WHAT WE’VE LEARNED: INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SO FAR
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (June 8, 2021)………The crossed flags signify the halfway point of Indiana Midget Week 2021 and we’ve already witnessed the first last lap IMW victory in eight years, a first-time USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget winner, newcomers making a name for themselves and, most importantly, all four races were run to completion despite the troublesome forecasts to open and close the first part of the 17th edition of the series.
Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) leads the Indiana Midget Week standings at the moment with four top-tens in four starts, including two 2nd place runs to go along with a 3rd. Only four previous times has a driver won the Indiana Midget Week title without a feature win: Shane Cottle (2005), Tracy Hines (2008), Bryan Clauson (2016) and Shane Golobic (2017).
At the moment, Windom, the reigning series champion, is in the driver’s seat to join a list six drivers who have won a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget driving championship, then followed up the next year with an Indiana Midget Week title: Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Brad Kuhn (2010), Bryan Clauson (2011), Rico Abreu (2015), Spencer Bayston (2018) and Logan Seavey (2019).
Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) leads the overall USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget points by a slim seven-point margin over Windom. Like Windom, Kofoid, along with others, aim to double up by capturing both the USAC and Indiana Midget Week titles in the same season, something which has been accomplished five previous times: Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Bryan Clauson (2011), Darren Hagen (2012), Christopher Bell (2013) and Rico Abreu (2014).
We’ve gotten the chance already to see a first-time USAC National Midget winner in Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) at Tri-State Speedway last Sunday. He’s now one of 11 drivers to have won their first career USAC National Midget feature during Indiana Midget Week, joining National champions Christopher Bell, Tanner Thorson, Spencer Bayston, Tyler Courtney, Chris Windom, plus Kyle Larson, Shane Cottle, Brady Bacon, Steve Buckwalter and Johnny Rodriguez who’ve all done so.
Cummins is one of four drivers to have earned a career-best USAC National Midget feature finish that has also resulted in a top-ten this past week. Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) took 5th Saturday at Lawrenceburg while Corey Day (Clovis, Calif.) earned a 6th, just one spot behind Crouch in the order. USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Rookie of the Year leader, Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), was 5th on Friday at Bloomington.
At Bloomington and Lawrenceburg, Day became the first driver to earn his first two Fatheadz USAC National Midget Fast Qualifying times in consecutive races since Logan Seavey in 2018 at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway and Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex. Day and Windom are the only two drivers to earn fast qualifying times during Indiana Midget Week thus far with two apiece. Windom’s time of 13.377 beat Bryan Clauson’s 11-year-old one-lap track record for USAC Midgets at Tri-State.
At Paragon on Thursday, Thomas Meseraull led one lap and one lap only – the last one. The San Jose, Calif. native became the first driver since Kyle Larson at Gas City in 2013 to make a last lap pass for the win. Like Meseraull, Larson led just the final lap in that one as well. And, similarly, both had incidents in their post-race celebration. Larson’s series of donuts after the checkered flag resulted in him flipping the car. Meseraull, meanwhile, took a spill during his cage stand, losing his balance while standing atop the car before falling directly on his hip. In both cases, the celebration was only momentarily deterred.
Logan Seavey’s Lawrenceburg victory came on a historically successful night for the Sutter, Calif. driver. The 2019 Indiana Midget Week champion captured the USAC National Midget feature, then followed it up with a Lawrenceburg Sprint Car feature win less than an hour later. Just 24 hours after that, Kyle Cummins did the same exact thing at Tri-State, scoring an MSCS Sprint Car win, then jumping in the midget to win yet again at his home track.
Conversely to Meseraull leading the minimum one-lap in his win, both Cummins and Seavey led all but one of the 30 laps in their respective wins, 29 apiece, a number which leads all drivers in that category for Indiana Midget Week 2021.
Kofoid and Windom are the only drivers to finish inside the top-five in three of the four events thus far. Meanwhile, four pilots have finished their races inside the top-ten in all four IMW starts, including Kofoid, Windom, Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) and Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.).
Pursley and Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) lead all with two heat race wins while a whopping 17 drivers have started all four feature events: Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.), Brenham Crouch, Kyle Cummins, Corey Day, Justin Grant, Trey Gropp (Lincoln, Neb.), Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull, Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.), Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C)., Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey, Kevin Thomas Jr., Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.), Bryant Wiedeman, Hayden Williams and Chris Windom.
USAC Rookie Brian Carber (Lewisberry, Pa.) made the biggest advancement of any driver during the first half of Indiana Midget Week with a 22nd to 10th place run Saturday at Lawrenceburg.
Auckland, New Zealand’s Hayden Williams made his first trip out to Indiana Midget Week since 2015. Before 2021, his most recent USAC start resulted in a career-best 7th place finish at Lawrenceburg six years ago. He picked right up back in the top-ten six years later with a 10th in Thursday’s opener at Paragon.
Indiana Midget Week’s final four rounds get underway on four consecutive nights this week with the series’ debut at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis on Wednesday, June 9; Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville on Thursday, June 10; Gas City I-69 Speedway on Friday, June 11; and the finale at Kokomo Speedway on Saturday, June 12.
Tickets for all Indiana Midget Week events are available in advance at www.TracPass.com. By purchasing TracPass tickets in advance, you will save $5 on the price you’ll pay at the gate. Tickets will be on sale at the gate on each race day as well.
Each and every Indiana Midget Week event will be streamed LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.
==================================
2021 USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK STAT LEADERS
Driver Point Leader: Chris Windom
Most Feature Wins: 1-Kyle Cummins, Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull & Logan Seavey
Laps Led: 29-Kyle Cummins & Logan Seavey
Top-Fives: 3-Buddy Kofoid & Chris Windom
Top-Tens: 4-Justin Grant, Buddy Kofoid, Daison Pursley & Chris Windom
Fast Qualifying Times: 2-Corey Day & Chris Windom
Heat Race Wins: 2-Daison Pursley & Kevin Thomas Jr.
Feature Starts: 4-Emerson Axsom, Brenham Crouch, Kyle Cummins, Corey Day, Justin Grant, Trey Gropp, Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull, Cannon McIntosh, Ethan Mitchell, Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey, Kevin Thomas Jr., Tanner Thorson, Bryant Wiedeman, Hayden Williams & Chris Windom
Most Positions Gained in a Feature: Jun 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Brian Carber (22nd to 10th)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Jun 3: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, IN
WINNER: Thomas Meseraull (RMS Racing #7x)
Jun 4: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, IN
WINNER: Buddy Kofoid (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67)
Jun 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN
WINNER: Logan Seavey (Tom Malloy #25)
Jun 6: Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN
WINNER: Kyle Cummins (Glenn Styres Racing #3G)
Jun 9: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, IN
Jun 10: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, IN
Jun 11: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, IN
Jun 12: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINT STANDINGS
POS. PTS. DRIVER
1 283 Chris Windom
2 270 Buddy Kofoid
3 256 Logan Seavey
4 247 Justin Grant
5 243 Daison Pursley
6 220 Thomas Meseraull
7 218 Cannon McIntosh
8 202 Kevin Thomas Jr.
9 189 Emerson Axsom
10 185 Jason McDougal
11 181 Kyle Cummins
12 180 Corey Day
13 170 Bryant Wiedeman
14 163 Tanner Thorson
15 162 Brenham Crouch
16 146 Hayden Williams
17 124 Trey Gropp
18 119 Brian Carber
19 116 Ethan Mitchell
20 114 Cole Bodine
21 97 Kaylee Bryson
22 90 Chase Randall & Chance Crum
24 80 Brady Bacon
25 56 Sam Johnson
26 51 Ryan Timms
27 40 Bryan Stanfill & Blake Brannon
29 36 Stephen Schnapf
30 31 Hayden Reinbold
31 30 Chett Gehrke
32 20 Max Guilford, Tyler Nelson & Travis Buckley
35 10 Michael Clark, Oliver Akard, Tommy Thompson, Aiden Purdue & Kendall Ruble
® = USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Rookie of the Year Contender
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK STATISTICS
FEATURE WINS
1-Kyle Cummins (June 6 at Tri-State Speedway)
1-Buddy Kofoid (June 4 at Bloomington Speedway)
1-Thomas Meseraull (June 3 at Paragon Speedway)
1-Logan Seavey (June 5 at Lawrenceburg Speedway)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURE LAPS LED
29-Kyle Cummins & Logan Seavey
27-Cannon McIntosh
16-Chris Windom
15-Buddy Kofoid
2-Justin Grant
1-Thomas Meseraull & Daison Pursley
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES
3-Buddy Kofoid & Chris Windom
2-Justin Grant, Thomas Meseraull, Logan Seavey & Kevin Thomas Jr.
1-Brady Bacon, Brenham Crouch, Kyle Cummins, Cannon McIntosh, Daison Pursley & Bryant Wiedeman
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES
4-Justin Grant, Buddy Kofoid, Daison Pursley & Chris Windom
3-Jason McDougal, Cannon McIntosh & Logan Seavey
2-Thomas Meseraull, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Tanner Thorson
1-Emerson Axsom, Brady Bacon, Kaylee Bryson, Brian Carber, Brenham Crouch, Kyle Cummins, Corey Day, Bryant Wiedeman & Hayden Williams
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR FAST QUALIFYING TIMES
2-Corey Day & Chris Windom
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEAT RACE WINS: (Presented by Simpson Race Products, Competition Suspension, Inc., Indy Metal Finishing & Indy Race Parts)
2-Daison Pursley & Kevin Thomas Jr.
1-Emerson Axsom, Cole Bodine, Chance Crum, Justin Grant, Jason McDougal, Thomas Meseraull, Tanner Thorson, Bryant Wiedeman, Hayden Williams & Chris Windom
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI-FEATURE WINS
1-Brenham Crouch, Chase Randall, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Hayden Williams
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FEATURE STARTS
4-Emerson Axsom, Brenham Crouch, Kyle Cummins, Corey Day, Justin Grant, Trey Gropp, Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull, Cannon McIntosh, Ethan Mitchell, Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey, Kevin Thomas Jr., Tanner Thorson, Bryant Wiedeman, Hayden Williams & Chris Windom
3-Cole Bodine, Brian Carber, Jason McDougal & Chase Randall
2-Kaylee Bryson, Chance Crum & Sam Johnson
1-Brady Bacon, Hayden Reinbold, Stephen Schnapf, Bryan Stanfill & Ryan Timms
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSP QUALITY DRIVING PERFORMANCE OF THE RACE
June 3: Paragon Speedway – Logan Seavey
June 4: Bloomington Speedway – Chris Windom
June 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Hayden Williams
June 6: Tri-State Speedway – Daison Pursley
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
KSE RACING PRODUCTS “HARD CHARGER” OF THE RACE
June 3: Paragon Speedway – Thomas Meseraull (12th to 1st)
June 4: Bloomington Speedway – Emerson Axsom (22nd to 11th)
June 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Brian Carber (22nd to 10th)
June 6: Tri-State Speedway – Justin Grant (19th to 8th)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHERS
June 3: Paragon Speedway – Tanner Thorson
June 4: Bloomington Speedway – Thomas Meseraull
June 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Tanner Thorson
June 6: Tri-State Speedway – Logan Seavey
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFERS
June 3: Paragon Speedway – Cole Bodine
June 4: Bloomington Speedway – Kaylee Bryson
June 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Chett Gehrke
June 6: Tri-State Speedway – Travis Buckley
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS: (2005-2021)
9-Bryan Clauson & Kyle Larson
5-Christopher Bell
4-Rico Abreu & Tanner Thorson
3-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn & Michael Pickens
2-Jerry Coons Jr., Davey Ray, Logan Seavey, Brad Sweet & Chris Windom
1-Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Kyle Cummins, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Jay Drake, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull, Johnny Rodriguez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell & Kevin Thomas Jr.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FAST QUALIFYING TIMES: (2005-2021)
9-Rico Abreu & Kyle Larson
5-Bryan Clauson
4-Chris Windom
3-Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Brad Sweet & Tanner Thorson
2-Christopher Bell, Jerry Coons Jr., Corey Day, Bobby East, Shane Golobic & Tracy Hines
1-Spencer Bayston, Tanner Carrick, Tyler Courtney, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Justin Grant, Darren Hagen, Thomas Meseraull, Ethan Mitchell, Michael Pickens, Logan Seavey, Danny Stratton & Kevin Thomas Jr.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK DRIVER 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