Ayrton Houk returning to full-time competition

Ayrton Houk claimed victory at Berlin Raceway in 2025. (Aaron Skillman photo)

By Ken de la Bastide

Former Kenyon Midget Series champion Ayrton Houk is returning to full-time competition in 2026 with the expanded team organized by his father.

Kevin Houk will be fielding three cars in the Kenyon Midget Series in 2026 for Houk, returning driver Evan Patton and rookie contender Hunter Peri.

The team is also putting together an All-Star Midget for that series season.

In only two starts in 2025, Houk won the feature event at Berlin Raceway in Michigan where he won a heat race and was the race's hard charger.

Houk was the 2021 Kenyon Midget Series champion and has eight career feature wins, which ties him for seventh on the all-time list.

“I have been doing a lot of different things,” Houk said leading up to the 2026 season. “I'm cutting back on some racing and want to stay sharp in a race car.”

He will also be competing in the All Star Midget series.

“My dad wanted a way for his drivers to move up the development ladder,” Ayrton said.

Houk is looking forward to returning to Anderson Speedway and the dirt track at Lincoln Park.

“I love Anderson,” he said. “I'm looking forward to the two tracks in Michigan which are high banked and fast.”

He said the three-car team will allow the team to work on different set-ups and share information.

Patton is very excited about the upcoming season and looking for a lot of good races.

“I want to run up front,” he said. “I improved a lot over the past season. With Ayrton coming back his experience will help the team at all the tracks. With three cars we should be competitive.”

Patton is looking forward to returning to the two Michigan tracks at Berlin and Owosso.