COLBY, Kan. – On a cool northwestern Kansas afternoon, Bryant Wiedeman‘s school has called the day off due to a major snowstorm that rolled into the city of a little more than 5,000.
There‘s time to catch up on reading, writing and arithmetic assignments, but the Colby High School sophomore has also spent his time off dreaming of racecars on this Groundhog Day.
Just one week before heading to sunshine and the state of Florida where he‘ll begin his first full season of USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship competition for the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team, the 16-year-old driver reflects on a season of firsts, and his aspirations of more firsts in the season to come.
His 2021 campaign included 34 USAC starts with three top fives, eight top 10s and even a fast qualifying time at Oklahoma‘s Red Dirt Raceway on his way to an admirable 12th-place finish in the standings, also doubling up his first full year of midget racing exploits as the POWRi champion where he also added three feature victories.
It was a year in which Wiedeman learned lot about car control, about knowing where to put the car on the racetrack and how best to hit your marks — the fundamentals of the sport that he feels has him prepared to make a stronger case coming into the next year of his midget racing career.
“Some of it was definitely trial and error,” Weideman said. “At first, I was maybe driving a little bit over my head, trying to figure out things quicker than I needed to. Then, I began to slow my thought process down, and gradually let the race come to me as time went on.”
Admittedly, there were ups and downs on his USAC stat sheet in 2021 as he notched an early season top five at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway, a midseason top five at his home state track of Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, then topped all of his other performances with an impressive run on the second night at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway where he led his first two laps and finished a career-best third, a result that occurred due to a change in his approach to aggressiveness from the start in February to the end of the year in November.
“At first, I was kind of following along in line with some of the bigger names, just trying to keep up with them,” Wiedeman recalled. “But, as time went along, I could see myself catching up to race with them and battling for position rather than just finishing where I started. By the end, I was making moves and was able to race with the big guns of USAC.”
Seeing firsthand his teammate Buddy Kofoid win the 2021 championship, and witnessing teammate Daison Pursley score a pair of victories, can put pressure on a young driver to perform and perform fairly quickly. Wiedeman is fully aware of that part of the equation, but, on the other hand, he relishes the opportunity to compete with a team of its caliber, a team that owns 122 career USAC National Midget wins (second all-time) and 11 entrant championships (first all-time).
“It‘s a lot to look forward to knowing you‘re behind such a great team that has the capability to win races like that,” Wiedeman said. “While it can be a nerve wracking thing racing with this level of team, it‘s also a great thing for me knowing I have the opportunity to be in such a great situation.”
Wiedeman had a bit of a different racing upbringing than many in the sport. He‘s a first-generation driver whose parents were fans of the sport and only became involved following a chance opportunity to attend a friend‘s kart race. Both Bryant and his dad were immediately hooked, and from there, the desire to compete became too strong of an appetite not to devour.
A young Bryant competed for seven years in karts, which led to multiple seasons of micro sprints, but he soon began to turn his attention toward midgets. After attending the Chili Bowl a few times, a love affair began.
“It really caught my eye,” Wiedeman exclaimed about midget racing. “I really loved it and I couldn‘t resist it.”
The biggest thing for Wiedeman, outside of his gained experience behind the wheel of a midget, is that he will be experiencing several of the racetracks on the schedule for a second, third or even fourth time this season, which will certainly aid in his progress to success as he continues to gain more seat time and familiarity.
“Last year was pretty much my first time at every track I went to, but I‘ve been to most of these tracks now,” Wiedeman said. “I‘m really looking forward to this year, and I‘m hoping to pick off a few wins the 2022 season and move up into the top-five of the standings.”
Wiedeman‘s will begin the full 37-race series schedule Feb. 11-12 with the season-opening Winter Dirt Games XIII at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida.
Keyword: Bryant Wiedeman Goes All-In With Keith Kunz