The 2016 USAC National Midget Championship is the 61st season of the USAC National Midget Championship. The series began with the Shamrock Classic at Southern Illinois Center on March 9, and ended with the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris Auto Speedway on November 24. [1] Tracy Hines entered the season as the defending champion. [2]
The season was marred with tragedy after Bryan Clauson died from injuries sustained in a crash during Saturday's portion of the Belleville Midget Nationals. [3] Tanner Thorson won the series championship driving for Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports. [4]
| No. | Date | Race title | Track | TV/Stream |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 9 | Shamrock Classic | Southern Illinois Center | The Cushion |
| ≠ | April 8 | Kokomo Grand Prix | Kokomo Speedway | |
| ≠ | April 9 | |||
| 2 | May 31 | Indiana Midget Week | Montpelier Motor Speedway | |
| 3 | June 1 | Gas City I-69 Speedway | ||
| 4 | June 2 | Lincoln Park Speedway | ||
| 5 | June 3 | Bloomington Speedway | ||
| ≠ | June 4 | Lawrenceburg Speedway | ||
| 6 | June 5 | Kokomo Speedway | ||
| 7 | June 17 | Riverside International Speedway | ||
| 8 | June 18 | 40 for Shorty | ||
| 9 | August 2 | Tuesday Night Thunder | Jefferson County Speedway | |
| 10 | August 3 | Chad McDaniel Memorial | Solomon Valley Speedway | Speed Shift TV |
| 11 | August 5 | Belleville Midget Nationals | Belleville High Banks | Speed Shift TV |
| 12 | August 6 | |||
| ≠ | August 14 | Pennsylvania Midget Week | Susquehanna Speedway | |
| ≠ | August 15 | Path Valley Speedway Park | ||
| 13 | August 16 | Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway | ||
| ≠ | August 17 | Lincoln Speedway | Dirt Station | |
| 14 | September 24 | 4-Crown Nationals | Eldora Speedway | |
| 15 | October 6 | Gold Crown Midget Nationals | Tri-City Speedway | The Cushion |
| 16 | October 7 | |||
| 17 | October 8 | |||
| 18 | October 20 | Jason Leffler Memorial | Wayne County Speedway | MavTV |
| 19 | November 24 | Turkey Night Grand Prix | Ventura Raceway | Loudpedal.TV |
| * | December 17 | Junior Knepper 55 | Southern Illinois Center | MavTV Speed Shift TV |
| No. | Race / Track | Winning driver | Winning team | Hard Charger Award winner | B-Main / Semi / Qualifying Race winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shamrock Classic | Shane Golobic | Matt Wood Racing | Thomas Meseruall (B-Main #1) Travis Berryhill (B-Main #2) | |
| 2 | Indiana Midget Week (Montpelier) | Kyle Larson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Dave Darland | Christopher Bell |
| 3 | Indiana Midget Week (Gas City) | Spencer Bayston | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Shane Golobic | Tyler Thomas |
| 4 | Indiana Midget Week (Putnamville) | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Jerry Coons Jr. | Spencer Bayston |
| 5 | Indiana Midget Week (Bloomington) | Christopher Bell | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Tyler Thomas | Christopher Bell |
| 6 | Indiana Midget Week (Kokomo) | Rico Abreu | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Dayne Kingshott | Holly Shelton |
| 7 | Riverside | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Shane Golobic | |
| 8 | 40 For Shorty | Bryan Clauson | Dooling/Hayward Motorsports | Bryan Clauson | |
| 9 | Tuesday Night Thunder | Chad Boat | Tucker/Boat Motorsports | Bryan Clauson | Brady Bacon |
| 10 | Chad McDaniel Memorial | Bryan Clauson | Dooling/Hayward Motorsports | Tanner Thorson | Casey Shuman |
| 11 | Belleville Midget Nationals (night #1) | Chad Boat | Tucker/Boat Motorsports | Travis Scott | Bryan Clauson |
| 12 | Belleville Midget Nationals (night #2) | Chad Boat | Tucker/Boat Motorsports | Curtis Spicer | Ryan Greth |
| 13 | Pennsylvania Midget Week (Lanco) | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Brenden Bright | Holly Shelton |
| 14 | Four Crown Nationals | Rico Abreu | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Carson Macedo | |
| 15 | Gold Crown Midget Nationals (night #1) | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Gage Walker | Chad Boat (Qualifying Race #1) Carson Macedo (Qualifying Race #2) Tanner Thorson (Qualifying Race #3) |
| 16 | Gold Crown Midget Nationals (night #2) | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Alex Bright | Brady Bacon (Qualifying Race #1) Tyler Thomas (Qualifying Race #2) Kyle Jones (Qualifying Race #3) |
| 17 | Gold Crown Midget Nationals (night #3) | Tanner Thorson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Jake Neuman | Tanner Thorson (Qualifying Race #1) Ryan Robinson (Qualifying Race #2) Holly Shelton (Qualifying Race #3) |
| 18 | Jason Leffler Memorial | Brady Bacon | FMR Racing | Alex Bright | Justin Peck |
| 19 | Turkey Night Grand Prix | Kyle Larson | Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports | Jake Swanson | Robby Josett |
| * | Junior Knepper 55 | Tyler Courtney | Clauson/Marshall Racing | Chad Wheeler (B-Main #1) Riley Kreisel (B-Main #2) | |
| [5] | |||||