Previewing The ’25 USAC Indiana Midget Week…One Of The Most Wonderful Times Of The Year

Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – SPEEDWAY, IN – It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  No, it’s not Christmastime. But for any racing junkie, this might as well be Christmas in June as six nights at six different racetracks await the USAC Midget National Championship for the 21st annual edition of USAC Indiana Midget Week on June 3-8.

The IMW docket consists of six events in all, with the frenzied and action packed week beginning at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis on Tuesday, June 3, before the return of Paragon for the first time since 2021 on Wednesday, June 4.

From there, the series follows a path of familiar favorites at Putnamville’s Honest Abe Roofing Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday, June 5; Bloomington Speedway on Friday, June 6; Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway on Saturday, June 7; with the finale set for Kokomo Speedway on Sunday, June 8.

USAC Indiana Midget Week is the hottest ticket in town with sprint cars also serving as the support class each and every night. A plethora of drivers will be jumping back-and-forth between the two machines throughout the night in double-duty mode.

The Indiana Midget Week champion will earn a prize of $15,000 for their efforts in a week that truly tests the physical, mental and mechanical abilities of each driver, crew and machine.

Let’s dig into it! Here are six storylines we’re watching entering USAC Indiana Midget Week 2025.

THE USAC MIDGET DOUBLE PLAY

Justin Grant leads the USAC National Midget season standings entering Indiana Midget Week, already garnering two victories on the season for he and his CB Industries team at Kokomo and Belleville.

Throughout the history of IMW, just four drivers have entered as the USAC National point leader and went on to win the Indiana Midget Week championship: Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Darren Hagen (2012), Rico Abreu (2014) and Buddy Kofoid (2021).

If Grant is able to collect this year’s IMW title, the odds say he’s in good company. All four of the aforementioned drivers also went on to claim the USAC National Midget championship later that same year.

Along with Grant, Cannon McIntosh (-16), Kale Drake (-43), Logan Seavey (-57), Jacob Denney (-61) are within striking distance in the series championship races, and these six races could go a long way in forging a path to the top of the standings.

Additionally, each of the last four Indiana Midget Week champs have also captured the USAC National Midget title in the same season: Buddy Kofoid (2021-22), Logan Seavey (2023) and Daison Pursley (2024). Overall, nine drivers have won the Indiana Midget Week title and the USAC National Midget championship in the same season: Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), Bryan Clauson (2011), Darren Hagen (2012), Christopher Bell (2013) and Rico Abreu (2014).

INDIANA MIDGET WEEK BREAKTHROUGHS

A handful of this year’s Indiana Midget Week contingent scored their first career USAC National Midget feature wins during IMW. That particular list includes Steve Buckwalter (Gas City 2010), Kyle Cummins (Tri-State 2021), Jacob Denney (Lincoln Park 2022) and Gavin Miller (Bloomington 2023).

Over the past 20 years, 14 drivers in total have achieved this feat, including Johnny Rodriguez (Terre Haute 2005), Shane Cottle (Gas City 2006), Brady Bacon (Kokomo 2006), Kyle Larson (Bloomington 2011), Christopher Bell (Lincoln Park 2013), Tanner Thorson (Gas City 2015), Spencer Bayston (Gas City 2016), Tyler Courtney (Montpelier 2017), Chris Windom (Lawrenceburg 2019) and Corey Day (Circle City 2021).

No driver was able to break through for USAC win number one during IMW 2024 a year ago. However, this year, there are certainly some prime contenders to get the job done. Steven Snyder Jr. and Gunnar Setser both currently reside inside the top-10 of the standings, while Karter Sarff, a two-time Xtreme Outlaw Midget winner in 2025, looks to be a frontrunner in his first IMW appearance.

Drake Edwards, Kyle Jones and Cale Coons have all finished inside the top-five with USAC this season, while Hayden Reinbold and Ethan Mitchell have made some successful noise in each of their Indiana Midget Week careers.

AUSSIES IN ACTION

Four Aussie racers are expected to compete throughout USAC Indiana Midget Week, all hailing from Western Australian.

Tom Payet (Treeby) and Jake Robinson (Perth) will wheel a pair of LynK Australia entries built by Keith Kunz Motorsports. Meanwhile, Kaiden Manders (Port Kennedy) and Daniel Harding (Perth) will each be in team cars fielded by Dan Golding Racing.

Although Australians have had their share of success in the states over the years, no Aussie driver has ever won a USAC National Midget feature. Adam Clarke came the closest with a runner-up finish at Eldora Speedway in 2006. In fact, only one non-American driver has scored an Indiana Midget Week triumph, that being three-time winner Michael Pickens of New Zealand.

THE WIDE WORLD OF MIDGET WEEK

A roster of around 40 drivers from coast to coast and around the world are expected to compete at some of all events throughout USAC Indiana Midget Week, from Pennsylvania to California and from Canada to Australia.

Among them are 14 USAC National Midget main event winners: Steve Buckwalter (#25), Kyle Cummins (#3G), Zach Daum (#5d), Jacob Denney (#67), Kale Drake (#97K), Justin Grant (#87), Chase McDermand (#40m), Cannon McIntosh (#71K), Thomas Meseraull (#7x), Gavin Miller (#97), Daison Pursley (#86), Logan Seavey (#57), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (#14) and Zach Wigal (#8).

Many more will be making their Indiana Midget Week debuts, such as Jakeb Boxell (#14JB), Trevor Cline (#55), Cale Coons (#63), Mitchell Davis (#91), Daniel Harding (#71w), Preston Norbury (#77), Tom Payet (#7AU), Brecken Reese (#00), Jake Robinson (#8AU), Colton Robinson (#67K), Corbin Rueschenberg (#26), Karter Sarff (#21K), Gunnar Setser (#43), K.J. Snow (#86) and top series Rookie Steven Snyder Jr. (#4).

Returning to Indiana Midget Week field are Blake Brannon (#40), Drake Edwards (#83), Frankie Guerrini (#63G), Chelby Hinton (#4B), Kyle Jones (#27x), Kaiden Manders (#71), Trey Marcham (#85), Ethan Mitchell (#19m), Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ), Jeff Schindler (#8x) and Glenn Styres (#0G).

#100 ON THE HORIZON THIS WEEK

If all goes according to plan, Indiana Midget Week will celebrate its 100th event during the upcoming series this week.

With 95 events taking place dating back to its 2005 origins, the Tri-State Speedway round on Saturday, May 7, is slated to be the 100th event run in the series’ 21-year history at press time.

USAC Hall of Famer Jay Drake won the inaugural feature race held at Lawrenceburg Speedway on August 18, 2005. Since then, 244 different drivers have started an Indiana Midget Week feature.

Bryan Clauson owns the most Indiana Midget Week championships with three in 2009-11-16. Bryan Clauson and Kyle Larson are the winningest drivers in Indiana Midget Week history with nine apiece.

Larson and Rico Abreu have clocked in with the most top qualifying times in IMW history with nine each. Jerry Coons Jr. has recorded the most career IMW feature starts (64) and top-10 results (42). Meanwhile, Clauson collected 28 top-fives in his IMW career, which still ranks number one all-time.

RACE DETAILS

For more information on each event of USAC Indiana Midget Week 2025, visit www.usacracing.com, go to the menu, then go to the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship page. From there, click on “Event Info” next to the corresponding event on the schedule.