KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the first time in five years, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship is tuned up to compete at the four-tenths-mile dirt oval of Lakeside Speedway this Thursday for $6,000-to-win and $600-to-start.
The event is co-sanctioned by the Wholesale Batteries Midwest Wingless Racing Association that’ll compete in conjunction with the national series. The USAC National portion will pay full points toward the championship while the MWRA event is considered a non-points special event.
The weekend presents the first visit for the series to Lakeside since 2017. 18 USAC national events have been run at Lakeside, dating back to 1963. In that span, only one driver has scored multiple victories, Robert Ballou.
Ballou notched successive Lakeside victories during his 2015 championship season and again in 2016. Ballou also holds Lakeside’s 8-lap USAC Sprint track record of 2:17.20, set in 2017.
Four-time USAC National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon is the reigning USAC Sprint winner at Lakeside, which came in 2017 when he led all 30 laps. In fact, in Bacon’s four series starts at Lakeside, in addition to his win, he’s finished 3rd in 2015, and was 2nd on both nights in 2016, the latter of which he led a race-high 19 laps before seeing the win slip away with two laps remaining.
Chase Stockon owns the one-lap USAC Sprint Car track record of 16.438 at Lakeside, set in 2017. In fact, he was also the fastest qualifier on night one at Lakeside in 2016. He’s yet to finish outside the top-six in his four attempts at Lakeside with a best of 2nd in 2015, plus 4th place results on night two in 2016 and in 2017, with the 6th place finish coming on night one of 2016.
Justin Grant won his heat race and finished 2nd in his only previous Lakeside USAC Sprint start in 2017. On May 1, Grant became the second quickest driver in USAC history to win a Silver Crown race, National Sprint Car race and NOS Energy Drink National Midget race in a season.
C.J. Leary, the 2019 USAC National Sprint Car champ, has been a consistent top-ten finisher in his four previous runs at Lakeside, bested with a 6th in 2017 to go along with a 7th in 2015, and an 8th and 9th across two nights in 2016.
Drivers Making Their Lakeside Debut
• Series point leader, and the lone multi-time series winner in 2022, Emerson Axsom
• Logan Seavey (6th) and Jason McDougal (7th)
• 2017 USAC West Coast Sprint Car champion and 2021 USAC National Most Improved Driver, Jake Swanson, along with Carson Short and Matt Westfall.
• 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox and 2020 rookie of the year, Jadon Rogers.Â
• Zach Daum, Ricky Lewis, Alex Banales and 2021 POWRi WAR Sprint Car champ Mario Clouser.
USAC Midwest Wingless Racing Association (MWRA) Series Drivers
• The 2020 MWRA champion, Wyatt Burks, is the winningest driver in series history with eight victories. He’s made one previous USAC national start at Lakeside, finishing 16th in 2016. In 2020 with MWRA at Lakeside, Burks never finished outside the top-two in three starts, winning in August and finishing as the runner-up in both June and October.
• Five-time MWRA winner Wesley Smith finished 4th with MWRA at Lakeside in both August and October of 2020.
• Chris Parkinson, the 2014 WAR Sprint Car champion, has made three previous USAC National starts at Lakeside with a pair of 15th place results in 2016 serving as his best. The third generation of the legendary Parkinson family, grandson of Ralph and son of Junior, Chris finished 4th with MWRA at Lakeside in June of 2020.
• One-time MWRA feature winner Xavier Doney who was 3rd with MWRA at Lakeside in August of 2021.
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, USRA Stock Cars and USRA B-Mods are on Thursday night’s event card.