5/15/2025
Bloomington Speedway
Ryan Tusing: This Could Be the Start of Something Big
As the Mary M’s Flowers winner’s wreath was placed around his neck after the Larry Rice Classic at Bloomington Speedway the expression on Ryan Tusing’s face belied a feeling of both elation and relief. The 2024 season has not been kind to a former track champion. “Last year was so bad,” he recalled, “I wasn’t even sure I was going to race again. I was so disheartened. Then we began the year at Putnamville, and I flipped right off the bat and then the car shut off for no reason in the feature . . . such is racing.”
Tusing has clawed his way to the top of the sport and also understands what it is like to have to dust yourself off and get off of the mat one more time. His resolve reflects his upbringing. Born to parents Bill and Laura, he says his father “is solely responsible for getting him into racing.” Bill is a firefighter by vocation, but his mechanical acumen was developed early in life. “He was one of three brothers, and they were very poor,” Ryan says, “so if you wanted a car to drive you found one in the weeds somewhere and got it going.”
As for racing Tusing says his grandfather may have given it go, but it really began with his father. “He met Charlie Belden and Matt Hamilton at church,” he recalls, “and they got him involved. He raced stock cars, bombers, and enduros. You know the deal. You got an old Monte Carlo, knocked the windows out and you were ready. I saw a video of his first race. I think he made a lap, spun, and got taken out on the backstretch.” It didn’t take much for Bill to realize that his greatest contribution to racing might be someplace other than behind the wheel.
Passing the baton to his son, when Ryan turned eight he received a quarter midget as a birthday present. Even at this level there are haves and have nots. They loaded their car on an open trailer and pointed their Dodge Caravan to Terre Haute and once to Mini-Indy at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. He reports that in those days he “wasn’t close to being competitive,” but nor was he discouraged.
Two years later the Tusing’s decided to go micro sprint racing. Once again they faced long odds. “We had an outdated car,” he says with a laugh, “and this is how underbudgeted we were. We bought a car that was no. 76, so we cut the top off of the 7 and we became no. 16. That was my number for years.” Sticking with it, they decided to upgrade and buy a Stallard chassis. They were in for a rude awakening. “It really wasn’t a Stallard,” Tusing says, “it was a copy and a bad one at that.”
Then Bill Tusing went to work. “My dad cut that chassis apart,” Ryan says, “and he built it like it should have been built. We moved the tubes, the motor plate, and we changed everything.” It paid off. In 2003 Ryan was the champion at Miami County Speedway in Peru and was rated as 10th in the nation. Most important of all he had found victory lane and was convinced he belonged. As he moved up one thing never changed. If they were going to race they did things on their own. “My dad was my engine builder, mechanic, fabricator, and parts repairer,” he says, “In the old days if we broke an axle we just cut it up and rebuilt it because we couldn’t afford a new one.”
By 2006 he was racing two different 600 micros and having success at Linton, Indiana and at the fairgrounds in Salem. It was enough to convince father and son that the time had come to go sprint car racing. They sold their two calls and turned to Bill Babcock.
In short order the Tusing’s realized that they had plunged into the deep end of the pool. “When I got to sprint cars, I realized we didn’t learn near as much as we thought we did from minisprints,” he says, “We really didn’t know how to set up the car.” The three years he spent in traditional 410 sprint cars came during an era where being a novice was not for the meek. “We did one full year at Bloomington,” he recalls, “and at that time you had Jon Stanbrough, Dave Darland, Jeff Bland, and Brady Short every race. It felt like a USAC race every night. We felt like if we just made the feature it was a big deal.” He was nipped for Rookie of the Year honors by Jesse Cramer, but all felt he an acquitted himself nicely.
Before long other aspects of his life came together. As an outstanding student at Bloomington North High School, he decided to pursue engineering. He first attended Indiana State University but finished his education at what is now referred to as Indiana University – Indianapolis. The most important outcome of his time in Terre Haute came outside the classroom. He had met racer Adam Nigg while competing with the MSCS series, and when both landed at ISU it made sense that they would help each other navigate a new world. One day Nigg invited Ryan to an outing, and it was there that he met his future wife Leigh Ann.
With his degree secured it was time to think about his future. There were moments where racing a sprint car wasn’t all that fun. When they struggled it was easy for the father and son relationship to get strained. When an engine detonated Tusing was prescient enough to understand it was a financial burden on his family. Stepping away from sprint cars he raced a hornet with a friend and dipped back into minisprints. Then in 2012 and 2013 he didn’t race at all, moved to Santa Claus, Indiana, and avoided the racetrack at all costs. Sometimes you just have to go cold turkey.
Ryan Tusing’s racing career could have easily been over at this point. It was here that a series of circumstances and a new racing series conspired to get him back where he belonged. When conversations about introducing 305 sprint cars at Bloomington Speedway escalated Bill Tusing’s ears perked up. He had chatted with his long-time friend and then Bloomington Speedway general manager Matt Hamilton and decided this was a viable option to go racing. Bill’s father had passed and there was a little extra cash that could be put toward a new racing venture.
“My dad was ready to get back into it,” Ryan says, “and he asked if I would drive the car if he built one. I said I would as long as it was fun.” This time things were a bit different. They purchased some wings from Bill Babcock, bought top quality shocks, and got a new injection system from Tim Engler. The result? “It was the best car I had in 20 years of racing,” Ryan admits, “we went to Paragon and dropped a cylinder, so we didn’t get to practice. Then we went to Bloomington for my first real time in a wing car. We were fast out of the gate and dominated the feature. It was like, wow. Maybe we can do this. I was a feature winner at Bloomington which was a lifetime dream. When we won that feature I was re-hooked.”
In his new surroundings, he was consistently up front and loving it. Then a chance meeting added a new twist to his career. In 2015 Kevin Huntley famously scored his final win at Bloomington and celebrated by tossing most of his gear into the crowd. The next day Tusing had a chance to spend time with one of the all-time greats. One of Huntley’s best friends was Devin Turpin, and it so happened that Turpin’s son Travis and Tusing were best friends. While attending Travis’ wedding reception he was stunned to see Kevin Huntley walk through the door. In a flash Ryan and Leigh Ann were sharing a table with Kevin and Lisa Huntley where the conversation took a predictable turn. When the night was over Kevin casually mentioned that anytime Tusing needed a hand to give him a call. Ryan didn’t need to be asked twice. Tusing was slated to race at Chandler, Indiana and called Huntley with his predicament. He had previously won at Chandler, but the next time he went he was out to lunch. Huntley agreed to make the trip.
This one encounter proved to be a game changer. “I learned so much in that one night.” Ryan says, “he would ask me why do you to this or why do you do that? From then on he was at all of our races. His theory was, and it was a great one is that most 305’s were similar to the cars he ran in the 1990s. So, we did things like he did at that time.”
In 2017 Tusing began in his racecar, but Huntley built one of his own. “He bought the best of everything,” Ryan says. “we had a J & J car which was phenomenal, and we were always fast. I don’t think we were ever outside the top five. The result was the Bloomington and Indiana 305 title. He continued to drive for Kevin for the next two years, but it all became a bit too much. He would travel from his home and spend every weekend in Bloomington racing and working on the car. With a wife, and his daughter Ryleigh who in his words, “is involved in everything,” he just needed a break.
Enter Tanner Clark. Clark shared that he was building a second car and would only enter it at Bloomington. Tusing was in. “All I have to do with Tanner is bring my helmet,” he says, “we have fun as a team and keep it loose. I like it that way.” Sure, but he still likes to win. Which made 2024 so disappointing. He thought it might be wise to get back to basics. “Last season I found a J & J chassis that was close to the one I used to race,” he says, “and I was so excited but everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.” It was here that he realized he needed to take one more step in 2025. “I went back to the same set up that Huntley and I figured out,” he says, “and it obviously worked.” As for a prediction, he says. “We are going to be very tough this year.”
The goals are now modest. He would love to race for the Bloomington Speedway title with the Riverway Plumbing and Mechanical 305s but he won’t hit it nearly as hard as he did in the past. The only 305 race he missed in the first three years of the discipline’s existence was because of the birth of his daughter. With a career as an engineer, a wife who teaches second grade at Otwell-Miller Academy, and an active child, he realizes there is more to life than going in circles. That was brought home to him years ago when he travelled to Africa to build a school complex for the Builders Without Borders program. It provided the kind of perspective that he deems invaluable and leads one to view things in a different light. Nonetheless, when Ryan Tusing pulls on his helmet he is 100% racer with an overriding desire to get to the front.
Tommy Kelly Kfmedia photos
Article Credit: Patrick Sullivan
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