USAC: Speedrome Midget Car Series Opens Wednesday Night

27 April 1999

Gregg Cory of Shelbyville, Ind. may be the heir apparent to the Indianapolis Speedrome USAC Midget Car Championship. Last year he finished third behind Champion John Sluss and runner-up Michael Lang and he may not have to face those two much this season.

Lang, who would like to become the first 5-time Speedrome Champion, will probably miss the series opener this Wednesday night, a tactic which eventually cost him the 1998 title. "I'd like to get to 50 career wins," he says. "And I'd like to get a fifth championship, but am not sure how many races I'll run just yet." Lang has 47 career triumphs at the 1/5-mile paved oval.

Sluss, who beat Lang for the title by winning the final three feature races last year, hopes to make a concerted effort in the MCI WorldCom USAC National Midget Car Series this year.

Cory, who drove a full-size Midget Car for the first time last year and took the Speedrome's "Rookie of the Year" honors with his third-place point ranking, is a graduate of the tough midwestern TQ Midget Car circuits and was the 1992 UMRA TQ "Rookie of the Year." Last year's Speedrome competition was his first on pavement in about six or seven years.

A 50-lap feature caps Wednesday night's program at the Speedrome, the first of 19 series events scheduled this year. A total of more than one million dollars has been distributed to Speedrome Midget Car participants since the series' inception in 1981.

Saturday night's MCI WorldCom USAC National Midget Car race at the Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway was rescheduled for Sunday night, May 23 after Friday rains rendered the track not conducive for racing.

MCI WORLDCOM NATIONAL MIDGET CAR STANDINGS

1. Jason Leffler 38
2. Ryan Newman 29
3. Dave Steele 27
4. Ricky Shelton 27
5. Dave Darland 19
6. Tracy Hines 19
7. Andy Michner 15
8. Steve Barth 11
9. A.J. Fike 9
10. John Nervo 8

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