By Richie Murray
Kokomo, Indiana (April 23, 2026)………At last, it is here!
The 71st season of USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship competition gets underway this Friday-Saturday night, April 24-25, at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway.
The Kokomo Grand Prix kicks the 29-race season off this weekend, featuring two-straight nights of full programs featuring the midgets alongside Kokomo Speedway’s sprint car division.
New driver and owner combinations, brand new shiny toys, along with a hungry group of series veteran drivers and teams are all set to take on the journey to a championship that consumes them all through Thanksgiving weekend.
The quest begins now. So, here are six storylines to set the stage for this weekend, and throughout the year.
FULL-TIMERS
Several drivers have indicated their full-time status on the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National tour in 2026, all of whom are vying for their first ever series championship.
Among them are Justin Grant (CB Industries); Thomas Meseraull and Kyle Jones (Tim Engler); Kevin Thomas Jr. and Jakeb Boxell (4 Kings Racing); Jacob Denney, Gavin Miller, Colton Robinson and Brandon Carr (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports); Kale Drake (RMS Racing); Hayden Reinbold (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports); Brecken Reese (Jeff Reese); Mack Leopard (Chase McDermand Racing); Bradley Cox (Cappy Mason); and Hayden Wise (Ninety-Four Racing).
Two-time series champion Logan Seavey (Abacus Racing), Gunnar Setser (Kevin Arnold) and Zach Wigal (Pat O’Dell) plan to run the high majority, if not all, the events on the season’s calendar as well.
JACOB’S LADDER
Jacob Denney enters this weekend’s Kokomo Grand Prix as the defending season opener winner at the Kokomo Grand Prix.
The Galloway, Ohio driver will now vie to become the first driver to win back-to-back USAC National Midget season opening features since Brad Sweet in 2009-2010.
Denney continued his rise last season with three wins and a career best fourth place finish in the USAC National Midget point standings in his first season with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports. Two of his three wins during the season came at Kokomo.
Over the past four seasons with the series, he’s finished 8th, 7th, 5th and 4th in the standings, and is primed to contend for his first championship this year.
TRIPLE CROWN QUEST
Justin Grant has won a lot of USAC races at Kokomo Speedway in his career, 13 in fact! Twelve of them have come in USAC National Sprint Cars, making him the all-time leader with the series at the track.
However, last year, he was finally able to grab his first ever USAC National Midget triumph at Kokomo, which was his first for the CB Industries team, and it came on the final night of the Kokomo Grand Prix.
During the latter half of the 2025 season, he was dogged by a broken left foot that is now pretty much healed. He’s already won a pair of USAC National Sprint Car races this year. Now, he’s poised to finally get a first career USAC National Midget title, which would complete his career USAC Triple Crown.
HEART & SOUL OF KTJ
Kevin Thomas Jr. is a large part of Kokomo Grand Prix lore, as he’s the only driver to start all 12 feature events in the history of the event. Furthermore, he also prevailed in the closest finish in the history of the event back in 2019, where he passed Justin Grant on the final corner of the final lap to score the win.
The Cullman, Alabama racer will run it back with 4 Kings Racing for his second full season with the team during the 2026 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship campaign.
KTJ enters the new year coming off his strongest run with the series in a decade. In 2025, he accumulated 10 top-fives, 19 top-tens and a single fast qualifying time in 23 series starts, but a first win still awaits.
This year, Thomas will drive the team’s No. 14 machine, sporting a special partnership with the Purple Heart Foundation, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of Purple Heart recipients and other honorably discharged veterans and their families through critical assistance grants, providing resources related to TBI, PTS, mental health, and suicide prevention, academic scholarships and service dogs.
A HISTORY OF SEASON OPENERS
The Kokomo Grand Prix marks the start of the 71st season of USAC National Midget competition. This is the fourth occasion in which Kokomo will open the season, having previously done so in 2014, 2015 and 2025, with Rico Abreu, Darren Hagen and Jacob Denney winning, respectively.
Overall, Steve Lotshaw, Tony Stewart and Rich Vogler share the record for the most USAC National Midget season opening wins with three apiece.
Justin Grant can equal that record this Friday after previously scoring in 2017 at the Southern Illinois Center and in 2022 at Florida’s Ocala Speedway. In 2018, Logan Seavey won the season opener indoors at the Southern Illinois Center, and of course, Denney in 2025 at Kokomo. All aim to achieve a similar feat this Friday night at Kokomo.
In nine instances, the season opening winner has gone on to win the USAC National Midget title later that same year: Mel Kenyon (1968), Rich Vogler (1978), Steve Lotshaw (1979), Jason Leffler (1999), Bryan Clauson (2011), Rico Abreu (2014), Logan Seavey (2018), Tyler Courtney (2019) and Buddy Kofoid (2021).
THE ROOKIE BATTLE BEGINS
Also part of the mix of the storylines entering the 2026 season are the USAC National Midget Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Year contenders.
A pair of those drivers – Colton Robinson and Brandon Carr – are part of the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports stable, which has produced 10 of the past 21 Rookies of the Year with the series: Darren Hagen (2005), Bryan Clauson (2006), Kyle Larson (2011), Rico Abreu (2012), Christopher Bell (2013), Carson Macedo (2016), Tanner Carrick (2017), Logan Seavey (2018), Buddy Kofoid (2020) and Gavin Miller (2023).
Robinson (Titusville, Florida) made eight starts last year, with a pair of top-ten feature finishes. Carr (Sheffield, England) posted five starts in 2025, and is a bit of a rarity in the realm of USAC racing. The last known Englishman to win a USAC National Midget main event was Paul Bates in 1968.
Furthermore, Bradley Cox will drive for longtime Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Association driver/car owner Cappy Mason. Cox (Black Forest, Colorado) made a pair of starts last year, and also was victorious in a heat race at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway.
Hayden Wise (Huntersville, North Carolina) makes her first foray into USAC National Midget racing in 2026 for the family-owned Ninety-Four Racing team. Wise is a past USAC champion, capturing the 2021 Senior Honda Pavement .25 Midget title. Her uncle, Josh Wise, is a two-time USAC national driving champion in midgets (2005) and sprint cars (2006).
RACE DETAILS
The Kokomo Grand Prix will feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and Kokomo Sprint Cars on each night at the 1/4-mile dirt oval on Friday-Saturday, April 24-25. On both nights, the pits will open at 3pm Eastern with the grandstands opening at 3pm. The drivers meeting is set for 5:30pm with cars hitting the track at 6pm followed by hot laps, qualifying and racing.
Adult general admission tickets for each night of the Kokomo Grand Prix are $30 with kids age 12 and under free. Pit passes are $40 for all ages each night.
Both nights of the event can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac2026.
====================
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGETS AT KOKOMO SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 4/5/2019 – Dillon Welch – 12.665 – 71.062 mph
8 Laps – 6/20/2010 – Steve Buckwalter – 1:51.62 – 64.505 mph
10 Laps – 4/5/2019 – Tanner Carrick – 2:10.06 – 69.199 mph
12 Laps – 4/13/2018 – Holly Shelton – 2:46.01 – 65.056 mph
KOKOMO GRAND PRIX WINS:
2-Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon & Tyler Courtney
1-Emerson Axsom, Jacob Denney, Justin Grant, Darren Hagen, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Chris Windom
KOKOMO GRAND PRIX WINNERS:
2014: Rico Abreu (4/11) & Rico Abreu (4/12)
2015: Darren Hagen (4/11)
2016: Rained Out
2017: Brady Bacon (4/8) & Brady Bacon (4/9)
2018: Tyler Courtney (4/13)
2019: Tyler Courtney (4/5) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (4/6)
2020: Not Held
2021: Emerson Axsom (4/30) & Chris Windom (5/1)
2022: Rained Out
2023: Rained Out
2024: Rained Out
2025: Jacob Denney (4/26) & Justin Grant (4/27)
KOKOMO USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS:
7-Rich Vogler
6-Mel Kenyon
3-Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Bryan Clauson, Jimmy Davies, Bob Wente & Chris Windom
2-Chuck Arnold, Tyler Courtney, Jacob Denney, Bobby Grim, Page Jones, Mike McGreevy, Ken Schrader, Bob Tattersall & Kevin Thomas Jr.
1-Tommy Astone, Emerson Axsom, Spencer Bayston, Christopher Bell, Tom Bigelow, Bud Bogard, Frank Burany, Pancho Carter, Danny Caruthers, Jimmy Caruthers, Tommy Copp, Rex Easton, Tony Elliott, Billy Engelhart, Gene Force, Justin Grant, Darren Hagen, Gene Hartley, Jack Hewitt, Tracy Hines, Brad Kuhn, Lee Kunzman, Kyle Larson, Critter Malone, Cannon McIntosh, Don Meacham, Jerry Nuckles, Forrest Parker, Michael Pickens, Daison Pursley, Ron Shuman, Graham Standring, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Mike Streicher, Dave Strickland, Len Sutton, Shorty Templeman, Tanner Thorson, Sleepy Tripp, Jerry Weeks & J.J. Yeley
KOKOMO USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:
1956: Forrest Parker (7/28)
1957: Len Sutton (6/23) & Rex Easton (8/17)
1958: Frank Burany (5/24)
1959: Gene Force (5/29) & Shorty Templeman (7/12)
1960: Jimmy Davies (5/29), Bod Bogard (6/25), Gene Hartley (7/24) & Bob Wente (8/13)
1961: Jimmy Davies (5/29) & Jimmy Davies (7/30)
1962: Tommy Copp (6/30) & Bob Tattersall (7/29)
1964: Bob Wente (7/11)
1965: Mel Kenyon (5/30), Bobby Grim (6/26) & Bobby Grim (7/24)
1966: Chuck Arnold (5/29) & Bob Tattersall (8/27)
1967: Mike McGreevy (5/29), Chuck Arnold (6/17) & Mike McGreevy (7/22)
1968: Bob Wente (6/30) & Don Meacham (7/21)
1969: Lee Kunzman (5/31)
1970: Dave Strickland (5/30) & Tom Bigelow (8/1)
1971: Danny Caruthers (7/16) & Jimmy Caruthers (8/7)
1972: Pancho Carter (8/26)
1973: Billy Engelhart (7/14)
1975: Sleepy Tripp (7/9)
1976: Tommy Astone (7/7)
1977: Mel Kenyon (7/13)
1978: Ron Shuman (8/23) & Jerry Weeks (8/23)
1979: Mel Kenyon (6/14) & Mel Kenyon (7/11)
1980: Rich Vogler (6/11) & Rich Vogler (7/10)
1981: Rich Vogler (6/10) & Ken Schrader (7/8)
1982: Ken Schrader (6/10) & Mel Kenyon (7/7)
1983: Rich Vogler (6/8) & Rich Vogler (7/13)
1984: Jerry Nuckles (6/6)
1985: Rich Vogler (6/29)
1987: Mel Kenyon (6/24)
1988: Mike Streicher (6/22) & Rich Vogler (8/17)
1990: Graham Standring (8/8)
1991: Jack Hewitt (8/7)
1992: Page Jones (8/19)
1993: Critter Malone (8/11)
1994: Page Jones (7/27)
1995: Tony Elliott (8/23)
2000: Tracy Hines (8/27)
2003: J.J. Yeley (6/15)
2006: Brady Bacon (8/20)
2007: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (8/12)
2008: Bryan Clauson (8/10)
2009: Bryan Clauson (6/14)
2010: Brad Kuhn (6/20)
2011: Michael Pickens (6/12)
2012: Kyle Larson (6/17)
2013: Christopher Bell (6/16)
2014: Rico Abreu (4/11), Rico Abreu (4/12) & Bryan Clauson (6/15)
2015: Darren Hagen (4/11)
2016: Rico Abreu (6/5)
2017: Brady Bacon (4/8), Brady Bacon (4/9) & Spencer Bayston (6/11)
2018: Tyler Courtney (4/13) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (6/3)
2019: Tyler Courtney (4/5) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (4/6)
2020: Tanner Thorson (6/21) & Chris Windom (9/26)
2021: Emerson Axsom (4/30), Chris Windom (5/1) & Chris Windom (6/12)
2022: Cannon McIntosh (6/11)
2024: Daison Pursley (6/9)
2025: Jacob Denney (4/26), Justin Grant (4/27) & Jacob Denney (6/8)
PAST KOKOMO GRAND PRIX RESULTS
2014 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Zach Daum, 9. Shane Hollingsworth, 10. Tanner Thorson, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Andrew Felker, 13. Parker Price-Miller, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Tyler Courtney, 16. Davey Ray, 17. Daniel Robinson, 18. Austin Brown, 19. Darren Hagen, 20. Shane Cottle, 21. Justin Peck, 22. Taylor Ferns, 23. Spencer Bayston, 24. Seth Motsinger, 25. Alex Bright, 26. Colten Cottle. NT
2014 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Tyler Thomas, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Andrew Felker, 8. Zach Daum, 9. Parker Price-Miller, 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 11. Colten Cottle, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Seth Motsinger, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Chris Windom, 16. Bryan Clauson, 17. Michael Pickens, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Alex Bright, 20. Steve Buckwalter, 21. Jake Blackhurst, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Austin Brown, 24. Caleb Armstrong, 25. Brady Bacon, 26. Spencer Bayston. NT
2015 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Steve Buckwalter, 5. Davey Ray, 6. Andrew Felker, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Tyler Thomas, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Tyler Courtney, 11. Shane Hollingsworth, 12. Gage Walker, 13. Zach Daum, 14. Isaac Chapple, 15. Spencer Bayston, 16. Justin Grant, 17. Jim Radney, 18. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 19. Ryan Greth, 20. Kevin Thomas Jr., 21. Alex Bright, 22. Justin Peck. NT
2017 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Justin Grant, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Tyler Thomas, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Ryan Robinson, 11. Chad Boat, 12. Holly Shelton, 13. Gage Walker, 14. Alex Bright, 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 16. Jake Neuman, 17. Tanner Carrick, 18. Brayton Lynch, 19. Tyler Nelson, 20. Shane Golobic. NT
2017 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 6. Spencer Bayston, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Ryan Robinson, 10. Holly Shelton, 11. Davey Ray, 12. Jerry Coons Jr., 13. Alex Bright, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Tyler Nelson, 16. Jake Neuman, 17. Brayton Lynch, 18. Ryan Greth, 19. Chad Boat, 20. Justin Grant, 21. Chris Windom, 22. Chase Jones, 23. Tanner Carrick. NT
2018 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (5), 2. Chad Boat (8), 3. Brady Bacon (7), 4. Spencer Bayston (3), 5. Justin Grant (6), 6. Zeb Wise (12), 7. Logan Seavey (2), 8. Thomas Meseraull (16), 9. Ryan Robinson (4), 10. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 11. Holly Shelton (9), 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 13. Dave Darland (20), 14. Andrew Felker (17), 15. Jerry Coons Jr. (18), 16. Brayton Lynch (15), 17. Tanner Carrick (10), 18. Kyle Craker (14), 19. Gage Walker (23). 20. Alex Bright (21), 21. Tyler Thomas (11), 22. Chase Jones (22), 23. Kyle Schuett (19), 24. Matt Moore (24). NT
2019 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Jason McDougal (3), Chris Windom (4), 4. Zeb Wise (12), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 6. Logan Seavey (8), 7. Thomas Meseraull (2), 8. Dillon Welch (7), 9. C.J. Leary (5), 10. Tanner Carrick (16), 11. Dave Darland (21), 12. Chad Boat (10), 13. Tyler Thomas (20), 14. Jesse Colwell (11), 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 16. Andrew Layser (15), 17. Holley Hollan (14), 18. Ethan Mitchell (24), 19. Cole Bodine (22), 20. Karsyn Elledge (23), 21. Zane Hendricks (18), 22. Jerry Coons Jr. (17), 23. Justin Peck (19), 24. Tony DiMattia (9). NT
2019 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (4), 2. Justin Grant (3), 3. Zeb Wise (6), 4. Jason McDougal (2), 5. C.J. Leary (8), 6. Chris Windom (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (12), 8. Logan Seavey (13), 9. Tyler Courtney (5), 10. Thomas Meseraull (10), 11. Jesse Colwell (15), 12. Chad Boat (7), 13. Jake Neuman (16), 14. Ace McCarthy (14), 15. Dillon Welch (11), 16. Andrew Layser (22), 17. Holley Hollan (17), 18. Jerry Coons Jr. (20), 19. Zane Hendricks (19), 20. Cole Bodine (21), 21. Tanner Carrick (9), 22. Sterling Cling (24), 23. Dave Darland (18), 24. Ethan Mitchell (23). NT
2021 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Emerson Axsom (2), 2. Cannon McIntosh (3), 3. Chris Windom (1), 4. Justin Grant (9), 5. Buddy Kofoid (8), 6. Daison Pursley (4), 7. Tanner Thorson (17), 8. Ethan Mitchell (12), 9. Kevin Thomas Jr. (13), 10. Thomas Meseraull (16), 11. Bryant Wiedeman (7), 12. Kyle Cummins (14), 13. Logan Seavey (10), 14. Clinton Boyles (15), 15. Hayden Reinbold (18), 16. Brandon Waelti (20), 17. Bryan Stanfill (19), 18. Chase Randall (5), 19. Brenham Crouch (6), 20. Jason McDougal (11). NT
2021 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (1), 2. Buddy Kofoid (8), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (13), 4. Tanner Thorson (7), 5. Emerson Axsom (6), 6. Justin Grant (5), 7. Logan Seavey (9), 8. Thomas Meseraull (11), 9. Brenham Crouch (16), 10. Kyle Cummins (4), 11. Cannon McIntosh (12), 12. Chase Randall (2), 13. Bryant Wiedeman (14), 14. Clinton Boyles (18), 15. Jason McDougal (15), 16. Ethan Mitchell (10), 17. Hayden Reinbold (17), 18. Brandon Waelti (20), 19. Daison Pursley (3), 20. Bryan Stanfill (19). NT
2025 NIGHT #1 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jacob Denney (5), 2. Cannon McIntosh (1), 3. Daison Pursley (7), 4. Kale Drake (11), 5. Justin Grant (6), 6. Gavin Miller (10), 7. Karter Sarff (9), 8. Drake Edwards (4), 9. Steven Snyder Jr. (8), 10. Cale Coons (16), 11. Logan Seavey (2), 12. Kyle Jones (17), 13. Gunnar Setser (18), 14. Frankie Guerrini (13), 15. Sam Johnson (15), 16. Steve Buckwalter (14), 17. Bryan Stanfill (20), 18. Brecken Reese (19), 19. Dan Bennett (21), 20. Kevin Thomas Jr. (3), 21. Hayden Reinbold (12), 22. Jason Bennett (22), 23. Michael Magic (23), 24. Chris Baue (24). NT
2025 NIGHT #2 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Steven Snyder Jr. (1), 3. Logan Seavey (4), 4. Cannon McIntosh (10), 5. Kale Drake (15), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (7), 7. Daison Pursley (3), 8. Karter Sarff (5), 9. Drake Edwards (6), 10. Gavin Miller (12), 11. Hayden Reinbold (14), 12. Jacob Denney (8), 13. Gunnar Setser (16), 14. Emerson Axsom (18), 15. Frankie Guerrini (13), 16. Sam Johnson (19), 17. Brecken Reese (17), 18. Cale Coons (9), 19. Thomas Meseraull (11), 20. Kyle Jones (24), 21. Dan Bennett (22), 22. Jason Bennett (23), 23. Chris Baue (21), 24. Steve Buckwalter (20). NT