of which have exactly one career IMW victory.
Among the Indiana Midget Week returnees are Chase McDermand, Jake Andreotti, Hayden Reinbold, Ethan Mitchell, Taylor Reimer, Kyle Jones, Blake Brannon, Jade Avedisian and Daison Pursley, all of whom are seeking a first career Indiana Midget Week victory.
First-time Indiana Midget Week participants in 2024 include Adam Bolyard, Kaiden Manders, Hank Davis, Ricky Lewis, Zach Wigal, Lance Bennett and Kale Drake.
SEAVEY ON DEFENSE
Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) enters USAC Indiana Midget Week as the defending champion of the event and is seeking to become just the fourth back-to-back titlist in IMW history.
Shane Cottle scored the first two Indiana Midget Week crowns in 2005-06. Rico Abreu followed suit in 2014-15 while Buddy Kofoid was the most recent to do so in 2021-22.
Furthermore, Seavey is also looking to equal an all-time Indiana Midget Week record. As a two-time IMW champ in 2019 and 2023, a third title is on the line this coming week. The late, great Bryan Clauson is the only driver to capture three career Indiana Midget Week titles, doing so in 2009-11-16.
Seavey also enters IMW as the most recent USAC National Midget winner on May 19 at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex.
CANNON LEADS THE PATH
Coming into Indiana Midget Week, Cannon McIntosh leads the USAC National Midget season standings. In what has already been a bounce back season for the Bixby, Okla. native, McIntosh picked up a win in the season opener on May 17 at the Belleville (Kan.) Short Track.
Throughout the history of IMW, just four drivers have entered as the USAC National point leader and went on to win the Indiana Midget Week championship: Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Darren Hagen (2012), Rico Abreu (2014) and Buddy Kofoid (2021).
If McIntosh is able to collect this year’s IMW title, the odds say he’s in good company. All four of the aforementioned drivers also went on to claim the USAC National Midget championship later that same year.
Additionally, each of the last three Indiana Midget Week champs have also captured the USAC National Midget title in the same season: Kofoid (2021-22) and Seavey (2023).
PICKENS & A GRINNIN’
Out of all this year’s expected full-time participants, no driver owns more Indiana Midget Week feature wins than Michael Pickens .
The Auckland, N.Z. star returns to the “States” as a driver for Mounce-Stout Motorsports after having last competed at Indiana Midget Week five years ago in 2019!
Pickens has been a stalwart of the event since year one, debuting with a third-place finish at Gas City in 2005. Since then, he’s made 33 IMW starts and notched three wins: Kokomo 2011, Gas City in 2017 and Lincoln Park in 2017.
In 2017, he finished a career-best third in the final IMW point standings.
MASTERFUL INDIANA MIDGET WEEK DEBUTS
Gavin Miller (Allentown, Pa.) picked up his first career USAC National Midget feature victory during the Indiana Midget Week round at Bloomington Speedway in 2023.
Several others are vying to join Miller’s company by notching a first USAC win during the busiest week of the season, a feat which has been accomplished 14 times since 2015.
Among the group winning their first career USAC National Midget features during IMW are Johnny Rodriguez (Terre Haute 2005), Shane Cottle (Gas City 2006), Brady Bacon (Kokomo 2006), Steve Buckwalter (Gas City 2010), Kyle Larson (Bloomington 2011), Christopher Bell (Lincoln Park 2013), Tanner Thorson (Gas City 2015), Spencer Bayston (Gas City 2016), Tyler Courtney (Montpelier 2017), Chris Windom (Lawrenceburg 2019), Kyle Cummins (Tri-State 2021), Corey Day (Circle City 2021), Jacob Denney (Lincoln Park 2022) and Gavin Miller (Bloomington 2023).
In that group of hopefuls this year are Chase McDermand, Jake Andreotti, Hayden Reinbold, Ethan Mitchell, Taylor Reimer, Kyle Jones, Blake Brannon, Jade Avedisian, Daison Pursley, Adam Bolyard, Kaiden Manders, Hank Davis, Ricky Lewis, Zach Wigal, Lance Bennett and Kale Drake.
HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, INDIANA MIDGET WEEK
In 2024, USAC is celebrating its 20th year of Indiana Midget Week. Since its 2005 debut, 90 USAC Indiana Midget Week events have been held across the Hoosier State.
USAC Hall of Fame inductee Jay Drake won the inaugural feature race held at Lawrenceburg Speedway on August 18, 2005. Since then, 231 different drivers have started an Indiana Midget Week feature.
Bryan Clauson owns the most Indiana Midget Week championships with three in 2009-11-16. Bryan Clauson and Kyle Larson are the winningest drivers in Indiana Midget Week history with nine apiece.
Larson and Rico Abreu have clocked in with the most top qualifying times in IMW history with nine each. Jerry Coons Jr. has recorded the most career IMW feature starts (46) and top-10 results (42). Meanwhile, Clauson collected 28 top-fives in his IMW career, which still ranks number one all-time.
RACE DETAILS
For more information on each event, visit the “Schedule/Results” tab on www.usacracing.com, then click on “Midgets” and “National.” From there, click on “Event Info” next to the corresponding event on the schedule.
The entire week of events can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
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2024 USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FULL-TIME DRIVER ROSTER (26)
2 Justin Grant (RMS Racing)
4 Adam Bolyard (Adam Bolyard)
7m Kaiden Manders (RAMCO Speed Group)
7p Zach Daum (RAMCO Speed Group)
8 Hank Davis (Cornell Racing Stables)
8w Chase McDermand (Josh Ford Motorsports)
9 Kevin Thomas Jr. (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
14 Jake Andreotti (4 Kings Racing)
19AZ Hayden Reinbold (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19m Ethan Mitchell (Bundy Built Motorsports)
25 Jacob Denney (Tom Malloy)
25B Steve Buckwalter (Brian Buckwalter)
25K Taylor Reimer (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
27x Kyle Jones (Joyner Motorsports)
40 Blake Brannon (Blake Brannon)
54 Ricky Lewis (4 Kings Racing)
54NZ Michael Pickens (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
57 Logan Seavey (Abacus Racing)
67 Ryan Timms (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 Jade Avedisian (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71K Cannon McIntosh (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
86 Daison Pursley (CB Industries)
89 Zach Wigal (CB Industries)
91 Lance Bennett (Cappy Mason)
97 Gavin Miller (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
97K Kale Drake (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Cannon McIntosh-209, 2-Daison Pursley-201, 3-Zach Daum-197, 4-Logan Seavey-195, 5-Ryan Timms-190, 6-Kyle Jones-183, 7-Jacob Denney-162, 8-Justin Grant-161, 9-Ashton Torgerson-158, 10-Kale Drake-155.
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMPIONS
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
2022: Buddy Kofoid
2023: Logan Seavey
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FEATURE WINS: (2005-2023)
9-Bryan Clauson & Kyle Larson
5-Christopher Bell, Buddy Kofoid & Tanner Thorson
4-Rico Abreu
3-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens, Logan Seavey & Chris Windom
2-Jerry Coons Jr., Jacob Denney, Thomas Meseraull, Davey Ray & 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, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller, Johnny Rodriguez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Ryan Timms
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USAC INDIANA MIDGET WINNERS BY TRACK (2005-2023)
CIRCLE CITY RACEWAY: 2021-Corey Day, 2023-Buddy Kofoid
LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY: 2005-Jay Drake, 2007-Kevin Swindell, 2008-Brad Sweet, 2009-Bryan Clauson, 2010-Tracy Hines, 2011-Bryan Clauson, 2012-Darren Hagen, 2013-Zach Daum, 2014-Rico Abreu, 2015-Rico Abreu, 2017-Rico Abreu, 2018-Spencer Bayston, 2019-Chris Windom, 2020-Kyle Larson, 2021-Logan Seavey, 2022-Buddy Kofoid, 2023-Ryan Timms
LINCOLN PARK SPEEDWAY: 2010-Brad Sweet, 2011-Bryan Clauson, 2012-Bryan Clauson, 2013-Christopher Bell, 2014-Dave Darland, 2015-Bryan Clauson, 2016-Tanner Thorson, 2017-Michael Pickens, 2018-Chad Boat, 2019-Tanner Thorson, 2020-Kyle Larson, 2020-Chris Windom, 2021-Tanner Thorson, 2022-Jacob Denney, 2023-Buddy Kofoid
BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY: 2008-Davey Ray, 2009-Brad Kuhn, 2010-Shane Cottle, 2011-Kyle Larson, 2012-Levi Jones, 2013-Bryan Clauson, 2014-Christopher Bell, 2015-Christopher Bell, 2016-Christopher Bell, 2017-Tyler Courtney, 2019-Tyler Courtney, 2021-Buddy Kofoid, 2022-Buddy Kofoid, 2023-Gavin Miller
TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY: 2021-Kyle Cummins, 2022-Thomas Meseraull, 2023-Jacob Denney
KOKOMO SPEEDWAY: 2006-Brady Bacon, 2007-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2008-Bryan Clauson, 2009-Bryan Clauson, 2010-Brad Kuhn, 2011-Michael Pickens, 2012-Kyle Larson, 2013-Christopher Bell, 2014-Bryan Clauson, 2016-Rico Abreu, 2017-Spencer Bayston, 2018-Kevin Thomas Jr., 2020-Tanner Thorson, 2021-Chris Windom, 2022-Cannon McIntosh
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FAST QUALIFIERS
9-Rico Abreu & Kyle Larson
5-Bryan Clauson
4-Brady Bacon, Justin Grant & Chris Windom
3-Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Logan Seavey, Brad Sweet & Tanner Thorson
2-Christopher Bell, Jerry Coons Jr., Corey Day, Bobby East, Shane Golobic, Tracy Hines, Buddy Kofoid, Ethan Mitchell & Kevin Thomas Jr.
1-Jade Avedisian, Spencer Bayston, Tanner Carrick, Tyler Courtney, Chance Crum, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Jacob Denney, Darren Hagen, Jesse Love, Cannon McIntosh, Thomas Meseraull, Michael Pickens, Chase Randall & Danny Stratton
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES
28-Bryan Clauson
22-Tracy Hines
21-Jerry Coons Jr. & Kyle Larson
18-Chris Windom
17-Tanner Thorson
16-Justin Grant & Buddy Kofoid
15-Rico Abreu
14-Brad Kuhn & Logan Seavey
13-Darren Hagen
12-Brady Bacon, Christopher Bell & Tyler Courtney
10-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle & Brad Sweet
9-Kevin Thomas Jr.
8-Dave Darland
7-Emerson Axsom, Cannon McIntosh & Michael Pickens
6-Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Zach Daum & Thomas Meseraull
5-Kyle Cummins, Jacob Denney, Bobby East, Shane Golobic, Davey Ray & Bryant Wiedeman
4-Levi Jones, Jason McDougal, Kevin Swindell & Cole Whitt
3-Caleb Armstrong, Brenham Crouch, Brad Mosen, Daison Pursley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Thomas & Josh Wise
2-Alex Bright, Kaylee Bryson, Tanner Carrick, Corey Day, Jay Drake, Brad Loyet, Chase McDermand, Mitchel Moles, Jeremy Warren & Zeb Wise
1-Bubba Altig, Jade Avedisian, Brent Beauchamp, Clinton Boyles, Chance Crum, Andrew Felker, Brian Gerster, Ryan Kaplan, Gavin Miller, Ethan Mitchell, Jace Park, Johnny Rodriguez, Gio Scelzi, Hunter Schuerenberg, Holly Shelton, Jon Stanbrough, Chase Stockon, Gary Taylor, Ryan Timms & Dillon Welch
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES
42-Jerry Coons Jr.
35-Tracy Hines
34-Bryan Clauson
29-Chris Windom
28-Tanner Thorson
27-Brady Bacon
26-Rico Abreu & Justin Grant
24-Darren Hagen & Brad Kuhn
23-Logan Seavey
22-Zach Daum, Buddy Kofoid, Kyle Larson & Kevin Thomas Jr.
20-Michael Pickens
17-Steve Buckwalter, Dave Darland & Thomas Meseraull
16-Spencer Bayston, Chad Boat & Shane Cottle
15-Tyler Courtney & Cannon McIntosh
14-Shane Golobic
13-Bobby East
12-Christopher Bell & Jason McDougal
11-Brad Sweet
10-Caleb Armstrong, Levi Jones, Daison Pursley & Tyler Thomas
9-Bryant Wiedeman
8-Emerson Axsom, Kaylee Bryson, Tanner Carrick, Kyle Cummins & Brad Loyet
7-Jacob Denney & Davey Ray
6-Alex Bright, Andrew Felker, Brad Mosen, Taylor Reimer & Ryan Robinson
5-Jade Avedisian, Brent Beauchamp, Corey Day, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Whitt, Josh Wise & Zeb Wise
4-Brenham Crouch, Carson Macedo, Gavin Miller, Chase Stockon & Kevin Swindell
3-Clinton Boyles, Cole Carter, Shane Hmiel, Chase McDermand, Kody Swanson & Ryan Timms
2-Bubba Altig, Chase Barber, Jay Drake, Damion Gardner, Ronnie Gardner, Brian Gerster, Shane Hollingsworth, Darren Jenkins, Chase Randall, Johnny Rodriguez, Holly Shelton, Matt Smith, Gary Taylor, Jeremy Warren & Hayden Williams
1-Garrett Aitken, Jake Andreotti, Dakoda Armstrong, Teddy Beach, Ryan Bernal, Cole Bodine, Austin Brown, Brian Carber, Henry Clarke, Jesse Colwell, Colten Cottle, Chance Crum, Ryan Durst, Blake Fitzpatrick, Josh Ford, Alfred Galedrige, Dominic Gorden, Chuck Gurney Jr., Scott Hatton, Jonathan Hendrick, A.J. Anderson, A.J. Fike, Chase Johnson, Ryan Kaplan, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Trevor Kobylarz, Andrew Layser, Brock Maskovich, Ethan Mitchell, Mat Neely, Jake Neuman, Jace Park, Justin Peck, Parker Price-Miller, Jimi Quin, Gio Scelzi, Hunter Schuerenberg, Matt Sherrell, Jake Slotten, Nathan Smee, Jon Stanbrough, Danny Stratton, Brandon Wagner, Gage Walker, Dillon Welch, Daniel Whitley & John Wolfe
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ALL-TIME USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FEATURE STARTS
64-Jerry Coons Jr.
51-Zach Daum
46-Brady Bacon & Tanner Thorson
45-Justin Grant, Thomas Meseraull & Chris Windom
44-Dave Darland
42-Bryan Clauson
40-Steve Buckwalter, Darren Hagen & Tracy Hines
38-Kevin Thomas Jr.
36-Brad Kuhn
35-Rico Abreu
33-Michael Pickens
32-Chad Boat
30-Davey Ray
29-Logan Seavey
28-Alex Bright, Tyler Courtney & Cannon McIntosh
27-Bobby East
26-Levi Jones
25-Tyler Thomas
24-Shane Cottle, Kyle Larson & Jason McDougal
23-Caleb Armstrong & Buddy Kofoid
22-Shane Golobic
21-Tanner Carrick
20-Spencer Bayston & Daison Pursley
19-Bryant Wiedeman
18-Christopher Bell & Kyle Cummins
17-Brad Loyet, Ethan Mitchell & Brad Sweet
16-Kaylee Bryson
15-Brenham Crouch & Holly Shelton
14-Emerson Axsom, Cole Bodine & Ryan Robinson
13-Brad Mosen & Hayden Reinbold
12-Ronnie Gardner, Jake Neuman, Taylor Reimer & Gage Walker
11-Jade Avedisian, Mario Clouser, Chance Crum, Jacob Denney, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Danny Stratton, Dillon Welch & Hayden Williams
10-Chase Barber, Andrew Felker, Sam Johnson, Chase McDermand, Jimi Quin, Nathan Smee & Cole Whitt
9-Trevor Kobylarz, Andrew Layser, Josh Wise & Zeb Wise
8-Brenden Bright, Corey Day, Shane Hmiel, Chase Johnson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell & Ryan Timms
7-Dalton Armstrong, Brent Beauchamp, Cole Carter, Henry Clarke, Maria Cofer, Tom Hessert III, Chase Randall, Levi Roberts, Matt Smith & Kody Swanson
6-Jake Andreotti, Dakoda Armstrong, Brian Carber, Ryan Greth, Trey Gropp, Shane Hollingsworth, Jesse Love, Brayton Lynch, Carson Macedo, Gavin Miller & Matt Westfall
5-Austin Brown, C.J. Leary, Jesse Colwell, Trey Marcham, Mitchel Moles, Dustin Morgan, Billy Pauch Jr. & Daniel Whitley
4-Bubba Altig, Ryan Bernal, Clinton Boyles, David Budres, Ryan Criswell, Ricky Ehrgott, Scott Hatton, Holley Hollan, Dayne Kingshott, Tyler Nelson, Jace Park, Chase Stockon, Tanner Swanson, Gary Taylor, Bryce Townsend & Nick Wean
3-A.J. Fike, Garrett Aitken, Isaac Chapple, Tony DiMattia, Jay Drake, Mariah Ede, Karsyn Elledge, Josh Ford, Noah Gass, Chett Gehrke, Brian Gerster, Dominic Gorden, Zane Hendricks, Mike Hess, Chelby Hinton, Darren Jenkins, Ryan Kaplan, Jimmy Light, Critter Malone, Dene McAllan, Justin Peck, Parker Price-Miller, Johnny Rodriguez, Hunter Schuerenberg, Ryan Smith, Jon Stanbrough, Bryan Stanfill & Jeremy Warren
2-A.J. Anderson, Teddy Beach, Kyle Beilman, Alex Bowman, Cody Brewer, Daron Clayton, Kellen Conover, Colten Cottle, Courtney Crone, Robert Dalby, Ryan Durst, Tony Elliott, Damion Gardner, Bobby Grewohl, Chuck Gurney Jr., Garrett Hansen, Nathan High, Chase Jones, Cade Lewis, Greg Lueckert, Brock Maskovich, Jaimie McKinlay, Matt Moore, Adam Pierson, Daryn Pittman, Domain Ramsay, Gio Scelzi, Kent Schmidt, Matt Sherrell, Jimmy Simpson & Jason Yount
1-Robert Ballou, Adam Barth, Chris Baue, Jeff Bland Jr., Blake Brannon, Kaidon Brown, Mark Brown, Travis Buckley, Adam Clarke, Shane Cockrum, Kyle Craker, Justin Dickerson, Sean Dodenhoff, Don Droud Jr., Dave Ely, Murray Erickson, A.J. Felker, Blake Fitzpatrick, Alfred Galedrige, Bradley Galedrige, Rylan Gray, Ron Gregory, Russ Harper, Jonathan Hendrick, Ted Hines, Matt Hummel, Logan Jarrett, Kyle Jones, Cory Kruseman, Michael Lewis, Joe Liguori, Andy Malpocker, Mario Marietta, Chance Morton, Seth Motsinger, Mat Neely, Brian Postle, Brody Roa, Nick Rowe, Stephen Schnapf, Kyle Schuett, Alex Schutte, Jonathan Shafer, Casey Shuman, Landon Simon, Jake Slotten, Brandon Wagner, Todd Wanless & John Wolfe