Sweet sweeps Knoxville, Team Mopar goes 1-2-3 on Saturday podium
Two victories for a rising young star and a podium sweep for Team Mopar highlighted the weekend of June 20-21, when the United States Auto Club (USAC) Mopar Midget National Championship visited Iowa's storied Knoxville Speedway. After winning Friday night's "King Doodlebug Classic," Brad Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing No. 49 topped Jerry Coons Jr. (Wilke-Pak No. 11) and teammate Brady Bacon (KKR No. 99) in Saturday's "Pepsi/Mountain Dew Knoxville Midget Nationals."
For Sweet, a 22-year-old Californian in his first season driving for KKR, it was a stunning 24 hours. On Friday, he mounted a fierce charge and led the final four laps of the 20-lap feature, named in honor of the "doodlebug" handle given to Midget cars as they captured America's fancy in the 1930s and '40s. Aside from Sweet, Coons was Friday's top Mopar finisher, in fourth. Further back were Scott Hatton (18th), Don Droud Jr. (20th in J.J. Yeley's Midget), Bacon (23rd after flipping) and Bradley Galedrige (24th).
On Saturday, Sweet and fellow Mopar man Coons swapped the lead twice on a pair of late-race restarts, with Bacon hot on their heels as they contested one of America's most prestigious Midget events, jointly sanctioned by USAC, the Wisconsin-based Badger Midget Auto Racing Association, the Southern Midget Racing Series and the POWRi Midget group. Mopar Midgets led every inch of the way in the Saturday 25-lap main event, with Sweet out front on laps 1-17, Coons leading laps 18-19, and Sweet reasserting control until the end.
Sweet's Knoxville dominance boosted him to fifth in points in the USAC Mopar Midget National Championship, which reconvenes July 24 at O'Reilly Raceway Park, just outside Indianapolis. Coons holds sixth in the standings, with Bacon eighth. For more info on USAC Racing, visit the series' newly revamped Web site at usacracing.com.