Cox Soaks In Midwest Thunder Title In Senior Honda

Landon Cox won the Senior Honda division championship with the Midwest Thunder Quarter Midget Racing Series this year.

MONROE, Ga. – Landon Cox recently celebrated a Senior Honda division championship following the Midwest Thunder Quarter Midget Racing Series season finale at Kokomo (Ind.) Quarter Midget Club.

The Sept. 7-8 weekend marked a coronation of sorts for Cox, who finished third in the last Senior Honda feature of the six-race season to officially clinch the title by 14 total points over runner-up Jax Floyd.

With a lowest-score drop rule factored in, Cox’s final championship margin over Floyd was 10, 270-260.

It was the cornerstone of a year that saw Cox compete in four different classes – Senior Honda, Senior Animal, Light 160, and Light World Formula – with the Midwest Thunder Series.

Cox nearly took the Senior Animal crown, running in the position he needed to be in on track late in the final feature, but encountered trouble late and had to restart 11th for a three-lap dash to the finish.

He ended up third across the finish line, but the result left Cox second to champion Weston Kudner in the final Senior Animal standings, nine points back once the drop race was factored in.

Cox also finished third in Light 160 points and tied for fourth in Light World Formula points.

Making those accomplishments sweeter still was the fact that three of the four classes featured more than 25 drivers that competed in at least one race – including

While a racer always wants even more, four top-five points finishes was as much – if not more – than Cox and his family could have hoped for, given the 10-year-old racer had never seen four of the six tracks on the schedule before this year.

“I think we might have been even more excited than he was,” admitted Landon’s father Danny. “That’s Landon, though … he doesn’t really show excitement. He’s pretty even-keeled. Now you’ll see it if he’s mad, but he was honestly focused on the rest of his races that day to where [the championship] didn’t really set in until later on.

“It’s a big deal. Midwest Thunder is an extremely competitive series and for Landon to earn a championship there at just 10 years old … we had an extremely successful run as a team this year.”

In the six Senior Honda races alone, Landon earned five top-three feature finishes, highlighted by a win at Miami Valley QM Club in Xenia, Ohio. His worst finish was seventh at Buckeye QMRC in Obetz, Ohio.

Out of his 24 total Midwest Thunder starts across the four classes, the younger Cox made 22 of the 24 A-Features, with 16 top fives and no finishes outside the top 10.

He earned one feature win apiece in Light 160 (Mini Indy), Senior Animal (Mini Indy), and Senior Honda (Miami Valley). He also won eight heat races and one lower main.

It was a banner campaign that “started as a learning year,” according to Danny Cox, and ended up being so much more.

“I wasn’t expecting Landon to go out and win a championship his first year in senior [classes],” the proud father noted. “I don’t think any of us were … from Andy [Loden] at Ultimate QM all the way down. When you consider he was the youngest driver in any of the senior classes – he’s in fifth grade racing against kids that are two and three years older – it’s a huge deal, in our eyes, what he was able to do.

“We’re excited right now and looking forward to what another year of experience will do for him.”

Landon Cox would like to thank his parents, Danny and Jessica Cox, as well as Race Face Brand Development, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Ultimate QM, Baker Racing Engines, Max Papis Innovations, and Hot Rods by Buff for their support of his quarter midget racing endeavors.

Cox isn’t done racing just yet this season. He’ll be back in action behind the wheel of a Bandolero car on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway.

About Landon Cox

Landon Cox is a nine-year-old aspiring racer who currently competes in INEX-sanctioned Bandolero cars and in the Senior Honda, Light 160, Senior Animal, and Light World Formula quarter midget divisions with the NASCAR Youth Series (formerly the USAC.25 Series).

From Monroe, Ga., Cox grew up in the shadows of NASCAR’s Atlanta Motor Speedway and hopes to grow his racing career into stock car racing over the next few years. One of his career highlights to date is a 2022 national quarter midget victory at historic Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway.

For more information on Landon Cox, visit his website at https://landoncoxracing.com/.