Shilkuski looking to hone skills with Kenyon Midgets

Ryan Shilkuski in his national midget at IRP in 2023.

By Ken de la Bastide

Veteran midget competitor Ryan Shilkuski is coming to the Kenyon Midget Series with a desire to race more and improve his skills. Shilkuski, 28, has experience in a full-sized Midget having raced at Indianapolis Raceway Park several times, Anderson Speedway and the Showdown at the Las Vegas Bull Ring last year.

He has purchased the Kenyon Midget campaigned by Taylor Tecco the past two years with the series.

“We learned a lot,” he said of competing in the full-sized Midget. “We struggled with the reliability of the car. It seemed we always had some problems at the end of the day.”

Shilkuski is planning to run the entire 2024 Kenyon Midget Series schedule.

Like many drivers he would like to eventually race a Sprint car.

“I like the reliability of the car,” he said. “I'm hoping to be competitive and it shouldn't be as competitive as the full-size Midget events.”

Shilkuski said the Kenyon Midgets was the next logical step. “It was the best option to do more racing,” he said. With the anticipated four races on dirt ovals, Shilkuski said he feels experience in the past on dirt tracks will be a bonus during the year.

“I used to work for ARCA, so right now I'm really looking forward to the races at Berlin,” he said. “I always wanted to race there. My goal is I want to train on different tracks and surfaces and to hone my skills.”

Shilkuski said he attended his first race when he was just four months old and that his dad was a racer. “I always wanted to race,” he said. “I was a full-time racer until recently when I took a job at Allison Transmission.”

Shilkuski grew up in Illinois and is now living in Brownsburg. He recently got engaged to Kaitlyn McCoy and his future wife is supportive of his desire to race. He said she was a Jeff Gordon fan.