Huggler captures elusive championship

By Ken de la Bastide

When the 2024 Kenyon Midget Series started at Anderson Speedway in April, Ryan Huggler didn't expect to be competing for the championship. Huggler opened the season with a sixth place finish in the opening race but following a fourth place run and another sixth place finish at Anderson was in the point lead. A lead he wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the year in the process picking up four wins, four K&K Marketing qualifying awards, three KRJ Race Products heat wins and three Advanced Racing Suspensions Hard Charger awards.

Huggler closed out the year with three consecutive wins at Paragon and Anderson Speedways.

“Winning the championship feels amazing, especially after struggling quite a bit the past few years and not winning a race since 2018 at US 24 Speedway,” he said. “That first win of the season at Kalamazoo was huge for me and gave me a lot of confidence and momentum moving forward through the season.

“Finally getting that dirt win I’ve been chasing, and then to pretty much sweep the double header at Anderson for the final race, I don’t think I could have finished off my championship run any better,” Huggler said.

The Indiana racer has been competing with the Kenyon Midget for the past 11 years having started at the age of 12.
“As for 2025, I don’t have any concrete plans yet, but considering getting a dirt car to run dirt full time,” Huggler said. “I may run a few Kenyon races here and there, but not planning on running the full season necessarily.

“You never know though because if you told me at the start of the season I was gonna win the championship this year, I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” he said.