2026 Season Brings Old and New Challenges

By Ken de la Bastide

The 2026 season kicks off when the Kenyon Midget Series returns to Anderson Speedway on April 18th. (Aaron Skillman photo)

The 2026 campaign of the Kenyon Midget Series brings a mix of traditional venues, two new tracks and a return of tracks for a second time.

The series will be competing in 13 events with six of the races on the historic and familiar Hoosier tracks at the Indianapolis Speedrome and Anderson Speedway.

For the first time the series will compete on the quarter-mile oval at Toledo Speedway in a companion event to the 500 Sprint Car Tour.

For 2026 the series will compete at the Lincoln Park Speedway dirt oval twice.

Four-time series champion Dameron Taylor said he expects to compete in some Kenyon Midget Series events in 2026, but his plans have not been finalized. “The schedule looks pretty good,” he said. “It's nice to see a new dirt track. Lincoln Park should suit the cars really well.”

Taylor is hopeful the number of laps being contested in feature races will be increased with the anticipated 18-to-20 cars at every event.

Evan Hammond, who finished second in the point standings was excited to see new tracks added to the schedule in 2026. “I'm excited to go to Lincoln Park to get on a new dirt track,” he said. “I'm also looking forward to Toledo with the sprint cars. I'm happy to see that a dirt track still has a place with the Kenyon Midget Series,” Hammond added.

He was also pleased with the return of the series to Berlin Raceway and Owosso in Michigan.

“The Speedrome is good to have on the schedule because it has always been an important track for the series,” Hammond said. “I believe that Anderson is the number one track in terms of competition and we put on a good show for the fans.”

He is also looking forward to a return to the Sportsdrome where he recorded his first career feature win.

Rookie of the Year Andrew Wall is looking forward to a second full-time season with the series and his goal is to finish in the top three in points after coming home in fourth last year.

“I'm excited to go to Lincoln Park,” the Ohio native said. “I'm looking forward to the Sportsdrome where I set the track record and Owosso where I had fast time.”

Wall said his team always provided him with a fast car in 2024 and is hoping to get that first feature win with the series.

“I think my experience will help when we go back to some of the tracks this year,” he said.

Ryan Shilkuski, who placed eighth in the standings and earned two hard charger awards last year, is also looking forward to the two races at Lincoln Park.

“I think Lincoln Park is a bigger Circle City,” he said. “We should put on a pretty good show there.”

Like Wall, Shilkuski believes he will run better at tracks the series visited in 2024 and 2025.

Shilkuski believes the team has figured out the qualifying and race set-up for Anderson Speedway and is excited about the race at Toledo and the return to the Sportsdrome.

———-

The 2026 Kenyon Midget Series season kicks off on April 18th at Anderson Speedway. Click here to see the full season schedule.