INDIANAPOLIS — After winning the Chili Bowl Nationals in January, Logan Seavey mentally checked off his season as a career-best.
The 26-year-old open-wheel racer felt he had reached the summit as he stood in victory lane at Tulsa Expo Raceway, soaking in the cheers from the enthused Oklahoma crowd.
“After winning the Chili Bowl, I didn’t think there would be a day in my life that measured up to that,” Seavey said.
But Sept. 23 at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, roughly 750 miles away from where his crowning achievement occurred, Seavey added a new line to his résumé that gave the Chili Bowl win a run for its money.
He became the third driver in history to win all three USAC races during the 4-Crown Nationals on the same day, joining Jack Hewitt (1998) and Kyle Larson (2011).
“I didn’t think there’d be anything close, but then I got out of the Silver Crown car (at Eldora) and was like, ‘Man, this might be right there with it,’” Seavey said. “I don’t even know, it’s hard to fathom at the moment.”
After Seavey won the midget feature to open the night in his blue-and-yellow Abacus Racing entry, the nerves began to heighten.
“I kind of got back to the trailer and I think they were nervous, because at that point, they knew I’d won the midget race and in my Silver Crown car, I’d won that race (at Eldora) the last two years,” Seavey said.
It wasn’t until early in the non-winged sprint car race, after Seavey took control from pole position, that the thought of sweeping all three races crossed his mind.
“Probably lap five to 10 in the sprint car race, I knew it was up to me,” Seavey said. “I was like, ‘Man, this is up to me now. If I just do my job here in the sprint car race, I know my Crown car pretty much drives itself to the front.’”
Seavey wears an easy smile on his face, admitting the weight of his accomplishment hasn’t quite set in yet.
“Every year, people go there and all they talk about is Jack (Hewitt) and Kyle (Larson), so now, for me to be included in that is really cool,” Seavey said.
Truly, the entire year has been a dream come true for Seavey — and the season isn’t over yet.
He won the Indiana Midget Week title, he became the third driver in USAC history to win two feature events at different race tracks on the same day, collected six national midget wins in 19 races and is leading the points in both the USAC Silver Crown and midget divisions.
This weekend, Seavey is hoping to carry his Eldora momentum into The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to turn around his luck at the Driven2SaveLives BC39. In the prior four runnings of the event, Seavey’s best finish was fifth in 2019.
“It’s a tough race, right?” Seavey said. “There was a point where I was just struggling a little bit with midgets and then last year, I came here with an old, but new team (Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports) and we just really struggled here badly.”
But confidence and consistency are on Seavey’s side coming into the fifth running of the BC39, as he’s on a hot streak of 14 consecutive top-five finishes on the national midget tour.
“We have the speed and the cards to do it,” Seavey said. “We just don’t get too far away from what we know works. I know what my car’s going to do every time I’m out there. We’ve tried a few different things (on the car) throughout the season on races that maybe aren’t as important, like a heat race.
“During our heat race at Eldora on Saturday, we were pretty much locked in, so we kind of threw some stuff at it and we were really bad. We were fifth in our heat race, and I was like, ‘Man, that wasn’t good at all.’ So we just went right back to where we started for the race.”
Less has been more for Seavey and Abacus Racing, as they’ve built on their consistency week-in and week-out.
Seavey is 209 points ahead of Bryant Wiedeman in the standings, giving him a comfortable lead as he chases his second USAC national midget championship.
But the California native isn’t counting points — he’s counting wins.
Despite his gap over Wiedeman, Seavey isn’t planning to slow down or play it safe, especially at the BC39 as he looks to add another crown jewel victory to his résumé.
“This is the race my car owner (Brent Cox) wants to win more than anything,” Seavey said. “I won the Chili Bowl with Kevin and Jordan Swindell, and I know that’s the race they really wanted to win more than anything. So, it just makes it that much sweeter and more special to win the races for the people that you know, that’s their biggest race.
“This is Brent Cox and Abacus Racing’s biggest race of the year and it’s going to be a big one for us if we can get it done.”