HARVEST SEASON: USAC MIDGETS BID ADIEU TO MIDWEST SATURDAY AT TRI-STATE

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Haubstadt, Indiana (October 5, 2021)………With a history dating back more than a half-century to 1969, USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets have made the jaunt to Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway just 12 times since that point in time.

However, each of those past dozen occasions have brought about a new feature winner rising to the occasion each time, the two most recent of which were also the driver’s first career USAC National Midget feature victory.

And, for the first time since 1979, we receive a second opportunity to witness USAC National Midget racing on the 1/4-mile within the same calendar year.  That moment arrives this Saturday night, October 9, at Harvest Cup.  The most recent visit by the series to the most southern Indiana track on USAC’s schedule came in June of this year.

Now, Kyle Cummins.  We’re all well-aware of his scores of wins in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car and MSCS competition at the track.  However, June marked his first career midget victory as he never turned a wheel wrong throughout the night.

During the last Harvest Cup in October of 2020, the storyline was much the same.  But while Cummins’ triumph came in his 17^th career series start, it was a much more long-awaited venture for Thomas Meseraull when, after more than two decades of trying, a USAC National Midget points-paying feature victory finally came his way in what was his 89^th career start.

With an overheating engine and smoke pouring from the headers during the final laps, Meseraull became bottled up in traffic, then withstood a last lap, last corner surge from Tanner Thorson to win by a single car length at the line, with a margin of 0.119 sec. to spare while also providing RMS Racing with its first ever USAC National Midget feature win in one fell swoop.

Both Cummins and Meseraull will be in Saturday night’s field, with both keen on picking up another victory to become the first two-time victor, this one paying $4,000-to-win.

Cummins finished 3^rd in both of the Princeton, Ind. driver’s previous Harvest Cup Midget starts in 2019 and 2020 while Meseraull’s midget experience at the track goes back further than a decade, finishing 10th in 2010, 3rd in 2011, and 8^th in 2019 and 3^rd once more in June of 2021 in addition to his 2020 win.  Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) also possesses the 10-lap record set in 2011, a time of 2:20.38.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) leads the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget standings by two points over Buddy Kofoid entering Saturday.  Windom finished as the runner-up this past June, equaling his best previous result at the track, a 2nd in a 100-lapper in 2012.  The USAC Triple Crown champ is also a winner at Tri-State in a sprint car, winning in the spring of 2017.  Also in June, Windom set a new one-lap track for the USAC Midgets at TSS with a time of 13.377.

Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) made an impressive charge in the 2020 Harvest Cup, coming up narrowly short of winning at TSS, finishing 2^nd.  The 2016 USAC National Midget champion also was a hard charger in the 2019 Harvest Cup A-Main, starting 17^th and finishing 9^th.  The 12-lap TSS USAC Midget track record belongs to Thorson, a 2:59.89 set in 2019.

Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) is a six-time USAC Sprint winner at TSS between 2013 and just three weeks ago when he notched another in the Haubstadt Hustler.   He finished 2^nd in the 2019 Harvest Cup midget race, leading twice for a total of eight laps.  Running a string of consistency in the midget at TSS, he was 6^th in the 2020 Harvest Cup and 5^th in June 2021 during Indiana Midget Week.

Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) earned KSE Racing Products hard charger honors in the 2019 TSS USAC Midget Harvest Cup feature, ripping through the field to finish 5^th after starting 16^th.  This summer, to end the month of July, Grant captured the Indiana Sprint Week finale at TSS and was 8^th in the 2020 Harvest Cup Midget feature and 8^th once more this past June.

Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) led the first seven laps of the 2019 USAC Midget go at TSS, with the 2018 USAC National Midget champ finishing 6^th in the final rundown.

Returning for a second Harvest Cup start includes the likes of Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.), who charged from 23^rd to 5^th in 2020.  Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.) was nearly equally impressive with a 22^nd to 9^th run in the same race.  Leading series Rookie Chase Randall (Waco, Texas) made the Harvest Cup lineup in 2020, finishing 13^th while 2020 TSS USAC National Sprint Car winner Stephen Schnapf (Newburgh, Ind.) finished 22^nd that night in his USAC National Midget debut.

Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) finished 10^th during Indiana Midget Week at TSS in June.  Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) finished with an impressive 4^th in the June round while Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) was also a top-ten occupier, finishing 7^th.  Series Rookies Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) and Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), as well as veteran Ethan Mitchell all made their first TSS starts in June, finishing 15^th, 16^th and 22^nd, respectively, and will be back for another start this weekend.

Saturday night’s Harvest Cup at Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway features the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Midwest Sprint Car Series and Midwest Mini Sprint Association.  Adult general admission tickets are $25, students aged 13-18 are $20 and kids aged 12 & under are free.  Pit passes are $30.  Pits open at 2:30pm CT with grandstands opening at 3:30pm, drivers meeting at 4:30pm and hot laps at 5:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following.

It’s all part of a doubleheader weekend for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship.  The preceding night, on Friday, October 8, at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Ill. will feature the series along with Hyper Non-Wing Outlaws, A-Class Non-Wing Non-Wing, Restrictors and Junior Sprints.

Both of this weekend’s USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship events can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3frPoW6.

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-1931, 2-Buddy Kofoid-1929, 3-Emerson Axsom-1801, 4-Daison Pursley-1767, 5-Tanner Thorson-1760, 6-Justin Grant-1726, 7-Logan Seavey-1665, 8-Thomas Meseraull-1549, 9-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1523, 10-Cannon McIntosh-1375.

TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS

1-Brady Bacon, Barry Butterworth, Lonnie Caruthers, Bryan Clauson, Kyle Cummins, Zach Daum, Jason McDougal, Mike McGreevy, Thomas Meseraull, Johnny Parsons, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & Sleepy Tripp

TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS

1969: Mike McGreevy (6/27)

1978: Sleepy Tripp (5/5)

1979: Johnny Parsons (6/15) & Barry Butterworth (8/24)

1980: Lonnie Caruthers (5/2)

2007: Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (5/12)

2010: Bryan Clauson (5/8)

2011: Zach Daum (5/21)

2012: Brady Bacon (6/2)

2019: Jason McDougal (10/19)

2020: Thomas Meseraull (10/10)

2021: Kyle Cummins (6/11)

HARVEST CUP USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:

1-Jason McDougal & Thomas Meseraull

HARVEST CUP USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:

2019: Jason McDougal (10/19)

2020: Thomas Meseraull (10/10)

TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:

1 Lap - 6/6/2021 - Chris Windom - 13.377 - 67.280 mph

3 Laps - 6/27/1969 - Bob Tattersall - 50.000 - 54.000 mph

8 Laps - 6/8/2011 - Hunter Schuerenberg - 1:43.14 - 69.808 mph

10 Laps - 5/21/2011 - Thomas Meseraull - 2:20.38 - 64.112 mph

12 Laps - 10/19/2019 - Tanner Thorson - 2:59.89 - 60.037 mph

40 Laps - 6/15/1979 - Johnny Parsons - 11:07.40 - 53.941 mph

50 Laps - 6/27/1969 - Mike McGreevy - 14:15.27 - 51.563 mph

PAST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET RESULTS AT TRI-STATE SPEEDWAY:

1969 FEATURE: 1. Mike McGreevy, 2. Dave Strickland, 3. Roger West, 4. Les Scott, 5. Clark Templeman, 6. George McBeath, 7. Gary Irvin, 8. Dave Ward, 9. Bill Renshaw, 10. Sonny Ates, 11. Mel Cornett, 12. Rob Greentree, 13. Merle Bettenhausen, 14. Bob Tattersall, 15. Larry Kirkpatrick, 16. Mel Kenyon, 17. Jack Fitzpatrick, 18. Steve Troxell.

1978 FEATURE: 1. Sleepy Tripp, 2. Ron Shuman, 3. Lonnie Caruthers, 4. Mel Kenyon, 5. Steve Cannon, 6. Larry Gates, 7. Jeff Heywood, 8. Mack McClellan, 9. Steve Lotshaw, 10. Jeff Nuckles, 11. Ron Eden, 12. Dave Stoltz, 13. Bubby Jones, 14. Tim Pangborn, 15. Rich Vogler, 16. Jerry Weeks, 17. Stan Fox, 18. Chris Cumberworth, 19. Kevin Olson, 20. Wes Stafford.

1979 FEATURE: (6/15) 1. Johnny Parsons, 2. Jerry Weeks, 3. Steve Lotshaw, 4. Dana Carter, 5. Rick Goudy, 6. Rich Vogler, 7. Wes Stafford, 8. Barry Butterworth, 9. Stan Fox, 10. Lonnie Caruthers, 11. Lee Carey, 12. Ken Schrader, 13. Terry Wente, 14. Tim Pangborn, 15. Steve Cannon, 16. Mel Kenyon, 17. Ron Mullen, 18. Bob Wente, 19. Jerry Nuckles, 20. Chuck Gurney.

1979 FEATURE: (8/24) 1. Barry Butterworth, 2. Sleepy Tripp, 3. Rich Vogler, 4. Bob Wente, 5. Mel Kenyon, 6. Steve Lotshaw, 7. Lonnie Caruthers, 8. Chuck Gurney, 9. Ken Schrader, 10. Jeff Nuckles, 11. Warren Mockler, 12. Nick Gojmeric, 13. Chris Cumberworth, 14. Jerry Weeks, 15. Kenneth Nichols, 16. Bob Bennett, 17. Bill Renshaw, 18. Stan Fox, 19. Dave Ray, 20. Danny Frye, Jr.

1980 FEATURE: 1. Lonnie Caruthers, 2. Jerry Weeks, 3. Johnny Parsons, 4. Sleepy Tripp, 5. Steve Lotshaw, 6. Jeff Heywood, 7. Mel Kenyon, 8. Bob Wente, 9. Nick Gojmeric, 10. Marty Davis, 11. Warren Mockler, 12. Dave Keith, 13. Bob Bennett, 14. Kenneth Nichols, 15. Alan Brown, 16. Jerry Nuckles, 17. Tracy Potter, 18. Bob Carey, 19. Bobby Grim, Jr., 20. Jerry Harris.

2007 FEATURE: 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2. Hud Cone, 3. Darren Hagen, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Cole Carter, 7. Davey Ray, 8. Tom Hessert III, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Danny Stratton, 11. Kevin Swindell, 12. Shane Cottle, 13. Mike Hess, 14. Bobby East, 15. Levi Jones, 16. Brad Loyet, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Mat Neely, 19. Gary Taylor, 20. Donnie Lehmann, 21. A.J. Felker, 22. Nick Knepper, 23. Damion Gardner, 24. Josh Wise, 25. Dave Darland.

2010 FEATURE: 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Caleb Armstrong, 4. Shane Hmiel, 5. Zach Daum, 6. Dereck King, 7. Nick Knepper, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Brad Loyet, 10. Thomas Meseraull, 11. Henry Clarke, 12. Brad Kuhn, 13. Tim Siner, 14. Daniel Adler, 15. Shane Cockrum, 16. Kyle Hamilton, 17. Mario Clouser, 18. Tyler Robbins, 19. Levi Jones, 20. Kent Schmidt, 21. Hud Cone, 22. Bobby East, 23. Tracy Hines, 24. Austin Brown, 25. Davey Ray, 26. Evan Lents, 27. Alex Bowman, 28. Darren Hagen, 29. Gavin Galbraith, 30. Kellen Conover, 31. Andrew Felker, 32. Levi Roberts, 33. Travis Berryhill.

2011 FEATURE: 1. Zach Daum, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Darren Hagen, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Caleb Armstrong, 8. Davey Ray, 9. Bobby East, 10. Kyle Larson, 11. Kellen Conover, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Mario Clouser, 14. Travis Berryhill, 15. John Campbell, 16. Levi Roberts, 17. Bubba Altig, 18. Shane Cockrum, 19. Tanner Swanson, 20. Kody Aldrich, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Kody Swanson, 23. Jimmy Simpson, 24. Seth Motsinger, 25. Kent Schmidt, 26. Chase Barber, 27. Michael Koontz, 28. Tyler Robbins, 29. Gavin Galbraith, 30. Mike Hess, 31. Brad Kuhn, 32. Doug Day, 33. Dalton Armstrong.

2012 FEATURE: 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Ryan Bernal, 6. Jerry Coons, Jr., 7. Darren Hagen, 8. Brett Anderson, 9. Levi Roberts, 10. Steve Buckwalter, 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Thomas Meseraull, 13. Davey Ray, 14. Mario Clouser, 15. Bobby East, 16. Caleb Armstrong, 17. Tyler Thomas, 18. Rico Abreu, 19. Cameron Hagin, 20. Dalton Armstrong, 21. Zach Daum, 22. Austin Brown, 23. Bubba Altig, 24. Chett Gehrke, 25. Colten Cottle, 26. Andy Malpocker, 27. Ryan Criswell, 28. Ted Hines, 29. Tyler Robbins, 30. Daniel Robinson, 31. Tracy Hines, 32. Mike Hess, 33. C.J. Leary, 34. Jimmy Simpson.

2019 FEATURE: (Starting position in parentheses) 1. Jason McDougal (5), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 3. Kyle Cummins (7), 4. Tyler Courtney (2), 5. Justin Grant (16), 6. Logan Seavey (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (18), 8. Thomas Meseraull (12), 9. Tanner Thorson (17), 10. Zeb Wise (19), 11. Chris Windom (11), 12. Tyler Thomas (8), 13. Jerry Coons, Jr. (13), 14. Robert Dalby (3), 15. Andrew Layser (10), 16. C.J. Leary (21), 17. Tanner Carrick (14), 18. Karsyn Elledge (9), 19. Critter Malone (15), 20. Jake Swanson (22), 21. Gio Scelzi (6), 22. Kendall Ruble (20).

2020 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (7), 2. Tanner Thorson (4), 3. Kyle Cummins (12), 4. Tyler Courtney (9), 5. Emerson Axsom (23*), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (10), 7. Clinton Boyles (18), 8. Justin Grant (5), 9. Kaylee Bryson (22), 10. Chase Johnson (15), 11. Cole Bodine (2), 12. Buddy Kofoid (16), 13. Chase Randall (13), 14. Logan Seavey (17), 15. Jerry Coons Jr. (21), 16. Chris Windom (6), 17. Jason McDougal (3), 18. Sam Johnson (14), 19. Daison Pursley (11), 20. Brady Bacon (19), 21. Andrew Layser (1), 22. Stephen Schnapf (8), 23. Cannon McIntosh (20). NT

2021 FEATURE: (6/6) (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Cummins (3), 2. Chris Windom (6), 3. Thomas Meseraull (9), 4. Daison Pursley (1), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (7), 6. Jason McDougal (15), 7. Cannon McIntosh (4), 8. Justin Grant (19), 9. Tanner Thorson (8), 10. Buddy Kofoid (2), 11. Corey Day (11), 12. Emerson Axsom (12), 13. Logan Seavey (5), 14. Cole Bodine (17), 15. Brenham Crouch (18), 16. Bryant Wiedeman (10), 17. Brian Carber (22), 18. Kaylee Bryson (21), 19. Trey Gropp (14), 20. Stephen Schnapf (20), 21. Hayden Williams (16), 22. Ethan Mitchell (13). NT