PORT CITY EXPERIENCE LEVELS VARY ENTERING T-TOWN MIDGET SHOWDOWN
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Tulsa, Oklahoma (May 20, 2020)………Coming to a first-time track for the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets usually presents a mixed bag of experience levels at the particular venue, and that is most certainly true when it comes to an Oklahoma racing hotbed such as Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home of this weekend’s inaugural Werco Manufacturing T-Town Midget Showdown presented by B & H Contractors on Friday, May 22 and Saturday, May 23.
There’s no lack of Port City experience for several of the 40 drivers entered for the event, with it being a prime Micro Sprint location where several midget racing stars have emerged over much of this past decade.
T-Town Midget Showdown tickets are now on sale at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2020-t-town-midget-showdown.
However, midgets have made the annual pilgrimage to Port City over the years, which has provided many drivers in this weekend’s field an abundance of experience at the track. Some have had a multitude of success that makes them prime contenders against the top USAC stars such as a Tyler Courtney, Chris Windom or Kevin Thomas Jr. and others, who have minimal to zilch previous results under their belt at Port City in a midget.
Broken Arrow, Okla. native Jonathan Beason is always fast, and routinely has been in limited USAC Midget starts. At Port City, the story remains the same as a perennial frontrunner on the 1/8-mile dirt oval with a win during the 2019 Turnpike Challenge and a 2nd place result during Midget Mayhem less than a year ago.
Matt Sherrell of Owasso, Okla. took a “Turnpike” victory in 2016 and has run 2nd (2018), 3rd (2016) and 2nd again in 2015 in Regional Midget competition. Three-time USAC National Midget winner Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.) finished in the runner-up spot during a night at the 2016 “Turnpike” along with a 5th that weekend as well.
Logan Seavey, the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion, makes his debut in Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports’ new Midget this weekend at Port City, but he’s made midget appearances at the track as early as 2016 where he ran 10th during the “Turnpike.”
Tyler Thomas, who lives just five minutes away from the Port City track, was 4th at the Turnpike Challenge in 2016 and finished 2nd in the most recent USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget event at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin.
Oklahoma City’s Trey Marcham was the victor of a POWRi West race at Port City in 2019, while Cannon McIntosh of Bixby, Okla. was 2nd in the Sooner Showdown a year ago. Minden, Nevada’s Tanner Thorson, winner of two of the first three USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget events in 2020, captured a 2nd place result in the 2016 Turnpike Challenge.
Collegeville, Pennsylvania’s 2019 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Rookie of the Year, Andrew Layser, was 7th at the “Turnpike” in 2019 while Rossville, Indiana’s Cole Bodine (17th), Lincoln, California’s Tanner Carrick (19th), Kennedy, Minnesota’s Presley Truedson (21st) and Tahlequah, Oklahoma’s Ace McCarthy (23rd) competed in the same event.
Sand Springs, Oklahoma driver Hank Davis, driving for Oklahoma midget racing standout Dean Franklin, was 2nd in a 2019 POWRi West event at Port City. Noah Gass (Mounds, Okla.) tallied finishes of 3rd and 4th in two separate Port City west appearances in 2019. Emilio Hoover (Broken Arrow, Okla.) was 11th with the series at Port City in 2018 while past Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway Sprint Car champion Clinton Boyles was 17th at the 2016 Turnpike Challenge.
The T-Town Midget Showdown festivities kick off the day before the racing starts, this Thursday, May 21, at Port City with a practice session for all Midget and Micro Sprint entries from 6-9pm Central. Pit gates open at 4pm. The cost is $20 admission.
Both nights at Port City will include full series points-paying events with a complete program each night that culminates with a feature event. Cars hit the track each night for practice at 6:30pm central.
Both nights of the T-Town Midget Showdown at Port City will be shown live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2z3KrTK.
T-TOWN MIDGET SHOWDOWN ENTRY LIST
(As of May 20, 2020)
00 TREY GROPP/Lincoln, NE (Mounce Motorsports)
2ND DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN (Dan Harris)
4 ROBERT DALBY/Anaheim, CA (Robert Dalby Motorsports)
4A JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RAMS Racing)
4s CURTIS SPICER/Marysville, KS (Spicer Racecraft)
5 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Petry Motorsports)
5D ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL (Daum Motorsports)
7BC TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing)
7JR J.D. BLACK/Grain Valley, MO (SevenJR Motorsports)
7x THOMAS MESERAULL/San Jose, CA (RMS)
8 JONATHAN BEASON/Broken Arrow, OK (Hard Eight Racing)
9 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
9H EMILIO HOOVER/Broken Arrow, OK (Steve Reynolds)
9x TBA (Mounce Motorsports)
10J MATT SHERRELL/Owasso, OK (Hunt Brothers Racing)
19 TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Hayward Motorsports)
19A HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19AZ LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19G GAGE RUCKER/Bellflower, MO (Hayward Motorsports)
19m ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, N.C. (Bundy Built Motorsports)
20G NOAH GASS/Mounds, OK (Randy Gass)
21KS JESSE COLWELL/Red Bluff, CA (Steve Reynolds)
28 ACE MCCARTHY/Tahlequah, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports)
31 DAVID BUDRES/Beloit, WI (Manic Racing)
32T TREY MARCHAM/Oklahoma City, OK (Trey Marcham)
35 TANNER CARRICK/Lincoln, CA (Petry Motorsports)
39BC COLE BODINE/Rossville, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing)
42 HANK DAVIS/Sand Springs, OK (Dean Franklin)
52 BLAKE HAHN/Sapulpa, OK (Blake Hahn)
67 BUDDY KOFOID/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71K CANNON McINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71x PRESLEY TRUEDSON/Kennedy, MN (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
82 ANDREW LAYSER/Collegeville, PA (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
85 MATT MOORE/Bethany, OK (Central Motor Sports)
88 TYLER NELSON/Olathe, KS (Tyler Nelson)
89 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
91T TYLER THOMAS/Collinsville, OK (Brian Thomas)
97 JESSE LOVE JR./Menlo Park, CA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
98 CLINTON BOYLES/Greenwood, MO (RMS)