MEET THE 2020 USAC CHAMPIONS
NATIONAL SERIES CHAMPIONS
SILVER CROWN 1ST PLACE DRIVER: Justin Grant, Ione, California
SILVER CROWN 1ST PLACE OWNER: Hemelgarn Racing, LaSalle, Michigan
After finishing 3rd, 2nd and 2nd in the USAC Silver Crown standings over the past three years between 2017-19, 30-year-old Justin Grant and Hemelgarn Racing finally reached the mountaintop in 2020. They were the only driver/owner pairing with three top-five and four top-ten finishes in five starts. Grant became the ninth driver to win the Silver Crown title without the aid of a single victory, garnering a 4th place finish on the pavement of Salem (Ind.) Speedway followed by a 5th place result at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Ind., an 8th at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, then closed it out with a 3rd in the deciding round at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Meanwhile, the Hemelgarn Racing team also brought about a rarity as one of just a few select organizations to win both a USAC Silver Crown and an IndyCar championship.
AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR 1ST PLACE DRIVER: Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR 1ST PLACE OWNER: Dynamics, Inc., Union City, Ohio
For just the second time ever, the same driver (Brady Bacon) and team (Dynamics, Inc.) opened and closed the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season with a feature victory while also earning the season’s championship. Bacon, 30, became just the seventh to win the USAC Sprint Car title at least three times in his career, joining some of the greatest of the greats in USAC’s 65-year history. Bacon and Dynamics, Inc. led the series in feature wins with 6, in laps led with 174 and in top-tens at 24. And, just last year, a new tradition was born, with the USAC National Sprint Car entrant champion named in honor of Richard Hoffman. This year, the title is going back home, as the 2020 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champions.
NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET 1ST PLACE DRIVER: Chris Windom, Canton, Illinois
NOS ENERGY DRINK NATIONAL MIDGET 1ST PLACE OWNER: Tucker-Boat Motorsports, Mooresville, North Carolina
Chris Windom said this is what he’s worked his whole career for. This moment right here. Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, J.J. Yeley, Jerry Coons Jr., Tracy Hines. Now there’s a new member of USAC’s exclusive career Triple Crown club in Windom, age 30. To do it, it wound up as a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season unlike any with the end result being tied for the closest championship race in series history – one single point in the final tally, which was aided by four wins in Ocala, Florida, Putnamville, Indiana, Fairbury, Nebraska and Kokomo, Indiana.
Meanwhile, his youthful team co-owner, Chad Boat, stepped out of the cockpit as a driver late last year, and his first full-year as a car owner resulted in a series title, while fellow owner Corey Tucker’s swansong with the series resulted in a third entrant title.
REGIONAL SERIES CHAMPIONS
USAC’s Regional Sprint Car and Midget series hit dirt tracks from coast-to-coast throughout 2020, producing two brand-new USAC champions, another who maintained his stranglehold, and another digging in for his first series championship in more than a decade.
We do also want to recognize USAC’s AMSOIL CRA, West Coast and Southwest Sprint Car Series, as well as the Western States Midgets, who unfortunately, because of the circumstances of COVID-19 this year, had a truncated schedule in 2020 and, thus, did not have a championship representative for the season.
RAPID TIRE SERVICE EAST COAST SPRINT: Steven Drevicki, Reading, Pennsylvania
Yet another sterling performance was turned in by 29-year-old Steven Drevicki (Reading, Pa.) during the 2020 Rapid Tire Service East Coast Sprint Car season, where he earned a series-leading 5 victories and 12 top-five finishes in 13 starts to capture his third consecutive championship.
WINGLESS SPRINTS OKLAHOMA: Ty Hulsey, Collinsville, Oklahoma
Reaching the big stage with his first career USAC championship, 24-year-old Collinsville, Oklahoma pilot Ty Hulsey finished in the top-ten in every race and snared a pair of victories, both of which came amid the final three-race stretch of the season, at Arkansas’ Crawford County Speedway and Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway, to surge ahead in the standings by 17 points to win the title.
WHOLESALE BATTERIES MIDWEST WINGLESS RACING ASSOCIATION SPRINTS: Wyatt Burks, Topeka, Kansas
The inaugural Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association Sprint Car season went neck-and-neck down to the wire, resulting in a complete deadlock at the top standings. With the tiebreaker of most feature wins being the difference, 25-year-old Wyatt Burks of Topeka, Kan. scored seven of them at four different venues in Kansas and Missouri to claim the title.
MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGETS: Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Thirteen years ago, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Chett Gehrke rose to the top to become the 2007 Indiana Ford Focus Midget driving champion. Thirteen years later, the 36-year-old Gehrke is back as a USAC series champion, making a consistent run through the schedule with 5 top-ten results in all 5 of his series appearances to earn the title of 2020 USAC Midwest Regional Midget champion.
DEVELOPMENTAL MIDGET SERIES
Five developmental Midget series, plus the Midwest Mini Sprint Association, took part in a total of 69 events spanning 13 different states in 2020 from the Northeast to the East Coast to the Midwest and the West Coast, producing six champions.
MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET: Jacob Denney, Galloway, Ohio
On the strength of 4 wins, 11 top-fives and a top-ten finish in all but one of his 15 starts throughout the season, 16-year-old Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) earned his first career Midwest Thunder Speed2 Midget championship by a 47-point margin. Denney has been honored in each of the last two years as a four-time USAC .25 National Midget champion. Now he’s risen up the ranks to become a champion once again.
ENGLER MACHINE IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET: Bryan Stanfill, Brea, California
Bryan Stanfill emerged on the west coast as a USAC Western States Midgets Rookie of the Year in 1998 and was twice a winner with the series. More than two decades later, the 43-year-old Brea, Calif. driver is finally a USAC champion, taking top honors with the Engler IMRA SpeeD2 Midget series in 2020 with 5 wins in total at Spoon River, Lee County, Macon and a special event in East Moline, along with 10 top-fives and 11 top-tens in 13 starts for a 38-point final margin.
DMA SPEED2 MIDGET: Seth Carlson, Stafford, Connecticut
Seth Carlson (Stafford, Conn.) elevated his way to the point lead in race number two and was never surpassed for the remainder of the season, recording 8 top-3 finishes in all 8 starts, 5 of which resulted in feature victories on the path to a 111-point margin for the 28-year-old driver in the final tally and a first USAC championship.
EASTERN SPEED2 MIDGET: Jessica Bean, Farmland, Indiana
Before Jessica Bean, no female driver had ever won three USAC championships. And, furthermore, none had ever won four. However, the Farmland, Ind. native changed all that with a fourth consecutive USAC Eastern SpeeD2 Midget driving championship in 2020, squeaking out a 14-point edge in the points. Bean (30) added four more points race wins this year, plus two special events to close out the year, which tied her with Toni Breidinger as the winningest female driver in USAC history at 19.
RADICAL FOCUS MIDGET: Joseph Holiday, Madera, California
In 2020, west coast Focus Midget racing under the USAC banner was revived after a four-year hiatus and Joseph Holiday (Madera, Calif.) made his impact known in his debut season with the Radical Focus SpeeD2 Midget series, highlighted by consecutive feature victories from the 13-year-old on the pavement at California’s Stockton 99 and Madera Speedways.
MIDWEST MINI SPRINT: Jaylon Mills, Winslow, Indiana
Four scores, including a late season surge in which he netted two wins to close out the campaign, allowed Winslow, Indiana 18-year-old Jaylon Mills to eke out a 12-point margin in the final championship standings for the Midwest Mini Sprint Association in 2020.
ACTION TRACK USA CHAMPIONS
Action Track USA in Kutztown, Pennsylvania served as host to a myriad of events throughout the summer, culminating with its 2020 licensed champions, Steve Buckwalter and Colin White.
SPEEDSTR: Steve Buckwalter, Royersford, Pennsylvania
Steve Buckwalter has long since established himself as one of the Eastern racing scene’s most decorated racers in Sprint Cars, Midgets and Silver Crown machines, but in 2020, the Royersford, Pa. 43-year-old driver utilized back-to-back victories in July to earn his very first career USAC championship by a 90-point margin with the Action Track USA SpeedSTRs.
HYPER RACING EVO INJECTION 600 SPRINT: Colin White, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania
A pair of victories, including the 60-lap Fair Nationals in August, allowed Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania’s Colin White, age 23, to notch his first career USAC championship in 2020 by 65 markers in the Action Track USA Hyper Racing / EVO Injection 600 Micro Sprint division.
PORT CITY SPEEDWAY MICRO SPRINT CHAMPIONS
The state of Oklahoma has been a hotbed of USAC racing talent over the past several seasons, and a track where many of them cut their teeth – Port City Raceway – celebrated their second season under the USAC banner in 2020 with seven different division champions being crowned.
JUNIOR SPRINT: Ayden Parrish, Collinsville, Oklahoma
Racking up two wins, 19 top-fives and 22 top-tens in 26 starts throughout the 2020 season was Collinsville, Oklahoma’s Ayden Parrish, age 11, who scored his initial Junior Sprint driving title at Port City by 217 points.
A-CLASS: Shawn Mahaffey, Tulsa, Oklahoma
After claiming the A-Class championship in 2019, 16-year-old Shawn Mahaffey of Tulsa, Okla. became the only individual with the series in 2020 to snag consecutive series championships at Port City Raceway with two triumphs, 17 top-fives and 21 top-ten results in 23 starts en route to a 127-point advantage.
NON-WING: Brock Berreth, Muskogee, Oklahoma
This 23-year-old Okie from Muskogee corralled a single victory, plus 12 top-fives and 16 top-tens in 19 outings during the 2020 season to earn a 157-point edge in the final standings for the Non-Wing class at Port City – Muskogee, Oklahoma’s Brock Berreth.
RESTRICTED: Joshua Gentry, Collinsville, Oklahoma
This 14-year-old series Rookie looked every bit of a veteran in 2020, winning four times and finishing inside the top-five on 19 occasions. Only once did he finish outside the top-ten in his 23 starts. He’s the Port City Restricted champion this season, doing so by a slim 11-point difference. He’s Joshua Gentry of Collinsville, Oklahoma.
SPORTSMAN: Kaimron Schoonover, Bartlesville, Oklahoma
No driver won more often or was more consistent throughout the entirety of the Port City Sportsman season than 19-year-old Kaimron Schoonover of Bartlesville, Okla., who collected the title for the first time by virtue of 7 wins, 22 top-fives, 23 top-tens, all of which came in 26 starts on his way to a 33-point interval between he and 2nd in the final championship tally.
OUTLAW: Cole Roberts, Owasso, Oklahoma
Despite the absence of a putting one in the win column this season, consistency was the key to Cole Roberts’ path to the Port City Outlaw title. Along the way in his 20 feature starts, the 18-year-old Owasso, Okla. driver grabbed 13 top-fives and 17 top-tens for a 139-point championship margin.
MASTERS: Thad Bennett, Bixby, Oklahoma
Thad Bennett’s (Bixby, Okla.) performance in 2020 surely lived up to the series’ moniker, with 9 victory lane appearances, 14 top-fives, 15 top-tens and 16 starts, as the 50-year-old wheelman won the 2020 Port City Masters division championship by 79 points.
