THE CLOSEST EVER: SULYI SCORES NARROW 4-POINT USAC EASTERN MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2023
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (October 17, 2023)………Logan Sulyi prevailed in the closest USAC Eastern Midget Association points battle ever during the 2023 season.
The Raleigh, N.C. racer defeated J.T Bierman by just four points and one on-track position with his narrow victory in the season finale in October at North Carolina’s Carteret County Speedway.
The previous closest margin between first and second in the 20-year history of the series came in 2020 when Jessica Bean defeated Hunter Wise by 14 markers in the final tally.
To boot, Sulyi earned the championship in style by winning the final two events of the year at North Carolina’s Tri-County and Carteret County Speedways, becoming just the fourth driver to close out with two victories and the championship along with Chase Scott in 2004, Jared Irvan in 2012 and Jessica Bean in 2019.
Beginning his career in quarter midgets and karts before moving on to midgets in 2022, the 17-year-old was a winner with the USAC Eastern Midget Association during his Rookie season a year ago while finishing third in points, setting the stage for a title run in his father Mike Sulyi’s No. 19 in 2023.
Sulyi was solid throughout the ‘23 campaign, finishing inside the top-four in all but one of his 10 series starts, winning three times in all, including an early season triumph at his hometown track of Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C.
However, throughout the year, Sulyi regularly had to contend with Bierman (Bath, Pa.). Sulyi led the points for a span of two events between May and June before Bierman took over and held the top rung of the standings from June until two races remaining in late September.
Bierman was spectacular in qualifying, garnering a fast time in each of the final seven races of the season and became a first-time series winner in July at North Carolina’s New River All American Speedway.
Reigning series champion Hunter Wise (Allentown, Pa.) came home third in the final standings, his fourth consecutive season of finishing inside the top-four of the standings.
Chris Lamb (Colfax, N.C.) took fourth in the standings, leading a series-high 108 laps and winning a series-high four features while increasing his series victory total to a staggering 61 with scores at Orange County Speedway, Dillon Motor Speedway, Dominion Raceway and Shenandoah Speedway.
Between Dakoda Armstrong and Brady Allum, they took turns in winning the first four meetings of the season. Armstrong (New Castle, Ind.) and Allum (Gold Hill, N.C.) captured a pair of non-points special events with a wing affixed to their roll cages in February at Florida’s Auburndale Speedway.
Without the wing, Armstrong proceeded to win the initial points race of the year at Dillon while Allum followed up in the second round with a trophy at Caraway Speedway. Allum wound up fifth in the series standings while Armstrong grabbed seventh in part-time duty.
In all, five non-points special events were held. Shortly after picking up a major win in the Little 500 Sprint Car race at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, Jake Trainor (Medway, Mass.) raced to victory lane at Massachusetts’ Seekonk Speedway during the 27th annual running of the Boston Louie Seymour Memorial while also sporting a wing in a co-sanctioned event with NEMA Lites.
The east met the west when the USAC Eastern Midget Association faced off with the USAC Rocky Mountain Radical Midgets for a pair of non-points special events in September at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway. Chuck Groat (West Valley City, Utah) took round one while Ashlyn Powell (West Valley City, Utah), a softball player for Southeast Arkansas College away from the track, won the following evening.
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET STAT LEADERS:
Driver Champion: Logan Sulyi
Most Feature Wins: 4-Chris Lamb
Laps Led: 108-Chris Lamb
Top-Fives: 9-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
Top-Tens: 10-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
Fast Qualifying Times: 7-J.T. Bierman
Feature Starts: 10-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1. 677 Logan Sulyi, Raleigh, N.C.
2. 673 J.T. Bierman, Bath, Pa.
3. 573 Hunter Wise, Allentown, Pa.
4. 564 Chris Lamb, Colfax, N.C.
5. 386 Brady Allum, Gold Hill, N.C.
6. 278 John Gauge Kimler, Greensboro, N.C.
7. 264 Dakoda Armstrong, New Castle, Ind.
8. 260 Keegan Walmer, Concord, N.C.
9. 183 Dillon Thomas, Clover, S.C.
10. 117 Mack Leopard, Fairborn, Ohio
11. 104 Eric Lewis, Solvay, N.Y.
12. 58 Neal Allison, Greensboro, N.C.
13. 55 Chad Allum, Gold Hill, N.C.
14. 53 Caleb Edington, Thomasville, N.C.
15. 52 Bobby Courtwright, Evans, Ga.
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:
Feb 10: (SE) Auburndale Speedway - Winter Haven, FL
WINNER: Dakoda Armstrong (Radical Racing #1A)
Feb 11: (SE) Auburndale Speedway - Winter Haven, FL
WINNER: Brady Allum (Chad Allum #87)
Apr 1: Dillon Motor Speedway - Dillon, SC
WINNER: Dakoda Armstrong (Radical Racing #1)
Apr 29: Caraway Speedway - Asheboro, NC
WINNER: Brady Allum (Chad Allum #87)
May 12: Wake County Speedway - Raleigh, NC
WINNER: Logan Sulyi (Mike Sulyi #19)
Jun 10: Orange County Speedway - Rougemont, NC
WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #9)
Jun 24: Dillon Motor Speedway - Dillon, SC
WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #9)
Jul 15: (SE) Seekonk Speedway - Seekonk, MA
WINNER: Jake Trainor (Seymour Racing #4s)
Jul 29: New River All American Speedway - Jacksonville, NC
WINNER: J.T. Bierman (Radical Racing #5)
Aug 26: Dominion Raceway - Spotsylvania, VA
WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #9)
Sep 9: Shenandoah Speedway - Shenandoah, VA
WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #9)
Sep 22: (SE) Meridian Speedway - Meridian, ID
WINNER: Chuck Groat (Chuck Groat #14)
Sep 23: (SE) Meridian Speedway - Meridian, ID
WINNER: Ashlyn Powell (Tim Powell #25)
Sep 30: Tri-County Speedway - Hudson, NC
WINNER: Logan Sulyi (Mike Sulyi #19)
Oct 15: Carteret County Speedway - Swansboro, NC
WINNER: Logan Sulyi (Mike Sulyi #19)
**(SE) represents a non-points special event
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE WINS:
4-Chris Lamb (Jun 10 at Orange County Speedway, Jun 24 at Dillon Motor Speedway, Aug 26 at Dominion Raceway & Sep 9 at Shenandoah Speedway)
3-Logan Sulyi (May 12 at Wake County Speedway, Sep 30 at Tri-County Speedway & Oct 15 at Carteret County Speedway)
1-Brady Allum (Apr 29 at Caraway Speedway)
1-Dakoda Armstrong (Apr 1 at Dillon Motor Speedway)
1-J.T. Bierman (Jul 29 at New River All American Speedway)
NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENT FEATURE WINS:
1-Brady Allum (Feb 11 at Auburndale Speedway)
1-Dakoda Armstrong (Feb 10 at Auburndale Speedway)
1-Chuck Groat (Sep 22 at Meridian Speedway)
1-Ashlyn Powell (Sep 23 at Meridian Speedway)
1-Jake Trainor (Jul 15 at Seekonk Speedway)
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:
108-Chris Lamb
76-Logan Sulyi
52-Brady Allum
34-J.T. Bierman
27-Dakoda Armstrong
16-Mack Leopard
7-Dillon Thomas
5-Keegan Walmer
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:
9-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
8-Hunter Wise
7-Chris Lamb
5-Brady Allum
4-Keegan Walmer
3-Dakoda Armstrong & Dillon Thomas
1-John Gauge Kimler & Mack Leopard
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:
10-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
9-Chris Lamb & Hunter Wise
6-Brady Allum
5-John Gauge Kimler
4-Dakoda Armstrong & Keegan Walmer
3-Dillon Thomas
2-Eric Lewis, Mack Leopard & Mike Ward
1-Bobby Courtwright, Caleb Edington, Chad Allum & Neal Allison
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
7-J.T. Bierman
1-Dakoda Armstrong & Logan Sulyi
==========================
2023 USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:
10-J.T. Bierman & Logan Sulyi
9-Chris Lamb & Hunter Wise
6-Brady Allum
5-John Gauge Kimler
4-Dakoda Armstrong & Keegan Walmer
3-Dillon Thomas
2-Eric Lewis, Mack Leopard & Mike Ward
1-Bobby Courtwright, Caleb Edington, Chad Allum & Neal Allison
==========================
ALL-TIME USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)
61-Chris Lamb
21-Jessica Bean
18-Scott Hunter & Chase Scott
14-Nolan Allison
9-Nick Drake & Bradley Riethmeyer
8-Jared Irvan
7-Hunter Wise
6-Jeremy Frankoski
5-Jarett Andretti, Mark Burt, Eric Coomes, Sam Hatfield & Matt Lundstrom
4-Neal Allison, Rick Fedrizzi, Ryan Krachun, Michael Mohelski, Jake Nelke, Logan Sulyi & Tanner Swanson
3-Tyler Corriher, Marc Dailey, George Kurtz, Andrew Layser, Wil Raber, Robbie Ray & James Robertson
2-Brady Allum, Dakoda Armstrong, Cole Custer, Nic Davidson, A.J. Davis, Connor Gross, Blaine Leydig, Aron Oakley, Ross Rankine, Michael Sboro & Michael Ward
1-Cody Acton, Toby Alfrey, Brit Andersen, Christopher Bell, J.T. Bierman, Jake Blackhurst, Kyle Bonsignore, Calvin Carroll, Nikki Carroll, Adam Clarke, Josh Clemons, Kevin Conway, Tyler Cottongim, Dylan Duhaime, Derek Fisher, Jake Garcia, Terry Hall, Brandon Hartsell, Justin Hommel, Steven Intravaia, Josh Lakatos, Preston Lattomus, Joe Liguori, Brad Loyet, Sam Mazzo, & Bradley Swift
==========================
ALL-TIME USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
7-Chris Lamb
4-Jessica Bean
2-Dan Cugini & Kyle Tellstrom
1-Brady Allum, Dakoda Armstrong, Chuck Groat, Chad LaBastie, Ashlyn Powell, Jon Seaman, P.J. Stergios, Casey Tillman, Jake Trainor & Mike Ward
==========================
USAC EASTERN FOCUS MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
2004: Chase Scott
2005: Chase Scott
2006: Chase Scott
2007: Tanner Swanson
2008: Bradley Riethmeyer
2009: Jeremy Frankoski
2010: Scott Hunter (Eastern & Carolina)
2011: Nick Drake (Overall), Scott Hunter (Dirt) & Jarett Andretti (Pavement)
2012: Jared Irvan
2013: Chris Lamb
2014: Scott Hunter
2015: Chris Lamb
2016: Chris Lamb
2017: Jessica Bean
2018: Jessica Bean
2019: Jessica Bean
2020: Jessica Bean
2021: Jessica Bean
2022: Hunter Wise
2023: Logan Sulyi