“IT’S TRULY A DREAM,” HANK DAVIS TO DRIVE CORNELL MIDGET ON 2024 USAC TRAIL
Monee, Illinois (October 23, 2023)………Cornell Racing Stables will return to the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship trail in 2024 with driver Hank Davis as their wheelman in the team’s trademark gold leaf number 8.
The car will be a Triple X Chassis powered by a Stanton SR-11x piloted by the rising star from Sand Springs, Okla. Davis captured the racing world’s attention when he captured an A-Main victory on a preliminary night during the January 2023 Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla.
Davis scored that victory in the seat of the Seymour Racing ride, which has a monumental history of its own in USAC racing lore. Now, with Davis joining the Monee, Ill. based Cornell team, he has now gotten the chance to compete for two iconic teams on big stages.
The history is certainly not lost on the 20-year-old Davis who grew up learning about the history of Rich Vogler and his legendary career. Vogler thrived and won in USAC competition for both Seymour and Cornell, and Davis appreciates the fact that he now gets to live out something beyond his wildest dreams.
“It’s just something you only dream of,” Davis said of receiving this opportunity with Cornell. “As a kid knowing who Rich Vogler was and knowing that the same people that had him around also want me around their team, it’s simply crazy. Getting the chance to be around two historic teams such as the Seymours and now the Cornell family, it’s truly a dream.”
With over 60 years in USAC racing, Cornell Racing Stables has some history, including bringing the winningest driver in USAC history, Rich Vogler, to the big stage as their driver. In all, Cornell owned cars captured nine career USAC National Midget feature victories between 1967-79 with drivers such as Bob Hare and Roger West once, Gary Ponzini twice and their most recent five with Vogler.
The Cornell team has hired David Kovar for the engineering and management roles on the midget operation while Jeff Matty will prepare the car for competition. Meanwhile, car owner Curt Cornell is excited at the prospect of the combination of Davis, Triple X and Stanton SR-11 power in the coming year.
“We are excited about choosing Triple X as our chassis supplier,” Cornell stated. “With their professional business model, great cars, prompt service and deliveries, plus successes on the national level with their sprint cars, Triple X was a given. As for being powered by a Stanton SR-11x, its horsepower advantage and repeated wins in big events made that an easy choice too. The always stocked and very knowledgeable folks at Behling Racing Equipment will supply the remaining components.”
Cornell Racing Stables will also continue to compete on the USAC Silver Crown National Championship trail. Since 2017, the team has fielded cars on the dirt for drivers such as Johnny Petrozelle and Davey Ray. However, getting back into the USAC National Midget ranks has the team excited on numerous fronts and now they eagerly look forward to adding another feather in their cap after more than six decades of involvement in USAC racing.
“Having won multiple USAC events over the course of our racing career with a twin overhead cam engine, a push rod and rocker arm engine, plus an opposed cylinder engine, completing the quartet by winning with a single overhead cam engine would just be icing on the cake,” Cornell stated.
