HAUBSTADT, Ind. – Kevin Thomas, Jr. has an opportunity to reach a mark unknown to any driver when the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series and Midwest Sprint Car Series arrive at Tri-State Speedway on Sunday.
Thomas is tied with Daron Clayton in terms of all-time USAC sprint car victories at the quarter-mile dirt oval in southwestern Indiana, with he and Clayton having five wins each.
A sixth Tri-State win would be a welcome sight for Thomas, who resides fifth in the series standings coming into the weekend and is still seeking his first USAC sprint car victory of the season.
Thomas previously won twice at Tri-State in 2013, once in 2017 and twice there last year.
Dave Darland split up the two Thomas victories a year ago, winning in July of last year for the first win of his USAC career at Tri-State.
Like Darland, Chris Windom got his long-awaited first USAC victory at Tri-State in the spring of 2017, leading the final 27 laps en route to a score during his championship season. He’s third in points coming into this weekend’s race, with two wins to his credit.
Chase Stockon, who resides just down the road from the track in Fort Branch, made it home sweet home in the spring of 2016 with his first and only series victory there. Stockon, who’s made 270 consecutive feature starts with the series since 2012, is 4th in the standings with a win in the Tony Hulman Classic at Terre Haute Action Track in May.
Sixth in points, Brady Bacon finished off a quality weekend in the East earlier this month, where he became the second two-time USAC sprint car winner in the series with his third-straight win at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway. He followed up that up with a first career Silver Crown win at Williams Grove.
The two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion has won twice in USAC action at Tri-State, in a sprint car in 2015 and in a midget back in 2012.
Kyle Cummins is one of the masters at Tri-State, winning twice aboard a USAC sprint car at Tri-State in 2016 and 2017, and is two-for-two already in Midwest Sprint Car Series features this year at the track.
Carson Short stands eighth spot in the standings. His first and still only USAC National Sprint Car feature win came at Tri-State during Indiana Sprint Week in 2016.
He’s primed for another victory following a runner-up performance at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill. in May, one of his six top-10 finishes in 10 starts this season.
Recently crowned Eastern Storm champion C.J. Leary leads the USAC sprint car standings on the strength of 10 top-tens in 10 starts. He’s yet to win at Tri-State with USAC, but did have a fast time in the spring of 2018 plus a runner-up showing in the fall last year.
Defending USAC sprint car champion Tyler Courtney got incrementally better in his three Tri-State starts in 2018, finishing 12th in the spring, ninth in the summer and sixth in the fall. Going back to 2017, however, Courtney had finishes of third and fifth.
Courtney is the lone driver to have won in all three USAC national divisions this season and is second in the sprint car standings coming in.
Justin Grant arrives in the seventh spot of the standings. He earned a fifth at Tri-State as recently as the spring of 2018. Jason McDougal’s Tri-State debut last fall was impressive, as he finished third on the tricky paperclip.
Chad Boespflug finished a Tri-State USAC-best second in the spring of 2017, while Isaac Chapple has eyes on his eighth career USAC sprint car start at Tri-State.