7/9/2025
Bloomington Speedway
Tyson Lady Movin' On Up
One of the most underappreciated predictors of success in life is the ability to engage in effective self-assessment. We all fool ourselves at times, but when our personal inventory of strengths and weaknesses falls wide of the mark trouble could be at hand. In the case of 18 year-old Tyson Lady he came to one important conclusion early. “I wasn’t very good at sports,” he says with a laugh, “I tried baseball, but I wasn’t very good at throwing or catching.”
With traditional recreational activities ruled out, Tyson was a young man in need of a hobby. Luckily, his older sister Miranda came to the rescue. “She was big into racing,” he recalls,” she would go to Putnamville, and when I went I liked watching the sprint cars. She was the one who told me about an arrive and drive program at the Terre Haute Quarter Midget Association.”
His parents, Mike and Chessie didn’t object because, after all, there was no harm in giving it a try. “I liked it right away,” Tyson says, “and so I tried out to get the scholarship car and I got that. I did pretty well that first year, but when we got our own car for my second year we kind of struggled.” In his third season in quarter midget racing his fortunes changed dramatically. The turnaround was a function of good help and an upgrade in equipment. “I met a couple of guys -- Jack Parsley and Mick Dugger,” he says, “and I raced one of Robbie Stanley’s old cars – the Stanley Warhawk. There were five built before he died. Nick was our engine guy, he could tear an engine down an rebuild it and it would be the fastest thing out there.” With all the right pieces in place Lady nailed down a championship in three straight years.
With his apprenticeship served in 2023 Lady moved to the 305 sprint cars. As a Fillmore, Indiana resident and a 2025 graduate of South Putnam High School he considered Lincoln Park Speedway his home track. However, Mother Nature dictated that his sprint car debut came at Bloomington. It was Tyson’s first trip to the red clay. “My first race I qualified pretty decent,” he recalls, “and I started in the back of my heat race, and I think I actually passed a car. That put me smack dab in the middle of my first feature. I can tell you my mom was freaking out.”
Not surprisingly there was a lot to learn. Father and son were feeling their way, when advice came from an unexpected source. “A lot of people helped us out,” Tyson says, “but Gary Hayden has been a really big help. I couldn’t have done any of this without him. I think it was my second or third race at Putnamville and he was in the stands. I had never met him. I went up to the grandstands and he says, ‘Man you are blowing your tires off. You aren’t going anywhere. You are coming out of the corner and just opening the throttle, and your tires are swelling up double the size. He came down to the house one day to help us set it up, taught us how to clean the bars and gave me advice about driving, stagger and everything. He told me to squeeze the throttle like there was an egg under it.”
He was a good listener. In 2023 Tyson was named the Indiana IMCA RaceSaver Rookie of the Year and took his first laps in a steel block sprint car. Not sitting still, in 2024 he was Rookie of the Year in Steel Block Sprint cars. Everything suggests he is poised to take another step forward in 2025. This prediction is based, in part, on what he is doing outside the racetrack. This year he took a position with Kyle Rogers and Midwest Dyno Services and also works part time building shocks with sprint car racer Jake Swanson. The bottom line is he is gaining a boatload of useful knowledge. “Working for Kyle Rogers has really helped me understand how the car runs,” he notes, “and Jake has helped me understand the chassis and how the shocks work.” Working at Midwest Dyno he has rubbed shoulders with people like Tyler Courtney and Justin Grant. In a surprise move Grant secured Tyson’s help on the USAC Eastern Storm tour. It was a productive trip that saw Justin win three times and take the overall Eastern Storm title.
There are already signs that lessons are being learned, and we are witnessing a young driver on the verge of a serious breakthrough. There have been two milestones achieved already this season. On the negative side he has ended on his lid for the first time in his young career. Lady was at Bloomington Speedway and the start of the night portended great things were in store. Recalling the moment he says, “I was in second and the leader went out. That was the best run I had ever had, and I had a chance of winning and then I cut a tire. We had to pull off in the work area and I thought I was done because the race went green. Then it went red right away, but we didn’t have a mule, so my dad ran down and got a tire and a wheel wrench. He didn’t even grab a jack and everyone in the 305s came over and lifted up the car. That’s because this is a really good group. I was mad and I know I need to work on keeping my cool, but I got up on top and passed about six cars in two laps. Then it went red again. We stopped and Justin Matthews yells at me during the red, ‘Tyson, you have that thing hooked up!” I was like, I know. Then we went green again and I started on the top and was busting the cushion.” Unfortunately, he finally got a bit crossed up and flopped on his side.
Getting right back on the horse at Lincoln Park Speedway Lady nailed down his first ever heat race win. He’s pleased with his progress. “I’m very happy,” he admits, “I think we have only finished out of the top ten once this year. I am getting better as a driver and me, and my dad are working well together and getting better at setting up the car.”
Is winning a feature this year within his reach? “Where we are sitting now I think so,” he says, “but we have to stay consistent. We are also a pretty low budget team so if anything happens, like crashing a car, that will put us out for a while. We have been showing up for every race and that helps our point position.”
His goals are realistic, and it begins with getting a chance in a full-throated 410 sprint car. “I would love to get in someone else’s car with more horsepower,” he says, “but I need someone that knows what they are doing. I’m still too new to it, but I’m figuring it out. It would still help to have someone there that has more experience.” Long term he would love to get a chance in USAC, maybe move to the High Limit series, and the ultimate dream would be NASCAR.
Those goals are for tomorrow. He’s young and in so many ways he is living a dream. His life is racing, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I probably put in a 14 hour day just working on racecars,” he says, “I love doing what I am doing. It doesn’t feel like work.” The future looks bright for Tyson Lady. He is one of the new breed in the Riverway Plumbing and Mechanical Huntley’s Hoosier Wing Sprint Car Series who appears ready to make their mark in the sport.
Tommy Kelly photos
Article Credit: Patrick Sullivan
Article Media
