GAS CITY’S PENULTIMATE ROUND OF INDIANA MIDGET WEEK PUSHES OFF FRIDAY

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Gas City, Indiana (June 9, 2021)………The second-ever race in USAC Indiana Midget Week history was held at Gas City I-69 Speedway back in 2005.  On Friday night, June 11, the 1/4-mile dirt oval will serve as the host of the second-from-last race for the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets’ eight-race mini-series.

Fourteen previous USAC Indiana Midget Week events have been held at Gas City, and three of its past winners, and a host of others, are geared up for the penultimate race of the series’ busiest week of the year: Justin Grant (2019), Tanner Thorson (2015) and Steve Buckwalter (2010).

Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) captured the IMW round at Gas City in 2019, and also owns a 4^th place result back in 2015.  The reigning USAC Silver Crown driving champion also boasts a single USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory on his Gas City resume.

The first career USAC National Midget feature win for Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) came right at Gas City during Indiana Midget Week in 2015.  The 2016 USAC National Midget champ was also 3^rd at Gas City in 2017, 4^th in 2020 and 5^th in 2019 during IMW.

Similarly to Thorson, Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, Pa.) earned his first career USAC National Midget feature triumph at Gas City during IMW, with his coming during 2010.  The past ARDC Midget champ is expected to compete in the final four rounds of IMW this weekend, and Gas City happen to be one of his finest tracks, finishing 5^th in both 2012-13, 7^th in 2006, and was the fastest qualifier in both 2009 and 2012.

Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) won the only non-Indiana Midget Week event ever held at Gas City, but it just so happened to occur in the most recent visit by the series to the track in September of 2020.  McIntosh did, however, nearly score the victory at Gas City’s IMW round in 2019, finishing 2^nd.

Thomas Meseraull is the only driver who can claim a Midget victory at Gas City in 2021 after winning a USAC Regional Midget feature there in May.  The two-time Gas City Sprint Car track champion also won a weekly sprint car race in May at GC and owns a best official result of 11^th in IMW at Gas City, which came back in 2011.

Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) has come close to knocking off an IMW win at Gas City, notching a runner-up result in 2017 and a 3^rd back in 2007 to go along with a 7^th in 2016 and a 10^th in 2008 on a night in which he also earned fast qualifying honors.  The three-time USAC National Sprint Car champion also won with that division at Gas City in his career and snared a recent BOSS Sprint Car feature win at GC in May of this year.

Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) snagged the Indiana Sprint Week feature at Gas City in 2020 and hopes to translate that performance to Indiana Midget Week this Friday night.  The 2019 Indiana Midget Week & 2018 USAC National Midget champion did have a noteworthy performance at Gas City’s IMW round in 2020, though, setting quick time in qualifying before finishing 7^th in the A-Main.

Defending USAC NOS Energy National Midget titlist Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) possesses a single USAC National Sprint Car win at Gas City.  His IMW Gas City results sheet shows a best of 8^th in 2011 to go along with a 9^th in 2012, 9^th in 2019 and 10^th in 2007.

Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) has earned two career USAC National Sprint Car wins at Gas City in his highly successful USAC career.  KTJ’s results during Indiana Midget Week at Gas City have been ruled by misfortune and are in no way indicative of his capabilities with a 13^th in 2015 serving as his best result to date.

Returning for a second Gas City IMW start are USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget point leader Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.), a runner-up finisher in 2020.  Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Jason McDougal collected a 4^th in 2019; Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Kaylee Bryson was 10^th in 2020; Auckland, New Zealand’s Hayden Williams was 17^th in 2015; Rossville, Indiana’s Cole Bodine was 18^th in 2019; and Locust Grove, Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley was 17^th in 2020’s IMW stop at Gas City, although he did come back later in the season with the series to finish a solid 8^th.

Looking for a first Indiana Midget Week feature start at Gas City are last Sunday’s first-time USAC National Midget winner at Tri-State, Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.), who finished 3^rd at Gas City in September of 2020.  Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) took 5^th last September and was 2^nd in this May’s USAC Regional race to Meseraull. 

Tyler Nelson (Olathe, Kan.) scored a USAC Regional Midget feature win at Gas City in 2019.  Nelson finished 21^st last September ahead of 22^nd Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.) and 23^rd Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.), all three of whom are eying their first Gas City IMW starts as is Sam Johnson (St. Peters, Mo.).

The Rookie crop has shown a plethora of potential throughout Indiana Midget Week and have stepped up with some of their finest performances to date over the past week.  Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) and Chase Randall (Waco, Texas) all made their USAC National Midget debuts last September at Gas City.  Chance Crum (Snohomish, Wash.) experienced GC for the first time with a 7^th place showing in USAC Regional Midget back in May.

Brian Carber (Lewisberry, Pa.), Trey Gropp (Lincoln, Neb.) and Corey Day (Clovis, Calif.) have all earned top-10 finishes in their young USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget careers.  Blake Brannon (Morgan Hill, Calif.) has a resume that includes a USAC title on it with the 2016 Restricted HPD Midgets.  All four drivers will be first-time Gas City visitors.

Friday’s Indiana Midget Week round at Gas City I-69 Speedway will feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship and the Gas City Sprint Cars.

You can save $5 with purchase of advance tickets at www.TracPass.com.  Tickets and pit passes will also be sold at the gate where general admission tickets are $30, and kids aged 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $35.

Pits open at 3pm EDT with grandstands opening at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm.

Every Indiana Midget Week event will be streamed LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.

2021 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:

Jun 3: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, IN

Jun 4: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, IN

Jun 5: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN

Jun 6: Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN

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

INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:

2-Shane Cottle, Darren Hagen & Kyle Larson

1-Spencer Bayston, Steve Buckwalter, Jerry Coons Jr., Justin Grant, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens, Davey Ray & Tanner Thorson

INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINNERS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:

2005: Davey Ray (8/19)

2006: Shane Cottle (8/18)

2007: Shane Cottle (8/10)

2008: Brad Kuhn (8/6)

2009: Jerry Coons Jr. (6/10)

2010: Steve Buckwalter (6/16)

2011: Darren Hagen (6/8)

2012: Darren Hagen (6/13)

2013: Kyle Larson (6/12)

2015: Tanner Thorson (6/10)

2016: Spencer Bayston (6/1)

2017: Michael Pickens (6/7)

2019: Justin Grant (6/5)

2020: Kyle Larson (6/17)

TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:

1 Lap - 6/1/2016 - Rico Abreu - 12.048 - 74.701 mph

8 Laps - 6/10/2011 - Matt Smith - 1:39.76 - 72.173 mph

10 Laps - 6/5/2019 - Tyler Courtney - 2:05.54 - 71.690 mph

12 Laps - 6/17/2020 - Rico Abreu - 2:43.872 - 65.905 mph

PAST INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FEATURE RESULTS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:

2005 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Davey Ray, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Michael Pickens, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jerry Coons, Jr., 6. Johnny Rodriguez, 7. A.J. Anderson, 8. Darren Jenkins, 9. John Wolfe, 10. Brian Gerster, 11. Critter Malone, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Jimmy Light, 14. Jimi Quin, 15. Tom Hessert III, 16. Mike Hess, 17. Jeremy Warren, 18. Greg Lueckert, 19. Josh Wise, 20. Matt Westfall, 21. Jason Yount, 22. Darren Hagen. NT

2006 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jay Drake, 6. Josh Wise (#2 Dearing-Fuhr), 7. Steve Buckwalter, 8. Jacob Slotten, 9. Levi Jones, 10. Dave Darland, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Michael Pickens, 13. Cole Carter, 14. Jimi Quin, 15. Cody Brewer, 16. Brad Mosen, 17. Jimmy Light, 18. Ryan Durst, 19. Tom Hessert III, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Bryan Clauson, 22. Brad Loyet. NT

2007 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 7. Cole Whitt, 8. Brad Kuhn, 9. Gary Taylor, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Matt Westfall, 12. Danny Stratton, 13. Levi Jones, 14. Dave Ely, 15. Dustin Morgan, 16. Darren Hagen, 17. Kevin Swindell, 18. Critter Malone, 19. Gary Altig, 20. Davey Ray, 21. Bryce Townsend, 22. Russ Harper, 23. Daron Clayton, 24. Brad Loyet. NT

2008 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Cole Whitt, 3. Davey Ray, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Levi Jones, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Josh Ford, 9. Brad Loyet, 10. Brady Bacon, 11. Dustin Morgan, 12. Bobby East, 13. Casey Shuman, 14. Ricky Ehrgott, 15. Kody Swanson, 16. Danny Stratton, 17. Bryan Clauson, 18. Steve Buckwalter, 19. Matt Westfall, 20. Darren Hagen, 21. Chad Boat, 22. Shane Cottle, 23. Chris Windom, 24. Brad Sweet. NT

2009 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Brad Kuhn, 3. Darren Hagen, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Ryan Kaplan, 6. Brad Loyet, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Josh Wise, 9. Matt Sherrell, 10. Bobby East, 11. Shane Hmiel, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Nathan High, 14. Kevin Swindell, 15. Cole Whitt, 16. Zach Daum, 17. Ricky Ehrgott, 18. Dene McAllan, 19. Kody Swanson, 20. Caleb Armstrong, 21. Levi Jones, 22. Dakoda Armstrong, 23. Steve Buckwalter, 24. Brad Sweet. NT

2010 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Steve Buckwalter, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Brad Kuhn. 4. Bobby East, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Zach Daum, 8. Caleb Armstrong, 9. Shane Hmiel, 10. Henry Clarke, 11. Alex Bowman, 12. Darren Hagen, 13. Ryan Smith, 14. Chad Boat, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Kody Swanson, 17. Levi Jones, 18. Matt Westfall, 19. Brent Beauchamp, 20. Shane Cottle, 21. Jerry Coons Jr. NT (NOTE: Thomas Meseraull’s car was disqualified after finishing second due to failing to pass post-race technical inspection)

2011 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Bobby East, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Kyle Larson, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Shane Cottle, 10. Levi Jones, 11. Thomas Meseraull, 12. Brad Kuhn, 13. Caleb Armstrong, 14. Ryan Smith, 15. Trevor Kobylarz, 16. Tanner Swanson, 17. Alex Bright, 18. Davey Ray, 19. Mario Clouser, 20. Dalton Armstrong, 21. Jerry Coons Jr., 22. Michael Pickens, 23. Billy Pauch Jr., 24. Levi Roberts. NT

2012 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Jerry Coons, Jr., 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Davey Ray, 7. Trevor Kobylarz, 8. Alex Bright, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Rico Abreu, 11. Michael Pickens, 12. Bryan Clauson, 13. Brad Kuhn, 14. Caleb Armstrong, 15. Bobby East, 16. Levi Roberts, 17. Dillon Welch, 18. Mario Clouser, 19. Nick Wean, 20. Thomas Meseraull, 21. Chase Barber, 22. Daryn Pittman, 23. Nathan Smee, 24. Zach Daum. NT

2013 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Andrew Felker, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Brad Mosen, 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Darren Hagen, 9. Brad Kuhn, 10. Zach Daum, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Levi Jones, 13. Michael Pickens, 14. Bobby East, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Alex Bright, 17. Brady Bacon, 18. Dillon Welch, 19. Caleb Armstrong, 20. Davey Ray, 21. Tanner Thorson, 22. Rico Abreu, 23. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24. Thomas Meseraull. NT

2015 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Spencer Bayston, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Ryan Bernal, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Tyler Thomas, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Kevin Thomas Jr., 14. Alex Bright, 15. Brad Mosen, 16. Nathan Smee, 17. Hayden Williams, 18. Gage Walker, 19. Brenden Bright, 20. Christopher Bell, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Steve Buckwalter, 24. Chett Gehrke. NT

2016 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Christopher Bell, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Justin Peck, 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 11. Ryan Robinson, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Ryan Greth, 15. Tyler Thomas, 16. Chris Windom, 17. Gage Walker, 18. Tony DiMattia, 19. Tanner Thorson, 20. Dayne Kingshott, 21. Jimi Quin, 22. Holly Shelton, 23. Chase Johnson, 24. Dave Darland. NT

2017 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Michael Pickens, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Tyler Thomas, 7. Brent Beauchamp, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Ronnie Gardner, 10. Tanner Carrick, 11. Alex Bright, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Holly Shelton, 14. Brenden Bright, 15. Justin Grant, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Jerry Coons, Jr., 18. Kyle Larson, 19. Ryan Robinson, 20. Zach Daum, 21. Courtney Crone, 22. Jake Neuman, 23. Tyler Courtney, 24. Chance Morton. NT

2019 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Cannon McIntosh (3), 3. Kyle Larson (5), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Tanner Thorson (7), 6. Tyler Courtney (15), 7. Zach Daum (12), 8. Tanner Carrick (13), 9. Chris Windom (23), 10. Zeb Wise (18), 11. C.J. Leary (1), 12. Logan Seavey (14), 13. Andrew Layser (22), 14. Holley Hollan (17), 15. Shane Golobic (6), 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (16), 17. Karsyn Elledge (10), 18. Cole Bodine (21), 19. Jesse Colwell (11), 20. Jerry Coons, Jr. (8), 21. Tucker Klaasmeyer (19), 22. Michael Pickens (9), 23. Chad Boat (20). NT

2020 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (14), 2. Buddy Kofoid (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (1), 4. Tanner Thorson (7), 5. Gio Scelzi (8), 6. Jake Neuman (11), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Carson Macedo (10), 9. Tanner Carrick (4), 10. Kaylee Bryson (3), 11. Rico Abreu (13), 12. Justin Grant (19), 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5), 14. Daryn Pittman (16), 15. Chris Windom (18), 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 17. Daison Pursley (23), 18. Shane Golobic (22), 19. Zach Daum (17), 20. Robert Dalby (24), 21. Brady Bacon (20), 22. Cole Bodine (21), 23. Cannon McIntosh (12), 24. Thomas Meseraull (15). NT

INDIANA MIDGET WEEK 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