By Richie Murray
Meeker, Oklahoma (October 24, 2024)………Championship weekend at Meeker, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway presents both the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another for the 2024 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season.
The series’ debut visit to the 1/4-mile dirt oval marks the first visit fort the series to the Sooner State in 20 years and will host the crowning of a champion and the final two events of the season on Friday-Saturday, October 25-26.
We’ve witnessed how the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets have performed here before in this land. But we’ve never seen anything like this before – USAC National Sprint Cars spraying red dirt of the Oklahoma kind for two consecutive nights to close out the season in style.
Here are the storylines to keep your noggin glued to when USAC Sprint Cars come to call this weekend for $6,000-to-win on Friday night and a $10,000-to-win finale on Saturday evening.
SEAVEY’S CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIO
With two full-points programs on tap this weekend, Logan Seavey’s point lead currently stands at 84 over Brady Bacon. A maximum of 84 points are on the line each night, which means that if Seavey is able to gain one point on Bacon during Friday’s event, Seavey will clinch the title ahead of schedule.
A Sprint Car title would be a major boon for Seavey personally, but even more so in terms of USAC history. After previously claiming a pair of USAC National Midget championships (2018 & 2023) and a USAC Silver Crown title (2023), a National Sprint Car title would make Seavey a USAC career Triple Crown champion.
Only seven drivers can lay claim to being a member of the USAC career Triple Crown club for the moment: Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, J.J. Yeley, Jerry Coons Jr., Tracy Hines and Chris Windom. Seavey could make it eight before the year is out.
On top of that, Yeley will be competing in the event in his father’s (Jack Yeley) owned No. 2, making it a rare possibility that multiple USAC career Triple Crown champs will be in the field at the same time.
SEAVEY’S QUEST FOR 15
In addition to the championship hunt, Logan Seavey’s quest to break the single season USAC National Sprint Car win record is just within his reach.
Seavey’s most recent victory two weekends ago at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway was his 14th score on the season, tying Tom Bigelow’s single season mark set in 1977. With one more victory, Seavey would stand alone at the top of the record book.
RED DIRT RAIDERS
Six previous USAC National Midget events have been held at Red Dirt Raceway dating back to 2018. Two of those past winners will be in this weekend’s field.
Back in 2021, Daison Pursley earned his first career USAC National Midget win at Red Dirt, sweeping both features, in fact, after also earning a micro victory that very same evening. This past July, he was back in victory lane at Red Dirt following another USAC Midget triumph.
In 2019, Logan Seavey earned a USAC National Midget score at Red Dirt and also finished as the runner-up there in 2018. In fact, Seavey led the first seven laps of this past July’s race before mechanical problems sidelined him.
Furthermore, Justin Grant went 13th to 2nd with the midgets at Red Dirt back in 2021 and was 2nd again in 2022. Bacon grabbed a 5th in 2018 while Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) tallied a 9th in 2022.
BACON THE STATESMAN
No driver in this weekend’s field has won a USAC National Sprint Car race in the state of Oklahoma. Brady Bacon would certainly like to make it happen this weekend in his home state.
Back in June of this year at New Jersey’s Bridgeport Motorsports Park, Bacon extended his record of different United States he’s won a USAC National Sprint Car race in to 15 throughout his career.
Going even further, Bacon has never won a USAC national race of any kind in Oklahoma. This one, however, marks his chance to add a special one to his laundry list of motorsports accomplishments.
THE SOONER THE BETTER – USAC IS BACK IN OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma is a rare territory for the USAC National Sprint Cars to set up camp. Just seven previous appearances have been made by the series since 1966. In fact, the series’ most recent visit to Oklahoma came 20 years ago in 2004 with a victory by Jay Drake at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Motorplex.
Eventual three-time series champ Larry Dickson conquered the debut in July of 1966 in Tulsa while Roger McCluskey took the next night in Muskogee. In 1967, Ralph Liguori scored the weekend opener at Tulsa while Greg Weld prevailed in the weekend capper at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.
After a nearly two decade wait, USAC Sprints returned to the Sooner State in 1985 as part of the USAC vs. CRA Challenge. CRA’s Mike Sweeney was the triumphant party in the first of two Oklahoma dates at Lawton Speedway while, one night later, USAC’s Rick Hood cashed in at OKC, kicking off a string of four-straight series victories, a feat which hadn’t been duplicated until Logan Seavey achieved it this year.
Funny enough, each of the last pair of USAC National Sprint Car races held in Oklahoma both came down to a late-race pass for the win. Such was the case for Rick Hood at OKC in 1985 as he charged by Denny Donaldson with two to go for the win. Drake performed likewise, capitalizing on Josh Ford’s late-race misfortune before crossing the line, albeit with a flat right rear tire.
There’s one particular thread in common for all the previous years in which the series stopped by to race in Oklahoma. In every single one of those years, the eventual USAC National Sprint Car champion was among the feature winners. It’s an omen that either Logan Seavey or Brady Bacon would love to continue this weekend at Red Dirt.
CLOSING TIME
The end of the USAC National Sprint Car season is here and that means that several achievements are on the line.
Only three drivers have won both the season opening points race and the finale in the same year: Pat O’Connor (1956), Rich Vogler (1986) and Brady Bacon (2020). Justin Grant, an Ocala, Florida opener winner in February of 2024, will try to add his name to the list.
Grant and Logan Seavey have already won at the same track on consecutive evenings during the 2024 USAC Sprint season. If one of the two could pull off a sweep of the Red Dirt weekend, he’d become just the fourth driver to achieve consecutive wins at a particular track twice in the same season. Pancho Carter pulled off the feat at Winchester and Eldora in 1976; Tom Bigelow doubled up twice at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1977; and Brady Bacon pulled it off at Knoxville and Perris in 2019.
“Walking off” with a feature victory and a championship on the same night has only been accomplished 11 previous times: Eddie Sachs (1958), Tommy Hinnershitz (1959), Parnelli Jones (1960), Pancho Carter (1974), Sheldon Kinser (1977 & 1982), Steve Butler (1988), Josh Wise (2006), Levi Jones (2011), Brady Bacon (2020) and Justin Grant (2023). Either Seavey or Bacon are poised to become the next this time around.
Additionally, on eight occasions, a driver has won multiple USAC National Sprint Car features to close out the season. That list includes Roger McCluskey (1962), Sheldon Kinser (1982), Jack Hewitt (1997), Tracy Hines (2000), Josh Wise (2006), Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Kevin Swindell (2008) and Tyler Courtney (2019). Hines (2000) remains the lone driver to win each of the last three to close out a season. Logan Seavey currently rides a one-race winning streak entering Red Dirt.
RACE DETAILS
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (co-sanctioned by ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprints) will compete at Meeker, Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway for two consecutive nights of competition on Friday-Saturday, October 25-26.
A practice night will begin the weekend on Thursday, October 26, from 6-8pm Central. Grandstand admission is free while pit passes are $20 apiece.
On Friday, October 25, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (co-sanctioned by ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprints) will be joined by Factory Stocks and Non-Wing Micros. Pit gates open at 2pm Central with the grandstands opening at 4pm, the drivers meeting at 5pm, cars on track at 5:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following.
On Saturday, October 26, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship (co-sanctioned by ASCS Elite Non-Wing) will be joined by Sport Modifieds/B-Mods and Non-Wing Micros. Pit gates open at Noon Central with the grandstands opening at 4pm, the drivers meeting at 5pm and cars on track at 5:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following.
General admission tickets are $30. High school students and younger are $10. Tickets are available online at www.reddirtraceway.com under the “Buy Tickets” tab and will be sold the day of the show as well. All access passes (pit access & reserved seat) are available as well for $40 and available at the pit gate on the day of the show only. Pit passes for ages 5 & under are $10. Tailgate area is $150 per carload (up to 8 people per car).
Both nights of racing at Red Dirt can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://www.flosports.link/usac.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-2843, 2-Brady Bacon-2759, 3-Daison Pursley-2588, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-2513, 5-C.J. Leary-2503, 6-Mitchel Moles-2459, 7-Robert Ballou-2430, 8-Kyle Cummins-2345, 9-Justin Grant-2325, 10-Chase Stockon-1768.
ASCS ELITE NON-WING SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-R.J. Miller-727, 2-Paul White-686, 3-Jason Howell-668, 4-Rhett Butler-519, 5-Mason Smith-480, 6-Joshua Hanna-447, 7-Justin Zimmerman-445, 8-Keith Martin-419, 9-Josh Hawkins-400, 10-Raven Culp-338.
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS IN OKLAHOMA:
7-16-1966: Larry Dickson at the Tulsa Fairgrounds (George Nesler #29)
7-17-1966: Roger McCluskey at Muskogee Speedway (Mutt Anderson #51)
7-8-1967: Ralph Liguori at the Tulsa Fairgrounds (Carl Forberg #15)
7-9-1967: Greg Weld at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds (Ward Dunseth-Paul Leffler #92)
5-11-1985: Mike Sweeney at Lawton Speedway (Joe Kasparoff #5c)
5-12-1985: Rick Hood at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds (Damon Fortune #39)
9-17-2004: Jay Drake at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Motorplex (Tony Stewart Racing #20)