JEFF NUCKLES, USAC MIDGET WINNER & PROMOTER, PASSES AWAY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (February 22, 2024)………Jeff Nuckles, a four-time USAC National Midget feature winning driver whose perseverance and determination led him to retaining a profound presence in the sport following a paralyzing crash, passed away on February 22, 2024. He was 66 years old.
Jeff was born into racing being the Nuckles’ way of life. The family owned and operated Ohio’s Columbus Motor Speedway from its inception in 1946 until its closing in 2016. By the age of seven, Jeff, a Columbus native himself, was behind the wheel of a quarter midget along with his older brother, Jerry Nuckles.
By the mid-1970s, Jeff had entered the full midget ranks, cutting his teeth in NAMAR competition before making his USAC Midget debut in 1976 while driving the family-owned Volkswagen sponsored by Columbus Motor Speedway.
On Memorial Day weekend of 1979, Jeff broke through for his first career USAC National Midget victory at the Indianapolis Speedrome. It was there on the 1/5-mile paved oval that he’d also gain his second series win, two years later in 1981, by leading all 50 laps. The following weekend, Jeff made it two-straight victories on the USAC circuit by scoring a win at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, once again leading the entire 40-lap distance.
In 1980, Jeff earned honors as the Fort Wayne Memorial Coliseum USAC Midget indoor co-champion alongside Bob Wente. At Fort Wayne, Jeff was widely known for his colorful and entertaining entrances during driver introductions when the lights were turned off and the spotlight turned on. In 1981, Jeff was victorious on the high banks of Winchester (Ind.) Speedway as the feature winner of the non-sanctioned Sammy Sessions Memorial. In October of 1982, Jeff married Cindy and they remained husband and wife for 41 years.
While racing with his brother, it almost seemed that when you saw Jeff, Jerry wasn’t too far behind, and vice versa. For a six-year run between 1979-84, the siblings never finished more than two places apart in the final USAC National Midget standings. They were 10th and 12th in 1979, 9th and 11th in 1980, 10th and 11th in 1981, 8th and 9th in 1982, 6th and 7th in 1983, and 7th and 8th in 1984. Jeff’s top USAC point ranking came with a seventh in 1983.
Jeff’s final USAC National Midget feature triumph came in June of 1984 at Wisconsin’s Slinger Super Speedway, which vaulted him into the series point lead entering the summer months.
However, disaster struck just two months after his Slinger victory during a World Wide Auto Racing (WWAR) Midget event at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in August of 1984. On the day before his 27th birthday, Jeff was involved in an opening lap accident on the half-mile dirt oval that resulted in a cervical vertebra fracture. Doctors removed the back half of the vertebra, then took a piece of bone from Jeff’s hip and performed a spinal fusion.
The accident left Jeff paralyzed from the waist down and confined him to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life. Despite the life-changing event, Jeff powered on, joining his family by working at Columbus Motor Speedway where he initially served as the track announcer and led the track’s publicity and advertising before, ultimately, becoming the track’s owner and promoter.
USAC expresses its deepest condolences to the Nuckles family and their many friends in the racing community.