Lone Jack, Mo: Braydon Cromwell got strapped into his BCR #4 non winged sprint car last Friday night at Electric City Speedway. Razor sharp focused he would need to advance thru a field that would include in front of him fellow Lone Jack racer Jack Wagner and 2021 MWRA Champ Kory Schudy. While beside him Quinton Benson, and behind him Wesley Smith, and defending MWRA Champion Wyatt Burks were ready to pounce if even the slightest mistake was made on a technical track ravaged by strong winds earlier in the day on a crisp Spring evening.
When the dust settled however it was the 19 year-old racer Cromwell standing in victory lane to celebrate his first ever Wholesale Batteries USAC MWRA Sprint Car win with his father Mike Cromwell and his grandfather Lee Cromwell, after borrowing a motor from Rick Horn Racing also in the house for this historic occasion.
A moment like this seems to come out of nowhere when it happens, but in reality for the
Cromwell Racing family this is just the latest chapter in a odyssey that can be traced all the way back to 1946 when a Cromwell first appeared in open wheel racing to compete in midgets. That driver, Glen Cromwell of Kansas City, Braydon’s great great uncle would race midgets in the Heartland over the next three seasons, hoping to someday reach the big time. During that period several midget racing stars would later find glory at Indianapolis in the 1950’s including Johnnie Parsons, Bill Vukovich, and Sam Hanks.
Unfortunately for Cromwell however he would lose his life at Davenport, Iowa on August 13th, 1948, racing a different midget than he usually ran the #100 of Bud Doty, father of future midget racing super star Kevin Doty. With the passing of Glen Cromwell, the racing mantle went to Ruby Cromwell, Braydon’s Great Grandmother, who raced jalopies at Olympic Stadium in Kansas City during the 1950’s.
Over the years that followed her son Lee, and grandson Mike would also catch the racing bug competing primarily in motorcycle events before great grandson Braydon would start his racing journey at age seven riding BMX Bikes. Braydon throughout his youth would then find himself in motorcycles like his grandfather, and father before he switched to four wheeled machines.
Cromwell then moved over to Go Karts, followed by Junior Sprints, Micros, Mini Sprints, Sprint Cars, and midgets racing for the before mentioned Rick Horn, and Jay Mounce. Braydon on any machine driven under the Cromwell banner throughout the seasons has used the number #4. At the time Braydon says it was “cool” to use the number and attached no other significance to it. (More on this later)
The number #4 over the years since then has been in use when the young Lone Jack racer won multiple titles in the Jayhusker Micro Series winning championships in both non winged and winged outlaw. And later on with his sprint car when he took his first victory ever in 2019 at the Missouri State Fairgrounds at age 15.
Since then from 2020 thru 2022 Braydon would move to Indiana to race over the Summers at tracks that have included Bloomington, Lawrenceburg, Kokomo, Gas City, Paragon, North Vernon, and Terre Haute. A true “Baptism Under Fire” as the teenage Cromwell was only 16 when he first went back during the Covid season of 2020 to compete weekly against Indiana’s best non winged chauffeurs.
Much has happened since then according to Cromwell as he as matured from a boy into man. The first was how the competition, and the number of races he was able to get seat time in running in the Hoosier State advanced his skill set both as a driver, and mechanic. Those advancements were on display the few times he raced with the MWRA last season finishing 3rd place at US 36 behind Smith, and Cody Baker in June of 2022. Followed by a career best (at the time) 2nd in September behind Luke Howard, and in front of Smith, before winning his first race in the series last week. While off the track, marrying his next-door neighbor Rachel Holsten, and getting a job as a tech at Aristocrat Motors.
After winning last Friday night at Butler, Missouri’s Electric City Speedway Braydon Cromwell wants more! More victories, and more championships, specifically this season, the 2023 Wholesale Batteries USAC MWRA Title, and with it the $10,000 first place prize!
Numbers that are important to Cromwell, including his next victory, which according to Braydon will be his 200th all-time. While honoring the legacy and memories of those in the family that have passed including his grandmother “Nani” and his great-great uncle Glen Cromwell, who was the first of “4” generations of Cromwell's to race.
Which is also significant to the racing legacy of this family after they found out in a chance meeting with Bud Doty at the races a few years back that Glen on his last night of racing ever was driving a midget with…..the number “4” on the tail tank.
Join us this Saturday night at the Open Wheel Classic @ I-70 Motorsports Park in Odessa, Missouri, as the USAC MWRA Sprint Cars face off with the POWRi WAR Sprints for the first time ever in race number #2 of the 2023 season. Photos courtesy of John Lee and Ryan Black, as well as Mike Cromwell and Lee Cromwell
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- administrator on Apr 27, 2023
- Article Date: 4/27/2023 by Ray Cunningham