CONCORDIA, Kan. – The 10th annual Chad McDaniel Memorial, featuring the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series, is on the move.
This year, the event will be held at the late McDaniel’s home track on Wednesday, July 10, when the series makes its debut on the quarter-mile Concordia High Banks.
For the first nine years, the race had taken place at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kan., but now the race is back in the hometown of McDaniel, who perished during a 2009 USAC Midget event at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
“I’m so proud to bring this race to Chad’s hometown,” said event organizer Nathan LaBarge. “We are looking forward to continuing the tradition of this great race and working with the track during the fair.”
The racing event will be run with the lively backdrop of the Cloud County Fair, which runs from July 9-13 at the Fairgrounds. The race will mark the lone appearance in the state of Kansas for the series this season and the 79th overall.
It’s the midway point of a huge Mid-America Midget Week, which brings the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series to the heartland and covers four tracks in four different states for five races in a span of six nights.
Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., kicks off the week on July 9 for Tuesday Night Thunder. On Wednesday, July 10, it’s the McDaniel Memorial, followed by a night off before the series travels to Nebraska for two straight nights of the Midwest Midget Championship at Jefferson County Speedway on July 12-13.
The finale for the week brings the series to its second appearance at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Sweet Springs, Mo., on Sunday, July 14.