MERCED, Calif. – Jade Avedisian made a bit of history during Wednesday’s USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature at Merced Speedway.
With her fourth-place finish, Avedisian became the fifth female driver to record a top-five finish in a dirt USAC National Midget feature event. She joins the late Jeri Rice, Sarah McCune, Holly Shelton and Kaylee Bryson as the only ones to accomplish the feat.Â
The finish for the 15-year-old California native came in her sixth series start.Â
Rice recorded a fifth-place finish at Eagle (Neb.) Raceway in 1988. Sarah McCune was a fifth-place finisher at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., in 2003. Shelton raced to a pair of third-place results in 2017 at both Lawrenceburg Speedway during Indiana Midget Week and at Solomon Valley Speedway in Kansas.
Other top-fives earned by ladies throughout the history of USAC National Midget racing that occurred on pavement include Bev Griffis, who finished third at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in 1991, and Stephanie Mockler who took a third at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2006 and fifth at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway in 2007. Taylor Ferns took fifth at Pikes Peak Int’l Raceway in 2013.
No woman has ever won a USAC National Midget, National Sprint Car or Silver Crown feature. The best ever finish for a woman in a USAC National event was a second, earned by Sarah McCune at a midget race at Winchester in 1999.