A mere 30 points separate the top-four in a heated USAC National Midget Championship race that rides into Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois this weekend for three straight nights of the prestigious “Gold Crown Midget Nationals.”
The three-night spectacular in Granite City features three complete points-paying events beginning with Thursday night, Oct. 6th’s $3000-to win event, a $4000-to-win feature on Friday night, Oct. 7th before concluding with Saturday night’s finale on Oct. 8th that pays $5000 to the winner.
With only five races remaining on USAC’s National Midget calendar, this weekend’s tripleheader slate will prove crucial toward determining this year’s newest series champion.
Leading the way with a 22-point advantage is Spencer Bayston. The 18-year-old looks to join Jeff Gordon in 1989 and 1990 as just the second driver to win the USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year award and the series title in consecutive years. Only four teenagers have ever won the USAC National Midget title: Gordon in 1990, Bobby East in 2004, Cole Whitt in 2008 and Christopher Bell in 2013.
With his lone victory coming in Gas City’s “Indiana Midget Week” round in June, Bayston remains in the driver’s seat for the title ahead of Phoenix, Arizona’s Chad Boat. The 2008 series “Rookie of the Year” returned to the series this year with a bang, winning at Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway in August before following it up by sweeping both nights of this year’s “Belleville Midget Nationals.” Boat lies just 22 points behind Bayston and five ahead of third-place Brady Bacon out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
Bacon currently holds a commanding lead in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car standings, but he’s hungry for more, sitting third in the USAC National Midget points, just 27 out of the lead behind Bayston.
Bacon aims to join the ranks of Rich Vogler, Tony Stewart and J.J. Yeley as the only drivers to win the USAC National Sprint and Midget titles in the same season. Though Bacon is still searching for his first USAC National Midget victory since the 2012 “Hut 100” in Haubstadt, Indiana, the veteran driver’s seven top-five finishes have kept him in the hunt throughout the season.
Along with Boat, Minden, Nevada’s Tanner Thorson is this season’s winningest driver in USAC National Midget competition with three victories. Despite occasional bouts of inconsistency during the season, Thorson’s wins at Putnamville, West Memphis and Lanco have put him right in the thick of the title hunt. Just 30 out of the lead, Thorson’s Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team will be aiming for their fourth consecutive “Gold Crown” victory. Kyle Larson won in 2012, Christopher Bell in 2013 and, after a rainout in 2014, Thorson was able to return the team to victory in 2015.
In fact, Thorson swept both nights of last year’s “Gold Crown” including a spectacular showing in Saturday night’s 40-lap finale after going from first to worst and back to first after tagging the turn two wall and banging the turn three cushion, forcing him to pit to change a flat right rear tire just after the halfway point. He then proceeded to restart from the tail, working his way back through the field, passing Zach Daum heading to the white flag and drove away to capture the 2015 “Gold Crown Midget Nationals” in spectacular fashion!
All three nights at Granite City, the pit area opens at 3pm with spectator gates opening at 5:30 and racing getting underway at 7.
General admission tickets are $20 on Thursday, $25 on Friday and $28 for the finale on Saturday. Kids 12 and under are FREE all three nights while pit passes are $35.
MOWA Sprint Cars will also be on the card on Friday and Saturday night.
Granite City’s Saturday night feature is round six of seven of the 2016 Jonathan Byrd’s “Indy Challenge.” Rico Abreu has won twice (Kokomo and Eldora), Chad Boat twice (both at Belleville) and Michael Faccinto (Calistoga). The final race of the “Indy Challenge” will take place Thanksgiving night, Thursday, November 24.
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UPCOMING USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT:
DATE: Thursday, Friday & Saturday, October 6-7-8, 2016
SERIES: USAC Midget National Championship
TRACK: Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, Illinois) – 3/8-mile, dirt oval
EVENT: “Gold Crown Midget Nationals” featuring the USAC Midget National Championship (Thurs.-Fri.-Sat.) and MOWA Sprint Cars (Fri.-Sat.)
STARTING TIMES: All three nights at Granite City, the pit area opens at 3pm with spectator gates opening at 5:30 and racing getting underway at 7.
TICKETS: General admission tickets are $20 on Thursday, $25 on Friday and $28 for the finale on Saturday. Kids 12 and under are FREE all three nights while pit passes are $35.
TRACK ADDRESS: 5100 Nameoki Rd, Granite City, IL 62040
TRACK PHONE: (618) 931-7836
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.tricityspeedway.net/
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live stream on http://www.thecushion.com/. Updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation and available on the Race Monitor app on your phone.
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PAST WINNERS OF THE “GOLD CROWN MIDGET NATIONALS:”
2008: Jerry Coons, Jr., 2010: Darren Hagen, 2011: Levi Jones, 2012: Kyle Larson, 2013: Christopher Bell, 2015: Tanner Thorson
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2016 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
- (947) Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN)
- (925) Chad Boat (Phoenix, AZ)
- (920) Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK)
- (917) Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV)
- (805) (R) Carson Macedo (Lemoore, CA)
- (720) Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, IN)
- (693) (R) Ryan Robinson (Foresthill, CA)
- (640) (R) Holly Shelton (Sacramento, CA)
- (589) Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK)
- (493) (R) Ryan Greth (New Cumberland, PA)
**(R) represents a USAC Midget National Championship Rookie Driver