Kale Drake Holds Off Grant for USAC Midget Win in Nebraska
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 12, 2026
Drake wins USAC
Kale Drake held off Justin Grant and won the USAC National Midget feature at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Nebraska, collecting $10,000 and giving RMS Racing its first USAC National Midget win in nearly two years. The victory was Drake’s first with RMS Racing since he joined the team for the 2026 season, and it was the fourth USAC National Midget win of his career. He backed up the result with a strong starting spot after climbing from 19th to fifth in the previous race, which put him on the outside of the front row for the feature. Drake made the most of it. He controlled the opening stretch and then answered every challenge that came after. The win fit the kind of weekend that changes a team’s tone, since it delivered a big payday, ended the drought for RMS Racing and added another victory to Drake’s record in the national midget ranks. It also came against a field that kept pressing through the full distance, with Grant, Jacob Denney and the rest of the front-runners forcing Drake to earn every lap.
Race swings late
The 40-lap race turned into a straight fight between Drake and Grant after the early laps settled in. Drake led the first 13 circuits before Grant got by and held the front from laps 14 through 21. Drake answered on lap 22 and took back the lead, then Grant briefly slipped ahead again on laps 23 and 24 before Drake finished the job and stayed out front the rest of the way. Once Drake regained control, he closed the race with the final 19 laps and never gave it back. Denney chased him to the line and finished second, 0.922 seconds behind. Grant settled for third. Gavin Miller took fourth and Drake Edwards completed the top five. Denney had already won the previous two USAC National Midget races that week, so his runner-up finish kept his run of strong results intact even if it did not extend the streak to three. The front of the field stayed tight enough to keep the pressure on, but Drake answered every move and kept the lead when it mattered most.
Denney leads points
The feature also carried the kind of setbacks and recovery drives that shape a series night. Bradley Cox flipped on lap 2, and Kyle Jones flipped on lap 33. Garrett Benson earned hard-charger honors after improving from 23rd to 11th, one of the sharpest climbs in the field. Denney left Nebraska still on top of the USAC national midget standings with 842 points, while Kevin Thomas Jr. stayed second in the championship chase. That points picture gives Denney the cushion built by a season of consistency, and it keeps Thomas in the chase as the series moves ahead. The next stop on the USAC national midget schedule is Coles County Speedway in Mattoon, Illinois. Drake’s win sharpened the battle at the front of the race, but Denney’s points lead and Thomas’s position behind him keep the title race in focus as the series heads to its next event.
