SPEEDWAY, Ind. – The 15th edition of Indiana Midget Week is nearly upon us, with the week-long tour kicking off Tuesday, June 4.

Indiana Midget Week features the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship as well as non-sanctioned sprint cars for six-straight nights on six of the baddest bullrings in the Hoosier State.

It all begins June 4 at Montpelier (Ind.) Motor Speedway.  The quarter-mile dirt oval joined the Indiana Midget Week slate in 2016, and over the last three years, have presented feature events that’ve kicked off the week in thrilling fashion.  Kyle Larson won the first visit in 2016.  Last year, he brought out the broom, sweeping the night while establishing a new track record in qualifying and setting a new standard in the 10-lap heat race.  In 2017, current series point leader Tyler Courtney earned his first series points-paying win at Montpelier.

Gas City I-69 Speedway is the next stop on the tour a night later on June 5.  The quarter-mile dirt oval has been a staple on the IMW schedule since the beginning in 2005.  Shane Cottle and Darren Hagen have each won twice there, most among all drivers, but interestingly enough, four of the 10 drivers who’ve won in Indiana Midget Week at Gas City, their win was the first of their USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget career.  Last year’s event was claimed by rain, but New Zealand’s Michael Pickens was the hero in the most recent race in 2017.

The round at Lincoln Park Speedway on June 6, brings us to the halfway point of Indiana Midget Week.  The world’s fastest five-sixteenths-mile dirt oval joined the Indiana Midget Week schedule in 2010.  Chad Boat won his first USAC Midget race inside the state of Indiana and his first outside the month of August in last year’s IMW race at LPS.  Clauson leads all drivers in terms of Indiana Midget Week wins with nine, three of which he picked up at the Putnamville, Ind., track in 2011, ’12 and ’15.

Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway starts the second half of Indiana Midget Week on Friday, June 7.  The quarter-mile, high-banked red clay oval has been on the IMW calendar every year since 2008.  Last year’s event was claimed by Mother Nature midway through qualifying. Christopher Bell dominated the event three-years-running between 2014 and 2016.  Kyle Larson won his first USAC Midget feature at Bloomington in 2011.

The penultimate round of Indiana Midget Week brings the tour to Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway on June 8.  Throughout the course of Indiana Midget Week’s history, the series has seen two iterations of the track, first starting out as a quarter-mile speedway for Jay Drake’s victory in 2005 – which was also the first race in the history of Indiana Midget Week – to today’s three-eighths-mile, high-banked venue that hosted Spencer Bayston’s victory a year ago.

The track has been host to some of the wildest races in series’ history, namely Rico Abreu’s win in 2017 in which Holly Shelton led 26 of the 30 laps, with her third-place finish ultimately being, thus far, the best dirt track finish by a female in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget history.

Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway has served as the finale in 12 of the 14 years of Indiana Midget Week, and this year, the quarter-mile dirt oval will crown the series champion.  Kevin Thomas Jr. won last year’s round at Kokomo and is the most recent USAC Midget winner at Kokomo, taking April’s Kokomo Grand Prix finale on a last lap, last corner pass.  Clauson is the only driver to repeat Indiana Midget Week wins at Kokomo, where he owns three. Brady Bacon won his first USAC race during Indiana Midget Week at Kokomo in 2006 at the age of 16.

Shane Cottle won the first two IMW titles in 2005-06 and is one of two drivers alongside Abreu (2014-15) to have won the championship in consecutive years.  Jerry Coons Jr. picked up the title in 2007 and is the only past Indiana Midget Week champion expected to compete in all six events on the schedule.  Tracy Hines picked up the first of his two Indiana Midget Week crowns in 2008 before grabbing another in 2010 as co-champion with Brad Kuhn.

Unsurprisingly, the winningest driver in the history of the series is the one with the most championships.  That’d be Clauson, who scored titles in 2009, ’11 and ’16.  Darren Hagen (2012), Christopher Bell (2013), Shane Golobic (2017) and Bayston (2018) each earned individual titles.

Golobic (2017), along with Cottle (2005), Hines (2008) and Clauson (2016), are the only drivers to capture the Indiana Midget Week title without the aid of a win.  For nine of the 26 drivers who’ve won an Indiana Midget Week feature, it was the first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget win of his career: Johnny Rodriguez (Terre Haute 2005), Cottle (Gas City 2006), Bacon (Kokomo 2006), Steve Buckwalter (Gas City 2010), Larson (Bloomington 2011), Bell (Lincoln Park 2013), Tanner Thorson (Gas City 2015), Bayston (Gas City 2016) and Courtney (Montpelier 2017).  For Rodriguez and Buckwalter, it remains their only career series wins.