When Hayden Reinbold set quick time for the first time in his USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship career during Thursday night’s Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying session, that particular feat made everyone on the grounds of Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway stand up and take notice.

As it turned out, it was just a harbinger of more good things to come on this most magical night for the Gilbert, Arizona racer.

In what was his 101st career USAC National Midget feature start, Reinbold sliced a path to the lead from his sixth place starting position, taking the lead by lap eight, then running away with it in his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical – Mesilla Valley Transportation/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.

That is until his ride began to run out of fuel on the 25th and final lap of the opening night feature at the 43rd 4-Crown Nationals Presented by NKTELCO.

As Reinbold dove to the bottom between turns three and four and onto the straightaway in order to take the shortest way around the 1/2-mile dirt oval, his car sputtered across the line 0.336 seconds ahead of Kevin Thomas Jr. No extra style points needed.

Long at last, Reinbold had become a first-time USAC National Midget feature winner after six consecutive seasons of trying. In doing so, Reinbold became just the third driver to earn his first career USAC National Midget main event win at Eldora, joining Jack Hewitt (1987) and Danny Stratton (2005).

“It’s pretty freaking cool to get your first quick time and feature win on the same night,” Reinbold stated. “Not only that, but at Eldora!”

To put Reinbold’s achievement into perspective, in his first 100 career USAC National Midget starts, he had earned just two top-five finishes consisting of a fourth at Missouri’s Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in July 2025 and a fifth in June 2024 at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg.

This will surely be a night in which Reinbold will fondly remember forever. But perhaps it’s just the beginning of more to come for the 21-year-old. But this particular one nearly ended in heartache if it were to go even one lap longer.

As Reinbold breezingly coasted across the finish line with just enough juice, he had earned his place as the second first-time USAC National Midget winer of the 2025 campaign, joining Drake Edwards.

“I got pretty nervous there,” Reinbold admitted. “We were chugging along at the end, and it just stopped running, but I think we barely got it.”

Results USAC National Midgets 4-Crown Nationals Thursday At Eldora Speedway

1. Hayden Reinbold (6)

 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1)

3. Jakeb Boxell (9)

 4. Justin Grant (7)

5. Jacob Denney (4)

 6. Steven Snyder Jr. (8)

7. Logan Seavey (5)

8. Gavin Miller (10)

9. Cannon McIntosh (11)

10. Drake Edwards (2)

11. Daison Pursley (3)

12. Cale Coons (14)

13. Ronnie Gardner (17)

14. Tim Kent (21)

15. Cord Kisthardt (19)

16. Gunnar Setser (13)

17. Zach Wigal (12)

 18. Kale Drake (15)

19. Chase Stockon (16)

20. Braxton Cummings (18)

21. Mack Leopard (20). NT