By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (December 19, 2024)β¦β¦β¦Hayden Reinbold is doubling up during the 2025 season by going full-time with both the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship.
In both divisions, Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.) will be at the wheel of his family-owned Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports machine as a Rookie of the Year contender on the 50-race sprint car tour and returns for his fifth year on the 29-race midget campaign.
With the midgets, Reinbold will be facing stiff competition where he has tallied 84 career feature starts. In sprint cars, heβs a relative newcomer, having debuted in 2024 with seven USAC national starts among a handful of local shows in Indiana.
βIβm super excited,β Reinbold exclaimed when looking ahead to his 2025 plans. βIβve been driving midgets for the last five years, learned a ton and had a blast. Getting to add sprint cars next year is exciting and Iβm thankful for the opportunity.β
While the high majority of todayβs competitors began their racing careers in quarter midgets, micros, etc., etc., the now 20-year-old Reinbold began racing three months after his 16th birthday in a USAC National Midget event at Tulsa, Oklahomaβs Port City Raceway. Thatβs not just midgets. That was his first race of any kind!
Jumping right into top-flight competition is no easy chore, but Reinbold has done it before, time and time again. But his trial by fire has led to this point in his career, and now he anticipates his yearly racing schedule to nearly triple with full slates of midget and sprint car racing on his plate.
βThe talent level,β Reinbold noted regarding the biggest challenge he believes heβll face in the coming season. βRacing against veterans is going to be super challenging. The guys whoβve been doing it for a long time are really good.β
On the sprint car side, heβll have a veteran presence alongside him in a two-car team effort. Mitchel Moles has been with Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports since 2022 and is coming off his best year on the trail aboard the teamβs AME Electrical β Mesilla Valley Transportation sponsored machines.
βIt helps a ton to race with a super talented racecar driver like Mitchel Moles,β Reinbold praised. βHeβs super-fast and Iβm always learning from him. Heβs really helpful, lets me know his thoughts and what I can do better.β
Now that Reinbold has gotten to experience both spectrums of the USAC Sprint Car and Midget world, heβll now get his cup full of it. Bouncing back and forth between the two disciplines often throughout the year requires versatility and the ability to adapt to a variety of situations. Ready for the challenge, Reinbold noted the primary differences in experiences.
βIn a midget, I feel like youβre turning left a lot more, and itβs more tighter of a racecar,β Reinbold noted. βIn the sprint car, itβs like youβre always turning right and itβs freer. A midget, you can drive pretty hard, and a sprint car definitely has a lot more horsepower and a lot more speed, so you just have to be very careful and thoughtful with your throttle foot. The sprint car has been a lot of fun and itβs fun to learn a new car. Iβve been having a blast running it.β
Reinbold has emerged as the leading contender to pick up USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year honors for 2025. His top midget accolades include a 2023 Xtreme Outlaw/POWRi victory at Oklahoma Cityβs I-44 Riverside Speedway, plus a fifth place run during the 2024 USAC Indiana Midget Week opener at Lawrenceburg Speedway.