LAWRENCEBURG INDIANA MIDGET WEEK PREVIEW
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Lawrenceburg, Indiana (June 13, 2020)………As we prepare for the penultimate round of Indiana Midget Week 2020 at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday night, June 20, it brings to mind last year's event at the 3/8-mile dirt track when, all throughout Indiana Midget Week, Chris Windom was confident that he had a car to win his first ever USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature.
Yet, when it came time to start the first four feature events that week, the Canton, Ill. driver found himself seemingly light years away from his destination. Through the first four nights of last year’s IMW, no driver had passed more cars than Windom (42), an astonishing 24 more than his nearest competition.
But that’s what happens when you start 11th, 23rd, 14th and 22nd each night out. He got up on the wheel on each of those nights and drove to finishes of 10th, 9th, 5th and 4th.
Yet, at what turned out to be the final round of 2019 IMW at Lawrenceburg, the stick-to-it-iveness for Windom finally paid off, qualifying 2nd, then starting 5th in the feature before driving to the lead by lap seven past Tyler Courtney to win his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature.
Few drivers had ever had to wait as long as Windom did to reach victory lane in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition, 102 starts to be exact.
This year, Windom has switched teams on the circuit to Tucker-Boat Motorsports and is 2nd in the series standings following a victory on the second night of Winter Dirt Games in February at Ocala, Fla. Meanwhile, his former teammate, Clauson-Marshall Racing’s Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) leads the points and was victorious on the opening night of the T-Town Midget Showdown in May at Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla.
Both Windom and Courtney have won USAC features at Lawrenceburg before, Windom in a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race in 2017 as has Courtney, who won during Indiana Sprint Week at The Burg in 2018.
Those two, plus Zach Daum, are among the three past USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget winners at Lawrenceburg entered in the field for the 28th USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget race at the venue.
Daum, of Pocahontas, Ill. won the IMW round at Lawrenceburg in 2013 after scooting by Rico Abreu for the lead in turn one just three laps from the finish. In that one, Daum drove from 8th to 1st to grab the win. In last year’s feature at “The Burg,” he finished 6th after starting 13th.
Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, Pa.), an Indiana Midget Week winner at Gas City in 2010, owns the 12-lap track record for USAC National Midgets at Lawrenceburg, set in 2009, at 2:59.60. Buckwalter is entered for all six events of Indiana Midget Week in 2020.
Top-finishers from last year’s Lawrenceburg IMW event who are entered for this year’s round include Logan Seavey (3rd), Tanner Thorson (4th), Cannon McIntosh (5th), Shane Golobic (7th), Brady Bacon (8th) and Kevin Thomas Jr. (9th).
Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.), a 24th place finisher in last year’s race, is the winningest USAC Sprint Car driver at the track with 7 victories in his career. Justin Grant, a recent Port City Raceway USAC Midget winner in May, has won four times in USAC Sprint competition at Lawrenceburg as has Kevin Thomas Jr. Bacon has won once with the USAC Sprints at Lawrenceburg as has Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.).
Saturday at Lawrenceburg, and every night throughout Indiana Midget Week, local sprint car racing will be a part of the festivities. At Lawrenceburg, the pits open at 3pm ET with the grandstands opening at 5pm and hot laps at 6pm.
Tickets for Lawrenceburg are selling fast and are only available online at www.usactickets.com. General admission tickets for adults are $25, kids 7-12 are $7 and children age 6 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 for all ages.
First up on the 2020 Indiana Midget Week trail is the 3/8-mile of Paragon Speedway, located just a little less than an hour southwest of Indianapolis, which will make its debut on the Indiana Midget Week schedule by hosting its first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget race since 1985 and its first USAC-sanctioned race of any kind since 1998.
Following the opener at Paragon, on Wednesday, June 17, the series travels northbound to the quarter-mile Gas City I-69 Speedway, whose origins with the IMW series date to the inaugural year in 2005. Next, on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19, Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville joins the IMW docket for the 11th straight year, and for the first time, on back-to-back nights.
The 3/8-mile Lawrenceburg Speedway, which hosted the very first IMW event in 2005, serves as the penultimate race of the mini-series on Saturday, June 20. The 2020 IMW finale at Kokomo Speedway comes to the quarter mile venue on Sunday, June 21, which first hosted USAC Midget racing in USAC’s inaugural season of 1956.
All Indiana Midget Week events will follow state guidelines, limiting seating capacity to 50 percent at all venues. Tickets are expected to sell fast and will only be available online at www.usactickets.com while they last.
There, you will be provided the option to upgrade to a pit pass. You will also have the option to purchase tickets for the full week of Indiana Midget Week events.
On the screen, there will also be a space to reserve children’s tickets. All children’s ticket prices will be based on each track’s policies. Children’s tickets will count toward the capacity level and we can keep track of all the numbers to stay within the 50 percent capacity guideline.
There’s also an option to order an Indiana Midget Week shirt that you can pick up at one of the Indiana Midget Week events you are attending.
All nights of the IMW, along with all USAC National events in 2020, will be live on FloRacing.
JUNE 20 LAWRENCEBURG INDIANA MIDGET WEEK ENTRY LIST: (41 CARS)
08 NOAH GASS/Mounds, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports)
2 RYAN HALL/Midlothian, TX (Mark Bush)
2D MATT SHERRELL/Owasso, OK (Dan & Patricia Harris)
2ND DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN (Dan & Patricia Harris)
3G KYLE CUMMINS/Princeton, IN (Jack Yeley)
3N JAKE NEUMAN/New Berlin, IL (Jim Neuman)
4 ROBERT DALBY/Anaheim, CA (Robert Dalby Motorsports)
4A JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RAMS Racing)
4B BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
5 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Petry Motorsports)
5D ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL (Daum Motorsports)
7BC TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing)
7m BRODY ROA/Garden Grove, CA (Iron Dome-Moonshine Motorsports)
7R RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA (Iron Dome-Moonshine Motorsports)
7x THOMAS MESERAULL/San Jose, CA (Response Management Services)
9 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
10A MICHAEL KLEIN/Elsmere, KY (Mike Wallace Racing)
15 CARSON GARRETT/Littleton, CO (Broc Garrett)
17w SHANE GOLOBIC/Fremont, CA (Matt Wood Racing)
19 TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Hayward Motorsports)
19A HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19AZ LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19m ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, NC (Bundy Built Motorsports)
21D JUSTIN DICKERSON/Pittsboro, IN (Mike Dickerson)
25 CHASE JOHNSON/Penngrove, CA (Tom Malloy)
25B STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA (Brian Buckwalter)
28 ACE McCARTHY/Tahlequah, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports)
35 TANNER CARRICK/Lincoln, CA (Petry Motorsports)
39BC COLE BODINE/Rossville, IN (Clauson-Marshall Racing)
57 MARIA COFER/Macdoel, CA (Johnny Cofer)
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)
73 DYLAN ITO/Ventura, CA (Josh Ford Motorsports)
73T JAKE SWANSON/Anaheim, CA (Josh Ford Motorsports)
82 ANDREW LAYSER/Collegeville, PA (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
84 GIO SCELZI/Fresno, CA (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
86 KYLE LARSON/Elk Grove, CA (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
89 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Tucker-Boat Motorsports)
97 ZEB WISE/Angola, IN (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
98 CLINTON BOYLES/Greenwood, MO (Response Management Services)
2019 LAWRENCEBURG USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET FEATURE RESULTS
(Starting positions in parentheses)
1. Chris Windom (5), 2. Chad Boat (15), 3. Logan Seavey (12), 4. Tanner Thorson (17), 5. Cannon McIntosh (8), 6. Zach Daum (13), 7. Shane Golobic (1), 8. Brady Bacon (9), 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 10. Jerry Coons, Jr. (2), 11. Zeb Wise (22), 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer (11), 13. Jesse Colwell (21), 14. Andrew Layser (7), 15. Tyler Courtney (4), 16. Tanner Carrick (19), 17. Holley Hollan (20), 18. Cole Bodine (24), 19. Karsyn Elledge (16), 20. Michael Pickens (10), 21. Thomas Meseraull (14), 22. Jason McDougal (23), 23. Justin Grant (6), 24. Dave Darland (18). NT
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY
3-Rico Abreu, Jimmy Davies & Rich Vogler
2-Bryan Clauson & Stevie Reeves
1-Spencer Bayston, Tom Bigelow, Zach Daum, Jay Drake, A.J. Foyt, Darren Hagen, Tracy Hines, Steve Knepper, Kevin Olson, Mike Streicher, Brad Sweet, Kevin Swindell, Chris Windom & J.J. Yeley
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY
1961: A.J. Foyt (8/4) & Jimmy Davies (9/10)
1964: Jimmy Davies (6/10)
1965: Jimmy Davies (5/9)
1986: Tom Bigelow (7/19)
1987: Stevie Reeves (6/6)
1988: Rich Vogler (5/21) & Rich Vogler (8/13)
1989: Kevin Olson (6/24) & Rich Vogler (10/8)
1990: Mike Streicher (7/7)
1991: Steve Knepper (5/11)
1993: Stevie Reeves (6/5)
2003: J.J. Yeley (6/1)
2005: Jay Drake (8/18)
2007: Kevin Swindell (8/11)
2008: Brad Sweet (8/9)
2009: Bryan Clauson (6/13)
2010: Tracy Hines (6/19)
2011: Bryan Clauson (6/11)
2012: Darren Hagen (6/16)
2013: Zach Daum (6/15)
2014: Rico Abreu (6/14)
2015: Rico Abreu (6/13)
2017: Rico Abreu (6/10)
2018: Spencer Bayston (6/2)
2019: Chris Windom (6/8)
2020 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE
Tue., June 16: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, Indiana
Wed., June 17: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana
Thu., June 18: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana
Fri., June 19: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana
Sat., June 20: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Sun., June 21: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana
