Since 1988, midsummer in the Hoosier State has been the focal point for drivers, teams and the throngs of race fans from around the world who converge on Indiana for a weeklong extravaganza of sprint car racing unlike any other.

For the 37th straight season, and the 29th under USAC sanction, NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing provides a sensational slate of dirt tracks and drivers from across the nation vying to become the next to conquer one of the most grueling, yet rewarding adventures of the year.

• 2024 USAC Indiana Sprint Week Schedule & How To Watch

Lincoln Park Speedway will host the ISW opener for the first time since 2001 on Friday, July 26. From there, the tour travels to Kokomo Speedway on July 27, followed by dates at Lawrenceburg Speedway on July 28, Circle City Raceway on July 31, the Terre Haute Action Track on August 1, Bloomington Speedway on August 2 and the finale at Tri-State Speedway on August 3.

Seven events across nine nights await for one of the most anticipated events on the annual motorsports calendar. And here are six storylines to keep yourself affixed to!

CHOCK FULL OF CHAMPS

Six past USAC Indiana Sprint Week champions are vying for another title in 2024: Brady Bacon, Justin Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr., Chase Stockon, C.J. Leary and Robert Ballou.

Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) enters this week as the defending ISW champion, after also winning in 2016, and is shooting to become the first back-to-back ISW titlist since Bryan Clauson in 2013-14.

Grant (Ione, Calif.) collected the ISW title in 2022 and has finished inside the top-five of the ISW points in each of the past five seasons since 2019.

Like Bacon, Thomas (Cullman, Ala.) also comes in as a two-time ISW champion in 2017 and 2021. And like Grant, Thomas also scored his very first career USAC National Sprint Car feature win during Indiana Sprint Week back in 2012.

Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) has captured victories in both the opening and closing races of ISW during his career. He locked down an ISW championship in 2020 with KO Motorsports just after joining the team.

Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) tripled up in 2019 with an Eastern Storm crown followed by an Indiana Sprint Week title and the USAC National Sprint Car championship all in a single season.

In 2015, Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) experienced one of the most masterful seasons of all-time in USAC National Sprint Car competition, winning 13 times while also grabbing an Indiana Sprint Week title en route to the season championship.

SEASON ON THE BRINK

However, there are several drivers in wait who are seeking to earn their first USAC Indiana Sprint Week championship, four of whom currently reside inside the top-10 of the USAC National Sprint Car points.

USAC point leader Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) has won each of his past three USAC National Sprint Car starts, and now eyes his fourth-in-a-row this Friday at Lincoln Park. Rick Hood was the most recent driver to win four-in-a-row with the series back in 1985. Seavey has already won 10 features this season, and in 2021, won three-in-a-row during ISW to finish a career best third in the standings.

Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) looks to join the ranks of first-time Indiana Sprint Week winners after capturing his first USAC National Sprint Car points-paying victory earlier this season at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.

Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) corralled a feature victory in his debut ISW run in 2022 at Lincoln Park and is coming off a recent championship during USAC’s Eastern Storm tour through Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) ranks sixth all-time in Indiana Sprint Week feature wins with seven, but now turns his focus toward an ISW title after tying a career-best points finish of fourth in 2023.

HOOSIER HYSTERIA HOPEFULS

Like Pursley, a number of others are zeroed in on breaking through for a first career USAC Indiana Sprint Week feature triumph this week after notching at least one previous USAC National Sprint Car score.

Pursley ran through his first ISW experience in 2023, finishing 14th in the standings. His new ride for 2024, the Team AZ Racing No. 21AZ, put a “w” on the board as a first-time ISW winner at Lincoln Park in 2023 with Jake Swanson as their driver.

Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.), a stalwart of the USAC East Coast circuit, has been superb in 2024 on the USAC national trail. In June, he earned his first career USAC National Sprint Car win in his home state at Grandview Speedway. He led the initial 14 laps and finished second a year ago during the ISW round at Bloomington.

Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) has participated in Indiana Sprint Week for more than two decades. A victory would mean the world to the veteran racer who’s won in a wide variety of racecars, and twice with the USAC National Sprints, including last September in Arkansas.

MAKING THE FIRST ONE A BIG ONE

Twenty drivers have won their first career USAC National Sprint Car feature during Indiana Sprint Week.

It’s a list that includes the likes of Brad Marvel, Brad Fox, Bill Rose, Derek Davidson, Terry Pletch, Cory Kruseman, Bud Kaeding, A.J. Anderson, Brady Short, Jeff Bland Jr., Hunter Schuerenberg, Blake Fitzpatrick, Casey Riggs, Justin Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr., Aaron Farney, Tyler Courtney, Kyle Cummins, Brent Beauchamp and Carson Short.

It’s an occasion that hasn’t occurred in more than eight years, since the 2016 season, but could become a forefront storyline throughout the week if one of these names were to pop up at the top of the running order.

Ricky Lewis (Camarillo, Calif.) has twice garnered fourth place finishes with USAC this season, and four finishes inside the top-six, all of which have occurred on Indiana soil. He’s already won eight sprint car races in Indiana outside of USAC competition, five of which include three different tracks on the ISW schedule: Lincoln Park, Lawrenceburg and Circle City.

Carson Garrett (Littleton, Colo.) has come within a whisker of winning his first career USAC National Sprint Car feature, and recently just notched a top-five result with USAC at Lincoln Park to start off the month of July.

Anton Hernandez (Arlington, Texas) has won on the local level in Indiana and will be behind the wheel of the orange No. 5 owned by the Baldwin-Fox Racing team which won the 2011 and 2018 ISW titles with driver Chris Windom. Joey Amantea (Mount Pocono, Pa.) has led laps in USAC competition this year and will even have a Jeff Gordon throwback scheme to mark his second career ISW experience.

Making not only his Indiana Sprint Week debut, but also his USAC National Sprint Car debut is Kale Drake (Collinsville, Okla.). The 2024 Chili Bowl Rookie of the Year has been among the top Rookies with the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship this season, ranking ninth in points with a pair of top-fives. Drake will drive the 2B Racing No. 2B, which Levi Jones drove to the 2004 ISW title.

MIND ON THE POINTS & POINTS ON THE MIND

Unquestionably, Logan Seavey has been on a tear of late, and thus, leads the USAC National Sprint Car standings by a 62-point margin, and has held the top position since February.

With seven races across nine nights during ISW, things can turn on a dime with one bad night here or there, or conversely, stringing together consistent fine runs throughout the week.

Now Seavey is laser-focused on emerging from the week unscathed and coming out of the other side of ISW with a firmer grip on the season long title.

In 14 of the 28 Indiana Sprint Weeks held under USAC sanction since 1996, one driver has entered ISW as the USAC National Sprint Car point leader, left ISW as the point leader and wound up as the champion at year’s end: Brian Tyler (1996 & 1997), Dave Darland (1999), Tony Elliott (2000), Tracy Hines (2002), J.J. Yeley (2003), Jay Drake (2004), Levi Jones (2009-2010-2011), Brady Bacon (2016 & 2021), C.J. Leary (2019) and Justin Grant (2022).

On six other occasions, a driver entered and exited ISW as the USAC National Sprint Car point leader but wound up short of the USAC national title at the close of the season: Kevin Thomas (1998), Dave Darland (2001), Levi Jones (2008), Jon Stanbrough (2012) and Justin Grant (2017 & 2020).

Five other times, a driver entered ISW as the point leader, but left the week trailing the USAC season championship standings, and ultimately, missed out on the year-end USAC crown: Jay Drake (2005), Darren Hagen (2007), Dave Darland (2013), Chase Stockon (2015) and Jake Swanson (2023).

There have been three moments in which a driver entered ISW as the point leader, lost it by the end of ISW, but then regained it in time to score the USAC National Sprint Car title at the end of the campaign: Josh Wise (2006), Brady Bacon (2014) and Tyler Courtney (2018).

BREAKING IT ALL DOWN

All USAC ISW feature events will pay $8,000-to-win. Plus, a $24,000 total point fund is up for grabs for the top-eight drivers in the 2024 USAC Indiana Sprint Week point standings. The breakdown of pay for the top-eight in the end-of-week standings is as follows: 1) $10,000, 2) $4,000, 3) $2,500, 4) $2,000, 5) $1,750, 6) $1,500, 7) $1,250, 8) $1,000.

Throughout ISW, the Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying Challenge will reward each fast qualifier with $200, plus an extra $200 for each additional fast time. For example, a driver would collect $200 for the first fast time, $400 for the second fast qualifying award, $600 for their third quick time of the week and so on.

J & J Trucking has added a $200 hard charger bonus at each feature throughout Indiana Sprint Week. ProSource will present a $500 reward to the Passing Master – the driver advancing the most positions throughout each Indiana Sprint Week event. Additionally, ProSource will reward the slowest qualifying driver who advances to the feature with a $100 Hard Work bonus.

Semi-Feature transfer money has been upped for the non-transfer finishing positions of 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. Fifth will receive $300; sixth $275; seventh $250; eighth $225. All other non-transfers will receive $200.

Furthermore, as has been a tradition since 2010, the Indiana Sprint Week champion car owner will receive a custom, handcrafted Bridgeport Rocker courtesy of John Youngs from Vincennes, Ind.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS 

1-Logan Seavey-1713, 2-Brady Bacon-1651, 3-C.J. Leary-1628, 4-Daison Pursley-1580, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1548, 6-Mitchel Moles-1479, 7-Robert Ballou-1452, 8-Justin Grant-1438, 9-Kyle Cummins-1361, 10-Jake Swanson-1271.

INDIANA SPRINT WEEK CHAMPIONS

1988: Randy Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.)

1989: Chuck Amati (Freeman Spur, Ill.)

1990: Chuck Amati (Freeman Spur, Ill.) & Gary Trammell (Bloomington, Ind.)

1991: Bob Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.)

1992: Kevin Thomas (Danville, Ind.)

1993: Kevin Thomas (Danville, Ind.)

1994: Kelly Kinser (Bloomington, Ind.)

1995: Kevin Thomas (Danville, Ind.)

1996: Kevin Thomas (Danville, Ind.)

1997: J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, Ariz.)

1998: Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.)

1999: Tony Elliott (Kokomo, Ind.)

2000: Jay Drake (Val Verde, Calif.)

2001: Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.)

2002: Cory Kruseman (Ventura, Calif.)

2003: J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, Ariz.)

2004: Levi Jones (Olney, Ill.)

2005: Cory Kruseman (Ventura, Calif.)

2006: Jon Stanbrough (Avon, Ind.)

2007: Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.)

2008: Levi Jones (Olney, Ill.)

2009: Levi Jones (Olney, Ill.)

2010: Jon Stanbrough (Avon, Ind.)

2011: Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.)

2012: Levi Jones (Olney, Ill.)

2013: Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, Ind.)

2014: Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, Ind.)

2015: Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.)

2016: Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.)

2017: Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.)

2018: Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.)

2019: C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.)

2020: Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.)

2021: Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.)

2022: Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.)

2023: Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.)

ALL-TIME INDIANA SPRINT WEEK WINS

20-Dave Darland

16-Jon Stanbrough

12-Cory Kruseman

9-Justin Grant & J.J. Yeley

7-Bryan Clauson, Kyle Cummins & C.J. Leary

6-Jay Drake, Danny Smith & Kevin Thomas Jr.

5-Robert Ballou, Kevin Briscoe, Tyler Courtney, Tony Elliott, Brady Short & Kevin Thomas

4-Brady Bacon, Jack Hewitt, Levi Jones, Kelly Kinser & Logan Seavey

3-Daron Clayton, Jerry Coons Jr., Tracy Hines & Hunter Schuerenberg

2-Chuck Amati, Shane Cottle, Kevin Doty, Tim Gee, Rick Hood, Bud Kaeding, Thomas Meseraull, Chase Stockon & Chris Windom

1-A.J. Anderson, Emerson Axsom, Brent Beauchamp, Jeff Bland Jr., Chad Boat, Derek Davidson, Cary Faas, Aaron Farney, Blake Fitzpatrick, Brad Fox, Dickie Gaines, Damion Gardner, Tray House, Bob Kinser, Mike Mann, Brad Marvel, Mitchel Moles, Mat Neely, Terry Pletch, Casey Riggs, Bill Rose, Carson Short, Mickey Smith, Jake Swanson, Brad Sweet, Tanner Thorson, Brian Tyler & Cole Whitt