USAC: Larson taking teammate Elliott dirt track racing
After getting schooled by his NASCAR Cup teammate Kyle Larson all year, Chase Elliott has decided to see if he can learn what makes Larson great – car control sliding sideways on dirt.
Elliott will drive a Kyle Larson Racing-owned entry at Placerville.
USAC Press Release
USAC champs, NASCAR champs, feature winners, racing veterans, phenoms and young guns – the entry list for the second running of the three-night Elk Grove Ford Hangtown 100 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event truly has it all.
The November 18-19-20 event at southern California’s Placerville Speedway brings together the two most recent NASCAR Cup Series champions who’ll also be teammates in the Hangtown 100 – Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.
Fresh off his first NASCAR title, Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.) enters the event as the defending winner. He captured the inaugural Hangtown 100 at Placerville in 2019, pocketing $20,000 for winning the final night main event, plus an extra $12,000 as the overall point champion. Elliott (Dawsonville, Ga.), the 2020 NASCAR king, will drive a team car to Larson in his Placerville debut.
Three past USAC National Midget champs will attempt to bag the big payday at Placerville, including reigning series champion Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.), 2018 champ Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) and Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.), all of whom have been victorious in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition in 2021.
The homeland of California is well-represented in the driver lineup with Larson, Windom and Seavey being joined by 2020 USAC Silver Crown champ Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.), USAC superstars Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) and Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.), plus winged sprint car standouts Shane Golobic (Fremont, Calif.), Carson Macedo (Lemoore, Calif.) and Cory Eliason (Visalia, Calif.). Golobic is a past Indiana Midget Week champion (2017) while Macedo grabbed USAC’s 2016 Regional Midget title.
You can also add in the versatility from USAC Midget winner and west coast sprint car winner Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.), 2018 USAC Western States Midget champion Michael Faccinto (Hanford, Calif.) and two-time USAC Regional Sprint Car champ Ryan Bernal (Hollister, Calif.).
USAC National Midget winners are based nationwide, and a number of others will be contenders to take over the throne from the natives on their own Golden State soil. Those include Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) and his Petry Motorsports teammate Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) as well as rising stars Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.), Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) and Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.).
Looking to become a first-time USAC winner is Ryan Timms (Oklahoma City, Okla.), who recently captured victory on the final night of Trophy Cup in Tulare, Calif. as well as recently crowned USAC Western States Midget champ Blake Bower (Brentwood, Calif.).
The three-night event will pay $5,000-to-win on each of the two preliminary night features Thursday, Nov. 18 and Friday, Nov. 19 while the 100-lap main event on Saturday, Nov. 20 will pay $20,000-to-win. In addition, another $12,000 will be awarded to the overall point champion throughout the three nights.
Three-night reserved and general admission ticket packages for the Hangtown 100, along with single night tickets, are available at https://happsnow.com/event/Placerville-Speedway.