FAIRBURY, Neb. - This weekend, Jefferson County Speedway will take center stage in the world of midget racing for the sixth annual USAC Midwest Midget Championships.

A series that’s held the names of motorsports greats like Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon, winning in the series is a high honor in the dirt racing world. The 1/5 of a mile track in Fairbury is the favorite for 16-year-old driver Jade Avedisian.

“It’s my favorite because it’s super small, so it races really good,” Avedisian said. “At a lot of tracks, once you get up towards the top, it can be hard to get away from people, but this place, you can turn down away from people so I think it makes the racing better than a lot of other tracks.”

Thomas Meseraull is also a fan of the track, not only because he’s a prior winner, but the fan support as well.

“I love every track we go to that we win at,” Meseraull said. “When you win a race, you tend to really like that place, because every track is different. There’s always a lot of people in the stands and it’s fun to see different parts of the country while traveling like we do.”

Jefferson County is classified by many drivers as a short track, which Meseraull says is an advantage to the younger drivers.

“There’s a lot of good young talent in the field… The younger talent is used to a lot of these littler tracks,” Meseruall said. “That can make it tougher on a guy like me, I want to go to the big tracks, I want to hang it out on the big tracks, but it’s fun it’s a track that keeps everybody up on the wheel.”

An example of that younger talent is Avedisian. At 16 years old, she became the first female driver to ever finish at the podium in a Chili Bowl qualifying event. Now, she continues her pursuit of becoming the first female to win a USAC national event.

“It would mean the world to me,” Avedisian said. “I’m going to give it all I got, I just need to put a whole night together, I know my team will bring me a real fast Toyota Racing Mobil 71, so, it’s just going to be up to me.”

Races are set for Friday and Saturday night, with gates to the track opening at 5:00, qualifying at 6:00, before racing begins at 7:00.