The 16th Annual Indiana Midget Week continues to roll along. The car count at each venue is being capped at 48 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets and 45 Sprint Cars. There are 38 drivers entered that will contest the full six-race schedule. Tickets are on sale at www.usactickets.com for the June 16-21 Indiana Midget Week featuring the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets and local sprint car racing as part of the festivities. All USAC events held during June in Indiana will follow state guidelines, limiting seating capacity to 50 percent at all venues. Each night, the pit area opens at 3pm Eastern, grandstands open at 4:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm.
After winning the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals back in January, Kyle Larson is making his presence known during his first full-time Midget Week participation since 2012. After losing his seat in NASCAR, Larson is riding an incredible wave of momentum on the dirt. He has won the first three rounds of IMW, as he competes in a mixture of World of Outlaws and All-Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Car events, in addition to select Midget events.
The week began on the 3/8-mile Paragon Speedway, where Larson kicked things off with an impressive victory, passing Tanner Thorson with four laps remaining. It was the sixth consecutive win behind the wheel for Larson, between World of Outlaws, All-Star, and USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition over the past couple of weeks. This was the first time that Paragon Speedway hosted an IMW event, and the first USAC National Midget race they have had since 1985 and the first USAC-sanctioned race of any kind since 1998.
The second day of racing took place on the popular quarter-mile Gas City I-69 Speedway, where Larson held off a furious attack from Buddy Kofoid in the feature. Tyler Courtney finished 3rd after leading the first 17 laps on Wednesday night. Larson’s 7th career Indiana Midget Week win was the 21st of his USAC National Midget career, breaking a tie with AJ Foyt for 32nd on the all-time list.
The next two rounds are were held at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville. This marked the 11th consecutive year that LPS has hosted an IMW race and the first time on back-to-back nights.
Larson continued his dominance, even after a $1,000 bounty was placed upon him by Priority Aviation. After starting 15th in the Feature, he stormed to the front and captured the checkered flag on Thursday night. His bid to win four straight on Friday night came up just one spot short after Chris Windom won the event. The streak for Tucker-Boat Motorsports remained intact though, as the teammates finished 1st and 2nd. Windom became the third multi-time winner of the season, joining Larson and Thorson.
Heading into the final two events, Larson’s lead in the IMW standings is 28 points over Thorson. Windom is third, and he also leads the overall NOS Energy Midget National Championship points standings, 27 points ahead of Thorson.
Up next will be the 3/8-mile Lawrenceburg Speedway, which hosted the very first IMW event in 2005. The 2020 Indiana Midget Week finale will take place at Kokomo Speedway on Sunday, June 21. The famous quarter-mile venue first hosted USAC Midget racing in USAC’s inaugural 1956 season.
All nights of Indiana Midget Week, along with all USAC National events in 2020, will air live on FloRacing.
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