GAS IT UP! USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK HAMMERS DOWN FRIDAY AT GAS CITY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana (June 7, 2022)………Entering last year’s penultimate round of USAC Indiana Midget Week at Indiana’s Gas City I-69 Speedway, all the chatter revolved around who could step up and carry on the streak that had a different driver and team winning a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature in each of the last eight races.
Buddy Kofoid and Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports put the kibosh on that discussion, placing a period on the streak and writing their own exclamation point with a wire-to-wire victory, leading all 30 laps, to become 2021 Indiana Midget Week’s first multi-time winner en route to the mini-series point lead and, ultimately, the title.
The chatter remains centered around Kofoid entering this round six of seven for USAC Indiana Midget Week at Gas City this Friday night, June 10. The Penngrove, Calif. native has already finished the first weekend with three results inside the top-two, including already establishing himself as a multi-time winner.
While all the discussion focused on whether anybody could stop the streak, the question this time around is whether anyone will be able to rope Kofoid in and catch him in pursuit of the IMW crown.
Interestingly, Kofoid’s Indiana Midget Week record at Gas City nearly resembles his Indiana Midget Week output with nary a finish outside the top-two. He was a runner-up finisher in 2020 and comes in as the defending winner after scoring the 2021 event.
Kofoid is among a handful of past Gas City IMW feature winners in this Friday’s driver lineup along with Jerry Coons Jr. (2009), Tanner Thorson (2015) and Justin Grant (2019).
Coons (Tucson, Ariz.) started the first ever IMW event at Gas City back in 2005, which marked the first of his six top-five and eight top-ten results in the race. The 2007 Indiana Midget Week champ finished as the runner-up twice in 2006 and 2012, 4th in 2008, 5th in 2005 and 2007, 7th in 2015 and 10th in 2016.
The first career USAC National Midget feature win for Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) came right at Gas City during Indiana Midget Week in 2015. The 2016 USAC National Midget champ was also 3rd in 2017, 4th in 2020 and 5th in 2019 during IMW. His run from 20th to 8th in 2021 made him the event’s hard charger award winner.
Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) captured the IMW round at Gas City in 2019, and also owns a 4th place result back in 2015. The 2020 USAC Silver Crown driving champion also boasts a single USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature victory on his Gas City resume.
Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) won the only non-Indiana Midget Week event ever held at Gas City in September of 2020. McIntosh did, however, nearly bank the victory at Gas City’s IMW round in 2019, finishing 2nd, then came back in 2021 with another fine run in 5th.
Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) claimed a midget victory at Gas City in 2021 on the USAC Regional Midget tour. The two-time Gas City Sprint Car track champion (2010 & 2019) won with the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series at Gas City in May of this year and owns a best official result of 10th in IMW at Gas City.
Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) snagged the Indiana Sprint Week feature wins at Gas City in both 2020 and 2021 and hopes to translate that performance to Indiana Midget Week this Friday night. The 2019 Indiana Midget Week and 2018 USAC National Midget champion did have a noteworthy performance at Gas City’s IMW round in 2020, though, setting quick time in qualifying before finishing 7th in the A-Main. He had his best run, however, in the most recent, traveling from 11th to 3rd during IMW at Gas City in 2021.
Back on the gas at the 1/4-mile dirt oval on Friday are a pair of top-10 finishers during IMW at Gas City. Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) collected a 4th in 2019 and Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.), who was 10th in 2020 and 9th in 2021.
Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) was a 3rd place finisher at Gas City in September of 2020, but his best IMW result there thus far is a 19th in 2021. Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas) and Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.) both made their USAC National Midget debuts at Gas City in late 2020. Both also made their first IMW starts in 2021, finishing 16th and 23rd, respectively. Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) recorded a 17th in 2021 and Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.) finished one spot behind in 18th.
First time Indiana Midget Week appearances at Gas City come from the likes of drivers who have previously found success there in other forms of motorsports. Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) may own more midget wins than anybody in this Friday night’s field. He’s won four times in USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget competition at Gas City, twice in 2020 and twice more in 2021.
Chance Crum (Snohomish, Wash.) experienced Gas City victory lane for the first time in July of 2021 as a USAC Regional Midget feature winner. Bryan Stanfill (Bakersfield, Calif.), a 2020 USAC IMRA SpeeD2 Midget champ, scored 6th in that same race.
Like Stanfill, Blake Brannon (Morgan Hill, Calif.) has a resume that includes a USAC title on it with the 2016 Restricted HPD Midgets. He’ll be looking to make his first IMW start at Gas City as are top USAC National Midget Rookie Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) and his CB Industries teammates, Jade Avedisian (Clovis, Calif.), Jace Park (Overland Park, Kan.) and Dominic Gorden (Clovis, Calif.).
Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports’ Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.), Cade Lewis (Bakersfield, Calif.), Mariah Ede (Fresno, Calif.) and Australian Speedcar champ Kaidon Brown (Sydney, NSW) are among the first-timers at Gas City as well.
Two different hemispheres are represented in Friday’s event with Brown joined by Mike Griffiths (Melbourne, Vic.) and Kiwi Travis Buckley (Auckland, N.Z.). Badger Midget champion Chase McDermand (Springfield, Ill.) and from the west coast, Bay Cities Racing Association Midget champs Maria Cofer (Macdoel, Calif.) and Robert Carson (Concord, Calif.) and All Star TQ Midget winner Rylan Gray (Greenfield, Ind.) who made his first career USAC National Midget start last Friday night at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway.
Friday’s event features USAC Indiana Midget Week for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship along with the Gas City Sprint Cars.
Pits open on Friday at 3pm Eastern with grandstands opening at 3:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm.
Tickets and pit passes will be sold at the gate. General admission tickets are $30, students are $10 and kids aged 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $35.
All of USAC Indiana Midget Week and all USAC national events throughout the season can watched live and on-demand on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.
====================
2022 USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Buddy Kofoid-629, 2-Justin Grant-577, 3-Mitchel Moles-470, 4-Thomas Meseraull-467, 5-Bryant Wiedeman-466, 6-Cannon McIntosh-419, 7-Kaylee Bryson-416, 8-Logan Seavey-345, 9-Taylor Reimer-339, 10-Brenham Crouch-308.
2022 USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Buddy Kofoid-245, 2-Justin Grant-203, 3-Thomas Meseraull-191, 4-Kyle Cummins-184, 5-Mitchel Moles-181, 6-Bryant Wiedeman-178, 7-Kaylee Bryson-169, 8-Taylor Reimer-150, 9-Jacob Denney-149, 10-Jade Avedisian-125.
2022 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE:
Friday, June 3: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, Ind. | WINNER: Buddy Kofoid
Saturday, June 4: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Ind. | WINNER: Buddy Kofoid
Sunday, June 5: Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, Ind.| WINNER: Thomas Meseraull
Wednesday, June 8: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Ind.
Thursday, June 9: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Ind.
Friday, June 10: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Ind.
Saturday, June 11: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Ind.
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:
2-Shane Cottle, Darren Hagen & Kyle Larson
1-Spencer Bayston, Steve Buckwalter, Jerry Coons Jr., Justin Grant, Buddy Kofoid, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens, Davey Ray & Tanner Thorson
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINNERS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:
2005: Davey Ray (8/19)
2006: Shane Cottle (8/18)
2007: Shane Cottle (8/10)
2008: Brad Kuhn (8/6)
2009: Jerry Coons Jr. (6/10)
2010: Steve Buckwalter (6/16)
2011: Darren Hagen (6/8)
2012: Darren Hagen (6/13)
2013: Kyle Larson (6/12)
2014: Not Held
2015: Tanner Thorson (6/10)
2016: Spencer Bayston (6/1)
2017: Michael Pickens (6/7)
2018: Not Held
2019: Justin Grant (6/5)
2020: Kyle Larson (6/17)
2021: Buddy Kofoid (6/11)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap - 6/1/2016 - Rico Abreu - 12.048
8 Laps - 6/10/2011 - Matt Smith - 1:39.76
10 Laps - 6/5/2019 - Tyler Courtney - 2:05.54
12 Laps - 6/17/2020 - Rico Abreu - 2:43.872
PAST INDIANA MIDGET WEEK FEATURE RESULTS AT GAS CITY I-69 SPEEDWAY:
2005 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Davey Ray, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Michael Pickens, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Johnny Rodriguez, 7. A.J. Anderson, 8. Darren Jenkins, 9. John Wolfe, 10. Brian Gerster, 11. Critter Malone, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Jimmy Light, 14. Jimi Quin, 15. Tom Hessert III, 16. Mike Hess, 17. Jeremy Warren, 18. Greg Lueckert, 19. Josh Wise, 20. Matt Westfall, 21. Jason Yount, 22. Darren Hagen. NT
2006 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Brad Kuhn, 5. Jay Drake, 6. Josh Wise (#2 Dearing-Fuhr), 7. Steve Buckwalter, 8. Jacob Slotten, 9. Levi Jones, 10. Dave Darland, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Michael Pickens, 13. Cole Carter, 14. Jimi Quin, 15. Cody Brewer, 16. Brad Mosen, 17. Jimmy Light, 18. Ryan Durst, 19. Tom Hessert III, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Bryan Clauson, 22. Brad Loyet. NT
2007 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 7. Cole Whitt, 8. Brad Kuhn, 9. Gary Taylor, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Matt Westfall, 12. Danny Stratton, 13. Levi Jones, 14. Dave Ely, 15. Dustin Morgan, 16. Darren Hagen, 17. Kevin Swindell, 18. Critter Malone, 19. Gary Altig, 20. Davey Ray, 21. Bryce Townsend, 22. Russ Harper, 23. Daron Clayton, 24. Brad Loyet. NT
2008 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Cole Whitt, 3. Davey Ray, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Levi Jones, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Josh Ford, 9. Brad Loyet, 10. Brady Bacon, 11. Dustin Morgan, 12. Bobby East, 13. Casey Shuman, 14. Ricky Ehrgott, 15. Kody Swanson, 16. Danny Stratton, 17. Bryan Clauson, 18. Steve Buckwalter, 19. Matt Westfall, 20. Darren Hagen, 21. Chad Boat, 22. Shane Cottle, 23. Chris Windom, 24. Brad Sweet. NT
2009 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Brad Kuhn, 3. Darren Hagen, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Ryan Kaplan, 6. Brad Loyet, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Josh Wise, 9. Matt Sherrell, 10. Bobby East, 11. Shane Hmiel, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Nathan High, 14. Kevin Swindell, 15. Cole Whitt, 16. Zach Daum, 17. Ricky Ehrgott, 18. Dene McAllan, 19. Kody Swanson, 20. Caleb Armstrong, 21. Levi Jones, 22. Dakoda Armstrong, 23. Steve Buckwalter, 24. Brad Sweet. NT
2010 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Steve Buckwalter, 2. Brad Sweet, 3. Brad Kuhn. 4. Bobby East, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Zach Daum, 8. Caleb Armstrong, 9. Shane Hmiel, 10. Henry Clarke, 11. Alex Bowman, 12. Darren Hagen, 13. Ryan Smith, 14. Chad Boat, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Kody Swanson, 17. Levi Jones, 18. Matt Westfall, 19. Brent Beauchamp, 20. Shane Cottle, 21. Jerry Coons Jr. NT (NOTE: Thomas Meseraull’s car was disqualified after finishing second due to failing to pass post-race technical inspection)
2011 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Bobby East, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Kyle Larson, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Shane Cottle, 10. Levi Jones, 11. Thomas Meseraull, 12. Brad Kuhn, 13. Caleb Armstrong, 14. Ryan Smith, 15. Trevor Kobylarz, 16. Tanner Swanson, 17. Alex Bright, 18. Davey Ray, 19. Mario Clouser, 20. Dalton Armstrong, 21. Jerry Coons Jr., 22. Michael Pickens, 23. Billy Pauch Jr., 24. Levi Roberts. NT
2012 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Davey Ray, 7. Trevor Kobylarz, 8. Alex Bright, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Rico Abreu, 11. Michael Pickens, 12. Bryan Clauson, 13. Brad Kuhn, 14. Caleb Armstrong, 15. Bobby East, 16. Levi Roberts, 17. Dillon Welch, 18. Mario Clouser, 19. Nick Wean, 20. Thomas Meseraull, 21. Chase Barber, 22. Daryn Pittman, 23. Nathan Smee, 24. Zach Daum. NT
2013 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Tracy Hines, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Andrew Felker, 5. Steve Buckwalter, 6. Brad Mosen, 7. Bryan Clauson, 8. Darren Hagen, 9. Brad Kuhn, 10. Zach Daum, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Levi Jones, 13. Michael Pickens, 14. Bobby East, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Alex Bright, 17. Brady Bacon, 18. Dillon Welch, 19. Caleb Armstrong, 20. Davey Ray, 21. Tanner Thorson, 22. Rico Abreu, 23. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24. Thomas Meseraull. NT
2015 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Spencer Bayston, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Ryan Bernal, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Tyler Thomas, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Chase Stockon, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Kevin Thomas Jr., 14. Alex Bright, 15. Brad Mosen, 16. Nathan Smee, 17. Hayden Williams, 18. Gage Walker, 19. Brenden Bright, 20. Christopher Bell, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Steve Buckwalter, 24. Chett Gehrke. NT
2016 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Christopher Bell, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Justin Peck, 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. Ryan Robinson, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Ryan Greth, 15. Tyler Thomas, 16. Chris Windom, 17. Gage Walker, 18. Tony DiMattia, 19. Tanner Thorson, 20. Dayne Kingshott, 21. Jimi Quin, 22. Holly Shelton, 23. Chase Johnson, 24. Dave Darland. NT
2017 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Michael Pickens, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Tyler Thomas, 7. Brent Beauchamp, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Ronnie Gardner, 10. Tanner Carrick, 11. Alex Bright, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Holly Shelton, 14. Brenden Bright, 15. Justin Grant, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Jerry Coons Jr., 18. Kyle Larson, 19. Ryan Robinson, 20. Zach Daum, 21. Courtney Crone, 22. Jake Neuman, 23. Tyler Courtney, 24. Chance Morton. NT
2019 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Cannon McIntosh (3), 3. Kyle Larson (5), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Tanner Thorson (7), 6. Tyler Courtney (15), 7. Zach Daum (12), 8. Tanner Carrick (13), 9. Chris Windom (23), 10. Zeb Wise (18), 11. C.J. Leary (1), 12. Logan Seavey (14), 13. Andrew Layser (22), 14. Holley Hollan (17), 15. Shane Golobic (6), 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (16), 17. Karsyn Elledge (10), 18. Cole Bodine (21), 19. Jesse Colwell (11), 20. Jerry Coons Jr. (8), 21. Tucker Klaasmeyer (19), 22. Michael Pickens (9), 23. Chad Boat (20). NT
2020 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (14), 2. Buddy Kofoid (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (1), 4. Tanner Thorson (7), 5. Gio Scelzi (8), 6. Jake Neuman (11), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Carson Macedo (10), 9. Tanner Carrick (4), 10. Kaylee Bryson (3), 11. Rico Abreu (13), 12. Justin Grant (19), 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5), 14. Daryn Pittman (16), 15. Chris Windom (18), 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 17. Daison Pursley (23), 18. Shane Golobic (22), 19. Zach Daum (17), 20. Robert Dalby (24), 21. Brady Bacon (20), 22. Cole Bodine (21), 23. Cannon McIntosh (12), 24. Thomas Meseraull (15). NT
2021 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (2), 2. Emerson Axsom (5), 3. Logan Seavey (11), 4. Daison Pursley (4), 5. Cannon McIntosh (8), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15) , 7. Corey Day (6), 8. Tanner Thorson (20), 9. Kaylee Bryson (7), 10. Thomas Meseraull (14), 11. Trey Gropp (10), 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (19), 13. Cole Bodine (17), 14. Chase Randall (23-P), 15. Jason McDougal (1), 16. Brenham Crouch (3), 17. Ethan Mitchell (24-P), 18. Hayden Reinbold (22), 19. Kyle Cummins (16), 20. Chris Windom (12), 21. Jerry Coons Jr. (13), 22. Hayden Williams (21), 23. Bryant Wiedeman (18), 24. Justin Grant (9). NT
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMPIONS: (2005-2021)
2005: Shane Cottle
2006: Shane Cottle
2007: Jerry Coons Jr.
2008: Tracy Hines
2009: Bryan Clauson
2010: Tracy Hines & Brad Kuhn
2011: Bryan Clauson
2012: Darren Hagen
2013: Christopher Bell
2014: Rico Abreu
2015: Rico Abreu
2016: Bryan Clauson
2017: Shane Golobic
2018: Spencer Bayston
2019: Logan Seavey
2020: Kyle Larson
2021: Buddy Kofoid
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS: (2005-2022)
9-Bryan Clauson & Kyle Larson
5-Christopher Bell & Tanner Thorson
4-Rico Abreu & Buddy Kofoid
3-Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens & Chris Windom
2-Jerry Coons Jr., Thomas Meseraull, Davey Ray, Logan Seavey, Brad Sweet
1-Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Kyle Cummins, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Corey Day, Jay Drake, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Johnny Rodriguez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Swindell & Kevin Thomas Jr.