Oklahoma driver Brady Bacon claimed the 81st Australian Midget championship on March 4 at Eastern Creek Speedway in Sydney, Australia.
The 33-year-old native of Broken Arrow, Okla., won the 40-lap final from Western Australian, Kaiden Manders, and fellow American Thomas Meseraull.
The trio was followed home by Michael Stewart, Scott Farmer, Nick Parker, Jack McCarthy, Michael Kendall, Mitch Brien and Tim Devine to round out the top 10.
Having qualified on pole for the final, Bacon led all but three laps of the prestigious championship.
He joins seven other Americans to claim the Australian midget crown (known downunder as Speedcars): Carson Macedo, Rico Abreu, Davey Ray (three-times), Kevin Swindell, Jerry Coons jnr, Tony Elliot and Cory Kruseman.
Unlike the national sprint car championship with is restricted to Australian drivers, the midget title is open to all-comers.
The championship, first conducted in 1935, is one of the time-honoured features of Australian motorsport, having been won by many champions over the years, including the nation’s first Formula 1 champion, Sir Jack Brabham, who claimed the title four-times.
After the disappointing early season at the new $70 million Sydney Speedway, due to inclement weather, the midget championship produced stellar racing over two nights.
Although hampered by a number of restarts, which enabled Western Australian Manders to claim the lead for three laps, Bacon was the dominant force on the night, reclaiming the lead on lap 30 and maintaining the advantage to the checkered flag.
Manders was solid in second placing, with the veteran San Jose, Californian driver, Meseraull, ultimately out-duelling Sanders for the last spot in the podium.
The four-time USAC sprintcar champion, Bacon, provided local car owner Gavin Ohlback his second consecutive victory in the prestigious national championship.