JOHN LAWSON, PROLIFIC 1990s USAC MIDGET CAR OWNER, PASSES AT 81
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (August 31, 2021)………John Lawson, a trucking magnate and self-made millionaire who quickly became one of the most prolific car owners in Midget racing throughout the 1990s as the winner of the Chili Bowl, Turkey Night Grand Prix, Hut 100, Belleville Midget Nationals, Copper World Classic and more, passed away on August 24, 2021, at the age of 81.
Lawson, of Fresno, Calif., served in the U.S. Army, then founded his own trucking company empire. In later years, his Lawson Rock & Oil business became the state of California’s largest hauler of crude oil.
For race fans across the nation, however, many will remember Lawson’s black number 15 midget which won big and won often, most notably with driver Billy Boat.
In total, Lawson cars won 57 USAC-sanctioned midget features between 1993-2001, 43 of which came with Boat at the controls. Boat and Lawson teamed up to win an astounding 11 consecutive USAC Western States Midget features in 1995, a record which still stands to this day. That same year, the pairing captured the USAC Western States Midget title.
After reigning victorious during a daytime Belleville (Kan.) High Banks finale in 1995, Boat and Lawson scored the first of their three consecutive Turkey Night Grand Prix triumphs. The first two came at California’s Perris Auto Speedway in 1995 and 1996 with the third of the three arriving at California’s Ventura Raceway in 1997.
Boat and Lawson continued their tear, this time on the pavement with the USAC National Midgets, scoring a thrilling, last lap Copper World Classic victory on the one-mile paved oval at Phoenix International Raceway in 1996. Nearly a year later, the two added the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. to their prolific win list.
In 1997-98, Boat stepped away from the midgets to pursue an IndyCar career with A.J. Foyt Enterprises, but Lawson stayed the course and remained a frequent winner in some of the sport’s most acclaimed events with a number of talented drivers.
Steve Knepper raced to a Belleville Midget Nationals score in 1998 for Lawson, and just one month later, Donnie Beechler took the car to victory lane during the Hut 100 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track.
Ronnie Day won four USAC Western States Midget features for Lawson while Davey Hamilton was a victor on two occasions with the Western division. Jay Drake scored twice for Lawson, once with the USAC National series and once more in Western States. Rick Treadway tallied a USAC Regional win at 16th Street Speedway for Lawson in 1998 while Jerry Coons Jr. notched the final USAC win for Lawson in a National event at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway in 2001.
In totality, Lawson’s final tally came to be 48 USAC Western States Midget feature wins, 15 National and five with the 16th Street Speedway series. Several of those wins overlapped and came in events that were co-sanctioned by multiple USAC series, bringing Lawson's grand total to 57 trips to victory lane.