MEEKER, Okla. — Championship weekend at Red Dirt Raceway presents both the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season.
The series’ debut visit to the quarter-mile dirt oval marks the first visit fort the series to the Sooner State in 20 years and will host the crowning of a champion and the final two events of the season Oct. 25-26.
We’ve witnessed how the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets have performed here before in this land. But we’ve never seen anything like this before – USAC National Sprint Cars spraying red dirt of the Oklahoma kind for two consecutive nights to close out the season in style.
Here are the storylines to keep your noggin glued to when USAC Sprint Cars come to call this weekend for $6,000-to-win on Friday night and a $10,000-to-win finale on Saturday evening.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIO
With two full-points programs on tap this weekend, Logan Seavey’s point lead currently stands at 84 over Brady Bacon. A maximum of 84 points are on the line each night, which means if Seavey is able to gain one point on Bacon during Friday’s event, Seavey will clinch the title.
A sprint car title would be a major boon for Seavey personally, but even more so in terms of USAC history. After previously claiming a pair of USAC National Midget championships (2018 & 2023) and a USAC Silver Crown title (2023), a National Sprint Car title would make Seavey a USAC career Triple Crown champion.
Only seven drivers can lay claim to being a member of the USAC career Triple Crown club for the moment: Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, J.J. Yeley, Jerry Coons Jr., Tracy Hines and Chris Windom.Â
On top of that, Yeley will be competing in the event in his father’s (Jack Yeley) owned No. 2, making it a rare possibility that multiple USAC career Triple Crown champs will be in the field at the same time.
QUEST FOR 15
In addition to the championship hunt, Logan Seavey’s quest to break the single-season USAC National Sprint Car win record is just within his reach.
Seavey’s most recent victory two weekends ago at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway was his 14th score on the season, tying Tom Bigelow’s single season mark set in 1977. With one more victory, Seavey would stand alone at the top of the record book.
RED DIRT RAIDERS
Six previous USAC National Midget events have been held at Red Dirt Raceway dating back to 2018. Two of those past winners will be in this weekend’s field.
Back in 2021, Daison Pursley earned his first career USAC National Midget win at Red Dirt, sweeping both features, in fact, after also earning a micro victory that very same evening. This past July, he was back in victory lane at Red Dirt following another USAC Midget triumph.
In 2019, Logan Seavey earned a USAC National Midget score at Red Dirt and also finished as the runner-up there in 2018. In fact, Seavey led the first seven laps of this past July’s race before mechanical problems sidelined him.
Furthermore, Justin Grant went 13th to 2nd with the midgets at Red Dirt back in 2021 and was second again in 2022. Bacon grabbed a 5th in 2018 while Mitchel Moles tallied a 9th in 2022.
THE STATESMAN
No driver in this weekend’s field has won a USAC National Sprint Car race in the state of Oklahoma. Brady Bacon would certainly like to make it happen this weekend in his home state.
Back in June of this year at New Jersey’s Bridgeport Motorsports Park, Bacon extended his record of different United States he’s won a USAC National Sprint Car race in to 15 throughout his career.
Going even further, Bacon has never won a USAC national race of any kind in Oklahoma.Â
SOONER THE BETTER
Oklahoma is a rare territory for the USAC National Sprint Cars to set up camp. Just seven previous appearances have been made by the series since 1966. In fact, the series’ most recent visit to Oklahoma came 20 years ago in 2004 with a victory by Jay Drake at the Tulsa Fairgrounds Motorplex.
Eventual three-time series champ Larry Dickson conquered the debut in July of 1966 in Tulsa while Roger McCluskey took the next night in Muskogee. In 1967, Ralph Liguori scored the weekend opener at Tulsa while Greg Weld prevailed in the weekend capper at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds.
After a nearly two-decade wait, USAC Sprints returned to the Sooner State in 1985 as part of the USAC vs. CRA Challenge. CRA’s Mike Sweeney was the triumphant party in the first of two Oklahoma dates at Lawton Speedway while, one night later, USAC’s Rick Hood cashed in at OKC, kicking off a string of four-straight series victories, a feat which hadn’t been duplicated until Logan Seavey achieved it this year.
Funny enough, each of the last pair of USAC National Sprint Car races held in Oklahoma both came down to a late-race pass for the win. Such was the case for Rick Hood at OKC in 1985 as he charged by Denny Donaldson with two to go for the win.  Drake performed likewise, capitalizing on Josh Ford’s late-race misfortune before crossing the line, albeit with a flat right-rear tire.
There’s one particular thread in common for all the previous years in which the series stopped by to race in Oklahoma. In every single one of those years, the eventual USAC National Sprint Car champion was among the feature winners. It’s an omen that either Logan Seavey or Brady Bacon would love to continue this weekend at Red Dirt.