BACON JOINS LIST OF USAC STARS WHO’VE PROMOTED USAC MIDGET RACES
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (May 16, 2020)………Two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon has established himself as one of the most decorated drivers in USAC racing today.
The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver currently leads the Sprint standings after winning the first two races of 2020 in Ocala, Fla., and now ranks 13th all-time in career wins with 31 and in the top-10 in feature starts, with 333.
But, with the upcoming Werco Manufacturing T-Town Midget Showdown presented by B & H Contractors coming to the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget trail at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway, Bacon has positioned himself in a new role, that of race promoter!
It brings to mind USAC Midget event promoters in recent times, and in times old, where a driver, team owner or someone involved in Midget racing with notable clout has stepped out of the seat and put on the promoting hat.
In recent years, Cody Brewer, a frequent competitor over the past two decades with the USAC Midgets, has promoted events when the series has come to Nebraska and his native Oklahoma.
Bryan Clauson and Lauren Stewart were the promoters of the inaugural Shamrock Classic in 2016 at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin, a tradition Stewart has carried on ever since. Nick Knepper, meanwhile, a racer with the series in the 2000s and 2010s, promoted a race named for his grandfather, the Junior Knepper 55 USAC Midget Special Event, between 2015 and 2018.
Jerry Nuckles, a three-time USAC National Midget feature winning driver, was the promoter at Ohio’s Columbus Motor Speedway when the series came in the late 2000s, early 2010s, a track that the Nuckles family had long owned.
Davey Hamilton, an 11-time Indianapolis 500 starter and a five-time USAC Western States Midget feature winner, was part of the promotion team at the Terre Haute Action Track for the 2008 Hut 100.
Steve Lewis, the winningest team owner in USAC National Midget history with 133 wins by the famous “Nine” cars, promoted a series of high-paying Twin 25 USAC Midget events at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway during the early 2000s.
Rick Gerhardt, owner of the Western Speed Racing team that won a Night Before the 500 and a pair of Turkey Night Grands Prix in the mid to late 2000s, promoted a USAC National Midget race at Madera (Calif.) Speedway in 2003.
Bobby Wente, son of the 1963 USAC National Midget champ, and a racer in his own right with the series, promoted several USAC Midget events at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill. during the 1980s, 90s and 2000s.
Tom Bigelow was the 1984 USAC National Midget champion, and for a time, he promoted Winchester Speedway in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Car builder Dave Ellis, twice a winner on the USAC National Sprint Car trail during Indiana Sprint Week in 1999 with driver Cory Kruseman, promoted the USAC Midget events at Manzanita Speedway in late November of 1998.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt promoted a number of USAC Silver Crown events, most notably at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, but his first foray in promoting with USAC came with the Midgets, in a doubleheader with the USAC Silver Crown series, at the Milwaukee Mile in 1988.
Billy Engelhart, he of 24 career USAC National Midget wins as a driver, promoted the only USAC National Midget event ever held at Cedar Lake Speedway, in Engelhart’s home state of Wisconsin. USAC Sprint and Midget winning driver Bruce Walkup promoted events at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for a number of years, including two USAC Midget events there in 1984 and 1987.
The 4-Crown Nationals were the brainchild of legendary USAC car owner and official Johnny Vance, who promoted the first two years of the event in 1981 and 1982. USAC Sprint Car winner Duke Cook promoted a slew of USAC Midget events in the late 1970s, at the Cincinnati Gardens, Anderson, Kil-Kare, Angola and Limaland.
Sherman Armstrong, the 1977-78 USAC Sprint Car owner champion and an eight-time winning USAC Midget owner, promoted Salem Speedway for a time in the late 1970s. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Rodger Ward (1959 & 62) promoted a USAC Midget event at Michigan’s Owosso Speedway in July of 1978, Pancho Carter’s final USAC Midget win.
Thirty-time USAC National Midget feature winning driver Johnny Parsons, like Bacon, promoted during the midst of his career with two early 1977 indoor races at Norfolk, Virginia’s Scope Arena and Louisville, Kentucky’s Freedom Hall, former longtime home of the University of Louisville basketball team.
Hall of Fame photographer Gene Crucean not only owned a winning USAC Midget team, he also promoted an event with fellow Hall of Fame racing photographer John Mahoney in 1976 at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Larry Nuber, a longtime racing commentator for IndyCar, NASCAR and USAC races on ESPN, promoted a USAC Midget event at Ohio’s Dayton Speedway in 1976.
Jan Opperman was one of the finest racers to ever strap into a racecar, but yet, while he was at the peak of his career, he threw his hat into the promotion side of things for three races during the 1974 season near his Nebraska home, at Mid-West Speedway in Lincoln and Sunset Speedway in Omaha.
Doug Caruthers, a 93-time USAC National Midget winning owner, promoted the penultimate race of the 1974 season at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway, which marked 1975 and 1976 champion Sleepy Tripp’s first career USAC win.
Larry Rice was busy racing to the USAC National Midget driving title in 1973, but he still had time to promote a series event at the Indiana dirt oval then known as Henry’s Speedway, which has subsequently been called Benton County Speedway, Kamp Motor Speedway and now Daugherty Speedway.
Both nights at Port City will include full series points-paying events with a complete program each night that culminates with a feature event.
Seating capacity for the T-Town Midget Showdown will be limited to 400 spectators per night and tickets for each night can only be purchase in advance. Tickets are now on sale at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2020-t-town-midget-showdown.
Entries will also be limited and based on a combination of criteria that will cater to both National and Regional teams. A maximum of six pit passes will be available for purchase with each car entry. Pit passes obtained with entry are for pit entry and pit seating/viewing areas only. A general admission ticket will be required for grandstand seating. Teams that meet the listed criteria will be contacted by USAC and/or Port City Raceway and given a code which will enable them to register online.
Both nights of the T-Town Midget Showdown at Port City will be shown live on FloRacing.