Tecco taking next career step

(Aaron Skillman photo)

By Ken de la Bastide

Tanner Tecco is joining the growing list of Kenyon Midget competitors taking their racing to the next level. Tecco, 20, completed his second full-season with the series last year placing third in the final point standings.

During the year he scored his first career feature win at Circle City Raceway and finished in the top ten during ten of the 12 races. Tecco closed out the 2023 season with a second place finish at Anderson Speedway.

Last year Jackson Macenko advanced to a full-time pavement sprint car ride earning rookie of the year honors with the 500 Sprint Car Tour.

Former series champion Trey Osborne competed in a dirt sprint car last year and this year is campaigning with the USAC National Sprints and Silver Crown divisions.

“We bought a 410 winged sprint car,” Tecco said. “Dirt racing is more fun and there are more local winged sprint car tracks close to where we live.” He plans to run at Freemont and Attica during the 2024 season.

Tecco in the four dirt races recorded his first career win and had three podium finishes.

“Not necessarily,” he said of the move to dirt tracks and wasn't adverse to running pavement. “Dirt just peaked my interest more than asphalt.”

Tecco said campaigning with the Kenyon Midget Series for two years was a valuable learning experience. “The racing was really good and close,” he said. “You learned how to set up a car and how the midgets worked on dirt and asphalt. You learned to run fast and clean,” Tecco said. “It helped when it came to learning throttle control.”

Currently he is working as a mechanic at a dealership in Ohio and helping his father, Mike, coach a high school wrestling team.

His sister Taylor is considering running some road courses with the Sports Car Club of America.

“The Kenyon Midget Series is great because you got to meet a lot of cool people and was a good learning experience,” Tecco said.