KRUSEMAN TO SERVE AS USAC WEST COAST DIRECTOR
Cory Kruseman
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (December 3, 2025)………Cory Kruseman, Director of United States Auto Club (USAC) West Coast operations, will place a renewed emphasis on co–ordination between USAC’s Californian Racing Association (CRA) Sprintcar and Western States Midget divisions along with the national series for the 2026 season.
Kruseman will oversee all of the United States Auto Club’s racing endeavors throughout the western United States. Kruseman’s focus for the new year involves bringing both of USAC’s western circle track divisions under one umbrella in terms of scheduling and a tighter-knit staff.
“I’m excited to bring the Western States Midgets and CRA Sprintcars under a single umbrella to create a well-co–ordinated schedule,” Kruseman explained.
Kruseman, a native of Ventura, California, brings decades of experience in the sport. As a highly successful driver, he was a 2023 inductee into the National Sprintcar Hall of Fame. As a car owner, he operates a Sprintcar driving school and his own team has won numerous events on the west coast over the years. His role within USAC entering the 2026 season will be a managerial position, overseeing both series as a whole while each series will have their own race director, focusing on that aspect.
“This move allows us to bring USAC back into a single organization, which helps us better align with competitors, promoters and race fans,” Kruseman said.
The west coast co–ordination also aligns with several major USAC national events, opening up dates on the calendar for USAC’s western contingent to partake in events without having a conflict. As a driver himself, Kruseman recalled the days when he, as a west coast regular, would often compete in national events on off weekends from his regular schedule. It’s something he anticipates will open the door of opportunity for the current crop of drivers and teams to pursue a similar path.
“Combining the (west coast) divisions and being able to work closely with the national series allows us to do things differently,” Kruseman stated. “Now, we’re sharing ideas. We are still always looking for sponsorship; we’re still always going to chase money; we’re still going to chase racers and we’re still going to chase racetracks, but it gives us a path of least resistance by being able to work together now instead of trying to get eight or 10 people on one page. Now it’s a difference of maybe two or three people.”
USAC National Series Director Kirk Spridgeon echoed the sentiment.
“Having all our series in sync is important, and we’ve heard more and more from competitors who wish to run across the different series we have,” Spridgeon said. “Having Cory focus on that to help each series coincide together will allow competitors to mix those series with some of our attractive national events as well.”
In addition to Kruseman’s appointment, Zach Zauss (CRA Sprintcars) and Bronsen Chiaramonte (Western States Midgets) have been hired as each series’ new race director for the 2026 season. Tony Jones (CRA) and Malyssa Young (Western States) had served in those roles throughout the 2025 season.
“I really want to thank Tony and Malyssa for all their hard work with USAC’s west coast series,” Kruseman stated. “Their diligent efforts have laid a great foundation for us to continue to build upon in the upcoming years.”
Kruseman’s career behind the wheel includes such accolades as the 1999 Non-Wing World Sprintcar Championship, plus 2000 and 2004 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals victories, 2002 and 2005 USAC Indiana Sprint Week titles, the 2006 USAC CRA Sprint Car crown as well as the 2011 USAC Western States Midget championship, in addition to winning more than 100 sprint car features between SCRA, USAC CRA and USAC’s national series.
For Kruseman, the west coast is vital to motorsports, and its continued strength is of utmost importance to the future of auto racing as a whole, just as it’s always been.
“The west coast is very important to me personally,” Kruseman acknowledged. “When you look at the USAC national roster, a big percentage of them come from California. Being a local driver for so many years and then going to the national side myself, my dream was always to work hard out here on the west coast so we could get an opportunity to go race with the national guys.
“It’s really hard to take somebody who only runs 25-30 races on the west coast, to compete with somebody who runs 70-80 on the national tour, so this gives us two platforms to work with. If you have the right amount of weekends off, it doesn’t step on the national side. And hopefully our guys will be able to go back there, and vice versa, we’ll get some guys to come out here. We got some pretty good weather and some pretty cool racetracks, and I think that’s important.”
