SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. — The Firemen’s Nationals at Angell Park Speedway boasts a list of past winners that includes eight inductees of the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
On that same list, you’ll find 11 USAC National champions, and all those individuals happily rank a Firemen’s Nationals victory right near the top of their list of motorsports achievements.
A win at the Firemen’s Nationals is also something that this weekend’s winners will certainly put at the top of their list as well when all is said and done in the $10,000-to-win, 40-lap main event on Sunday, August 31.
It’s a Labor Day weekend midget racing tradition dating back to 1982.
FIREMEN’S HISTORY
Few events have the cache of the Firemen’s Nationals with it being one of the longest-running and famed midget racing events still going strong today in the USA.
With the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame literally in the backyard of Angell Park’s third-mile oval, winning the Firemen’s Nationals is one in which drivers will immediately put near the top of their resume in the section of accomplishments.
In terms of longevity, the Firemen’s Nationals’ 40th running trails only the Turkey Night Grand Prix (83 years) and the 4-Crown Nationals (42 years).
The Firemen’s Nationals can boast a list of past winners that includes eight inductees of the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame: Billy Engelhart, Kevin Olson, Dan Boorse, Rich Vogler, Kevin Doty, Page Jones, Jay Drake and Stevie Reeves.
There are 11 past USAC National champions who’ve won the race, including Olson, Vogler, Reeves, Tracy Hines, Jerry Coons Jr., Brady Bacon, Josh Wise, Christopher Bell, Rico Abreu, Logan Seavey and Tanner Thorson.
CANNON FIRE
Cannon McIntosh enters the weekend as the USAC National Midget point leader as he pursues his first series championship.
McIntosh reigned victorious in the series’ most recent visit to Angell Park in 2024, leading the final 29 laps en route to victory in his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 71k.
His last two Angell Park starts have produced top-two finishes, matching the theme he enters the weekend on as he’s finished inside the top-two in each of his past five series starts dating back to early July.
ZACH ATTACK
Zach Wigal’s first Firemen’s Nationals experience in 2024 was quite spectacular. He raced from third to first within the first five laps to score his first and only USAC National Midget win to date.
It was an especially remarkable moment for the Ohioan as he remarked in victory lane, “Some kids dream of winning the Super Bowl or the NBA Finals, but my dream is to be standing here.”
Wigal has only made four USAC National Midget starts in 2025. He’ll attempt to defend his win in a Chase McDermand Racing ride on Sunday.
TRIPLE-DIPPIN’
While the USAC crew will be saddled up for the ride to both venues, there are two drivers also planning to compete in all three national events this weekend: Justin Grant and Kevin Thomas Jr.,
The USAC National Midgets kicked things off Friday at Indiana’s Bloomington Speedway. The USAC Silver Crown National Championship makes a stop at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds during the day on Saturday for the 71st running of the Ted Horn 100.
A little more than 24 hours later, the USAC Midget National Championship finds itself at Wisconsin’s Angell Park Speedway for the 40th running of the Firemen’s Nationals on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports will be competing in all three both events with Hayden Reinbold in the midget and Mitchel Moles in the Silver Crown car. Matt Westfall will be serving as a crewman on the 4 Kings Racing midgets and will also be driving in the Silver Crown race.
Ther six-plus hour jaunt from Du Quoin, Illinois to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin is historical in itself in the realm of USAC history.
Over the years on Labor Day weekend, many individuals (and trailers) have made the voyage from one place to another to race, and vice versa. Both are traditional Labor Day weekend stops.
In 1991, Stevie Reeves scored at both Du Quoin and Angell Park on back-to-back days.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Jerry Coons Jr. has made an incredible 21 career USAC National Midget starts at Angell Park over the years, but now his son, Cale Coons, is set to make his initial USAC appearance at the track this Sunday.
Jerry won the Firemen’s Nationals in 2007, co-sanctioned by USAC and Badger. His tally at Angell Park shows a single USAC victory and 26 with Badger. Cale would become the first son of a past Firemen’s Nationals winner to make a start in the event on Sunday.
Cale’s Dooling/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 63 holds Angell Park’s one-lap USAC Midget track record of 14.316, set by Bryan Clauson in 2015. However, the overall Angell Park midget track record of 14.1 was set by Jerry Coons Jr., in 1999 in Badger competition.
THE JONESES
Dating back to the end of 2024, Parker Jones has a seven-race winning streak in Badger Midget competition at Angell Park.
Jones will be pulling double duty on Sunday night with both USAC and Badger, picking up a ride in the Team DGRD No. 6g for the USAC portion of the event.
The 2024 Badger champion and current series point leader from Blue Mounds, Illinois will now take his shot at the USAC National Midget contingent for the first time since 2023, finishing 19th in that year’s Firemen’s Nationals.
