Making Ryan Middaugh’s track championship in Lucas Oil Speedway’s USRA Modified division even more remarkable was how the Fulton, Mo., driver overcame adversity just before the season opener.

Returning from what already was a bad mid-March night of racing at Tulsa Speedway, Middaugh and his team were about an hour from home when a huge wind gust sent their truck and trailer off Highway 54 going through the Lake of the Ozarks area.

“I was driving and just held the steering wheel straight and got everything stopped and shut down,” Middaugh recalled. “We jumped a pretty sizable ditch and took some air time.”

Middaugh and five others riding escaped injury. The trailer did not. It was totaled and the race car, already with damage after an 11th-place feature finish, and everything inside the trailer was beat up.

“It was a mess getting everything out of our trailer onto the side of the road,” Middaugh said. “My buddy brought down a flat-bed and we got the car out of the trailer and other stuff loaded.”

By the afternoon, the car and equipment had been hauled back to the shop in Fulton. Somehow, Middaugh had things ready to go in just seven days and made the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series opener at Lucas Oil Speedway and posted a second-place feature finish.

“Somehow we rebounded and our on-track results never wavered,” Middaugh said recently, reflecting on the bounce back.

With five feature wins and 14 top-five five finishes, he won his first Lucas Oil Speedway track championship by 193 points over runner-up Jason Pursley. Overall, he won 18 features in 2024 and added a fourth championship at his hometown Callaway Raceway.

He also wound up third in USRA Modified national points.

“Good people,” Middaugh said of the key to the season—and the rally from the highway accident. “Without other people helping out it never would have happened.”

Middaugh gave shout-outs to Jordan Martin—his cousin and a B-Mod racer—along with former B-Mod competitor Jason Watson for loaning his trailers to get him through a one-month period before he located a trailer. Just before his April 22 victory at Wheatland, he made a trip to West Virginia for a replacement truck.

Points racing can be a thankless grind. Missing just one week or having a DNF can be devastating. Middaugh declared prior to the season that he was going to chase goals of winning the championships and followed through at both Wheatland and Fulton.

“Between those two tracks we ran about 40 races. It was a pretty grueling schedule just to do that,” he said. “Friday and Saturday, April through end of August or so… There’s a lot of hot days through the summer where you want to do other things. It takes its toll. I have a two-year-old at home and want to spend time with her.

“But when you have the results like we had, it definitely makes it worth it,” he added, noting that he and the team enjoyed feature wins on the nights they happen. “But the next day rolls around and there’s always a next race.”

Middaugh, 31, has his MB Customs car on the market and is shopping for a new ride for 2024. He said the title-winning car is still in good shape, “but I’m trying to rotate my stock a little bit. Every three or four years, I try to get a new car. Everything changes so much, so fast, I feel that’s what it takes to keep up with these guys.”

The 2024 season likely will see Middaugh running a similar schedule, with the new Heartland Modified Tour another intriguing option. The HMT has been added to the May 11 program at Lucas Oil Speedway, paying $2,000 to win.

“I’m not gonna commit to doing anything (points-wise), but the hope is to run as good as we did this year,” Middaugh said.

Season pass renewals, gift cards available: Lucas Oil Speedway recently unveiled its tentative 2024 schedule with Open Test & Tune set to kick things off on March 30. The speedway has gift cards available for purchase as a Christmas-gift option and also has season pass renewals for the 2024 season available at a discount through the end of the year.

Season passes for the 2024 season are available now at a $50 discount for renewals from 2023.

Season pass renewals before Dec. 29:
Adults (Age 16-61) $700 (dirt track only)
Seniors (Age 62 and up) $600 (dirt track only)

Season passes beginning Jan. 15, 2024:
Adults (Age 16-61) $750 (dirt track only)
Senior (Age 62 and up) $650 (dirt track only)

Each season pass holder is entitled to one reserved stadium-style seat, complete with high backs and armrests located in the top six rows of the main grandstand of the dirt track.

Meanwhile, Lucas Oil Speedway gift cards are available in any dollar amount. Gift cards can be used in all departments including in the ticket office, pit office, camp shack, concessions, gift shop, suites and the Diamond Bar.

Lorton added that the gift shop is remaining open year-round, during week-day business hours, for those interested in stopping by the track and shopping for items.

For ticket information about any future event at Lucas Oil Speedway contact admissions director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or email her at nmcmillan@lucasoilspeedway.com for more information.

USRA Awards Banquet set for Jan. 27: The United States Racing Association (USRA) and United States Modified Touring Series (USMTS) will host a joint awards banquet on Saturday, Jan. 27, inside the 9,792-square-foot Nevada Ballroom at the Harrah's Kansas City Hotel & Casino to celebrate the 2023 racing season for both organizations.

Tickets include a luxurious dinner featuring a plentiful selection of fine food and a succulent dessert bar. A cash bar will also be available. The cost is $65 per person and can be purchased by calling (515) 832-6000 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets sales are available through Friday, Dec. 22, at 12 noon, and then resume on Wednesday, Jan. 3, after the holiday break. The deadline to purchase tickets to the awards banquet is Friday, Jan. 12, at 4 p.m.

A limited number or hotel rooms have been reserved for banquet attendees. Call Harrah's at 800-427-7247 or book online and mention the Group Code “S01US24” to receive the special Group Rate.

Harrah's Kansas City Hotel & Casino offers one of the most exciting hotels and casinos in the heart of America, blending small-town charm with big-city amenities with over 390+ luxurious rooms, a collection of gourmet dining experiences and the area's hottest gaming and entertainment. Visit Harrahs.com for more information.

Alternatively, you can book rooms at Ameristar Kansas City, which is located just minutes from Harrah's. Use Group Code “USRA23” and call (816) 414-7000.

For more than two decades, the United States Racing Association has attracted more and more racetracks and dirt track racers each year through fair, logical and cost-effective rules accompanied by an organization that puts the racers, racetracks and their fans first. During the 2023 Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series, more than 60 of America's finest dirt ovals hosted more than 1,000 nights of racing.

To learn more about the USRA, check out USRAracing.com. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. To get USRA news and exclusive promotions delivered to your inbox, click here.

USRA competitors can register for the 2024 Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series online at USRAracing.com/Register or call (515) 832-6000 to register by phone. You can also download the application at USRAracing.com/Downloads and then submit your completed form by email at office@usraracing.com or fax at (515) 832-7958.

USRA OFFICIAL SPONSORS: American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Chevrolet Performance, Christie Door Company, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, KS Engineering, KSE Racing Products, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels.

USRA PARTICIPATING SPONSORS: Allen Autosports Race Cars, ARMI Contractors, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DAY Motorsports, Duvall Electric, Gunshepherd.com, Innovative AutoGlass & Window Tint, PBM Performance Products, Star 1 Roofing & Construction, Stealth Thru Tubing, Texas Locomotive Solutions, TNT Auto Parts, YouDirt.com.

USRA CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bryke Racing, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Edelbrock, Hooker Harness, Hyperco, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, JE Pistons, K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers, Keyser Manufacturing, Landrum Performance Springs, MD3, Medieval Chassis, MSD, Performance Bodies & Parts, QA1, Quarter Master, QuickCar Racing Products, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes.

USRA RACETRACKS: 81 Speedway, Alien Motor Speedway, Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Arrowhead Speedway, Bolivar Speedway, Boothill Speedway, Callaway Raceway, Caney Valley Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Crawford County Speedway, Cresco Speedway, Dallas County Speedway, Deer Creek Speedway, Diamond Park Speedway, Eagle Valley Speedway, Electric City Speedway, Elk City Motorsports Park, Fairmont Raceway, Fayette County Speedway, Gondik Law Speedway, Hamilton County Speedway, Humboldt Speedway, Hunt County Raceway, I-35 Speedway, I-90 Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Lawton Speedway, Legacy Speedway, Longdale Speedway, Lucas Oil Speedway, Mason City Motor Speedway, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Monett Raceway, Northwest Missouri State Fairgrounds, Ogilvie Raceway, Outlaw Motor Speedway, Rapid Speedway, Red Cedar Speedway, Red Dirt Raceway, Rocket Raceway Park, Route 66 Motor Speedway, RPM Speedway, Sabine Speedway, Salina Highbanks Speedway, Sandia Speedway, Sports Park Raceway, Springfield Raceway, Super Bee Speedway, Texarkana 67 Speedway, Thunder Valley Speedway, Tomahawk Speedway, Tri-State Speedway, Tulsa Speedway, US 36 Raceway, Vado Speedway Park, West Texas Raceway, Winneshiek Raceway.