Eddie Tafoya Jr. Heading to This Week’s Sprint Car Portion of Indiana Midget Week - Speedway Digest

A few hours after tangling with the wall at the Ultimate Sprint Car Series race presented by Inland Rigging at the Ventura Raceway, Eddie Tafoya Jr. was at Los Angeles International Airport and hopping on a flight for this week’s Indiana Midget Week. Tuesday through Friday, the talented driver was slated to contest the sprint car portions of the four shows before returning to California Saturday morning for the Avanti Windows and Doors USAC/CRA Series race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway.

EC74A422-534D-4F16-8EBD-CEB1F79365E6.jpgPhoto courtesy of AJ Johnson/P1 Racing Images.

Tafoya’s trip to the Midwest was slated to kick off tonight, June 4th, at the Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis. Unfortunately, rain washed out the event. So, on Wednesday, Tafoya and his crew will head 90 miles southeast to the new surface at the Lawrenceburg Speedway. Thursday will feature a longer drive to Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway, which is 140 miles northwest. Friday’s journey from Putnamville to Bloomington Speedway will be a mere 40 miles.

While Tafoya is based in Chino Hills, California, he is no stranger to the three Indiana tracks he will be competing on this week. Since 2021, he has raced three times at Lawrenceburg, two times at Bloomington, and two times at Lincoln Park. Last year, during the grueling and highly competitive Indiana Sprint Week, Tafoya sat in the main events at Lincoln Park and Bloomington, finishing 18th and 19th, respectively.

After the race at Bloomington, Tafoya will embark on the longest portion of the trip. He will fly 2000 miles from Indianapolis to Los Angeles. Once he lands in L.A., he will hop into a car and make the 113-mile drive to Bakersfield for the USAC/CRA race at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway on Saturday night.

Last Saturday, while Tafoya was racing in the Tom and Christy Dunkel Inland Rigging #17F at Ventura, his father, Eddie Sr., who was the 2016 Perris Auto Speedway Senior Sprint Car Champion, was hauling the family-owned #51T car to Indiana for this week’s races.

At last week’s USCS race in Ventura, Tafoya, 26, started in the fifth spot and finished fourth in the third heat race. That put him on the pole for the 30-lap main event. On the first two tries to start the main event, Tafoya raced into the lead. However, the first time the race began, it was red-flagged due to a crash in turn one. The second time the green flag signaled the start of the action, cars got together just past the start-finish line, resulting in a yellow flag.

On the third try to get the race underway, Tafoya again was the first car across the starting line. However, when he got to the first corner, something in his steering broke, and he became a passenger. He slid across the track, got into the wall, and tipped over. He was not injured, but the car was done for the night.

Friendly Tafoya is always happy to meet the fans in the pits after every race. He will sign autographs, pose for photos, and sell his beautiful 2024 team shirts. For fans who cannot attend the races, the team shirts are available at www.specialty-fasteners.com.

Fans can follow Tafoya on Instagram @eddietafoya51.

Eddie Tafoya PR