When a driver first lays eyes on a racetrack, many thoughts come to mind.  Particularly, how do you tackle this place and what does it compare to that we’ve run on before?

For some, that’ll be the case when they arrive at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway on May 22-23 for the inaugural Werco Manufacturing T-Town Midget Showdown presented by B & H Contractors featuring the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets.

Watch the T-Town Midget Showdown LIVE on FloRacing!

What seems to have been proven over the past decade of events at first-time venues with the series is that series veterans are the first to figure it out.  More laps inherently mean more experience on various types of tracks and provides an edge to those individuals despite never once turning a wheel at that particular venue.

During the decade of 2010-2019, 28 venues appeared on the USAC National Midget schedule for the first time.  In those 28 races, the majority of them showcased relative veterans getting the job done by earning a feature victory.

Darren Hagen and Kyle Larson each won three apiece at first-time venues after they had already established themselves as stars of the series.  Hagen, during his championship era of 2011-12-13 when he either won a National or Pavement Midget title and Larson, who seemingly figured out every place in his first go-around with the series in 2011, but didn’t win at any first-time series venue until the following year in 2012.

The same thing goes for those drivers who won twice in their careers at first-time venues – Christopher Bell, Chad Boat, Bryan Clauson, Tyler Courtney, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Tanner Thorson.  None of them won at these types of venues until they’ve been around the horn with the series, so to speak.  All those drivers have some clout behind them, either as holder of a USAC National title, such as Bell, Clauson, Courtney and Thorson, or been runner-up of a National series’ standings like Boat and Thomas.

Acknowledged is the fact that very few drivers win anywhere in the early part of their career.  It’s a tough circuit to claim and doubly difficult of a chore when it’s a track a driver has never seen before.  Outside of Zeb Wise’s win at Lanco in 2018 and Gio Scelzi’s victory at Placerville in 2019, it was an established driver who raced to victory lane on 26 of the 28 occasions.  But, even in those cases, those drivers had previous racing experiences at those tracks.

You can never rule out anything, and that’s what we love about racing.  But drivers like Locust Grove, Oklahoma’s Daison Pursley have an immense amount of laps under their belts in a micro at Port City, and he’s a Rookie on the USAC National Midget trail for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.  Meanwhile, fellow Oklahoman Cannon McIntosh, from Bixby, while young in age, is now an experienced and winning driver with the series and, as an added bonus, was a star at Port City in the micros.

Others like Tyler Courtney, have multiple USAC National championships, but do have limited experience in a micro at Port City from back in the day.

Is there a combination that will be the hot setup at the T-Town Midget Showdown, or can you essentially throw the proverbial book out the window when it comes to short track, dirt 1/8-mile in length bullring midget races where anything can happen?  The latter is probably more likely, but the experience, or lack thereof, certainly seems to play a role in the outcome as history shows.

Both nights at Port City will include full series points-paying events with a complete program each night that culminates with a feature event.

Seating capacity for the T-Town Midget Showdown will be limited to 400 spectators per night and tickets for each night can only be purchase in advance.  Tickets are now on sale at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2020-t-town-midget-showdown.

Entries will also be limited and based on a combination of criteria that will cater to both National and Regional teams.  A maximum of six pit passes will be available for purchase with each car entry.  Pit passes obtained with entry are for pit entry and pit seating/viewing areas only.  A general admission ticket will be required for grandstand seating.  Teams that meet the listed criteria will be contacted by USAC and/or Port City Raceway and given a code which will enable them to register online.

Both nights of the T-Town Midget Showdown at Port City will be shown live on FloRacing.

FIRST-TIME USAC NATIONAL MIDGET TRACK VISIT WINNERS 2010-2019:

(3) Darren Hagen & Kyle Larson

(2) Christopher Bell, Chad Boat, Bryan Clauson, Tyler Courtney, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Tanner Thorson

(1) Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Shane Golobic, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Shane Hmiel, Brad Kuhn, Gio Scelzi, Logan Seavey & Brad Sweet