HANGTOWN 100 OPENS USAC MIDGET CALIFORNIA SWING
(Devin Mayo Photo)
By: Gary Thomas & Richie Murray
Placerville, California (November 11, 2024)………The United States Auto Club (USAC) NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship is primed to take on California’s Placerville Speedway this Friday and Saturday for the fifth running of the Hangtown 100.
This Friday’s opening night main event will hand out $5,000-to-win, with Saturday offering $10,000-to-win the much anticipated 100-lap contest featuring an incredible driver lineup which currently boasts a field of at least 32 drivers.
Among those 32 is a superstar cast featuring six USAC National Midget Champions and 21 drivers who’ve previously captured a USAC National Midget event.
Four past Placerville Speedway USAC National Midget winners are among this year’s group. Buddy Kofoid (2022) and Justin Grant (2021) eye another Hangtown 100 victory this weekend. Ryan Timms and Tanner Carrick also make their return to Placerville. Both drivers collected Hangtown 100 prelim night scores with Timms notching one in 2021 and Carrick in 2022.
In addition, 12 more individuals in this weekend’s Placerville driver lineup have won a feature their USAC National Midget career. Chief among them is current USAC National Midget point leader Daison Pursley as well as Corey Day, Chase McDermand, Shane Golobic, Jacob Denney, Zach Daum, Emerson Axsom, Cannon McIntosh, Zach Wigal, Gavin Miller, Kale Drake and Carson Macedo.
“The Hangtown 100 has become a marquee event to close out the season at Placerville Speedway,” commented track Promoter Scott Russell. “The USAC National Midgets have put on some breathtaking shows here the last several years and we expect more of the same this weekend. Hopefully the fans will come out and support two great nights of racing this Friday and Saturday.”
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets are set for a busy west coast swing that gets underway at Placerville Speedway on Friday. Locust Grove, Oklahoma driver Daison Pursley brings the series point lead into the Golden State as he searches for his first USAC national driving championship.
Behind Pursley in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championship standings are Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms, Logan Seavey and Zach Daum. Seavey has put together a fantastic season across all three USAC National divisions and will be gunning for his first Hangtown 100 victory this weekend.
Fresh off a tremendous Rookie campaign with the World of Outlaws, California native and fan favorite Buddy Kofoid is geared up to return home for the Hangtown 100. Kofoid captured the event in 2022 and hopes to do so again this weekend.
Former winner of the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial, Corey Day, will be another California favorite on hand. Day has had a phenomenal season including wins at the Trophy Cup, the Super Dirt Cup and the Gold Cup Race of Champions among others.
Placerville Speedway has also hosted a pair of Avanti Windows & Doors USAC Western States Midget events this year with wins going to Hanford’s Michael Faccinto and Bakersfield’s Cade Lewis, who went on to wrap up the series title in October.
Two night ticket packages and single night tickets are available by visiting https://www.eventsprout.com/event/psr-111524 or by purchasing at the gate on race day.
The Wingless BCRA Lightning Sprints will complete the event each night. The division has provided entertaining racing during the Hangtown 100 over the last few years. Langley, BC driver Levi Klatt brought home the big win during the finale last season.
The front gate will open at 3pm Pacific each night with Coors Light/Coors Banquet Happy Hour taking place until 6pm. Live music will be performed pre-race from 4-6pm on Friday night by Kyliana Mari, while Saturday presents tunes from 3-5pm by Ed Wilson.
The pit meeting will occur at 4pm, with cars on track at 5. Hot laps, qualifying and racing will follow.
The Placerville Speedway is located on the beautiful El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville, California. Take Hwy US-50 to Forni Road/Placerville Drive exit. Then go north on Placerville Drive to the Fairgrounds. The physical address is 100 Placerville Dr., Placerville, CA 95667.
For more information on the Placerville Speedway log onto http://www.placervillespeedway.com.
The quarter-mile clay oval is operated by Russell Motorsports Incorporated, which can be reached at the track business office at 530-344-7592. Contact Kami Arnold or Scott Russell directly for sponsorship opportunities at the office.
EXPECTED HANGTOWN 100 ENTRIES:
00 JAKE ANDREOTTI/Castro Valley, CA (Pete Davis)
1p TERRY NICHOLS/Delano, CA (Nichols-Peckfelder Motorsports)
1s SPENCER BAYSTON/Lebanon, IN (RMS Racing)
2 JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RMS Racing)
3p DRAKE EDWARDS/Peoria, AZ (Petty Performance Racing)
4 COREY DAY/Clovis, CA (Wille Kahne)
8 RANDI PANKRATZ/Atascadero, CA (Wally Pankratz)
8w CHASE McDERMAND/Springfield, IL (Josh Ford Motorsports)
14T MICHAEL FACCINTO/Hanford, CA (Graunstadt-Streeter Racing)
17w SHANE GOLOBIC/Fremont, CA (Matt Wood Racing)
23c TYLER COURTNEY (Silva Motorsports)
25 JACOB DENNEY/Galloway, OH (Tom Malloy)
25m TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Tom Malloy)
31 KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL (Beilman Motorsports)
31B ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL (Beilman Motorsports)
32 CADEN SARALE/Stockton, CA (Caden Sarale)
50 DANE CULVER/Riverside, CA (Knuckles Up Racing)
57 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Abacus Racing)
58 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Abacus Racing)
67 RYAN TIMMS/Oklahoma City, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
67K EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
68 T.J. SMITH/Fresno, CA (Six8 Motorsports)
71 BUDDY KOFOID/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz-Curb/Agajanian Motorsports)
71K CANNON MCINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
86 DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (CB Industries)
88A AUSTIN TORGERSON/Glendale, AZ (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
89 ZACH WIGAL/Belpre, OH (CB Industries)
89x CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (CB Industries)
97 GAVIN MILLER/Allentown, PA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
97K KALE DRAKE/Collinsville, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
98 TANNER CARRICK/Lincoln, CA (Keith Kunz-Curb/Agajanian Motorsports)
99AU CARSON MACEDO/Lemoore, CA (Dyson Motorsport)
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-1244, 2-Cannon McIntosh-1157, 3-Ryan Timms-1066, 4-Logan Seavey-1052, 5-Zach Daum-1036, 6-Jacob Denney-968, 7-Justin Grant-963, 8-Gavin Miller-946, 9-Zach Wigal-862, 10-Kale Drake-853.
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINS AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY:
4-Kyle Larson
2-Buddy Kofoid
1-Tanner Carrick, Justin Grant, Gio Scelzi & Ryan Timms
USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY:
2019: Gio Scelzi (11/19) & Kyle Larson (11/20)
2021: Ryan Timms (11/18), Kyle Larson (11/19) & Justin Grant (11/20)
2022: Tanner Carrick (11/17), Buddy Kofoid (11/18) & Buddy Kofoid (11/19)
2023: Kyle Larson (11/17) & Kyle Larson (11/19)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT PLACERVILLE SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 11/18/2021 – Tanner Thorson – 11.397
10 Laps – 11/19/2021 – Brenham Crouch – 1:56.949
12 Laps – 11/18/2021 – Tanner Thorson – 2:25.95
30 Laps – 11/18/2021 – Ryan Timms – 6:07.97
SEAVEY’S USAC NATIONAL DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP