Winchester pre-event news 2009-09-30

3 BRADs LEAD MIDGETS TO TRI-CITY OCTOBER 8-10 FOR $15,000-TO-WIN "GOLD CROWN MIDGET NATIONALS"

Two Brads will lead their respective Midget racing series to the October 8-10 DuPont "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. They each hope to take home the $15,000 winner's share of the prize money.

Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind. sits atop both the USAC Mopar National and O'Reilly Powri standings, while Brad Loyet of Sunset Hills, Mo. is atop the USAC/SMRS Great Plains points.

A third Brad could prove to be the spoiler, though. Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, Calif. won the recent "4-Crown Nationals" Midget race at Rossburg, Ohio and won both preliminary-night features at Pontoon Beach last year.

Kuhn has only finished out of the "top-10" twice in 22 USAC races this year and holds a 14-point lead over Sweet in the USAC Mopar National standings. Loyet, for whom Tri-City provides a "home track" advantage, has won six of his 13 USAC/SMRS outings and added a second and a third. Sweet's 2009 USAC National record includes victories at Phoenix, Ariz., Salem, Ind. and Rossburg, plus five seconds and a pair of thirds!

The Brad trio will have to contend with defending winner Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz., who has crept into the 2009 USAC National title chase, only 95 back of Kuhn, plus Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif., whose third-place National ranking finds him only 35 behind the leader.

Preliminary racing is scheduled on Thursday and Friday (Oct. 8-9) at the 3/8-mile dirt oval. A 25-lap feature caps each night's program, while Saturday night's finale closes with a 50-lapper. Racing commences each night at 7 pm. An open practice is also slated at the track Wednesday night.

All three Brads finished in the "top-10" in last year's DuPont "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" main event. Loyet was fourth, Sweet fifth and Kuhn 10th.

-credit: usac