SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It’s back to Mid-America for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship in July.
USAC Mid-America Midget Week presents Great Plains bullring USAC action between July 8-12 across three states with four events in a span of five nights across Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
Starting the week is a return to Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports on July 8. The series then visits Beloit, Kan., for the 14th running of the Chad McDaniel Memorial at the Mitchell County Fairgrounds on July 9.
Closing out the Mid-America adventure is Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway for two consecutive evenings on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12, for the Midwest Midget Championship, culminating with a 40-lap feature paying $10,000-to-win on the final night.
JUSTIN TIME
Justin Grant enters the week as the USAC National Midget point leader, a position he has held since the Sweet Springs round in mid-May. However, his current point lead of 66 is his largest yet to date.
Last week, he garnered his third win of the 2025 USAC National Midget season on the opening night of the BC39 at IMS, then nearly swept the event the following night, leading all but the last three laps when a tangle ended his chances.
He’s won twice during Mid-America Midget Week, both at Jefferson County Speedway in 2018 and 2024.
DRAKE BACK
The last time Kale Drake was in Mid-America, he was a winner. The first of his two USAC National Midget wins this season to date came at Sweet Springs in mid-May, when he made a late-race pass to steal the win with two laps remaining.
Drake stands second in the season points and captured the Indiana Midget Week title in June. However, at the BC39, it was mostly heartbreak after spinning while leading with four laps to go on the opening night, then finishing a distant 13th in the finale.
CANNON IS BOOMING
Cannon McIntosh is fresh off one of the most miraculous performances in USAC National Midget history when he charged from 19th to 1st to win the BC39.
Now, he’s rolling in with momentum to work his way back into the championship fight where he presently stands third in the standings, 75 points behind leader Justin Grant.
McIntosh has twice won at Sweet Springs in his career and has finished a best of fourth at Mitchell County in 2022 and a second at Jefferson County in 2024. The last time he was on Kansas soli, he won at the Belleville Short Track in May of this year. Expect him to be a prime contender at all four shows this week.
DENNEY CONTENDS
Jacob Denney is seemingly a threat to win anywhere he goes on the USAC National Midget trail, as evidenced by his three victories this season, tied for the most in the series with Justin Grant.
Ranking fourth in the series standings, Denney too was among the late race contenders at the BC39, finishing third and was leading the race coming to the white flag.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Denney, but the season moves onward to some of his most successful tracks. He won at Sweet Springs in 2023, was fourth at Mitchell County in 2023 and 2024 and was fourth again in Jefferson County in 2024.
KTJ STAYING SOLID
Kevin Thomas Jr. has picked off two Mid-America Midget Week victories in his career, both of which have come at Mitchell County, first in 2015 and then backed it up again in 2018.
He’s run as high as second at Jefferson County in 2019 and 2021 and was sixth at Sweet Springs back in 2019.
KTJ currently ranks a solid fifth in the standings and is vying for his first series win as a member of 4 Kings Racing. For himself, he’s trying to get back to USAC National Midget victory lane for the first time since Arizona Speedway in 2019. He’s been on the brink this year, finishing second at Circle City Raceway and third at Belleville.
BREAD & BUTTER
Logan Seavey has already picked up wins with the USAC Silver Crown division and the USAC National Sprint Car series this year. However, a USAC National Midget victory has eluded him thus far in 2025, running over a year since his last victory.
But the Mid-America Midget Week tracks have been his bread and butter over the years. In fact, he’s won at Sweet Springs twice in 2018 and 2024.
During his USAC National Midget championship season of 2023, he topped Jefferson County.
The USAC career Triple Crown has come up just short of the Mid-America Midget Week trifecta, taking a best finish of second at Mitchell County in 2018. He won as recently as last Friday with the USAC National Sprint Cars and now would like to translate that good mojo to the midgets.
MILLER’S TIME
Gavin Miller finished as the runner-up two nights in a row at last week’s BC39, which was a welcoming change after two consecutive series finishes of 16th or worse during Indiana Midget Week in June.
While they were solid results, it’s not enough solace for the driver looking to rejoin USAC National Midget victory lane for the first time since June of 2023 at Bloomington Speedway during Indiana Midget Week.
FIRST-TIMERS
Six different drivers have scored their first career USAC National Midget win at Mid-America Midget Week tracks. It’s happened twice at Sweet Springs: Tanner Carrick (2019) and Buddy Kofoid (2020). Bryant Wiedeman did the deed at Mitchell County in 2023. A trio have accomplished the feat at Jefferson County: Chad Boat (2016), Jason McDougal (2019) and Mitchel Moles (2022).
Three drivers among the bottom half of the top-10 of the standings are in that spot.
Drake Edwards has finished on the podium twice this season with the series, one of them being a third at Sweet Springs. Top Rookie Steven Snyder Jr. has finished a high of second at Kokomo in April. Gunnar Setser has picked up the pace of late in his Rookie season, scoring a seventh at Paragon during June’s Indiana Midget Week.
Hayden Reinbold is coming off two consecutive top-four finishes in USAC National Sprint Car competition this past week. Perhaps the time has come for a midget racing breakthrough as well this weekend.
COONS CONNECTION
Another Rookie, Cale Coons, was also impressive in a USAC Sprint Car of late, taking sixth in his first career start over the weekend. He too will jump back in a midget for the Dooling Autosports/Curb-Agajanian team, which has won three times during Mid-America Midget Week.
The famed black No. 63 has won on three different occasions at Mitchell County, with Bryan Clauson in both 2014 and 2016 and again in 2018 with Kevin Thomas Jr.
Cale’s father, USAC career Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr., will return to the seat to race alongside his son for this Friday and Saturday’s rounds at Jefferson County in the Central Motorsports No. 85.
One more victory would push Coons into the land of the few as he aims to join Bobby Unser as the only driver to win a USAC-sanctioned feature event in five different decades.
He’s already one of 13 to have won a USAC main event in four decades along with Unser, Hank Butcher, A.J. Foyt, Russ Gamester, Mel Kenyon, Ralph Liguori, Wally Pankratz, Johnny Parsons, George Snider, Bryan Stanfill, Brian Tyler and Bob Wente.
