KYLE CUMMINS, THE BULLRING KING, IS HEADED TO MACON
By: Pat Sullivan – USAC Media
Macon, Illinois (July 4, 2023)………Heading into the finale of the 2023 Eastern Storm, skepticism abounded. Not only did many feel that Action Track USA was too small for sprint cars, but there was also a rumor that the participants had decided to just mail it in. After a compelling 40-lap caution-free feature, many were singing a different tune.
If the idea was to just ease into this place, Kyle Cummins didn’t get the memo. From the moment he hit the track, he was clearly the man to beat. Rarely on four wheels, Kyle attacked the track with a ferocity that underscored that sprint car racing ultimately involves an attempt, sometimes futile, to tame a wild beast. It is always good to win, but for Cummins, the race provided a needed result after a trying trip to The Keystone State.
Perhaps using his own experience as proof, Cummins observes, “The number one thing to remember is that racing is mental.”
Cummins will bring that approach when the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship makes its debut at the similarly sized 1/5-mile dirt oval at Illinois’ Macon Speedway this weekend for Top Gun Weekend. Two-straight nights of action commence for the series with a $5,000-to-win 40-lapper on Friday, July 7, and a 50-lap main event paying $10,000-to-win on Saturday, July 8.
It isn’t that talent and equipment are irrelevant, but Kyle figures that there are times when confidence is the added ingredient that spells the difference on the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship trail. He should know because his performance on a beautiful evening in Kutztown, Pa. confirmed his hypothesis.
It had already been a whirlwind year. There was drama and victory in Florida, and good fortune followed him to the Midwest. Then the word was out. With support from Avanti Windows and Doors, suddenly, Cummins was poised to take a run at the USAC title for the first time in his career. He knew it was not going to be as easy as it sounds. Even as he tried to stockpile all the necessary spare parts needed to take on a demanding schedule, supply chain challenges hampered his effort. Then there was the matter of everyday life. He runs a business, he has a family, and moreover, he was trying to buy a house. Kyle might phrase it differently, but his stress meter was pegged. In such circumstances, racing can often provide a brief respite from real life hassles, but now things were not going well. Adding to his frustration, he really couldn’t put his finger on the problem.
Answers came when he was able to get back home and regroup. Sometimes you are forced to go back to square one.
“Both cars got torn all the way down,” Kyle says. “We found a bent rear end and bent torque tube.” That alone produced a sigh of relief because he would have been even more concerned if they had not detected the issues. Once again, he gets right to the point. “If you have confidence in your car,” he says, “you’re capable of winning.”
No one doubts this man’s talent. He has notched 17 USAC career wins while primarily running a part-time schedule. His record with the Southern Indiana-based Midwest Sprint Car Series is impeccable. Yet, in the shark-infested water he inhabits, he knows what he is up against. His biggest rivals are well-established teams with full-time professional drivers. Their business is racing.
“Brady Bacon was struggling,” he says, “so they built a new car, and he is fast again.”
That seems simple enough. Yet, it is much harder for his squad to pivot so quickly, and his owner lives over three hours away.
Cummins is analytical by nature. He looks back and remembers wall contact at Eldora with one car, and he tagged the wall at Grandview with a different mount.
“Once on each car,” he says with a touch of disgust, “I didn’t think it affected one car quite as badly, but we were struggling. We were fast at Grandview, but when I hit the wall, it tried to yank the rear end out. So, we tried to put it back together.”
By the time Cummins pulled into Action Track USA, he was a bit down. He had been away from home a bit too long and was disappointed in his performance on the Pennsylvania swing. Then things changed.
“In hot laps, I knew we were going to win,” Kyle recalls. “The minute we pushed off, I knew this place had nothing to do with car set up. I told my crew to do what they had to do, and I will do the rest.”
Even to the untrained eye, it was obvious that Cummins was on point. The question is why? One factor is familiarity.
“I grew up racing at ‘Rutnamville’ (a once popular description of Lincoln Park Speedway), and at the time, it was the roughest, tackiest, bouncing around place there was.”
Thus, if you could learn to handle this, you could probably handle anything. As Kyle describes his technique, it is hard for a novice to grasp. However, if you watched him master Action Track USA, what he says makes all the sense in the world.
“You have to handle the car on the rear wheels,” he says. “When the car is kind of floating and bouncing, you must keep the rear tires digging. The front tires aren’t really doing much.”
In his mind, some of his peers had dialed themselves out of contention long before the night had even started.
“You have to get the car turned and grab the wheel,” he says. “When people get that sideways, they think they are going to spin out. It is a weird thing. Running at Haubstadt, I learned how you could get so bent and almost slide backwards but you can get the car on the rear tires and go forward. At Action Track, there were a bunch of guys who were convinced they were going to spin out, but they never got sideways enough. They were almost making a turn and then another turn. I did it too when I got up to Emerson (Axsom) and a lapped car pushed me up. I looked like everyone else. I got hung out there in no-man’s land.”
There is one more matter that might just explain his success at these kind of venues. Getting right to the heart of the matter, he says, “I am a bit of a grab hold of the wheel and bounce around cowboy kind of guy.”
Which brings us to the upcoming dates at Macon Speedway. It is a bullring. That alone suggests that Kyle may already have a leg up on the field. He has won there in a midget, so he already has a bit of a book on the racetrack. Then there is that mental thing again. So, does Cummins feel he is the favorite heading into the weekend?
“Oh sure,” he says. “I plan to go over there and make a little money. If they keep moisture in it or rework it before the feature and the track doesn’t get black slick, it is my race to lose, especially if there is a big cushion by the fence. If it is juiced and gripped up, then I am excited to go.”
Kyle Cummins is an adult with adult responsibilities. He also has his priorities in order. With time to recharge his batteries, he is raring to go and expects to get good results. Once again, he comes back to one basic principle.
“You have to have confidence,” he reiterates. “People go through ups and downs. I try to keep in neutral because I know my wife, my daughter and my business is what really matters.”
He realized that when his racing program was in a lull, so was he. It was time to regroup, recalibrate and get perspective. There was a time when all he wanted to do was win a single USAC race. He did that. Then he hoped to be the king of Kokomo Smackdown. Mission accomplished. Would an Indiana Sprint Week or National Championship be nice? Of course, it would. Yet, a recent conversation with this father reminded him where he came from and just how much he has accomplished. There is a lesson here. Sometimes when you keep your goals manageable, good things happen. For now, he keeps it basic, he says he “just wants to race and make a little money.”
RACE DETAILS:
Top Gun Weekend at Macon Speedway marks the debut of USAC National Sprint Car racing at the 1/5-mile dirt oval. Two-straight nights of action commence for the series on Friday, July 7, and Saturday, July 8.
On Friday, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship is joined by the HART Non-Wing Micro Sprints plus a huge fireworks display. Pits open at 3pm Central with the front gates opening at 4pm and cars on track at 6pm followed by qualifying and racing.
Saturday’s event features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus Hornets and Vintage Full Body Stock Cars. Pits open at 3pm Central with the front gates opening at 4pm and cars on track at 6pm followed by qualifying and racing.
Advance tickets for both nights are on sale now at: https://www.myracepass.com/tracks/2052/tickets/package/1005.
General admission tickets at the gate on race day are $30 for adults and $10 for kids age 11 and under. Pit passes are $40 apiece while pit passes for kids age 11 and under are $20.
Single day advance general admission is $30. Single day advance reserved tickets are $35. Two-day advance reserved tickets are $65. Adult two-day reserved tickets are $80. Advance two-day tickets for children age 11 and under are $40. Three-day advanced reserved tickets are $90 and three-day advance general admission tickets are $75.
On Thursday night, July 6, during the “Hell Tour” for late models at Macon, three USAC drivers will face off against three late model drivers in a hornet match race.
Fans can save $15 by purchasing a three-day general admission ticket in advance for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Adult three-day tickets are $120 while children age 11 and under are $60.
Free camping and parking will be available as will a giant carnival slide for kids and the young at heart.