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Thorson Closes USAC Midget Season the Same Way He Started it: In Victory Lane
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
THORSON CLOSES USAC MIDGET SEASON THE SAME WAY HE STARTED IT: IN VICTORY LANE
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Merced, California (November 21, 2020).........From Ocala, Fla. to Merced, Calif., the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget season concluded in the same manner it began - with Tanner Thorson's presence in victory lane.
Of all his great performances in 2020, Thorson very well may have saved his best for last, going tit for tat in a racelong clash between he, Tyler Courtney and Buddy Kofoid that saw each driver rotate their turns as the race leader in the final six laps of Saturday night's season finale at California's Merced Speedway.
Thorson (Minden, Nev.) led the final four to earn his season-leading seventh win, etching his name into the record books as just the sixth driver, and the first in 20 years, to win both the first and last race during a USAC National Midget season. Thorson won the season opener in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla.
Parnelli Jones (1964), Rich Vogler (1984), Billy Boat (1996), Jason Leffler (1999), Tony Stewart (2000) and now Thorson (2020) all share the distinction while Thorson also equaled the legendary A.J. Foyt with his 20th career series triumph, placing him 33rd all-time.
The victory for Thorson aboard his Tom Malloy/Trench Shoring - Ed Pink Racing Engines - Rodela Fabrication/King/Ed Pink Toyota was worth $5,000 after sponsor Elk Grove Ford elevated the winner's share by an extra $2,000 earlier in the evening. To earn the accolades, the "w" and the money, Thorson affixed his focus on the basics, the mental aspect of racing, that he felt he had strayed from in recent outings.
"I just tried to keep my composure and hit my marks," Thorson explained. "It's something that I feel like, over the last couple of races, I've lacked - hitting my marks perfectly and making sure I get through the turn right. I feel like my car has been so fast here lately, I kind of went away from concentrating on hitting my lines and making it manageable. It's something I knew I needed to focus on and make work."
Thorson went to work on his 30-lap mission from the outside of the second row, but trouble ensued mid-pack just as the wheels were set in motion with Chase Johnson taking a lap one, turn one tumble that also collected Zeb Wise. Johnson's first ride in the Bundy Built Honda, normally piloted by Ethan Mitchell, came about due to extensive damage received in a Friday night crash at Merced in his regular ride, the Tom Malloy-owned No. 25c. Johnson was credited with the 24th finishing position while Wise restarted and finished 19th.
Pole sitter Kofoid grabbed the top spot on the complete restart, a lead which he held for the first 14 laps despite repeated shots fired from outside front row starter Courtney while Thorson would soon enter the fray, finding his rhythm right around the inside berm.
As Kofoid ringed the topside as smooth as silk, the bottom-feeding Thorson found a sudden surge exiting the fourth turn to close within a wheel of Kofoid at the stripe on the 14th lap, then completed his overtake of the position off turn two moments later on the 15th trip.
A bump of the turn two bottom berm on the 18th circuit allowed Kofoid to break free of Thorson for the time being and open up a five car length lead while Thorson briefly ventured away from the bottom, tucked in behind Kofoid on the curb.
Meanwhile, Courtney, who had been lying in the weeds in third behind Kofoid and Thorson for the past 15 laps, suddenly decided it was "go time" in this non-stop 30-lapper that went green to checker without a yellow following the complete restart, splitting between Thorson to his left and Kofoid to his right in turn three, with Kofoid ultimately edging Courtney by roughly the thickness of the chrome on his front bumper at the line.
Kofoid's reign at the front was in constant peril, and when Courtney got to the inside of Kofoid midway down the back straightaway, Kofoid attempted to slam the door on Courtney entering turn three with both banging their wheels off one another and Courtney leveraging his way past Kofoid off the fourth corner to position himself into the lead.
Kofoid slid past Courtney a tick later in turn one to regain the position and lead the path on lap 26, then once again, maneuvered his way back to the bottom to prevent the retaliation slider.
As eyes were peeled on Kofoid and Courtney nose-to-tail at the top of turn three on lap 27, Thorson casually snuck by both on the bottom, leading a three-wide formation at the start/finish line with Courtney to his inside and Kofoid to his outside all separated by within a half-car length.
Kofoid tried with all his might to grapple his way back into contention with Thorson while utilizing the top, but Thorson ably obtained a little bit of ground on Kofoid when he disposed of the lapped car of Bryant Wiedeman in turns one and two coming to the white flag.
However, Kofoid tried to one-up Thorson by double-dipping with a slider of both Wiedeman and Thorson in a single turn three slide job, successfully discarding Wiedeman but coming up just short of Thorson, opting to fall in line to regroup and give 'er her one more try.
On the final lap, Kofoid was unable to get close enough to make another attempt at a slider, only enough to nestle right to the rear bumper of Thorson as he raced to the finish line 0.130 sec. ahead of Kofoid with Courtney third, fast qualifier and new one-lap track record holder Kyle Larson fourth and Spencer Bayston fifth for the third consecutive race.
The fast-paced race, which lasted a total time of 7:18.810, was the first and only uninterrupted feature that went green to checkered, from laps 1-30, with the series this season. The five total lead changes were the most in any USAC National Midget feature this season as well.
In the end, it was Thorson, who led three laps midway but settled in and found a sense of serenity to battle his way back to the front, and ultimately, prevail.
"When I started hitting my lines, I was able to run down Buddy (Kofoid) pretty fast," Thorson recalled. "I got mixed up with some lapped cars and kind of messed up on the berm one time, but once I regained my composure, it all fell into place."
It was a 2020 season unlike any other for Thorson, and a season unlike most for any driver in the course of USAC National Midget racing history over the past 65 years. His first four victories this year came for Hayward Motorsports, and since joining Tom Malloy's team in late September, Thorson has reeled off three more wins, making him one of just five drivers to win at least three races for two different teams in a single season in USAC National Midget history.
Parnelli Jones was the first to do the deed in 1963 for Marv Edwards and Howard Linne. Mike McGreevy is the only driver to accomplish the feat twice, first in 1965 for both Jack London and the Kenyon Brothers, then again in 1969 for owners Howard Linne and Ed Lark. Rich Vogler's 1988 championship season include 11 wins for Wilke Racers and five for Jonathan Byrd. Jay Drake had been the most recent with three each for Ralph Potter, then Keith Kunz in 2000.
"At the end of this year, we've been really strong and it all comes down to the people that surround you and who works on the car as well as the shocks and motors," Thorson said. "Having fun and enjoying what you do, that's what drives me harder more than anything, even more than even having the baddest car on the racetrack. It's just the people around you and what you can do with such a great mindset. I've got the best mindset out there as far as winning and having fun at the same time."
Of course, when you're winning, it's much easier to have fun, and in what was Thorson's first ever weekend competing at the 1/4-mile Merced Speedway, his fun included joining several notable lists of achievements while also ending the season on the highest of notes, which gave Thorson an opportunity to think back on those who helped him get to this point.
"I've raced with some pretty awesome people," Thorson reminisced. "I got the majority of my USAC wins with Keith Kunz and that's where I learned the ropes of midget racing. And then, Darren Hagen, I lived with him when I grew up, and he showed me the way around about just how racing was and what I needed to do, and it's all helped pay off in the end."
Buddy Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) finished a highly-impressive Rookie season with the series fourth in the standings in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Mobil 1 - JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota, earning three total victories, two of which came on the November western swing, and rounding up the season with a second-place result. The Healing Tree added a $1,000 for the runner-up, bumping Kofoid's total earnings to $2,500 for the night.
Tyler Courtney came up one point short in the USAC National Midget championship battle to Chris Windom this season, earning five total victories. On Saturday at Merced, the Indianapolis, Ind. native led one lap late and finished third in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Turbo - ZMax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
By pushing off for hot laps earlier in the night, Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) officially, officially clinched the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget driving title in his NOS Energy Drink - Pristine Auction/Spike/Speedway Toyota while Tucker-Boat Motorsports, likewise, collected its first entrant championship. The achievement made Windom just the seventh driver to join the USAC Triple Crown club by capturing a Silver Crown (2016), AMSOIL National Sprint Car (2017) and National Midget (2020) championship in his career.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 21, 2020 - Merced Speedway - Merced, California - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Merced Midget Madness
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR / WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 1K, Larson-11.838 (New Track Record); 2. Logan Seavey, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-11.859; 3. Tanner Thorson, 25, Malloy-11.976; 4. Spencer Bayston, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-11.980; 5. Chase Johnson, 19m, Bundy Built-12.009; 6. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.022; 7. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.024; 8. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.049; 9. Mitchel Moles, 07w, Wood-12.073; 10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 17JR, Clauson/Marshall-12.077; 11. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.078; 12. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.084; 13. Colby Copeland, 27w, Wood-12.137; 14. Jesse Love, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.148; 15. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-12.190; 16. Dillon Welch, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.198; 17. Justin Grant, 5, Petry-12.212; 18. Ben Worth, 5G, Alexander-12.215; 19. Ryan Bernal, 87w, Wood-12.226; 20. Carson Macedo, 21, Tarlton-12.229; 21. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-12.239; 22. Zeb Wise, 97w, Wood-12.275; 23. Bryant Wiedeman, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.282; 24. Tanner Carrick, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.297; 25. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.298; 26. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-12.327; 27. Chance Crum, 39, Clauson/Marshall-12.345; 28. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-12.416; 29. Chase Randall, 35, Petry-12.417; 30. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-12.437; 31. Ethan Mitchell, 98, RMS-12.452; 32. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.460; 33. Colby Johnson, 27D, Morris-12.466; 34. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.487; 35. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.488; 36. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.587; 37. Ryan Robinson, 71R, Morris-12.598; 38. Jonathan Beason, 31K, Beilman-12.673; 39. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-12.745; 40. Frankie Guerrini, 63, F & F-12.758; 41. Blake Brannon, 40, Brannon-12.766; 42. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-12.779; 43. Kyle Beilman, 31B, Beilman-12.944; 44. Matt Streeter, 14JR, Streeter-12.944; 45. Jarrett Soares, 12, Soares-12.997; 46. Lance Bennett, 10, Bennett-13.240; 47. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.337; 48. Kevin Woody Jr., 1x, LKK-13.419; 49. Bryan Drollinger, 71D, DBR-13.443; 50. Michael Faccinto, 7J, Campbell-(Time of 12.411 disallowed); 51. Robert Carson, 99, Segur-(Time of 13.482 disallowed); 52. Blaze Bennett, 10B, Bennett-NT
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS / EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Mitchel Moles, 5. Chase Johnson, 6. Colby Copeland, 7. Chase Randall, 8. Colby Johnson, 9. Cole Bodine, 10. Ryan Robinson, 11. Blake Brannon, 12. Jarrett Soares, 13. Bryan Drollinger. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Ben Worth, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 5. Andrew Layser, 6. Zeb Wise, 7. Jesse Love, 8. Jonathan Beason, 9. Michael Faccinto, 10. Brody Fuson, 11. Lance Bennett, 12. Maria Cofer, 13. Thomas Meseraull. NT
AUTOMETER / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Buddy Kofoid, 2. Emerson Axsom, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 5. Daison Pursley, 6. Kaylee Bryson, 7. Ethan Mitchell, 8. Chance Crum, 9. Kyle Beilman, 10. Jake Andreotti, 11. Randi Pankratz, 12. Robert Carson, 13. Ryan Bernal. NT
INDY RACE PARTS / ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Macedo, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Tanner Carrick, 4. Spencer Bayston, 5. Shane Golobic, 6. Brenham Crouch, 7. Dillon Welch, 8. Frankie Guerrini, 9. Robert Dalby, 10. Hayden Reinbold, 11. Matt Streeter, 12. Kevin Woody Jr. 2:10.950
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Brenham Crouch, 2. Frankie Guerrini, 3. Ethan Mitchell, 4. Jonathan Beason, 5. Colby Johnson, 6. Kaylee Bryson, 7. Michael Faccinto, 8. Jake Andreotti, 9. Kyle Beilman, 10. Hayden Reinbold, 11. Matt Streeter, 12. Jarrett Soares, 13. Brody Fuson, 14. Bryan Drollinger, 15. Kevin Woody Jr., 16. Blake Brannon, 17. Robert Carson, 18. Ryan Robinson, 19. Randi Pankratz. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING / ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Daison Pursley, 2. Chase Johnson, 3. Shane Golobic, 4. Chance Crum, 5. Colby Copeland, 6. Zeb Wise, 7. Jonathan Beason, 8. Ryan Bernal, 9. Cole Bodine, 10. Jesse Love, 11. Andrew Layser, 12. Dillon Welch, 13. Frankie Guerrini, 14. Brenham Crouch, 15. Maria Cofer, 16. Ethan Mitchell, 17. Robert Dalby, 18. Chase Randall. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (4), 2. Buddy Kofoid (1), 3. Tyler Courtney (2), 4. Kyle Larson (6), 5. Spencer Bayston (3), 6. Logan Seavey (5), 7. Carson Macedo (8), 8. Cannon McIntosh (10), 9. Justin Grant (7), 10. Mitchel Moles (11), 11. Shane Golobic (14), 12. Daison Pursley (13), 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (12), 14. Colby Copeland (15), 15. Emerson Axsom (16), 16. Tanner Carrick (21), 17. Chris Windom (18), 18. Kaylee Bryson* (23), 19. Zeb Wise (19), 20. Bryan Wiedeman (20), 21. Robert Dalby* (24), 22. Ben Worth (17), 23. Chance Crum (22), 24. Chase Johnson (9). 7:18.810 (New Track Record)
* represents a provisional starter
**Thomas Meseraull flipped during the second heat. Chase Johnson flipped on lap 1 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 15-17 Tanner Thorson, Laps 18-24 Buddy Kofoid, Lap 25 Tyler Courtney, Lap 26 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 27-30 Tanner Thorson.
FINAL USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-1,779, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,778, 3-Tanner Thorson-1,751, 4-Buddy Kofoid-1,707, 5-Cannon McIntosh-1,532, 6-Daison Pursley-1,348, 7-Tanner Carrick-1,271, 8-Justin Grant-1,179, 9-Andrew Layser-1,133, 10-Cole Bodine-1,128.
FINAL OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-226, 2-Tanner Thorson-125, 3-Kyle Cummins-108, 4-Logan Seavey-102, 5-Robert Ballou-101, 6-Cannon McIntosh-97, 7-Justin Grant-96, 8-Shane Cottle-96, 9-Brady Bacon-79, 10-Tyler Courtney-78.
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson
Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney
AutoMeter/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Buddy Kofoid
Indy Race Parts/Rod End Supply Fourth Heat Winner: Carson Macedo
Indy Metal Finishing/Rod End Supply Semi Winner: Daison Pursley
KSE Racing Products/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Tanner Carrick (21st to 16th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Jonathan Beason
It’s All Meseraull in Merced’s USAC Midget Debut
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
IT'S ALL MESERAULL IN MERCED'S USAC MIDGET DEBUT
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Merced, California (November 20, 2020).........For Thomas Meseraull, that coveted first points-paying race victory with the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets was two decades in the making when he notched win number one in October.
Just a month and change later, Meseraull was celebrating victory number two on Friday night following the series' first ever event at California's Merced Speedway. It was the San Jose, Calif. native's first career USAC National points feature triumph that occurred in his home state.
Meseraull led the final 21 laps of the 30-lap feature, then endured a green-white-checkered finish to put the finishing touches on a winning performance in his RMS Racing/EnviroFab - Guess Performance Parts/Spike/Speedway Toyota.
His inauspicious beginnings to the west coast swing over the past week had resulted in finishes of 16th, 12th and 23rd in his three most recent outings entering Merced, but it was certainly not due to a lack of effort.
"I'm super stoked, especially with all the time and energy and money that gets spent to come out here to the west coast," Meseraull said. "We haven't even broken the top-10 in the last three nights, and we've been really fast. Racing circumstances just haven't really played out."
In his first night out in the team's new coil car, which was inspired in part by Tanner Thorson's recent success with the set up, Meseraull's night began with a middling qualifying run of 18th against a 54-car field, which was the largest of the series' 2020 season. Meseraull responded with a heat race victory, which by virtue of a new rule implemented during the offseason, as a heat winner, he earned a feature starting position directly behind the six-car invert.
Slated to start seventh, Meseraull was elevated another position up the grid prior to the green flag due to fourth-starting Carson Macedo and team being late to staging, one of four teams that were docked two rows due to the penalty. Now starting sixth, Meseraull was entrenched in the top-three battle along with Tanner Carrick and Daison Pursley by the conclusion of the first lap.
Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammates Pursley and Carrick went toe-to-toe throughout the early stages, racing side-by-side and exchanging sliders right on cue, Carrick leading the way to the line on eight of the first nine circuits with Pursley edging ahead on the fifth lap.
On the ninth lap, Meseraull upped the urgency level to 11 as he split his way between Carrick and Pursley to slot into second in turn three, then glided underneath Carrick between turns one and two to occupy the lead.
Not only was it the series' first trip to Merced, the visit was also Meseraull's racing debut at the 1/4-mile dirt oval. His guide was his extensive experience and natural feel of the racetrack, while also having a weapon behind the wrenches that set the blueprint.
"Sometimes when running a new track, which I've never ran here before, you don't necessarily know where to run or where not to run, so you're just kind of winging it," Meseraull explained. "Hats off to (crew chief) Donnie Gentry for making the 7x good all night because the setup is so important in this along with our Speedway Toyota engine. If your motor is not geared right, you're just off. It was just a great night where we got our package together."
By the halfway point, Meseraull had launched to a 1.3 second advantage over Pursley, who had cleared Carrick a few moments later on the 18th lap for the runner-up position. Now clear, Pursley began to peddle back into contention as Meseraull now negotiated a maze of cars at the tail end of the lead lap.
Five to go, four to go, three to go, tick...tick, tick, tick, the hands of time began to recoil as the interval shrank to a half second between Meseraull and Pursley with three laps remaining. In that moment in time, Meseraull encountered Kaylee Bryson as he sought the proper path, low to middle to high, to overtake her and close it out while Pursley stayed the course up top.
With the white flag in sight coming out of turn four, Pursley lay just a handful of car lengths behind Meseraull. However, just as quickly as it seemed Pursley might be able to set up a possible bid for victory, it all came to a crashing halt when Pursley banged his right rear tire off the turn four cushion, then slapped the right rear against the outside front straightaway guardrail, causing him to barrel roll twice over before landing on all four wheels.
Pursley was uninjured, but his attempt at a first career USAC National Midget victory ended in an unsavory, crumpled heap along the main straightaway.
During the red flag period, Meseraull had time to ponder. He was fully cognizant of the fact that mistakes are forbidden during "winning time," but remained undoubtedly confident that what he'd been doing thus far to that point was being executed with precision.
"Honestly, we were really good, and I was kind of cheating the curb, I guess you could say, off turns two and four because it was so ledgy," Meseraull recalled. "You can't make mistakes while you're leading, or guys will get by you. I knew I could've maybe been running a faster spot, but we were pretty good where we were."
With a green-white-checkered finish in play to conclude the race, slide jobs are a foregone conclusion at this juncture in this sect of auto racing. However, Meseraull devised a plan win which he could still run his own race, but also prevent the inevitable slider from being issued by second-running Tanner Carrick on the final two-lap sprint.
"On the restart, I moved down and just ran two clean laps through the middle," Meseraull explained. "I didn't think anybody had anything to drive around the outside of us. This California air was really nice because that Toyota was ripping."
Carrick looked topside, and he looked low once the green dropped, but there was no avenue to pursue a path past him as Meseraull owned the middle line and flexed his muscle as he crossed under the checkered flag 0.452 sec. ahead of a season-best performance turned in by Carrick, with Cannon McIntosh, Carson Macedo and hard charger, Tanner Thorson (from 15th), rounding out the top-five.
While Friday night's Merced score was Meseraull's first USAC National Midget points win of his career in the state of California, it was not his first rodeo in victory lane with USAC Midgets in the Golden State. Previously, Meseraull had been victorious in three USAC Western States Midgets events between 2000-01 at Bakersfield, Stockton 99 and Perris. He also tallied a win in a 2004 USAC Midget special event at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway.
For the November western swing, Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, Calif.) made his return to KKM with whom he competed full-time for on the USAC National Midget trail between 2017-19. Carrick rewarded the team with a second-place finish Friday night at Merced, his best result of the 2020 season in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/BBS Wheels - TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.
Carrick's KKM teammate, Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) returned to the podium for the first-time since his victory at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway on Sept. 25 by earning a third-place result at Merced in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/TRD - Mobil1 - JBL Audio/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 20, 2020 - Merced Speedway - Merced, California - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Merced Midget Madness
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Spencer Bayston, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-12.051 (New Track Record); 2. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.064; 3. Jesse Love, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.071; 4. Chase Johnson, 25c, Malloy-12.087; 5. Carson Macedo, 21, Tarlton-12.134; 6. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.139; 7. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-12.169; 8. Zeb Wise, 97w, Wood-12.181; 9. Tanner Carrick, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.185; 10. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.201; 11. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.242; 12. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-12.245; 13. Kyle Larson, 1K, Larson-12.255; 14. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.258; 15. Logan Seavey, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-12.265; 16. Justin Grant, 5, Petry-12.266; 17. Colby Copeland, 27w, Wood-12.268; 18. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.300; 19. Mitchel Moles, 07w, Wood-12.309; 20. Chase Randall, 35, Petry-12.317; 21. Ryan Bernal, 87w, Wood-12.340; 22. Colby Johnson, 27D, Morris-12.367; 23. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.370; 24. Michael Faccinto, 7J, Campbell-12.376; 25. Dillon Welch, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.422; 26. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.427; 27. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.435; 28. Frankie Guerrini, 63, F & F-12.447; 29. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-12.470; 30. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-12.482; 31. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.511; 32. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-12.531; 33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 17JR, Clauson/Marshall-12.541; 34. Bryant Wiedeman, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.558; 35. Jonathan Beason, 31K, Beilman-12.571; 36. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-12.580; 37. Matt Streeter, 14JR, Streeter-12.600; 38. Chance Crum, 39, Clauson/Marshall-12.614; 39. Blake Bower, 10x, Boscacci-12.615; 40. Ryan Robinson, 71R, Morris-12.633; 41. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-12.693; 42. Ben Worth, 5G, Alexander-12.707; 43. Kyle Beilman, 31B, Beilman-12.746; 44. Jake Morgan, 19w, Sala-12.800; 45. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-12.845; 46. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-12.936; 47. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-12.984; 48. Jarrett Soares, 12, Soares-13.030; 49. Blaze Bennett, 10B, Bennett-13.130; 50. Robert Carson, 99, Segur-13.236; 51. Lance Bennett, 10, Bennett-13.380; 52. Blake Brannon, 40, Brannon-13.425; 53. Kevin Woody Jr., 1x, LKK-13.776; 54. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-13.811.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Tanner Carrick, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Colby Copeland, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Dillon Welch, 7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 8. Brody Fuson, 9. Matt Streeter, 10. Robert Carson, 11. Randi Pankratz, 12. Kyle Larson, 13. Jake Andreotti, 14. Spencer Bayston. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Buddy Kofoid, 3. Cannon McIntosh, 4. Shane Golobic, 5. Kaylee Bryson, 6. Ethan Mitchell, 7. Maria Cofer, 8. Cole Bodine, 9. Chance Crum, 10. Bryant Wiedeman, 11. Ben Worth, 12. Lance Bennett, 13. Colby Johnson. 2:06.569 (New Track Record)
AUTOMETER/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Jesse Love, 5. Brenham Crouch, 6. Tanner Thorson, 7. Jonathan Beason, 8. Blake Bower, 9. Kyle Beilman, 10. Hayden Reinbold, 11. Blake Brannon, 12. Jarrett Soares, 13. Tyler Courtney. NT
INDY RACE PARTS/ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Michael Faccinto, 2. Emerson Axsom, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Chase Randall, 5. Zeb Wise, 6. Andrew Layser, 7. Ryan Robinson, 8. Frankie Guerrini, 9. Jake Morgan, 10. Kevin Woody Jr., 11. Blaze Bennett, 12. Chase Johnson. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Hayden Reinbold, 2. Andrew Layser, 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 5. Jonathan Beason, 6. Ryan Robinson, 7. Ethan Mitchell, 8. Chance Crum, 9. Matt Streeter, 10. Brody Fuson, 11. Jake Morgan, 12. Ben Worth, 13. Kyle Beilman, 14. Jake Andreotti, 15. Jarrett Soares, 16. Blake Brannon, 17. Kevin Woody Jr., 18. Randi Pankratz, 19. Robert Carson, 20. Lance Bennett, 21. Blake Bower. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Kaylee Bryson, 6. Zeb Wise, 7. Tyler Courtney, 8. Andrew Layser, 9. Dillon Welch, 10. Bryant Wiedeman, 11. Brenham Crouch, 12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 13. Cole Bodine, 14. Hayden Reinbold, 15. Maria Cofer, 16. Chase Johnson, 17. Colby Johnson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (6), 2. Tanner Carrick (2), 3. Cannon McIntosh (5), 4. Carson Macedo (8), 5. Tanner Thorson (15), 6. Shane Golobic (3), 7. Ryan Bernal (9), 8. Spencer Bayston (11), 9. Kyle Larson (19), 10. Emerson Axsom (14), 11. Mitchel Moles (7), 12. Buddy Kofoid (21), 13. Logan Seavey (16), 14. Tyler Courtney* (23), 15. Chris Windom (22), 16. Justin Grant (17), 17. Colby Copeland (18), 18. Kaylee Bryson (13), 19. Chase Randall (20), 20. Daison Pursley (1), 21. Zeb Wise (12), 22. Michael Faccinto (10), 23. Cole Bodine* (24), 24. Jesse Love (4). NT
* represents a provisional starter
**Dylan Ito flipped during qualifying. Jake Andreotti flipped during the first heat. Chase Johnson flipped during the fourth heat. Daison Pursley flipped on lap 28 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Tanner Carrick, Lap 5 Daison Pursley, Laps 6-9 Tanner Carrick, Laps 10-30 Thomas Meseraull.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-1,729, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,728, 3-Tanner Thorson-1,701, 4-Buddy Kofoid-1,657, 5-Cannon McIntosh-1,482, 6-Daison Pursley-1,298, 7-Tanner Carrick-1,221, 8-Justin Grant-1,129, 9-Andrew Layser-1,083, 10-Cole Bodine-1,078.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-225, 2-Tanner Thorson-122, 3-Kyle Cummins-108, 4-Logan Seavey-102, 5-Robert Ballou-101, 6-Justin Grant-96, 7-Shane Cottle-96, 8-Cannon McIntosh-95, 9-Brady Bacon-79, 10-Tyler Courtney-78.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: November 21, 2020 - Merced Speedway - Merced, California - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Merced Midget Madness
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier: Spencer Bayston
Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner: Ryan Bernal
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Thomas Meseraull
AutoMeter/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Mitchel Moles
Indy Race Parts/Rod End Supply Fourth Heat Winner: Michael Faccinto
Indy Metal Finishing/Rod End Supply Semi Winner: Spencer Bayston
KSE Racing Products/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Tanner Thorson (15th to 5th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Logan Seavey
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Tyler Courtney
Kofoid Outduels Larson at Bako; Windom Leads Points by 1
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
KOFOID OUTDUELS LARSON FOR BAKO WIN; WINDOM LEADS STANDINGS BY 1
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Bakersfield, California (November 17, 2020).........Coming up through the ranks in the earliest years of his racing career, Buddy Kofoid idolized Kyle Larson. In recent years, Kofoid has gotten the opportunity to compete head-to-head with Larson on occasion in midgets and sprint cars.
In Tuesday night's NOS Energy Drink November Classic at California's Bakersfield Speedway, the two competed as teammates for the first time on the venerable Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team.
The fact that Larson was someone he looked up to and was also his teammate was no deterrent in Kofoid's desire to go toe-to-toe with Larson and defeat him. That he did, ultimately prevailing in a spirited duel that lasted the entire duration of the second half of the 30-lap event, with the winning move made just four laps from the finish.
"I can't believe we just beat Kyle," Kofoid exclaimed. "Kyle is one of the best in the world and really good in midgets. As a younger kid coming out of California and racing Outlaw Karts, I always looked up to him. Everyone already knows how good he is, and racing with the best helps you become better."
For Kofoid, it was his second consecutive USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature victory, and third overall of his career, after reigning victorious in last Saturday night's Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway.
Meanwhile, behind the race for the win was the race for the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget championship point lead. Chris Windom emerged ahead of Tyler Courtney in the standings by one single point at the checkered after charging from 20th to a 6th place finish following a wildly contentious final lap.
Kofoid lined up 5th in the 24-car field while Larson was slotted outside the front row, making it a fairly tall task for the Penngrove, Calif. Rookie who was, nonetheless, game for the challenge. Larson withstood a pair of uppercuts served his way via polesitter Chase Johnson who slid his way to the lead briefly on the opening two laps in turn one before Larson cut back under to grab the lead each time off turn two.
Kofoid raced to third by the second circuit, then traveled high and low around the 1/3-mile dirt oval to reach his way to the second position past Johnson on the 15th lap.
In the thick of the race through traffic, Larson held the upper hand over Kofoid by a two-plus second margin when KKM teammate Daison Pursley flipped in turn two on the 19th lap. He was uninjured.
The tide began to turn when racing resumed and Kofoid went on the offensive, slide jobbing Larson right off the bat in turn one. Larson answered by crossing over and trekking back under Kofoid as the two headed side-by-side into turn three. Larson muscled Kofoid off the low line, but Kofoid returned to the front with a cutback underneath Larson exiting turn four.
The slider swapping continued between the two on the ensuing lap, with Larson able to get back by with a down and under maneuver past Kofoid in turns one and two, then closed the door at the entry on the bottom of turn three. However, with the red flag displayed for a Kaylee Bryson turn two flip on the 21st lap before the lap was scored, Kofoid reassumed his position at the head of the field with Larson just behind.
Twelfth-running Thomas Meseraull found trouble on the first lap 21 restart when his mount received heavy front-end damage, forcing him to a stop near the turn three outside wall, and out of the race.
Back and forth they went with Larson able to find an answer for every strike Kofoid delivered. But with four laps to go, leading man Larson beelined to the bottom of turn three where he made a rare error, which scooched him up to the middle of no man's land and losing momentum, while Kofoid raced around the outside to put his name atop the leader board.
Larson made one final run at Kofoid on the final lap in turn four but Kofoid was unfettered in closing out his 0.552 second victory over Larson.
"We've been really strong as of late and the team gave me a hell of a car," Kofoid stated of his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Mobil 1 - JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota. "I had an issue with that last restart when he got the lead back and I kind of stumbled. I figured out what I needed to do and, man, that was a lot of fun."
For Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.), his first event driving for KKM since Pennsylvania Midget Week in 2019 was a reunion of a combination that has won 15 times together in USAC National Midget competition between 2011-19. The first time back resulted in Larson leading a race high 24 laps and nearly pulling off the victory in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/IWX - JBL Audio/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.
Larson, however, did continue his incredible streak of top-two finishes with the series that has now endured for 10 consecutive series starts dating to the west coast swing of 2019, a streak which includes seven wins and three seconds in that span.
"It was a lot of fun to get back with this team and Keith Kunz," Larson said. "It's been a year and half since I've raced with them. It was fun to get back in the seat and thanks to all of them for allowing me to run their car."
"Whenever you have an exciting race like that, it's hard to be disappointed about a second," Larson continued. "I just made a mistake. I thought I could go to the bottom there and just try to change up the rhythm the run and the race there, but I just got in, got to the brakes and stalled, and that cost me. I just hate that I made a mistake there, but I had a lot of fun racing with Buddy."
The other storyline throughout was Windom's 11-point lead was in severe jeopardy with him starting 20th in the feature while championship nemeses Tyler Courtney (-11) and Tanner Thorson (-32) started 3rd and 6th, respectively.
While Courtney and Thorson remained stalwarts inside the top-five, Windom was mired in 13th prior to the final restart with 10 laps remaining when he turned up the wick and elevated himself to seventh by the final lap. With Courtney running third at that moment in time, Windom needed to move up one more spot in order to move himself into the point lead, a final two-lap tussle between he and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
"At that point in time, I don't know anyone in the pit area is going to sit there and run 11th in the last race of the year knowing what's at stake and what everyone has worked for all year," Windom continued. "I turned it up, and it was so hard to get by guys. Restarts were crucial. You could slide one or two guys in one corner on the restart and you could hold those spots and that's what I kept doing restart after restart. I was trying to see how far Tyler was ahead of us, I saw it was two, it was three, it was four, then back to three, and I just raced as hard as I possibly could until the end."
That's when Windom encountered a seesaw, all-out war between he and Stenhouse - Courtney's Clauson-Marshall Racing teammate - for the coveted 6th spot on the final lap in turn four.
"I slid Ricky on the white flag lap, and he crossed me over and dove to the bottom," Windom recalled. "(On the last lap), I was going to the bottom as hard as I could and drove into the back of him and he spun around. I got into him there, but I saw the position, and that was what I needed, one more spot to secure a triple crown. It was a split-second decision and that's what happened."
While Windom hasn't exactly clinched the title, there are but two races remaining in the 2020 season this Friday and Saturday night, November 20-21 at Merced (Calif.) Speedway, both of which will pay 50 appearance points to all licensed USAC National Midget drivers and teams, regardless of performance, all but ensuring Windom's series crown.
That places Windom in the enviable position as the point leader entering the Merced events, putting him in the driver's seat of becoming the seventh member of the Triple Crown club of drivers who've won USAC Silver Crown, National Sprint and National Midget driving championships in their career along with Pancho Carter, Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, J.J. Yeley, Jerry Coons Jr. and Tracy Hines.
"This is what I've worked my whole career for," Windom said. "The way the racetrack was tonight, we buried ourselves by not qualifying well. It was so hard to pass in the feature without throwing huge slide jobs on guys, and that's what I had to do to get to the front and get us back into contention."
Tyler Courtney, who now trails Windom by one point entering Merced, was a man of few words. The 2019 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champ has been on the other side in USAC National championship point battles, winning the 2018 Sprint Car title based a tiebreaker after he and Kevin Thomas Jr. ended the season deadlocked with the same amount of points. This year, it appears the Indianapolis, Ind. native will come up just short, equaling the narrowest margin between first and second in a championship, one, set by Cole Whitt over Tracy Hines in 2008.
"I think we just came up one spot short, not even a spot, a point. That's frustrating, and it sucks, it really does," a deflated Courtney stated after finishing third in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Turbo - ZMax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 17, 2020 - Bakersfield Speedway - Bakersfield, California - NOS Energy Drink November Classic
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-12.701; 2. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-12.794; 3. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.899; 4. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-12.946; 5. Michael Faccinto, 7J, Campbell-12.958; 6. Justin Grant, 5, Petry-12.982; 7. Spencer Bayston, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-13.010; 8. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.034; 9. Kyle Larson, 71w, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.035; 10. Chase Johnson, 25c, Malloy-13.035; 11. Tanner Carrick, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.046; 12. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-13.050; 13. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.064; 14. Logan Seavey, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-13.075; 15. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.086; 16. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.090; 17. Blake Bower, 10x, Boscacci-13.104; 18. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-13.110; 19. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-13.128; 20. Bryant Wiedeman, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.172; 21. Jonathan Beason, 31K, Beilman-13.186; 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 17JR, Clauson/Marshall-13.196; 23. Jake Swanson, 73x, Ford-13.214; 24. Clinton Boyles, 98, RMS-13.242; 25. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-13.250; 26. Ben Worth, 5G, Alexander-13.258; 27. Carson Macedo, 21, Tarlton-13.270; 28. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.275; 29. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.286; 30. Frankie Guerrini, 63, F & F-13.309; 31. Chance Crum, 31B, Beilman-13.316; 32. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-13.320; 33. Jesse Love, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.342; 34. Dillon Welch, 81x, Tucker/Boat-13.388; 35. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.432; 36. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-13.462; 37. David Prickett, 15DJ, Neverlift-13.477; 38. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-13.564; 39. D.J. Netto, 88N, Newman-13.585; 40. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-13.589; 41. Troy Morris III, 07x, Morris-13.767; 42. Blaze Bennett, 10B, Bennett-13.972; 43. Bryan Drollinger, 71D, Drollinger-14.086; 44. Blake Brannon, 40, Brannon-14.271; 45. Lance Bennett, 10, Bennett-NT; 46. Ashlyn Rodriguez, 37, Mitchell-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Jonathan Beason, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Michael Faccinto, 6. Ethan Mitchell, 7. Jesse Love, 8. Blake Bower, 9. David Prickett, 10. Brenham Crouch. 2:03.059 (New Track Record)
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Chase Johnson, 4. Frankie Guerrini, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Ben Worth, 7. Dillon Welch, 8. Blaze Bennett, 9. Justin Grant, 10. Dylan Ito, 11. Robert Dalby. NT
AUTOMETER/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kaylee Bryson, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Tanner Carrick, 7. Hayden Reinbold, 8. Chance Crum, 9. D.J. Netto, 10. Bryan Drollinger, 11. Carson Macedo. NT
INDY RACE PARTS/ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Clinton Boyles, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Bryant Weideman, 5. Emerson Axsom, 6. Cole Bodine, 7. Brody Fuson, 8. Blake Brannon, 9. Andrew Layser, 10. Maria Cofer, 11. Jake Andreotti. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Jesse Love, 2. Chance Crum, 3. Maria Cofer, 4. Dillon Welch, 5. Troy Morris III, 6. David Prickett, 7. Hayden Reinbold, 8. Jake Andreotti, 9. Blaze Bennett, 10. Blake Brannon, 11. D.J. Netto, 12. Bryan Drollinger, 13. Brody Fuson, 14. Dylan Ito, 15. Lance Bennett. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Ethan Mitchell, 2. Emerson Axsom, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Michael Faccinto, 5. Tanner Carrick, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Logan Seavey, 8. Andrew Layser, 9. Brenham Crouch, 10. Blake Bower, 11. Jake Swanson, 12. Cole Bodine, 13. Jesse Love, 14. Ben Worth, 15. Maria Cofer, 16. Chance Crum, 17. Robert Dalby, 18. Dillon Welch. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (5), 2. Kyle Larson (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (3), 4. Chase Johnson (1), 5. Spencer Bayston (4), 6. Chris Windom (20), 7. Tanner Thorson (6), 8. Cannon McIntosh (16), 9. Justin Grant (14), 10. Carson Macedo (21), 11. Jonathan Beason (8), 12. Emerson Axsom (12), 13. Clinton Boyles (10), 14. Ethan Mitchell (11), 15. Kaylee Bryson (7), 16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (9), 17. Andrew Layser* (24), 18. Michael Faccinto (13), 19. Tanner Carrick (15), 20. Cole Bodine* (23), 21. Bryant Wiedeman (19), 22. Frankie Guerrini (22), 23. Thomas Meseraull (18), 24. Daison Pursley (17). NT
* represents a provisional starter
**Ashlyn Rodriguez flipped during practice. Jake Andreotti flipped in the fourth heat. D.J. Netto flipped during the C-Main. Dillon Welch flipped during the semi. Daison Pursley flipped on lap 19 of the feature. Kaylee Bryson flipped on lap 21 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 Kyle Larson, Laps 19-20 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 21-26 Kyle Larson, Laps 27-30 Buddy Kofoid.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-1,679, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,678, 3-Tanner Thorson-1,651, 4-Buddy Kofoid-1,607, 5-Cannon McIntosh-1,432, 6-Daison Pursley-1,248, 7-Tanner Carrick-1,171, 8-Justin Grant-1,079, 9-Andrew Layser-1,033, 10-Cole Bodine-1,028.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-218, 2-Tanner Thorson-112, 3-Kyle Cummins-108, 4-Robert Ballou-101, 5-Logan Seavey-99, 6-Shane Cottle-96, 7-Justin Grant-95, 8-Cannon McIntosh-93, 9-Brady Bacon-79, 10-Tyler Courtney-78.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACES: November 20-21, 2020 - Merced Speedway - Merced, California - Merced Midget Madness
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier: Ethan Mitchell
Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner: Jonathan Beason
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
AutoMeter/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Kaylee Bryson
Indy Race Parts/Indy Metal Finishing/Rod End Supply Semi Winner: Clinton Boyles
KSE Racing Products/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Chris Windom (20th to 6th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Clinton Boyles
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Logan Seavey
Courtney Collects 3rd Straight Western World Sprint Crown
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
COURTNEY COLLECTS 3RD STRAIGHT WESTERN WORLD SPRINT CROWN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
San Tan Valley, Arizona (November 14, 2020).........Tyler Courtney picked up where he left off in both 2018 and 2019 to become the first driver to win the final night of the Western World Championships in a 410 c.i. sprint car in three consecutive years, pulling off the trifecta Saturday night in the AMSOIL USAC CRA / Southwest Sprint Car portion of the 53rd annual event presented by San Tan Ford.
Jeremy Sherman and Cory Kruseman had previously been the only other drivers to win a Western World finale in three-straight years. Sherman took 410 c.i. top honors in 2001, followed by back-to-back 360 Sprint wins in 2002 and 2003. Kruseman won 360 c.i. Sprint Car final night features in 2005-06-07, all of which came at the now-defunct Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz.
"Western World is long historied event and to win three in a row is pretty amazing," Courtney said. "Thanks to my guys for busting their tails. I know they're bummed about the midget deal, but this does make it a little sweeter. It's a tough night, but a good night at the same time."
The Indianapolis, Ind. native was referring to the mechanical issues that befell he and the team during the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature earlier in the night that dropped him out of the points lead.
Courtney responded to the adversity with a much-needed pick-me-up by bouncing back in dominating fashion, leading all 30 laps around the 1/3-mile dirt oval, which happened to be a milestone 50th win for Courtney as a driver with Clauson-Marshall Racing's sprint car and midget team since the 2016 season.
"It's how racing goes," Courtney gathered. "Unfortunately, you're going to have your ups and downs. Obviously, you don't want your downs to come at this time of the year, but that's just how it goes."
Courtney set forth on his journey to triumph from his outside front row position to take the early lead in his Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing/NOS Turbo - CSI - ZMax - Schoenfeld/Spike/Rider Chevy.
Courtney's main challenger for the USAC Midget crown this year, Chris Windom, was his most prominent adversary in the early stages of the sprint feature with Windom taking a mighty swing on the fifth lap, sliding past Courtney in turn one while Courtney responded with a crossover back underneath Windom off turn two to resume his position at the front of the field.
In the second half of the 30-lap main, Courtney served as the locomotive, leading the tightly knit crew of Courtney, Windom and Friday night winner Justin Grant, who could've all been covered by a blanket as they trekked the high side.
Traffic became the question mark with six laps remaining but did not stand to be as much of an obstacle with the lapped cars lining the bottom of the track while the top-three remained in formation at the top. Only a mistake in traffic or on the cushion could've derailed Courtney at this point.
Instead, Courtney only strengthened his stranglehold up front to lengthen his lead during the final stretch, ultimately prevailing by a 0.791 second margin over Windom, Grant, Damion Gardner and Austin Williams.
"This place has treated me pretty well the last few years," Courtney mentioned. "Last night was the first night I hadn't won in three races or something like that, and to still run second, was pretty amazing. This place fits my kind of style."
Meanwhile, R.J. Johnson's move from his 22nd starting position to an 8th place feature finish netted him a whopping $1,860.95 courtesy of the Steve LaFond / Wagtimes "Jar of Change" going to the USAC CRA series regular who made the biggest advancement through the field.
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AMSOIL USAC CRA & SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: November 14, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 53rd Western World Championships Presented by San Tan Ford
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-15.234; 2. Damion Gardner, 1, Alexander-15.276; 3. Ryan Bernal, 13, Gile-15.288; 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-15.388; 5. Chris Windom, 77m, Michael-15.471; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.499; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-15.550; 8. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-15.580; 9. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-15.719; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 2, Yeley-15.720; 11. Stevie Sussex, 12, Allen-15.790; 12. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.815; 13. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-15.817; 14. Jake Swanson, 34, Grau-15.878; 15. Max Adams, 73T, Ford-15.904; 16. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-16.006; 17. Trent Williams, 52v, Williams-16.013; 18. Chris Bonneau, 15, Bonneau-16.062; 19. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-16.088; 20. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-16.098; 21. Tye Mihocko, 5, Ream-16.109; 22. Sterling Cling, 34c, Cling-16.197; 23. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-16.254; 24. Ikaika O'Brien, 11o, O'Brien-16.376; 25. Josh Castro, 4T, Terzich/Gile-16.395; 26. Jeremy Ellertson, 22, Ellertson-16.516; 27. A.J. Bender, 21, Bender-16.610; 28. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-16.675; 29. Eugene Thomas, 10, Thomas-16.681; 30. Chris Muraoka, 25, Muraoka-17.070; 31. Ryan Oerter, 43, Oerter-17.404.
FLOWDYNAMICS/SWAY-A-WAY TORSION BARS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cody Williams, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Austin Williams, 5. Tye Mihocko, 6. Trent Williams, 7. Josh Castro, 8. Eugene Thomas. 2:10.915
ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION/COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Sterling Cling, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Jake Swanson, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Chris Bonneau, 7. Jeremy Ellertson, 8. Chris Muraoka. 2:10.134
COMPONENT REPAIR COMPANY/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Stevie Sussex, 3. Chris Gansen, 4. Kyle Edwards, 5. Ryan Oerter, 6. Max Adams, 7. Ryan Bernal, 8. A.J. Bender. NT
ORANGE COUNTY TANK TESTING/ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5. Matt McCarthy, 6. Brody Roa, 7. Ikaika O'Brien. 2:12.654
MULTIQUIP INDUSTRIES/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Ryan Bernal, 2. Matt Mitchell, 3. Brody Roa, 4. Max Adams, 5. Chris Bonneau, 6. Tye Mihocko, 7. Trent Williams, 8. Matt McCarthy, 9. A.J. Bender, 10. Josh Castro, 11. Ikaika O'Brien, 12. Jeremy Ellertson, 13. Chris Muraoka, 14. Ryan Oerter, 15. Eugene Thomas. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (2), 2. Chris Windom (3), 3. Justin Grant (6), 4. Damion Gardner (5), 5. Austin Williams (11), 6. Matt Mitchell (10), 7. Ryan Bernal (9), 8. R.J. Johnson (22), 9. Max Adams (16), 10. Cody Williams (7), 11. Brody Roa (14), 12. Charles Davis Jr. (1), 13. Tommy Malcolm (4), 14. Tye Mihocko (19), 15. Stevie Sussex (13), 16. Sterling Cling (20), 17. Chris Gansen (18), 18. Kyle Edwards (21), 19. Chris Bonneau (17), 20. Jake Swanson (15), 21. Thomas Meseraull (12), 22. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (8). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Tyler Courtney.
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Woodland Auto Display / Beaver Stripes Fast Qualifier: Justin Grant
Flowdynamics/Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars First Heat Winner: Cody Williams
All Coast Construction/Competition Suspension Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner: Damion Gardner
Component Repair Company/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney
Orange County Tank Testing/Rod End Supply Fourth Heat Winner: Eddie Tafoya Jr.
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Ryan Bernal
Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: R.J. Johnson (22nd to 8th)
Multiquip Industries First Non-Transfer: Trent Williams
Kofoid Conquers Western World Midgets
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
KOFOID CONQUERS WESTERN WORLD MIDGETS
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
San Tan Valley, Arizona (November 14, 2020).........Three-hundred-sixty-four nights earlier, Buddy Kofoid arrived at Arizona Speedway's Western World Championships as a newcomer to the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget wars when he made his first series start in the event, finishing 22nd.
Three-hundred-sixty-four nights later, Buddy Kofoid became a Western World champion.
That accomplishment was realized Saturday night when the Penngrove, Californian led wire-to-wire from his outside front row starting spot, then withstood a steady challenge from previous night's winner Tanner Thorson, as well as a late-race restart, to capture his second career series victory in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Mobil 1 - JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota at the event presented by San Tan Ford.
"It's a good feather in my cap," Kofoid stated. "For Western World, this is the 53rd annual, and a lot of big names have won here, so I'm glad to add mine to that. Nothing beats winning."
Kofoid got the jump on the opening lap to rip past pole sitter Robert Dalby while KKM teammate Tanner Carrick followed in his wake on the high side just behind to procure second.
As Kofoid extended his lead to three-quarters of a second during the first third of the 30-lap feature, Clauson-Marshall Racing's pair of machines each found their share of hardship, with 17th running Cole Bodine dropping out on lap 10 with a cloud of smoke surrounding his ride while, two laps later, fourth-running and point leading Tyler Courtney dropped off the pace and pulled into the infield with mechanical problems of his own, which wreaked havoc in his quest for a second consecutive series championship, dropping him to second in the standings.
As Kofoid carved his way through lapped traffic, one instance nearly spelled disaster with 13 laps remaining. Kofoid attempted to slide past teammate, 17th place Brenham Crouch, in turn four when the two made contact, sending Crouch backwards into the outside retaining wall, closing the curtains on his night, while Kofoid continued unscathed.
Shortly after the resumption of the event, Carrick, who had run in the second position for the first 17 laps, began to fade then slow to a sudden halt when his left rear tire went flat on the 20th lap, forcing those behind him to take evasive action to avoid getting caught up in the ordeal. The 2019 USAC National Most Improved Driver returned to the fray after replacing the rubber in the work area, ultimately finishing 10th.
Thorson was able to mount a challenge to Kofoid in the first couple of laps following the lap 20 restart, creeping to within a single car length of the leader on the bottom in turn two, but unable to edge ahead for the time being while Daison Pursley, showing no ill effects from his flapping right side panel, was hustling in third and ferociously shrinking the gap.
The first red flag of the weekend for the midgets occurred on the 24th go-around when 16th running Noah Gass took a vicious high flyer into the turn two catch fence before landing upside down on the surface of the 1/3-mile dirt oval. The Mounds, Okla. driver walked away from the scene under his own power.
When the green flag dropped, Kofoid drew his car low into turn one while Thorson took to sweeping the top, then angling a slider into turn three, drawing closer to the lead on the 24th and 25th laps before dropping to the bottom in turn one on the 26th where he lost a parcel of real estate to Kofoid that added up to around a half-second when the second red flag of the night was displayed for 9th running Chase Randall who barrel rolled in turn four, ending his evening.
The incident set up Thorson in a fairly familiar spot. Rewind to 24 hours prior when Thorson raced from third to the lead on the first lap of the restart during a green-white-checkered finish, one of whom he passed was Kofoid. On this night, Thorson had one more lap and one less car to pass. However, once Kofoid got rolling, he never allowed Thorson a chance at that opportunity as he blitzed away over the final three laps to finish out a 0.566 sec. victory.
Kofoid was followed to the line by Thorson, Pursley, Chris Windom and Spencer Bayston.
While Kofoid lamented the missed opportunity from the night before, he took that as a learning experience for he and the crew to find that little extra oomph to push them to the top.
"I was in a position to win last night," Kofoid recalled. "I knew we had good speed yesterday and we kept working on it. I knew our slick track and main event set up was really good and we just improved on it a little bit."
Kofoid had competed previously at Arizona Speedway over the years, one of which was an ASCS Southwest Region winged sprint car race where a couple years earlier in 2018, Kofoid battled a familiar foe who was on his side guiding him to victory this night in 2020.
"My crew chief, Jarrett Martin, is from 40 minutes away from here, so to get him kind of a home track win with USAC is really cool," Kofoid said. "It's kind of funny, two years ago, him and I ran the Copper Classic together at this track, and then it wasn't until this year, we realized we raced against each other. I can't thank the crew enough for all their hard work and Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, Mobil 1 and Toyota for a really great opportunity to drive fast racecars."
Since Thorson (Minden, Nev.) joined Tom Malloy's team in late September, the combination has clicked matter-of-factly with six top-five finishes in six tries with two wins and two seconds, which has brought him right back into the thick of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget championship hunt aboard his Tom Malloy/Trench Shoring - Ed Pink Racing Engines - Rodela Fabrication/King/Ed Pink Toyota.
"It just shows how strong these cars are and the group of people that I have behind me," Thorson said. "With Reliable, Factory Kahne Shocks, Trench Shoring and Ed Pink Engines, I've got a pretty awesome piece behind me. Everybody that is backing me and allowing me to do this, I can't thank them enough. We'll take our speed over to Bakersfield (Speedway on Tuesday) and try to pick off one."
Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.), who, like Kofoid, made his very first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget start one year ago during Western World. One year later, Pursley was standing among tall cotton after equaling his best career series finish with a 3rd place result in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian/Craftsman - JBL Audio - Mobil 1/Bullet By Spike/Speedway Toyota.
"To come home third to Buddy and Tanner is nothing to hang your head about," Pursley admitted. "It was my first time on a big track here and it's a cool place. I wish I could've have had a few more laps coming in. I'm thankful for third and I can't thank the entire Keith Kunz Motorsports team enough. They put a good car together and I'm grateful for the opportunity to get to drive it."
With Courtney's troubles, a runner-up finish by Thorson and a 4th place run for Chris Windom, the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget points race has taken a drastic turn after Western World, and with now just three events remaining. Courtney went from a 32-point lead to an 11-point deficit behind new leader Windom. Thorson, who trailed by a distant 71 points entering Saturday, is now just 32 points out of the lead coming into the Tuesday, November 17 round at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway, the NOS Energy Drink November Classic.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 14, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 53rd Western World Championships Presented by San Tan Ford
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-15.201; 2. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-15.341; 3. Tanner Carrick, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.491; 4. Logan Seavey, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-15.513; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.564; 6. Chase Randall, 25, Petry-15.610; 7. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.615; 8. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-15.631; 9. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.675; 10. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-15.686; 11. Bryant Wiedeman, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.709; 12. Justin Grant, 5, Petry-15.716; 13. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-15.750; 14. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.751; 15. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.751; 16. Spencer Bayston, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-15.758; 17. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-15.781; 18. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.803; 19. Chase Johnson, 25c, Malloy-15.868; 20. Carson Garrett, 15x, Garrett-15.874; 21. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-15.880; 22. Clinton Boyles, 98, RMS-15.913; 23. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.951; 24. Jesse Love, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.032; 25. Jerry Coons Jr., 28, Dave Mac-16.045; 26. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.050; 27. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-16.389; 28. Ryan Oerter, 43, Oerter-17.293; 29. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-NT; 30. Casey Schmitz, 00, MSW-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Robert Dalby, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Chase Johnson, 6. Clinton Boyles, 7. Logan Seavey, 8. Cannon McIntosh, 9. Jerry Coons Jr. 2:10.252
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Emerson Axsom, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Andrew Layser, 7. Carson Garrett, 8. Brenham Crouch, 9. Hayden Reinbold, 10. Ethan Mitchell. 2:09.586
AUTOMETER/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Buddy Kofoid, 3. Kaylee Bryson, 4. Cole Bodine, 5. Tanner Carrick, 6. Jesse Love, 7. Chase Randall, 8. Noah Gass, 9. Casey Schmitz, 10. C.J. Sarna. 2:08.584
INDY RACE PARTS/INDY METAL FINISHING/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Chase Randall, 4. Brenham Crouch, 5. Andrew Layser, 6. Clinton Boyles, 7. Noah Gass, 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 9. Jesse Love, 10. Hayden Reinbold, 11. Carson Garrett, 12. Casey Schmitz, 13. C.J. Sarna, 14. Ryan Oerter, 15. Ethan Mitchell. 3:13.982
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Buddy Kofoid (2), 2. Tanner Thorson (6), 3. Daison Pursley (16), 4. Chris Windom (5), 5. Spencer Bayston (8), 6. Justin Grant (7), 7. Andrew Layser (13), 8. Logan Seavey (10), 9. Chase Johnson (19), 10. Tanner Carrick (4), 11. Bryant Wiedeman (14), 12. Thomas Meseraull (15), 13. Emerson Axsom (9), 14. Cannon McIntosh (12), 15. Robert Dalby (1), 16. Kaylee Bryson (18), 17. Hayden Reinbold* (23), 18. Chase Randall (11), 19. Noah Gass (20), 20. Brenham Crouch (22), 21. Clinton Boyles (21), 22. Tyler Courtney (3), 23. Cole Bodine (17). NT
* represents a provisional starter
**Noah Gass flipped on lap 24 of the feature. Chase Randall flipped on lap 28 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Buddy Kofoid.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-1,619, 2-Tyler Courtney-1,608, 3-Tanner Thorson-1,587, 4-Buddy Kofoid-1,528, 5-Cannon McIntosh-1,376, 6-Daison Pursley-1,218, 7-Tanner Carrick-1,145, 8-Justin Grant-1,030, 9-Cole Bodine-1,005, 10-Andrew Layser-1,004.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-204, 2-Tanner Thorson-112, 3-Kyle Cummins-108, 4-Robert Ballou-101, 5-Logan Seavey-99, 6-Shane Cottle-96, 7-Justin Grant-90, 8-Cannon McIntosh-85, 9-Brady Bacon-79, 10-Tyler Courtney-78.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: November 17, 2020 - Bakersfield Speedway - Bakersfield, California - NOS Energy Drink November Classic
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier: Tanner Thorson
Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner: Spencer Bayston
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Emerson Axsom
AutoMeter/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Indy Race Parts/Indy Metal Finishing/Rod End Supply Semi Winner:
KSE Racing Products/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Daison Pursley (16th to 3rd)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Emerson Axsom
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Jerry Coons Jr.
Grant Grabs Western World Sprint Prelim
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
GRANT GRABS WESTERN WORLD SPRINT PRELIM
San Tan Valley, Arizona (November 13, 2020).........Between Justin Grant and Tyler Courtney, each driver entered Friday night's AMSOIL USAC CRA / USAC Southwest Sprint Car opener as the victor of the last four 410 c.i. sprint races held during the Western World Championships at Arizona Speedway.
Perhaps it was no surprise that the race for the win on this night would come down to these same two once again as Grant slipped under Courtney, who jumped over the turn one cushion nine laps from the finish. Grant led the final nine from there to score the win piloting the Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical - Mesilla Valley Trans./Spike/Fisher Chevy.
Brody Roa led the first 12 laps with a flurry of activity from drivers Chris Windom, Courtney and Grant each taking their shots at Roa, the reigning USAC Southwest Sprint champ who held strong for much of the first half, interrupted only by a Logan Seavey turn two flip on the fourth lap.
On the 13th circuit, Windom utilized a run underneath Roa to snare the top spot. On the following lap, Roa clung to second as Courtney took a shot at him between turns one and two with a slide job. Courtney pulled ahead briefly, but Roa had the momentum riding with him at the top of turn two. At the exit, the two came together, Courtney's right rear to Roa's left rear, causing Roa to ramp over and slam into the turn two outside wall. Roa was uninjured.
Under the ensuing stoppage, race leader Windom had a flat right rear tire which necessitated a stop in the work area. He'd return to finish fifth.
Courtney, who had won the past three Western World Sprint Car features dating to 2018, inherited the lead at that point and held the position until lap 21 when a turn one stumble opened the door for Grant to pounce, and though Courtney mounted a charge, he was unable to reel in Grant, who had previously won Western World Sprint Car prelims in both 2015 and 2018.
Grant's margin of victory was 1.524 sec. over Courtney, Charles Davis Jr., Austin Williams and Windom.
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AMSOIL USAC CRA & SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: November 13, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 53rd Western World Championships Presented by San Tan Ford
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Ryan Bernal, 13, Gile-14.716; 2. Justin Grant, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-14.954; 3. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.960; 4. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-15.185; 5. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-15.218; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.262; 7. Max Adams, 73T, Ford-15.311; 8. Austin Williams, 92, Sertich-15.325; 9. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-15.335; 10. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-15.363; 11. Damion Gardner, 1, Alexander-15.374; 12. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-15.421; 13. Chris Windom, 77m, Michael-15.447; 14. Matt McCarthy, 28m, McCarthy-15.509; 15. Sterling Cling, 34c, Cling-15.510; 16. Jake Swanson, 34, Grau-15.556; 17. Cody Williams, 44, Williams-15.625; 18. Chris Bonneau, 15, Bonneau-15.631; 19. Chris Gansen, 4G, Gansen-15.634; 20. Tye Mihocko, 5, Ream-15.639; 21. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-15.652; 22. Kyle Edwards, 39E, Edwards-15.679; 23. Josh Castro, 4T, Terzich/Gile-15.801; 24. Thomas Meseraull, 2, Yeley-15.822; 25. Stevie Sussex, 12, Allen-15.823; 26. Trent Williams, 52v, Williams-15.863; 27. Tommy Malcolm, 5x, Napier-15.930; 28. Jeremy Ellertson, 22, Ellertson-16.073; 29. Ikaika O'Brien, 11o, O'Brien-16.627; 30. Jonas Reynolds, 0, Reynolds-16.690; 31. Lonnie Cox, 45, Cox-16.865; 32. Chris Muraoka, 25, Muraoka-17.645; 33. Eugene Thomas, 10, Thomas-17.658; 34. Ryan Oerter, 43, Oerter-18.521.
FLOWDYNAMICS/SWAY-A-WAY TORSION BARS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Cody Williams, 4. Ryan Bernal, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Stevie Sussex, 7. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 8. Ikaika O'Brien, 9. Eugene Thomas. NT
ALL COAST CONSTRUCTION/COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Noah Gass, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Chris Bonneau, 5. Matt McCarthy, 6. Kyle Edwards, 7. Trent Williams, 8. Jonas Reynolds, 9. Ryan Oerter. NT
COMPONENT REPAIR COMPANY/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Chris Gansen, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Tommy Malcolm, 5. Sterling Cling, 6. Max Adams, 7. Josh Castro, 8. Lonnie Cox. 2:09.384
ORANGE COUNTY TANK TESTING/ROD END SUPPLY FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tye Mihocko, 2. Charles Davis Jr., 3. R.J. Johnson, 4. Jake Swanson, 5. Austin Williams, 6. Thomas Meseraull, 7. Jeremy Ellertson, 8. Chris Muraoka. 2:12.046
MULTIQUIP INDUSTRIES/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Austin Williams, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 4. Matt McCarthy, 5. Stevie Sussex, 6. Max Adams, 7. Sterling Cling, 8. Kyle Edwards, 9. Trent Williams, 10. Jeremy Ellertson, 11. Josh Castro, 12. Ikaika O'Brien, 13. Jonas Reynolds, 14. Eugene Thomas, 15. Lonnie Cox, 16. Chris Muraoka, 17. Ryan Oerter. 3:17.600
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (5), 2. Tyler Courtney (4), 3. Charles Davis Jr. (3), 4. Austin Williams (12), 5. Chris Windom (8), 6. Ryan Bernal (6), 7. Jake Swanson (16), 8. R.J. Johnson (14), 9. Tye Mihocko (9), 10. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (20), 11. Max Adams (11), 12. Noah Gass (7), 13. Tommy Malcolm (22), 14. Chris Bonneau (18), 15. Cody Williams (17), 16. Chris Gansen (19), 17. Matt McCarthy (15), 18. Stevie Sussex (21), 19. Matt Mitchell (2), 20. Damion Gardner (13), 21. Brody Roa (1), 22. Logan Seavey (10). NT
**Logan Seavey flipped on lap 4 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Brody Roa, Lap 13 Chris Windom, Laps 14-21 Tyler Courtney, Laps 22-30 Justin Grant.
NEXT AMSOIL USAC CRA & SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACES: November 14, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 53rd Western World Championships Presented by San Tan Ford
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Woodland Auto Display / Beaver Stripes Fast Qualifier: Ryan Bernal
Flowdynamics/Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars First Heat Winner: Chris Windom
All Coast Construction/Competition Suspension Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner: Noah Gass
Component Repair Company/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney
Orange County Tank Testing/Rod End Supply Fourth Heat Winner: Tye Mihocko
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Austin Williams
Sway-A-Way Torsion Bars/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Eddie Tafoya Jr. (20th to 10th)
Multiquip Industries First Non-Transfer: Sterling Cling
Thorson Surges Late to Win Western World USAC Midget Opener
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
THORSON SURGES FROM 3RD TO 1ST TO WIN WESTERN WORLD MIDGET OPENER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
San Tan Valley, Arizona (November 13, 2020).........For the final push to victory on the green-white-checkered finish of Friday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature at Arizona Speedway, most eyes were affixed on the front two of Logan Seavey and Buddy Kofoid as the pair streamed into turn one.
By the time those two reached the second turn, it was, instead, Tanner Thorson who combed the bottom of turns one and two, driving past both Seavey and Kofoid to secure the lead en route to bringing home a 19th career series victory, tying himself with Jerry Coons Jr., Stan Fox and Jason Leffler for 34th all-time.
"That's what it's all about right there, those last few laps and having a car to win," Thorson exclaimed in victory lane after capturing the opener for the 53rd annual Western World Championships presented by San Tan Ford. "We concentrated really hard to set up for the end of the race. After I got screwed around for quite some time, we had a fast car, but we were too back."
Outside front row starter Kofoid controlled the pace for the first four trips around the 1/3-mile dirt oval until Thorson, of Minden, Nev., took to the top on the fifth circuit, drifting around the outside of Kofoid at the exit of turn four to lead a single lap by a wheel before Kofoid retook over amidst a flurry of sliders that also included Seavey.
The rapidly emerging Seavey, who had earlier set a new one-lap track record for the series at Arizona Speedway in qualifying, which broke his own record from the previous year, diamonded off the third turn to slip under Kofoid on the 10th lap. While Seavey just missed out on winning the race to the start/finish line, he did win the race to turn one where he assumed the lead and established his dominance throughout the final two-thirds of the 30-lap contest.
Kofoid moved back past Thorson for the runner-up position on the 12th lap, then separated himself from Thorson by over a second while still remaining a second-and-a-half behind Seavey who was carving his path through traffic, a half-straightaway ahead of Kofoid.
Seavey appeared headed for surefire victory, taking the white flag with a 1.643 sec. interval over Kofoid when 13th running Brenham Crouch, who started on the pole, stopped in turn two, just ahead of Seavey of the oncoming Seavey, thus setting up a two-lap dash.
As the green flag dropped, Kofoid immediately moved down a lane on the front straightaway, setting up his slide job into turn one, which initially worked until Seavey crossed over and dove back underneath Kofoid for the position. To Seavey's chagrin, the cross over move only brought him back to the second spot as Thorson snuck under both with the lead now in his hands.
Moments later, Kofoid slid Seavey back in turn three with Seavey once again crossing over off the fourth corner and denying Kofoid the spot. However, it was just a little too late with Thorson stretching his lead out to four car lengths by the time they'd hit the back straightaway.
Thorson closed it out with a 0.469 sec. margin of victory in his Tom Malloy/Trench Shoring - Ed Pink Racing Engines - Rodela Fabrication/King/Ed Pink Toyota. It was the 2016 USAC National Midget champion's series-leading sixth feature triumph of the season. Logan Seavey, Tyler Courtney, Buddy Kofoid and Daison Pursley rounded out the top-five at the finish.
The first four of Thorson's six 2020 victories came aboard the Hayward Motorsports ride. In five starts with Tom Malloy's machinery, Thorson has finished 4th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd and 1st, making the pairing the most successful in this stretch that began in late September.
"This car has been fast every time I've been in it," Thorson said as he celebrated via phone with 2014 Western World Midget winner Darren Hagen. "We've run five times and we've been in the top-five every time and won two races. I can't say enough about Jerome (Rodela), Chris (Tramel), Brinton (Marvel), Ed Pink, Tom, and all of Tom's family with Trench Shoring. They've given me the opportunity to come out and run with them and it's paying off. I've got to thank Reliable; he allows me to go out on the road and do this, so it's pretty awesome."
Logan Seavey led a race-high 19 laps but saw victory slip away on the final restart in his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical Contracting - ZMax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
"Overall, we had a good car, ran a good race and I felt like I did my job," Seavey stated. "Under yellow, the thing just wouldn't take off. I knew it wasn't going to take off. I took off in turn three and it never went until about the flag stand. I didn't have the gear to run the bottom, so I knew I couldn't go to the bottom and I knew I was going to get slid in one. But I thought I had enough to turn down and cross (Kofoid) over, which I did, but it just gave Tanner (Thorson) too good of a run on the bottom."
"It's just frustrating," Seavey continued. "It's November and we can't get these things to take off on restarts. Our car was good under green, but you've just got to be able to get away from those guys on restarts and we couldn't do it, just couldn't put the whole race together."
A third-place run after starting 13th on the grid was as good as gold for two-time Western World Sprint Car champion Tyler Courtney who gained ground in his quest toward a second consecutive USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget driving title, and now leads Chris Windom by 32 points with four races remaining in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Turbo - ZMax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
"It was a great night, going from fifth to third there (on the final restart) is good for the big picture things," Courtney said. "Obviously, you want to win, but it's tough when you start 13th. That just put us behind the eight ball. We haven't qualified bad all year until we got here, but I think we figured out a lot of things to help us out for tomorrow so that we can start our night out better and put ourselves in a spot to be able to contend for the win instead of having to salvage a third.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 13, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - 53rd Western World Championships Presented by San Tan Ford
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Logan Seavey, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-15.137 (New Track Record); 2. Spencer Bayston, 19s, Reinbold/Underwood-15.146; 3. Justin Grant, 5, Petry-15.190; 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.217; 5. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.243; 6. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.393; 7. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-15.474; 8. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.505; 9. Tanner Carrick, 98K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.522; 10. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.534; 11. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.587; 12. Chase Johnson, 25c, Malloy-15.595; 13. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.603; 14. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-15.627; 15. Chase Randall, 25, Petry-15.634; 16. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.650; 17. Jerry Coons Jr., 28, Dave Mac-15.654; 18. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-15.665; 19. Stevie Sussex, 1G, Styres-15.671; 20. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-15.672; 21. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-15.713; 22. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-15.728; 23. Jesse Love, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.734; 24. Clinton Boyles, 98, RMS-15.810; 25. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-15.834; 26. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-15.878; 27. Carson Garrett, 15x, Garrett-16.080; 28. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-16.250; 29. Casey Schmitz, 00, MSW-16.648; 30. Ryan Oerter, 43, Oerter-18.304.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Cole Bodine, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Kaylee Bryson, 5. Brenham Crouch, 6. Emerson Axsom, 7. Bryant Wiedeman, 8. Ethan Mitchell, 9. Stevie Sussex, 10. Andrew Layser. 2:11.674
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Noah Gass, 2. Tyler Courtney, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Spencer Bayston, 5. Buddy Kofoid, 6. Cannon McIntosh, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Jesse Love, 9. Casey Schmitz, 10. Hayden Reinbold. 2:10.260
AUTOMETER/ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Randall, 2. Chase Johnson, 3. Robert Dalby, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Daison Pursley, 6. Tanner Carrick, 7. Justin Grant, 8. Clinton Boyles, 9. Carson Garrett, 10. Ryan Oerter. 2:11.054
INDY RACE PARTS/INDY METAL FINISHING/ROD END SUPPLY SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Bryant Wiedeman, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Tanner Carrick, 7. Clinton Boyles, 8. Ethan Mitchell, 9. Jesse Love, 10. Andrew Layser, 11. Casey Schmitz, 12. Stevie Sussex, 13. Carson Garrett, 14. Hayden Reinbold, 15. Ryan Oerter. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (3), 2. Logan Seavey (6), 3. Tyler Courtney (13), 4. Buddy Kofoid (2), 5. Daison Pursley (4), 6. Justin Grant (9), 7. Tanner Carrick (12), 8. Chris Windom (20), 9. Clinton Boyles (21), 10. Cannon McIntosh (11), 11. Spencer Bayston (5), 12. Bryant Wiedeman (10), 13. Jerry Coons Jr. (17), 14. Emerson Axsom (22), 15. Brenham Crouch (1), 16. Thomas Meseraull (19), 17. Noah Gass (7), 18. Andrew Layser* (23), 19. Cole Bodine (15), 20. Robert Dalby (18), 21. Kaylee Bryson (16), 22. Chase Johnson (14), 23. Chase Randall (8). NT
* represents a provisional starter
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Buddy Kofoid, Lap 5 Tanner Thorson, Laps 6-9 Buddy Kofoid, Laps 10-28 Logan Seavey, Laps 29-30 Tanner Thorson.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-1,579, 2-Chris Windom-1,547, 3-Tanner Thorson-1,508, 4-Buddy Kofoid-1,451, 5-Cannon McIntosh-1,338, 6-Daison Pursley-1,147, 7-Tanner Carrick-1,094, 8-Cole Bodine-977, 9-Justin Grant-967, 10-Andrew Layser-951.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Chris Windom-203, 2-Tanner Thorson-108, 3-Kyle Cummins-108, 4-Robert Ballou-101, 5-Logan Seavey-97, 6-Shane Cottle-96, 7-Justin Grant-89, 8-Cannon McIntosh-85, 9-Brady Bacon-79, 10-Tyler Courtney-78.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP/USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: November 14, 2020 - Arizona Speedway - San Tan Valley, Arizona - Western World Championships presented by San Tan Ford
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Woodland Auto Display Fast Qualifier: Logan Seavey
Simpson Race Products/Extreme Mufflers First Heat Winner: Tanner Thorson
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Noah Gass
AutoMeter/Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat Winner: Chase Randall
Indy Race Parts/Indy Metal Finishing/Rod End Supply Semi Winner: Justin Grant
KSE Racing Products/Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Chris Windom (20th to 8th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Jerry Coons Jr.
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Ethan Mitchell