By Richie Murray
Merced, California (November 18, 2024)………California’s Merced Speedway has become an annual stop on USAC’s NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship swing through California since the beginning of the decade of the roaring 2020s.
What’s also become an annual staple is Merced producing some of the most scintillating and sensational series races of the season. There’s a reason they call this one “Midget Madness.”
It all comes to fruition once more, for the fifth consecutive year, for two-straight nights on the high-banked 1/4-mile dirt oval Friday-Saturday, November 22-23. It’s full programs each night that conclude with 30-lap feature events.
Thirty-three drivers have made their intentions to compete in the event, and five of those 34 have already bagged a USAC National Midget victory in their career at Merced.
Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) is the lone multi-time Merced USAC National Midget winner at Merced, having scored during his series championships of 2021 and 2022. He’ll pilot one of seven entries out of the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports stable.
In fact, the eventual USAC National Midget driving champion has won at Merced in three consecutive years. Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) and Abacus Racing continued that trend in 2023 by notching victory on the second of two nights a year ago.
Carson Macedo (Lemoore, Calif.) notched his first and only career USAC National Midget win to date at Merced back in 2022. As a matter of fact, both of his Australia-based Dyson Motorsport team’s USAC victories have come at Merced.
Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) collected a dramatic Merced midget victory during the first ever weekend of series action there back in 2020. For November, the 2016 USAC National Midget champ has reunited with the Tom Malloy-owned team for whom he won that race four years earlier.
Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) and RMS Racing posted a convincing and dominant Merced triumph back in 2021, leading the final 25 laps in record-setting style. His 30-lap run of 6:14.350 remains the series record for a 30-lap distance, the second fastest 30-lap race in series history.
The past Merced midget winners will be flanked by a slew of contenders, including Tanner Carrick (2nd in 2020), Cannon McIntosh (3rd in 2020), Tyler Courtney (3rd in 2020) and Kyle Larson (4th in 2020). However, it should be noted that Larson plans to compete in only the Saturday portion of the Merced event.
Furthermore, this weekend’s field will also consist of the likes of Emerson Axsom (4th in 2021), Ryan Timms (4th in 2023), Jacob Denney (5th in 2022), Corey Day (7th in 2015) and Jake Andreotti (8th in 2015).
Stunningly, in five previous Merced starts, current USAC National Midget point leader Daison Pursley hasn’t finished better than his 11th place result in 2023. Hayden Reinbold (11th in 2023) and Gavin Miller (18th in 2022) are also back to take on Merced.
Vying for their first USAC National Midget starts at Merced include Rookie of the Year contenders Zach Wigal and Kale Drake, plus 2024 USAC Western States Midget Rookie of the Year Drake Edwards, USAC National Midget winners Zach Daum and Chase McDermand, plus USAC five-time USAC Western States titlist Ronnie Gardner.
Also on the list of first-timers are Karter Sarff, Dalten Gabbard, Austin Torgerson, Terry Nichols, Brandt Twitty, cousins Todd Hawse and Kyle Hawse, as well as Alex Karpowicz, Barrie Valentino, Peter Paulson and Troy DeGaton.
RACE DETAILS:
On Friday night, the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship is joined by the IMCA Northern Sport Mods and Hobby Stocks. Tickets are $25 for adults age 18 and up and $10 for ages 6-17. Ages 5 and under are admitted for free.
On Saturday night, USAC National Midgets headline an all open wheel show alongside winged 360 sprint cars. Tickets are $30 for adults age 18 and up and $15 for ages 6-17. Ages 5 and under are admitted for free.
Both nights, pit gates will open at 2pm Pacific with grandstands opening at 5pm, the drivers meeting at 5pm and cars on track at 5:45pm.
Tickets are available online at www.mercedspeedway.net and will also be available to purchase at the front gate.
Camping for this event is available and for those fans looking to do so, all arrangements need to me made directly through the Merced County Fairgrounds.
Merced Speedway is located at 900 Martin Luther King Drive Merced, CA 95341.
EXPECTED ENTRY LIST FOR MERCED SPEEDWAY: (34)
CAR # / DRIVER / HOMETOWN / CAR ENTRANT
00 JAKE ANDREOTTI/Castro Valley, CA (Pete Davis)
1K KYLE LARSON/Elk Grove, CA (Silva Motorsports) (Saturday Only)
1p TERRY NICHOLS/Delano, CA (Nichols-Peckfelder Motorsports)
2 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RMS Racing)
3p DRAKE EDWARDS/Peoria, AZ (Petty Performance Racing)
4 COREY DAY/Clovis, CA (Wille Kahne)
4B BRANDT TWITTY/Bakersfield, CA (Kevin Twitty)
8w CHASE McDERMAND/Springfield, IL (Josh Ford Motorsports)
18 TODD HAWSE/Simi Valley, CA (Todd Hawse)
19 ALEX KARPOWICZ/Spring Branch, TX (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
19AZ HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
20x KYLE HAWSE/Las Vegas, NV (Hawse Racing)
23c TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Silva Motorsports)
Q23 BARRIE VALENTINO/Brisbane, AU (El Toro Racing)
25 JACOB DENNEY/Galloway, OH (Tom Malloy)
25m TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Tom Malloy)
31 KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL (Beilman Motorsports)
31B ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL (Beilman Motorsports)
Q32 PETER PAULSON/Woodland, CA (El Toro Racing)
39T TROY DeGATON/Wickenburg, AZ (Troy DeGaton)
57 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Abacus Racing)
67 RYAN TIMMS/Oklahoma City, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
67K EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
68 RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA (Six8 Motorsports)
71 BUDDY KOFOID/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71K CANNON MCINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
77 DALTEN GABBARD/Peoria, AZ (Dalten Gabbard)
86 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (CB Industries)
88A AUSTIN TORGERSON/Glendale, AZ (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
89 ZACH WIGAL/Belpre, OH (CB Industries)
97 GAVIN MILLER/Allentown, PA (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
97K KALE DRAKE/Collinsville, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
98 TANNER CARRICK/Lincoln, CA (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
99AU CARSON MACEDO/Lemoore, CA (Dyson Motorsport)
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINS AT MERCED SPEEDWAY:
2-Buddy Kofoid
1-Spencer Bayston, Justin Grant, Carson Macedo, Thomas Meseraull, Logan Seavey & Tanner Thorson
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS AT MERCED SPEEDWAY:
2020: Thomas Meseraull (11/20) & Tanner Thorson (11/21)
2021: Justin Grant (11/23) & Buddy Kofoid (11/24)
2022: Carson Macedo (11/22) & Buddy Kofoid (11/23)
2023: Spencer Bayston (11/21) & Logan Seavey (11/22)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT MERCED SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 11/22/2023 – Jade Avedisian – 11.417
10 Laps – 11/21/2023 – Jesse Love – 1:54.98
12 Laps – 11/21/2023 – Jade Avedisian – 2:18.06
30 Laps – 11/23/2021 – Justin Grant – 6:14.350
MERCED SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET FEATURE RESULTS:
2020 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (6), 2. Tanner Carrick (2), 3. Cannon McIntosh (5), 4. Carson Macedo (8), 5. Tanner Thorson (15), 6. Shane Golobic (3), 7. Ryan Bernal (9), 8. Spencer Bayston (11), 9. Kyle Larson (19), 10. Emerson Axsom (14), 11. Mitchel Moles (7), 12. Buddy Kofoid (21), 13. Logan Seavey (16), 14. Tyler Courtney (23-P), 15. Chris Windom (22), 16. Justin Grant (17), 17. Colby Copeland (18), 18. Kaylee Bryson (13), 19. Chase Randall (20), 20. Daison Pursley (1), 21. Zeb Wise (12), 22. Michael Faccinto (10), 23. Cole Bodine (24-P), 24. Jesse Love (4). NT
2020 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (4), 2. Buddy Kofoid (1), 3. Tyler Courtney (2), 4. Kyle Larson (6), 5. Spencer Bayston (3), 6. Logan Seavey (5), 7. Carson Macedo (8), 8. Cannon McIntosh (10), 9. Justin Grant (7), 10. Mitchel Moles (11), 11. Shane Golobic (14), 12. Daison Pursley (13), 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (12), 14. Colby Copeland (15), 15. Emerson Axsom (16), 16. Tanner Carrick (21), 17. Chris Windom (18), 18. Kaylee Bryson (23-P), 19. Zeb Wise (19), 20. Bryant Wiedeman (20), 21. Robert Dalby (24-P), 22. Ben Worth (17), 23. Chance Crum (22), 24. Chase Johnson (9). 7:18.810
2021 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Tanner Thorson (1), 3. Buddy Kofoid (3), 4. Emerson Axsom (6), 5. Cannon McIntosh (5), 6. Shane Golobic (7), 7. Mitchel Moles (4), 8. Logan Seavey (11), 9. Carson Macedo (10), 10. Jason McDougal (14), 11. Chris Windom (9), 12. Zeb Wise (12), 13. Tanner Carrick (16), 14. Thomas Meseraull (13), 15. Ryan Bernal (18), 16. Kaylee Bryson (8), 17. Kevin Thomas Jr. (17), 18. Ryan Timms (21), 19. Jade Avedisian (19), 20. Maria Cofer (20), 21. Chase Johnson (22), 22. Brenham Crouch (15), 23. Bryant Wiedeman (23-P), 24. Hayden Reinbold (24-P). 6:14.35
2021 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (6), 2. Chris Windom (2), 3. Justin Grant (17), 4. Jade Avedisian (1), 5. Logan Seavey (5), 6. Emerson Axsom (9), 7. Bryant Wiedeman (11), 8. Shane Golobic (12), 9. Tanner Thorson (8), 10. Ryan Timms (16), 11. Taylor Reimer (13), 12. Kevin Thomas Jr. (23-P), 13. Maria Cofer (18), 14. Chance Crum (24-P), 15. Jake Andreotti (20), 16. Cannon McIntosh (4), 17. Mitchel Moles (14), 18. Kaylee Bryson (19), 19. Brenham Crouch (15), 20. Carson Macedo (3), 21. Thomas Meseraull (21), 22. Tanner Carrick (7), 23. Jason McDougal (22), 24. Kyle Larson (10). NT
2022 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Carson Macedo (5), 2. Buddy Kofoid (14), 3. Justin Grant (4), 4. Chance Crum (1), 5. Logan Seavey (6), 6. Mitchel Moles (3), 7. Kaylee Bryson (7), 8. Cannon McIntosh (19), 9. Tanner Thorson (13), 10. Brenham Crouch (23-P), 11. Spencer Bayston (15), 12. Thomas Meseraull (17), 13. Ryan Timms (9), 14. Tanner Carrick (12), 15. Bryant Wiedeman (8), 16. Emerson Axsom (22), 17. Jade Avedisian (10), 18. Michael Faccinto (18), 19. Jacob Denney (16), 20. Daniel Whitley (11), 21. Taylor Reimer (20), 22. Daison Pursley (21), DQ. Jake Andreotti (2). NT
2022 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (3), 2. Spencer Bayston (1), 3. Jason McDougal (7), 4. Jade Avedisian (5), 5. Jacob Denney (14), 6. Carson Macedo (4), 7. Cannon McIntosh (15), 8. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 9. Mitchel Moles (6), 10. Tanner Carrick (17), 11. Justin Grant (16), 12. Thomas Meseraull (23-P), 13. Ryan Timms (9), 14. Chance Crum (24-P), 15. Taylor Reimer (12), 16. Brenham Crouch (10), 17. Tanner Thorson (21), 18. Gavin Miller (20), 19. Jake Andreotti (13), 20. Kaylee Bryson (19), 21. Logan Seavey (8), 22. Bryant Wiedeman (18), 23. Daniel Whitley (2), 24. Dylan Bloomfield (22). NT
2023 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Spencer Bayston (1), 2. Buddy Kofoid (5), 3. Tanner Carrick (4), 4. Logan Seavey (12), 5. Jesse Love (8), 6. Tanner Thorson (10), 7. Carson Macedo (9), 8. Jacob Denney (14), 9. Ryan Timms (16), 10. Jade Avedisian (11), 11. Daison Pursley (6), 12. Justin Grant (22), 13. Corey Day (18), 14. Bryant Wiedeman (17), 15. Hayden Reinbold (19), 16. Taylor Reimer (23-P), 17. Cannon McIntosh (13), 18. Braden Chiaramonte (15), 19. Emerson Axsom (3), 20. Jake Andreotti (7), 21. Chance Crum (20), 22. Gavin Miller (2), 23. Mitchel Moles (21). NT
2023 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (2), 2. Justin Grant (10), 3. Buddy Kofoid (4), 4. Ryan Timms (7), 5. Carson Macedo (11), 6. Jade Avedisian (6), 7. Corey Day (15), 8. Jake Andreotti (1), 9. Spencer Bayston (8), 10. Emerson Axsom (12), 11. Hayden Reinbold (13), 12. Bryant Wiedeman (21), 13. Daison Pursley (14), 14. Taylor Reimer (20), 15. Jacob Denney (19), 16. Tanner Carrick (16), 17. Braden Chiaramonte (17), 18. Brody Fuson (9), 19. Michael Faccinto (18), 20. Tanner Thorson (3), 21. Jesse Love (5), 22. Thomas Meseraull (22). NT