KOKOMO GRAND PRIX DOMINATION VAULTS BACON TO EARLY-SEASON POINT LEAD
Richie Murray – USAC Media
The month of April has quickly become the “sweeps” period for USAC’s national series as Brady Bacon became the second driver in as many weeks to complete an undefeated weekend by capturing both nights of the “Kokomo Grand Prix” at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway.
One week after Chris Windom claimed victories in consecutive nights at Lawrenceburg Speedway and the Terre Haute Action Track in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car and Silver Crown action, respectively, it was Bacon’s turn to do a little spring cleaning of his own as he would have to clear out space in his cabinet to make room for a pair of brand-new trophies earned this weekend in USAC National Midget competition.
The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native pulled double-duty Saturday on night one of the “Kokomo Grand Prix.” Moments after finishing in the runner-up spot to Justin Grant in the Kokomo Sprint Car portion of the program, Bacon lined up outside the second row at the start of the Midget feature.
Wasting no time, Bacon found his way to the front of the field, slipping under Chad Boat for the race lead exiting turn two on the opening lap. Bacon worked the middle while Boat climbed the ladder up to the top side as the pair locked down the top two positions in the opening third of the event.
After a lap 10 caution, the ensuing restart witnessed the most frightening incident of the weekend. Third-running Tyler Courtney biked his way into the first turn, then proceeded to flip hard several times before landing on the hood of Clauson/Marshall Racing teammate Justin Grant’s car just short of the turn one concrete. Courtney would walk away unscathed.
On the second lap 10 restart, Boat’s right foot was cocked and locked as he fired past Bacon into turn one. Bacon responded by diving underneath Boat, outpacing him to regain the lead at the exit of turn two.
Meanwhile, ProSource Fast Qualifier Bayston entered the fray and, after getting by Boat for second, two laps later he was in position to grab the lead. A Bayston turn three slider momentarily put him in front before Bacon countered by slipping back under to retake the lead at the stripe. Bayston kept his foot in it and hit the topside where he powered by Bacon to take the top spot on the 13th lap.
Bayston quickly separated himself from the field, but Bacon stayed in touch, reeling Bayston back in to challenge him for first with less than ten laps remaining. With seven to go, the two battled wheel-to-wheel with Bacon pulling the front wheels to the sky as he rallied to the lead. Bayston got back by to reclaim the position at the head of the pack, though Bacon put his foot down and possessed the spot for good after charging past Bayston one final time in turn four.
From that point forward, Bacon ripped the high-side between turns one and two and the middle of three and four where nobody else was able to lay a finger on him in the waning laps as he took the victory by a little over a half-second ahead of Spencer Bayston and Tanner Thorson.
The very next night, the song remained the same as Bacon posted a nearly identical night. For the second straight evening, he entered the Midget feature just after posting a runner-up finish to Justin Grant in the Kokomo Sprint Car main event. Yet, it would take Bacon just a little bit longer to reach the point in the Midget feature, but not by that much.
Polesitter Chad Boat would control the pace early on as he slid up to the top to grab the lead in turn one on the opening lap. On the sixth circuit, Tanner Thorson made a charge on the bottom, but Boat held onto his advantage by the skin of his teeth, or the circumference of a single front wheel. Take your pick. One lap later, Thorson duplicated the same move, but this time got enough of a run off turn four to propel him to the lead by a single wheel over Boat.
Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows was third-running Bacon who had already overtaken seven positions in the first seven laps from his outside fifth row starting position. After the green flag dropped for the restart, Thorson led the way on the bottom as Boat stayed true to the top. Bacon followed Thorson’s lead and used the low line to motor past Boat for second.
The chase was on as Thorson led a train on the bottom with Bacon in tow as he aimed to escape the rapid pursuit of the previous night’s winner. On the 13th lap, with little room for error and Bacon ready to pounce, Thorson left the door cracked open at the exit of turn four, which was just enough daylight for Bacon to squeeze through and snare the race lead away.
The interval between he and Thorson continued to expand in the final laps, growing to a substantial 4.5 second margin as Bacon took the checkered ahead of Tanner Thorson and Tyler Courtney.
Brady Bacon, along with Sunday entrant Rico Abreu, entered the weekend as the only two drivers in the field to have previously won a USAC National Midget feature at Kokomo. After 60 laps and two nights were complete, the stat line remained untouched.
Bacon’s victory puts him in an exclusive club of drivers who’ve tallied at least three USAC National Midget wins at Kokomo, joining Rich Vogler, Mel Kenyon, Jimmy Davies and Bob Wente. Bacon’s monumental weekend has given him a healthy early-season point cushion where he holds down a 30-point lead over Spencer Bayston in the standings as the series takes an extended break before returning May 19th at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. Tanner Thorson is third in points in front of Jerry Coons, Jr. and Justin Grant.
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UPCOMING USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT:
DATE: Friday, May 19, 2017
SERIES: USAC Midget National Championship
TRACK: Tri-City Speedway (Granite City, Illinois) - 3/8-Mile, High-Banked Dirt Oval
EVENT: USAC Midget National Championship and USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship
STARTING TIMES: Spectator gates open at 5:30pm.
TICKETS: Adult General Admission: TBA. Children 12 and Under General Admission: FREE. Adult Pit Pass: TBA. Children 12 and Under Pit Pass: $15.
TRACK ADDRESS: 5100 Nameoki Rd, Granite City, IL 62040
TRACK PHONE: (618) 931-7836
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.tricityspeedway.net/
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live updates on https://www.facebook.com/usacracing/ and https://twitter.com/USACNation, plus available on the Race Monitor app on your phone. Watch the race one-day later at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
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2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Mar 18: &&& Du Quoin, IL - Southern Illinois Center
WINNER: Justin Grant (Clauson-Marshall Racing #39BC)
Apr 7: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
WINNER: Brady Bacon (FMR Racing #76m)
Apr 8: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
WINNER: Brady Bacon (FMR Racing #76m)
May 19: Granite City, IL – Tri-City Speedway
Jun 6: @@@ Montpelier, IN - Montpelier Motor Speedway
Jun 7: @@@ Gas City, IN - Gas City I-69 Speedway
Jun 8: @@@ Putnamville, IN - Lincoln Park Speedway
Jun 9: @@@ Bloomington, IN - Bloomington Speedway
Jun 10: @@@ Lawrenceburg, IN - Lawrenceburg Speedway
Jun 11: @@@ Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Speedway
Jul 1: Macon, IL – Macon Speedway
Jul 2: Lincoln, IL – Lincoln Speedway
Jul 3: Springfield, IL – Illinois State Fairgrounds Multi-Purpose Arena
Jul 22: TBA – TBA
Aug 1: Fairbury, NE – Jefferson County Speedway
Aug 2: Beloit, KS - Solomon Valley Raceway
Aug 4: Belleville, KS - Belleville High Banks
Aug 5: Belleville, KS - Belleville High Banks
Aug 13: *** York Haven, PA - Susquehanna Speedway
Aug 14: *** Spring Run, PA - Path Valley Speedway Park
Aug 15: *** Newmanstown, PA - Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway
Aug 17: *** Jonestown, PA – Linda’s Speedway
Sep 23: Rossburg, OH - Eldora Speedway
Oct 6: TBA – TBA
Oct 7: TBA – TBA
Oct 20: %%% Wayne City, IL - Wayne County Speedway
Nov 23: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
------------------------ KEY DEFINITIONS -------------------------
Races noted with &&& represent an indoor race.
Races noted with @@@ represent Indiana Midget Week.
Races noted with *** represent a race with the USAC Eastern Midgets presented by ARDC.
Races noted with %%% represent a co-sanctioned race with POWRi.
Races noted with ### represent a Co-Sanctioned race with the USAC Western States Midget Championship.
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2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (216) Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK)
2. (186) Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, IN)
3. (175) Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV)
4. (169) Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, AZ)
5. (168) Justin Grant (Ione, CA)
6. (151) Shane Golobic (Fremont, CA)
7. (125) Jake Neuman (R) (New Berlin, IL)
8. (120) Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN)
9. (113) Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, IN)
10. (113) Ryan Robinson (Foresthill, CA)
**(R) represents a USAC Midget National Championship Rookie Driver
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2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
1. (216) FMR Racing #76m
2. (186) Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #97
3. (175) Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #67
4. (169) Petry-Goff Motorsports #25
5. (168) Clauson-Marshall Racing #39BC
6. (151) Clauson-Marshall Racing/Matt Wood Racing #17w
7. (125) Jim Neuman #3N
8. (120) Gray Auto #11
9. (113) Clauson-Marshall Racing #7BC
10. (113) Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71
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2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE DRIVER POINT STANDINGS
1. (125) Jake Neuman (New Berlin, IL)
2. (96) Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, CA)
3. (66) Brayton Lynch (Springfield, IL)
4. (33) Kyle Schuett (Philo, IL)
5. (20) Tony DiMattia (Malvern, PA) & Bear Wood (New Madison, OH)
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2017 USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS
FEATURE WINS:
1. (2) Brady Bacon (Kokomo Speedway on Apr. 8 & Kokomo Speedway on Apr. 9)
2. (1) Justin Grant (Southern Illinois Center on Mar. 18)
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FEATURE LAPS LED:
1. (37) Brady Bacon
2. (32) Christopher Bell
3. (18) Justin Grant
4. (11) Spencer Bayston
5. (6) Chad Boat & Tanner Thorson
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TOP-FIVE FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (3) Brady Bacon
2. (2) Jerry Coons, Jr., Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Tanner Thorson
5. (1) Rico Abreu, Spencer Bayston, Brent Beauchamp, Tyler Courtney, Shane Golobic & Justin Grant
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TOP-TEN FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (3) Brady Bacon
2. (2) Spencer Bayston, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Shane Golobic, Justin Grant, Ryan Robinson, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Tanner Thorson
10. (1) Rico Abreu, Brent Beauchamp, Christopher Bell, Tyler Courtney, Josh Most, Jake Neuman, Tony Roney, Holly Shelton, Tyler Thomas, Billy Wease & Chris Windom
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HEAT RACE WINS: (Presented by Simpson Race Products, Competition Suspension, Inc., Chalk Stix & Indy Race Parts)
1. (3) Tyler Thomas
2. (2) Justin Grant
3. (1) Spencer Bayston, Alex Bright, Tanner Carrick, Jerry Coons, Jr., Colten Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Jake Neuman, Tony Roney & Matt Veatch
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QUALIFYING RACE WINS:
1. (1) Brent Beauchamp, Christopher Bell, Justin Grant & Billy Wease
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C-MAIN WINS:
1. (1) Tyler Courtney
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SEMI WINS:
1. (1) Brady Bacon, Shane Golobic, Holly Shelton & Kevin Thomas, Jr.
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FEATURE STARTS:
1. (3) Brady Bacon, Spencer Bayston, Chad Boat, Tanner Carrick, Jerry Coons, Jr., Shane Golobic, Justin Grant, Jake Neuman & Tanner Thorson
10. (2) Alex Bright, Tyler Courtney, Dave Darland, Ryan Greth, Brayton Lynch, Tyler Nelson, Davey Ray, Ryan Robinson, Holly Shelton, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Tyler Thomas, Gage Walker & Chris Windom
23. (1) Rico Abreu, Daniel Adler, Chris Andrews, Brent Beauchamp, Christopher Bell, Mark Chisholm, Colten Cottle, Chase Jones, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Joe B. Miller, Josh Most, Justin Peck, Tony Roney, Kyle Schuett, Billy Wease & Korey Weyant
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KSE RACING PRODUCTS “HARD CHARGER” OF THE RACE
Mar 18: Southern Illinois Center - Shane Golobic (14th to 2nd)
Apr. 8: Kokomo Speedway - Tyler Thomas (20th to 8th)
Apr. 9: Kokomo Speedway - Rico Abreu (22nd to 4th)
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WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHERS:
Mar 18: Southern Illinois Center – Gage Walker
Apr. 8: Kokomo Speedway – Gage Walker
Apr. 9: Kokomo Speedway – Alex Bright
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ALL-TIME USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS
1. [111 wins] Mel Kenyon
2. [95 wins] Rich Vogler
3. [78 wins] Bob Wente
4. [63 wins] Bob Tattersall
5. [59 wins] Sleepy Tripp
6. [48 wins] Jimmy Davies
7. [38 wins] Bryan Clauson
8. [35 wins] Tracy Hines
9. [31 wins] Gene Hartley & Chuck Rodee
11. [30 wins] Dave Darland, Mike McGreevy & Johnny Parsons
14. [27 wins] Gary Bettenhausen & Tony Stewart
16. [25 wins] Darren Hagen, Parnelli Jones & Dave Strickland
19. [24 wins] Bill Engelhart
20. [23 wins] Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Tommy Copp, Kevin Olson & Billy Vukovich
25. [22 wins] Bobby East & Shorty Templeman
27. [21 wins] Steve Cannon, Jimmy Caruthers, Rex Easton & Ken Schrader
31. [20 wins] A.J. Foyt
32. [19 wins] Jerry Coons Jr., Stan Fox & Jason Leffler
35. [18 wins] Dave Steele
36. [17 wins] Christopher Bell, Jay Drake & J.J. Yeley
39. [16 wins] George Amick, Billy Cantrell, Lee Kunzman, Bobby Olivero & Henry Pens
44. [15 wins] Rico Abreu, Don Branson & Larry Rice
47. [14 wins] Chuck Arnold, Kyle Larson, Jack Turner & Leroy Warriner
51. [13 wins] Steve Knepper, Don Meacham, Ryan Newman & Stevie Reeves
55. [12 wins] Danny Caruthers, Gene Force, Russ Gamester, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Grim, & Ron Shuman
61. [11 wins] Kasey Kahne, Jimmy Knight, Bob McLean, Johnny Moorhouse, Bobby Santos & Brad Sweet
67. [10 wins] Allen Heath, Doug Kalitta, Brad Kuhn, Steve Lotshaw, Jerry McClung, Tanner Thorson & Chuck Weyant
74. [9 wins] Billy Boat, Tony Elliott & Chuck Gurney
77. [8 wins] Merle Bettenhausen, Tony Bettenhausen, Hank Butcher, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Ronnie Duman, Brian Gerster, Kenny Irwin Jr, Eddie Johnson, Michael Lewis, Andy Michner & Josh Wise
89. [7 wins] Tommy Astone, Jack Hewitt, Don Horvath, Page Jones, Kenneth Nichols, Larry Patton, Les Scott, Len Sutton, & Johnnie Tolan
98. [6 wins] Donnie Beechler, George Benson, Dana Carter, Bob Cicconi, Robby Flock, Nick Fornoro Jr., Arnie Knepper, Ricky Shelton, Mike Streicher, Dave Strickland, Jr., & Roger West
109. [5 wins] Brady Bacon, Mike Bliss, Lonnie Caruthers, Larry Dickson, Mike Fedorcak, Burt Foland, Mack McClellan, Danny McKnight, Cliff Spalding, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. & Jerry Weeks
120. [4 wins] Caleb Armstrong, Teddy Beach, Johnny Boyd, Frank Burany, Russ Congdon, Ray Elliott, Aaron Fike, Danny Frye, Billy Garrett, Mike Gregg, Jim Hettinger, John Heydenreich, Bubby Jones, Levi Jones, Andy Linden, Bobby Marshman, Roger McCluskey, Billy Mehner, Ken Nichols, Jeff Nuckles, Jan Opperman, Gary Ponzini, Davey Ray, Eddie Sachs, Don Schilling, Sam Sessions, George Snider, Dale Swaim, Kevin Swindell, & Rodger Ward
150. [3 wins] John Batts, Gays Biro, Chad Boat, Shane Cottle, Allen Crowe, Zach Daum, Bruce Field, A.J. Fike, Drew Fornoro, Gene Gennetten, Rick Goudy, Bob Hare, Bob Hauck, Jeff Heywood, Bill Homeier, Sam Isenhower, Jim Keeker, Jim McClean, Warren Mockler, Dave Moses, Earl Motter, Jerry Nuckles, Danny Oakes, Johnnie Parsons, Porky Rachwitz, Johnny Riva, Johnny Roberts, Lowell Sachs, Billy Shuman, Tom Steiner, Bobby Unser & Billy Wease
182. [2 wins] Al Alpern, Sonny Ates, Johnny Baldwin, Jim Beckley, Dean Billings, Alan Brown, Jack Calabrase, Johnny Cofer, Mel Cornett, Cotton Farmer, Terry Farrar, Joe Garson, Chuck Gurney, Jr., Kyle Hamilton, Bob Hogle, Rick Hood, P.J. Jones, Critter Malone, Jimmy McCune, Michael Pickens, Aaron Pollock, Barry Reed, Lloyd Ruby, Joe Saldana, Tom Sellberg, Tony Simon, Danny Stratton, Kody Swanson, Kevin Thomas, Jr., Steve Troxell, Don Vogler, Bruce Walkup, Terry Wente, Johnny White, Tommy White & Cole Whitt
218. [1 win] John Andretti, Mario Andretti, Mike Appio, Dick Atkins, Paul Bates, Spencer Bayston, Harry Beck, Bud Bogard, Tony Bonadies, Dan Boorse, Don Boorse, Dwight Brown, Steve Buckwalter, Barry Butterworth, Gary Byers, Larry Cannon, Tyce Carlson, Ed Carpenter, Dane Carter, Billy Cassella, Bill Chennault, Bill Clemons, Roy Cook, Jr., Ryan Durst, Edgar Elder, Todd Forbes, Joe Gaerte, Bradley Galedrige, Steve Gennetten, Elmer George, Potsy Goacher, Shane Golobic, David Gough, Justin Grant, Ron Gregory, Norm Hall, Bob Harkey, Vern Harriman, Scott Hatton, Al Herman, Jordan Hermansader, Mike Hess, Jim Hines, Ted Hines, Shane Hmiel, Dean Holden, Blake Hollingsworth, Chuck Hulse, Buddy Irwin, Eddie Jackson, Van Johnson, Brent Kaeding, Bud Kaeding, Jimmy Kirk, Kevin Koch, Randy Koch, Bill Kollman, Cory Kruseman, Michael Lang, Greg Leffler, Larry McCloskey, Jim McElreath, Mel McGaughy, John Meyers, J.R. Miller, Travis Miniea, Russ Moynagh, Richard Myhre, Dick Northam, Hank Nykaza, Brian Olson, Danny O'Neill, Jim Packard, Wally Pankratz, Forrest Parker, Gene Pastor, Gary Patterson, Danny Pens, Jiggs Peters, Dick Pole, Richard Powell, Buddy Rackley, Keith Rauch, Dave Ray, Jimmy Reece, Bob Richards, Bruce Robey, Johnny Rodriguez, Gene Roehl, Jack Runyon, Sam Sauer, Dutch Schaefer, Ryan Scott, Frank Secrist, Jimmy Sills, Jigger Sirois, Lee Smith, Ron Smoker, Ned Spath, J.P. Standley, Graham Standring, Jerry Stone, Tanner Swanson, Buddy Taylor, Randy Tolsma, Leo Tucker, Bob Veith, Joe Walter, Eric Wilkins, Mauri Wilson, Doug Wolfgang & Billy Wood
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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONS
1956: Shorty Templeman; 1957: Shorty Templeman; 1958: Shorty Templeman; 1959: Gene Hartley; 1960: Jimmy Davies; 1961: Jimmy Davies; 1962: Jimmy Davies; 1963: Bob Wente; 1964: Mel Kenyon; 1965: Mike McGreevy; 1966: Mike McGreevy; 1967: Mel Kenyon; 1968: Mel Kenyon; 1969: Bob Tattersall; 1970: Jimmy Caruthers; 1971: Danny Caruthers; 1972: Pancho Carter; 1973: Larry Rice; 1974: Mel Kenyon; 1975: Sleepy Tripp; 1976: Sleepy Tripp; 1977: Mel Kenyon; 1978: Rich Vogler; 1979: Steve Lotshaw; 1980: Rich Vogler; 1981: Mel Kenyon; 1982: Kevin Olson; 1983: Rich Vogler; 1984: Tom Bigelow; 1985: Mel Kenyon; 1986: Rich Vogler; 1987: Kevin Olson; 1988: Rich Vogler; 1989: Russ Gamester; 1990: Jeff Gordon; 1991: Mike Streicher; 1992: Stevie Reeves; 1993: Stevie Reeves; 1994: Tony Stewart; 1995: Tony Stewart; 1996: Kenny Irwin Jr.; 1997: Jason Leffler; 1998: Jason Leffler; 1999: Jason Leffler; 2000: Kasey Kahne; 2001: Dave Darland; 2002: Dave Darland; 2003: J.J. Yeley; 2004: Bobby East; 2005: Josh Wise; 2006: Jerry Coons, Jr.; 2007: Jerry Coons, Jr.; 2008: Cole Whitt; 2009: Brad Kuhn; 2010: Bryan Clauson (Overall) & Darren Hagen (Pavement); 2011: Bryan Clauson (Overall) & Darren Hagen (Pavement); 2012: Darren Hagen (Overall), Darren Hagen (Pavement) & Darren Hagen (Dirt); 2013: Darren Hagen (Pavement) & Christopher Bell (Dirt); 2014: Rico Abreu; 2015: Tracy Hines; 2016: Tanner Thorson