BRANDON, S.D. — The inaugural Huset’s Speedway USAC Nationals, featuring three consecutive nights of USAC AMSOIL National 410 Sprint Car and USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget doubleheaders paying a $200,000 purse, will be held Sept. 10-12 at Huset’s Speedway.
Culminating with $20,000-to-win features for the midgets and sprint cars, it will be the highest-paying event on the USAC schedule.
The event will be promoted by California team owner Matt Wood, who also promotes the Hangtown 100.
“Huset’s is tailor-made for non-winged 410 sprint cars and midgets,” Wood said. “It’s going to be crazy, crazy good racing. We want to try to make this the premier event on USAC’s schedule every year. To do that, we have to have a wonderful facility, we need seating for a bunch of people and a bunch of racers, then throw a bunch of money at them, and I think that makes for a pretty good mix for what I think is going to be one of the best races of the year, quite honestly.”
The Huset’s Speedway USAC Nationals will utilize a modified Trophy Cup format similar to the one used at the 2019 Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100, which used inversions for preliminary events with the fastest qualifying cars in the back having to work their way through the pack. Each time cars are on track, drivers will be earning points via passing and finishing order.
Only twice in USAC’s history have series events been run at Huset’s. Kenny Irwin Jr. won the midget debut there in 1996 while Chad Boespflug swept both nights of a 410 sprint car meet at the track in 2016.
USAC Executive Vice President Levi Jones is thrilled for the return of USAC racing to Huset’s Speedway.
“It is truly exciting to witness the reemergence of Huset’s Speedway and to add a new event of this magnitude to the USAC schedule alongside our already established events,” Jones said. “The Huset’s Speedway USAC Nationals adds to what is a sensational schedule of events for us in 2021, and we are enthusiastic to have USAC’s brand of sprint car and midget racing showcased for the great race fans of South Dakota.”
It’s not often that USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars and USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets race together on the same event card at the same track, with just four other races sharing that distinction in 2021.
However, three straight nights of doubleheader main events at one venue is unprecedented in USAC’s 65-year history.
“I think there’s a big, pent-up demand for it,” Wood stated. “We’ll have a vendor midway and we’ll have meet and greets with the drivers. We’re going to do everything we can do to make it as fan friendly and as driver/racer friendly as we can. I look at what a promoter can do just to make life easier. That’s really what we’ve done at the Hangtown 100 and what we’re going to do at Huset’s. You’ve got three nights of racing; you don’t have to move your rigs and your travel expenses are minimal. The more nights you can run at one place, the more efficient it becomes. I think there’s going to be a tremendous amount of interest. Non-winged 410 sprint car and midget racing at Huset’s with a $200,000 purse will be amazing.”