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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Tanner Thorson celebrates Thursday night's 'Indiana Midget Week' victory at Lincoln Park Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana (June 6, 2019).........There are comeback stories. And then there's the Tanner Thorson comeback story from Thursday night's third round of "Indiana Midget Week" from Lincoln Park Speedway.

With the wounds and scars still readily evident on his body after sustaining a broken left arm and right foot, a cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung following a multi-car incident on Highway 99 in Modesto, Calif. in March of this year, the Minden, Nevada native delivered a performance that he said is "definitely one I'll remember forever." And is one that will certainly remembered by those who were there to witness it as well.

Thorson used the bottom to capture the lead with just four laps remaining, enduring attack after attack from Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Kyle Larson to earn his 13th career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory, a dream scenario for the 2016 series champ in just his third race back since his injuries three months earlier.

"It's a dream come true again, to be honest," Thorson said. "I sat out for three months just wondering if I was going to be able to do it again. I've been having doubting feelings in my mind and I didn't know if I was going to be okay to run. I knew I probably could've run; I would've just had to change my ways. Obviously, it's hard to do that."

Thorson appeared to be the same driver as before and, perhaps recharged, following Tuesday's IMW opener at Montpelier and Wednesday's race at Gas City where he finished 2nd and 5th, respectively. Thorson had an uphill battle to climb at Lincoln Park, having to start from the 15th position.

"I knew at about lap five that I had a car to win," Thorson admitted. "When you know that in your mind, nothing can stop you at that point."

These truths were not self-evident initially as he remained on the cusp of the top-ten for the first third of the 30-lapper before steadily moving his way through the top half of the field. Early on, it appeared series point leader Tyler Courtney and Thomas Meseraull were on point, running one-two in a pair of lucky sevens and quickly separating themselves from the rest in the opening laps.

The sevens weren't so lucky entering turn one on lap five as Meseraull closed the gap on Courtney and the two made contact, sending Courtney into a spin and forcing Meseraull to stop, knocking them both out of contention for the victory. Meseraull eventually wound up 23rd while Courtney charged back through the pack to take an impressive 7th.

Montpelier winner Logan Seavey inherited the lead for the lap five restart, ringing the topside as Thomas put on the chase through the middle until the 11th lap when series Rookie of the Year contender Andrew Layser flipped between turns three and four, escaping injury.

On the ensuing restart, fifth-running Michael Pickens, who drove to victory during IMW at Lincoln Park in 2017, looped it between turns one and two. It was the second-straight night the Auckland, New Zealand midget racing star saw a front-running bid slip away.

Thomas stayed true to the middle and used a great drive off turn two to blast past defending champ Seavey on the 13th lap where he remained for the next several trips around the 5/16-mile dirt oval with a swarm behind him ready to attack with Seavey remaining close by and Thorson, plus Larson, digging low and high.

With seven laps remaining, Seavey fired the first shot that set forth a wild sequence of events that saw the lead change 13 unofficial times in a six-lap span.

First, on the 23rd lap, Thorson nudged his way past Thomas on the bottom of turn one. Thomas recovered to resume the point momentarily on the back straight. Seavey then fired his Bullet to the bottom of turn three to slide past Thomas. Thomas diamonded off midway through the corner and beat Seavey to the stripe just as Seavey dove low into one and up to the top past Thomas just as Thorson entered the frame on the bottom. Thomas proceeded to slither his way through the gap between Seavey and Thorson exiting turn two to reclaim the top spot. Seavey instantly reloaded and slid past Thomas entering turn three, but Thomas answered by sliding across the nose of Seavey off turn four. Seavey instantly turned left to throw another haymaker at Thomas at the start/finish line, but suddenly Thorson was there inside to make it three-wide at the line at the conclusion of lap 25.

Seavey chose the topside as Thomas shot down off the turn one banking to get a run that would propel him past Thorson midway down the back straightway and into turn three on the 26th circuit. Rinse and repeat, Thorson ably limboed underneath Thomas into turn one on lap 27, but Thomas counter-punched to get back by underneath exiting turn two. Thorson stayed in touch, and off turn four, surged past Thomas once again for the umpteenth time to nip him at the line by a wheel.

Just as soon as one might've thought Thorson had it covered, here arrived an orange streak ripping the high side with Kyle Larson in the seat. Larson used the momentum up top and appeared momentarily to have the edge with as quickly as he was erasing the gap coming to the white flag. Off turn four, however, Thomas slid up in front of Larson's lane on the outside, stifling his charge momentarily as the two made contact while Thorson was a mere two car lengths ahead of them out front.

Larson gave it one last shot on the high line of one and two, but snagged the turn two cushion with the right rear, then landed on the left rear, sending him off the track in a pirouette and a couple of endos toward the billboard that prematurely ended his final IMW run of the week from which he walked away uninjured.

On the green-white-checker finish, Thorson got a strong jump to stretch his lead out to roughly six car lengths, allowing him to go relatively unchallenged the rest of the way while a tussle for second saw Seavey dive into three past Thomas on the final lap to snare second, while Jerry Coons, Jr. utilized the bottom to squeak past Thomas by a bumper for third at the line - his best finish since a third-place run at the Southern Illinois Center in 2017. Chris Windom rounded out the top-five.

The clean, yet hard racing between Thorson, Thomas and Larson was a thrill to witness from the outside and from within the cockpit as well, which Thorson attributes to the respect each of these drivers has for each other.

"I think a lot of it was knowing how they race," Thorson explained. "I'm good buddies with KT and Larson and I've raced with both of them for years. We're going to be aggressive toward each other, but there's also a lot of respect. I respect Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Kyle Larson more than just about anybody in this pit. Those two people out of anybody are the ones that I would prefer to race with day in day out."

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway were Kyle Larson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Thomas Meseraull (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Jesse Colwell (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Tanner Thorson (ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chad Boat (ProSource Hard Work Award), Holley Hollan (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Kyle Cummins (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 6, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.383 (New Track Record); 2. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.496; 3. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-12.577; 4. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-12.706; 5. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.730; 6. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.738; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.751; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.765; 9. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.774; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-12.792; 11. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.800; 12. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.816; 13. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-12.839; 14. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.849; 15. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.885; 16. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.898; 17. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.902; 18. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-12.971; 19. Kyle Cummins, 2G, Yeley/Styres-12.991; 20. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-13.003; 21. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-13.006; 22. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-13.021; 23. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.022; 24. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-13.066; 25. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.080; 26. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-13.096; 27. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.112; 28. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.214; 29. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-13.425; 30. Chris Baue, 9, Baue-13.445; 31. Sam Johnson, 72, Johnson-13.493; 32. Brady Bacon, 1ST, Saucier-13.493; 33. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-13.498; 34. Anton Hernandez, 8JR, Wood-13.747; 35. Michael Koontz, 17x, Koontz-NT; 36. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. McDougal, 2. Thorson, 3. Courtney, 4. Grant, 5. Larson, 6. Golobic, 7. Elledge, 8. Mitchell, 9. Cling. 2:14.82

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Darland, 2. Leary, 3. Seavey, 4. Coons, 5. Carrick, 6. Layser, 7. Hernandez, 8. Baue, 9. McIntosh. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Meseraull, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Pickens, 4. Wise, 5. Welch, 6. Johnson, 7. Cummins, 8. Hollan, 9. Koontz. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Colwell, 2. Thomas, 3. Daum, 4. Windom, 5. Boat, 6. Bodine, 7. Hendricks, 8. Gass, 9. Bacon. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Larson, 2. Boat, 3. Golobic, 4. Welch, 5. Carrick, 6. Layser, 7. Cummins, 8. Mitchell, 9. Bodine, 10. Johnson, 11. Cling, 12. McIntosh, 13. Hollan, 14. Elledge, 15. Baue, 16. Hernandez, 17. Koontz. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (15), 2. Logan Seavey (6), 3. Jerry Coons, Jr. (1), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 5. Chris Windom (14), 6. Shane Golobic (8), 7. Tyler Courtney (2), 8. Jesse Colwell (10), 9. Zach Daum (17), 10. Jason McDougal (18), 11. Zeb Wise (21), 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer (20), 13. Holley Hollan (23), 14. Justin Grant (11), 15. Michael Pickens (5), 16. Chad Boat (22), 17. Andrew Layser (12), 18. Tanner Carrick (9), 19. C.J. Leary (19), 20. Cole Bodine (24), 21. Kyle Larson (7), 22. Dillon Welch (13), 23. Thomas Meseraull (4), 24. Dave Darland (16). NT
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**Hendricks flipped during the fourth heat. Hollan flipped during the semi. Elledge flipped during the semi. Layser flipped on lap 11 of the feature. Larson flipped on lap 30 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Courtney, Laps 5-12 Seavey, Laps 13-26 Thomas, Laps 27-30 Thorson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Tanner Thorson (15th to 1st)

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Chad Boat

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Holley Hollan

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Kyle Cummins

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-651, 2-K. Thomas-580, 3-Seavey-561, 4-Wise-534, 5-Windom-518, 6-Leary-490, 7-Boat-450, 8-Klaasmeyer-435, 9-Carrick-430, 10-Coons-408.

NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Thorson-221, 2-Seavey-204, 3-Courtney-195, 4-McDougal-181, 5-Golobic-168, 6-Wise-167, 7-Thomas-163, 8-Grant-150, 9-Daum-144, 10-Coons-141.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Thorson-18, 2-Wise-18, 3-Daum-14, 4-McDougal-13, 5-Boat-13, 6-Courtney-11, 7-McIntosh-10, 8-Windom-10, 9-Coons-9, 10-Layser-9.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 7, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Logan Seavey celebrates the victory in Tuesday's 'Indiana Midget Week' opener at Montpelier. (Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Montpelier, Indiana (June 4, 2019).........He had to wait until the month of June, but Logan Seavey returned to the championship form he used to win last year's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget title when he arrived at Montpelier Motor Speedway Tuesday night for the "Indiana Midget Week" opener.

It became readily apparent following an incident during his heat race that forced him to restart from the tail. From there, he carved his way through the field to win on a last lap, corner pass. The thread continued into the feature where he had to slide by Zeb Wise not once, but twice, after a yellow forced him into 'Take Two.'

Seavey got to the front on the seventh lap and never surrendered despite having to wade through heavy traffic on a tricky track surface with a swarm of hungry drivers behind him seeking the same promised land for their first time in 2019.

The Sutter, Calif. native drove to his fourth career USAC win along with his first "Indiana Midget Week" triumph just one race after he finally broke through for his first top-five of the season, a second place run in Granite City, Ill. that, in a sense, foreshadowed what was to come at Montpelier after a rough start to his Sophomore USAC season.

"It's been a frustrating start to the year," Seavey admitted. "Really, ever since (roommate and crew chief) Connor (Ridge) and I have been working together, we've just been on kill every time we're at the racetrack. He's really good about that. We just feed off each other's energy and it just makes it a lot of fun to go racing with someone like that. We're just having fun right now, and every time I have fun, I normally run up front. So, it's a good feeling."

Seavey started the 30-lapper from the pole but was beat to the punch in turn one by outside front row starter Wise. Fourth-starting Tanner Thorson, making his first appearance since February after sustaining serious injuries in a highway crash, put in a bid below Seavey for second on the back straightaway, but Seavey was able to clear Thorson by turn three where the high line was the chosen path and track position was imperative right from the get-go.

"It was really tricky out there," Seavey recalled. "I think we all knew the rubber was coming, but just didn't know when. When Zeb beat me on the start, I was kind of surprised, but it was still just a little bit greasy on the bottom. He got a really good start and I was just tracking him from there. I knew our car was a little bit better and I just knew I had to make my move at the right time and not give him any second chances. But, as soon as I did, the yellow came out. That wasn't what we were planning for."

When Thomas Meseraull slowed to a stop atop turn four on the fifth lap, it came just a tick after Seavey used a monster slider to clear Wise for the lead between turns one and two. The resulting yellow negated the move and positioned Seavey behind Wise for the ensuing restart, thus forcing him to re-rack and try the move once more.

Seavey stayed right with Wise for the two laps following the restart and was right on his bumper as the two crossed the stripe. Seavey threw it down to the infield tires in turn one and slid up in front of Wise in turn two before driving away to distance himself from Wise by more than a second at the halfway mark as he split his way through lapped traffic.

Tuesday's win was Logan Seavey's fourth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory and his first during 'Indiana Midget Week.'
(David Nearpass Photo)

"Once we were able to get back by him again, not too long after that, the rubber came like we were kind of expecting," Seavey remembered. "I was trying to take it easy on the tires. If you run too hard with these things, you can blow the tires right off it. After that, I had to take it easy, try to be smart in lapped traffic and not allow myself to lose the race. The rubber's always tricky, and you never really know what's going on behind you. You just have to run your own race."

Truth is, there was a lot going on behind him, with Wise and a rapidly closing Thorson trying to take advantage of any misstep Seavey might make through traffic as they remained on the rail up top and Seavey dipped down off the line to dispose of the lappers.

"It's tough to decide when you want to do it and when you can time it right," Seavey explained. "The first five, six lapped cars were easy to get by. The track hadn't completely laid rubber yet. When it locked down, that made it really tough. I tried to pull out of line three or four times to get by, which made me kind of rethink my moves. Every time I did that, I probably lost half a second. Do you stay in line and follow them or try to get another car in between you and second place? These are the decisions you have to make. Sometimes you make the wrong ones, but, luckily, everything went smooth tonight."

It did for him, although when Thorson slid by Wise for second with five laps remaining, he was running a tick quicker than Seavey, but Seavey made all the right moves through traffic down the stretch to notch his first victory of the year over Thorson, Wise, point leader Tyler Courtney and Dillon Welch.

Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Montpelier Motor Speedway were Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tanner Carrick (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Logan Seavey (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Zach Daum (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Cannon McIntosh (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Jerry Coons, Jr. (ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chad Boat (ProSource Hard Work Award), Michael Pickens (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Noah Gass (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 4, 2019 - Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.029; 2. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.046; 3. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-14.160; 4. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-14.190; 5. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.199; 6. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.199; 7. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-14.231; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-14.268; 9. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-14.298; 10. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.331; 11. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.338; 12. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-14.413; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-14.465; 14. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-14.466; 15. Billy Wease, 12, Wease-14.473; 16. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.488; 17. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-14.518; 18. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-14.551; 19. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.618; 20. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.639; 21. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-14.644; 22. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.651; 23. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-14.726; 24. Kyle Cummins, 1G, Yeley/Styres-14.773; 25. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.800; 26. Michael Koontz, 17K, Koontz-14.832; 27. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-14.884; 28. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-14.932; 29. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.940; 30. Tyler Nelson, 88, Nelson-14.983; 31. Anton Hernandez, 8JR, Wood-14.988; 32. Chris Baue, 9, Baue-15.063; 33. Brady Bacon, 1ST, Saucier-15.752; 34. Ryan Padgett, 98p, Crow-15.830; 35. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-16.407; 36. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-19.097; 37. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-NT; 38. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Carrick, 2. Thomas, 3. Grant, 4. Golobic, 5. Elledge, 6. Hollan, 7. Cling, 8. Koontz, 9. Colwell, 10. Akard. 2:04.77 (New Track Record)

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Seavey, 2. McDougal, 3. Boat, 4. Klaasmeyer, 5. Bodine, 6. Darland, 7. Wease, 8. Hernandez, 9. Welch. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Daum, 2. Courtney, 3. Coons, 4. Pickens, 5. Leary, 6. Bacon, 7. Meseraull, 8. Layser, 9. Nelson. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. McIntosh, 2. Wise, 3. Thorson, 4. Windom, 5. Gass, 6. Baue, 7. Hendricks, 8. Cummins, 9. Padgett. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Meseraull, 2. Leary, 3. Welch, 4. Darland, 5. Cummins, 6. Hendricks, 7. Gass, 8. Layser, 9. Koontz, 10. Bacon, 11. Baue, 12. Hollan, 13. Hernandez, 14. Bodine, 15. Nelson, 16. Colwell, 17. Cling, 18. Elledge, 19. Wease, 20. Akard. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (1), 2. Tanner Thorson (4), 3. Zeb Wise (2), 4. Tyler Courtney (6), 5. Dillon Welch (7), 6. Shane Golobic (5), 7. Jason McDougal (12), 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (15), 9. Tanner Carrick (3), 10. Chris Windom (11), 11. Jerry Coons, Jr. (20), 12. Cannon McIntosh (21), 13. Michael Pickens (9), 14. C.J. Leary (13), 15. Chad Boat (22), 16. Zach Daum (17), 17. Zane Hendricks (16), 18. Justin Grant (10), 19. Kyle Cummins (18), 20. Tucker Klaasmeyer (19), 21. Jesse Colwell (23), 22. Dave Darland (14), 23. Andrew Layser (24), 24. Thomas Meseraull (8). NT
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**Cling flipped during qualifying. Darland flipped during the second heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Wise, Laps 7-30 Seavey.

PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER/KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jerry Coons, Jr. (20th to 11th)

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Chad Boat

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Michael Pickens

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Noah Gass

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-530, 2-K. Thomas-473, 3-Wise-438, 4-Seavey-436, 5-Leary-411, 6-Windom-409, 7-Boat-386, 8-Klaasmeyer-359, 9-Carrick-351, 10-Coons-341.

NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Seavey-79, 2-Thorson-78, 3-Courtney-74, 4-Wise-71, 5-Golobic-64, 6-Welch-63, 7-McDougal-59, 8-Thomas-56, 9-Carrick-56, 10-Windom-48.

PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Coons-9, 2-McIntosh-9, 3-Thomas-7, 4-Boat-7, 5-McDougal-5, 6-Thorson-2, 7-Courtney-2, 8-Welch-2, 9-Windom-1, 10-Daum-1.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 5, 2019 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Tyler Courtney is joyous after winning Friday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget race at Tri-City Speedway.
(David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Granite City, Illinois (May 17, 2019).........Tyler Courtney's early-season USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship prowess has been paramount, and with his fourth win in the first six races of the season, he became the first driver to ever accomplish the feat following his victory in Friday night's Brandt "River Town Showdown" opener at Tri-City Speedway.

Additionally, Courtney backed up his USAC Sprint Car win from a year ago by winning his first USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature at the 3/8-mile dirt oval in Granite City, Ill. By doing so, the Indianapolis, Ind. driver became just the third driver to win in both divisions at Tri-City, joining Jack Hewitt and Josh Wise.

Courtney ran down reigning series champion Logan Seavey entering lapped traffic with nine laps remaining to win the ninth race of his USAC Midget career in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x, tying himself with Billy Boat, Tony Elliott and Chuck Gurney for 74th all-time.

Courtney opened up the night by setting Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifying time in both the sprint car and midget divisions, putting him back on the outside of row three for the start of the 30-lap midget main event. Courtney began a methodical charge toward the front while Kevin Thomas, Jr. worked the bottom by Justin Grant to grab the early lead with Brady Bacon slicing his way to slot into second right behind Thomas before a caution for Tanner Carrick's flat left rear tire brought a halt to the action on lap four.

On the ensuing restart, Bacon stuck like glue to the bottom to rip by Thomas for the lead and appeared to be in command until lap nine when he clipped the turn three infield tractor tire, upsetting the front end, which forced him off the pace and into the work area for adjustments under the yellow. He returned, but only managed a 16th in his first race back with FMR after the combo competed full-time on the USAC trail over the past three seasons.

Inheriting the lead was Seavey who slipped away as Thomas and Justin Grant swapped sliders back-and-forth, to and fro, until Grant emerged with the runner-up spot on lap 12. Courtney got by Thomas a lap later and began his pursuit of Grant as they took part in a three-car breakaway led by race leader Seavey.

On the 19th lap, as the front runners approached lapped traffic, Courtney slid Grant in turn three to take second, with now only Seavey left in his sight. The lappers cooperated, hanging on the low line, while Seavey and Courtney ringed the top. Courtney was inching closer each corner, but, on lap 22, was like a rocket shooting out of a Coke bottle, springing forward with a burst that slid him right past Seavey in turn three.

"You got to take it when you can get it," Courtney said of the pass. "I didn't know if it was quite going to get there because you could get a run there in (turns) three and four, but luckily it stuck. Then, you can kind of do your own race after that."

And that's exactly what Courtney did. From there, Courtney immediately pulled away, building a three-quarters of a straightaway advantage as he ripped the top to a victory margin just shy of three seconds over Seavey, Grant, Zeb Wise and Chad Boat.

Contingency award winners Friday night at Tri-City Speedway were Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Jake Neuman (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Jesse Colwell (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Jason McDougal (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Cannon McIntosh (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Tanner Carrick (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Andrew Layser (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: May 17, 2019 - Tri-City Speedway - Granite City, Illinois - Brandt "River Town Showdown" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.189; 2. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.232; 3. Brady Bacon, 76, FMR-15.314; 4. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-15.393; 5. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-15.407; 6. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-15.447; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-15.498; 8. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.525; 9. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.526; 10. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.547; 11. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-15.555; 12. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-15.578; 13. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-15.601; 14. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.610; 15. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-15.629; 16. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.702; 17. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.719; 18. Presley Truedson, 5T, Daum-15.724; 19. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-15.730; 20. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-15.731; 21. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-15.768; 22. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-15.843; 23. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.918; 24. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-16.098; 25. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-16.437; 26. Johnny Murdock, 0, Zero-17.731.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Neuman, 2. Windom, 3. Courtney, 4. K. Thomas, 5. Carrick, 6. Boat, 7. McIntosh, 8. Hendricks, 9. Elledge. 2:02.81

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Colwell, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Wise, 4. Seavey, 5. Leary, 6. Daum, 7. Hollan, 8. Murdock, 9. Layser. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. McDougal, 2. Coons, 3. Klaasmeyer, 4. Bacon, 5. Grant, 6. Truedson, 7. Bodine, 8. Cling. 2:07.31

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (10 laps, top-7 transfer) 1. McIntosh, 2. Boat, 3. Daum, 4. Truedson, 5. Bodine, 6. Elledge, 7. Hollan, 8. Layser, 9. Cling, 10. Hendricks, 11. Murdock. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Logan Seavey (5), 3. Justin Grant (2), 4. Zeb Wise (8), 5. Chad Boat (7), 6. Jerry Coons, Jr. (12), 7. Cannon McIntosh (18), 8. C.J. Leary (3), 9. Zach Daum (19), 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (1), 11. Tucker Klaasmeyer (9), 12. Chris Windom (16), 13. Tanner Carrick (10), 14. Jesse Colwell (14), 15. Tyler Thomas (11), 16. Brady Bacon (4), 17. Jason McDougal (15), 18. Holley Hollan (22), 19. Presley Truedson (17), 20. Andrew Layser (23), 21. Sterling Cling (24), 22. Cole Bodine (20), 23. Karsyn Elledge (21), 24. Jake Neuman (13). NT
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**Layser flipped during the second heat. Elledge flipped on lap 8 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 K. Thomas, Laps 4-8 Bacon, Laps 9-21 Seavey, Laps 22-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Cannon McIntosh (18th to 7th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tanner Carrick

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Andrew Layser

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-440, 2-K. Thomas-402, 3-Leary-363, 4-Wise-357, 5-Windom-351, 6-Seavey-343, 7-Boat-337, 8-Klaasmeyer-321, 9-Carrick-284, 10-Colwell-277.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 18, 2019 - Tri-City Speedway - Granite City, Illinois - "River Town Showdown" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Kevin Thomas, Jr. scored a thrilling last-lap, last corner win during Saturday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink 'Kokomo Grand Prix.' (David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana (April 6, 2019).........After an incident on the final lap of the Kokomo Speedway Sprint Car race that preceded Saturday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature, perhaps it was fate that we would see Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Justin Grant meet again in some form or fashion on the second night of the "Kokomo Grand Prix."

Justin Grant got the best of Thomas in the sprint tilt, picking up the victory following a last-lap, side-by-side battle that wound up with Thomas on his head before making a beeline to the opposite end of the track to confront Grant.

When cooler heads prevailed, as luck would have it, a look at the starting lineup showed the two starting side-by-side in the second row of the midget main, setting the stage for round two of the duel which would once again come down to the final lap, but this time with the outcome the mirror opposite.

Thomas ran down Grant late in the going and, on the final corner of the final lap, reversed his fortunes with redemption, nipping Grant by half a front wheel at the stripe - or 0.015 seconds to be precise - to collect the fifth victory of his USAC National Midget career.

During the downtime for his early sprint car exit, the fire was burning inside KTJ, but instead of dwelling too much, he and his Petry Motorsports crew used the few extra minutes to reclaim focus on the next task at hand.

"We had a little bit of a mishap, but it happens," Thomas acknowledged. "It was unfortunate, but we had a little bit of time to get back here and make some changes to the midget because we had a decent idea of what it was going to do."

"I know people are going to want to pick at me and Grant because we crashed each other or whatever the case is," Thomas continued. "It's racing. We both race hard. It is what it is. We talked to each other in the podium picture and it's all good. It's just the way it goes. He's been my friend for a long time. He didn't crash me on purpose, but I'd get mad at my grandma if she crashed me. It's nothing against him; it's just my nature."

Thomas' desire and motivation for redemption was evident from the word 'go' as he charged from his fourth starting spot to slide to the point momentarily in the third turn on lap one, but the move wouldn't stick as Jason McDougal crossed over to reclaim the lead while Thomas fell back into line in fourth.

McDougal, the runner-up from the night before, would lay claim to the lead for the first seven circuits. Yet, on the lap eight restart, the door was open for Grant to slide past McDougal for the lead in the first turn. Grant was seeking a little redemption of his own following a heat race flip during Friday night's action.

Just prior to halfway, Friday winner Tyler Courtney began to make his surge, getting around teammate Chris Windom for the third position on lap 12. Three laps later, the series point leader found himself upside down in turn one. Incredibly, he was able to charge back to ninth at the checkered following repairs from the Clauson/Marshall Racing crew.

Restarts would play a starring role in the second half of the 30-lapper with a multitude of spins and stoppages taking place, the most serious of which came on the 21st lap when series Rookie Ethan Mitchell flipped wildly after tagging the turn one concrete. He walked away unscathed.

On the lap 21 restart, a scramble for position saw Windom attempt to slide McDougal for second, but it was one step forward, two steps back, as he fell back to fourth behind Thomas who took advantage of the opening to crack into third. With two to go, Thomas ripped by McDougal for second and the pursuit was set in motion toward Grant. Thomas blazed a trail to pull to the inside of Grant into turn one just moments after taking the white flag.

However, the pursuit had to wait as Cole Bodine's ride stopped in turn two, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.

Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. celebrates his fifth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory and the first for Petry Motorsports following Saturday night's 'Kokomo Grand Prix' at Kokomo Speedway. (Adam Mollenkopf Photo)

Leading up to the final showdown, Thomas had been playing around with his shocks from the cockpit and altered his line until he found something that worked. Everything was clicking for the Cullman, Ala. native, and he had his eyes and ears open to any advantage he could find, even if it came from the other side of the fence.

"Once we got to second, I saw Grant's guys giving him the motion to go to the top in three and four," Thomas recalled. "I knew that it was going to be such a long way around that it would open up a slider. I knew where he was going to go because his guys told him to go there. He ran a good line around there and he was fast up there. It's just such a shorter point to drive straight across the track."

On the final restart, Thomas took a line lower than Grant into turns one and two on the 29th lap before following him up top between turns three and four as a surging Zeb Wise joined the fray, going high on entry before diamonding off below Thomas. Thomas held serve in second and remained within three car lengths of Grant in one and two on the final go-around.

Entering turn three for the final time, Grant remained topside as Thomas drove it in deeper than he had on any other lap, sliding right across the nose of Grant in turn four. Grant countered underneath in a race to the line, coming up inches short of Thomas and his Petry Motorsports/Bolted Spine Designs - Petry Excavating - Gray Auto/Bullet/Speedway Toyota. Grant took second ahead of Wise, McDougal and C.J. Leary.

Thomas rejoined Petry at the beginning of the 2019 season following a brief stint driving for the Greenfield, Ind. based team at the conclusion of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, rewarding the team with its first ever USAC National Midget victory.

"Getting a win for those guys is a big momentum builder," Thomas exclaimed. "Scott Petry has never seen his car win before (with USAC). That was pretty cool. I really enjoyed doing that for them. They bust their butts and I'm just glad it paid off. They've been wanting to win a USAC feature for so long and they've been close. They've just never really got there. But once you get that monkey off your back, they start coming easier."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway were Zeb Wise (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Tucker Klaasmeyer (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (KSE Racing Products/Sundollar Restoration Hard Charger), Jake Neuman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Ethan Mitchell (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 6, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.542; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.663; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.890; 4. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-13.908; 5. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-13.928; 6. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.990; 7. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.991; 8. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-14.049; 9. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.113; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 7R, RMS-14.154; 11. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-14.211; 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.236; 13. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.245; 14. Ace McCarthy, 28, Neuman-14.278; 15. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.300; 16. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-14.335; 17. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.374; 18. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-14.374; 19. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-14.375; 20. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.413; 21. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.435; 22. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-14.535; 23. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.659; 24. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.751; 25. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.805; 26. Kyle O'Gara, 67F, SFH-15.005; 27. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-15.039; 28. Brent Watson, 17K, Watson-15.850; 29. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-16.088.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. McDougal, 2. Carrick, 3. Wise, 4. Seavey, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Hollan, 7. Elledge, 8. Akard. 2:20.65

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Windom, 3. Darland, 4. Meseraull, 5. McCarthy, 6. Bodine, 7. O'Gara. 2:20.24

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Colwell, 3. Boat, 4. Welch, 5. Hendricks, 6. Mitchell, 7. Cling. 2:25.39

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Klaasmeyer, 2. Grant, 3. Leary, 4. Coons, 5. Neuman, 6. Layser, 7. Watson. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Neuman, 2. Hendricks, 3. Hollan, 4. McCarthy, 5. Layser, 6. Bodine, 7. Mitchell, 8. T. Thomas, 9. O'Gara, 10. Elledge, 11. Cling, 12. Watson, 13. Akard. 2:48.13

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 2. Justin Grant (3), 3. Zeb Wise (6), 4. Jason McDougal (2), 5. C.J. Leary (8), 6. Chris Windom (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (12), 8. Logan Seavey (13), 9. Tyler Courtney (5), 10. Thomas Meseraull (10), 11. Jesse Colwell (15), 12. Chad Boat (7), 13. Jake Neuman (16), 14. Ace McCarthy (14), 15. Dillon Welch (11), 16. Andrew Layser (22), 17. Holley Hollan (17), 18. Jerry Coons, Jr. (20), 19. Zane Hendricks (19), 20. Cole Bodine (21), 21. Tanner Carrick (9), 22. Sterling Cling (24), 23. Dave Darland (18), 24. Ethan Mitchell (23). NT
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**Courtney flipped on lap 15 of the feature. Mitchell flipped on lap 21 of the feature. Carrick flipped on lap 30 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 McDougal, Laps 8-29 Grant, Lap 30 K. Thomas.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/SUNDOLLAR RESTORATION HARD CHARGER: Andrew Layser (16th to 22nd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jake Neuman

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Ethan Mitchell

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-358, 2-K. Thomas-354, 3-Leary-308, 4-Windom-305, 5-Wise-290, 6-Klaasmeyer-274, 7-Boat-273, 8-Seavey-266, 9-Carrick-243, 10-Colwell-234.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 17, 2019 - Tri-City Speedway - Granite City, Illinois - "River Town Showdown" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

#7BC Tyler Courtney passes Kevin Thomas, Jr. en route to Friday's 'Kokomo Grand Prix' opening night win at Kokomo Speedway. (David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana (April 5, 2019).........Tyler Courtney's grip of the "Kokomo Grand Prix" seems to be as firm as the grip he currently holds on the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship following Friday night's victory at Kokomo Speedway, his second straight in the "GP" and his third in the first four races on the 2019 series' trail.

The Indianapolis, Indiana driver raced to the lead just prior to the halfway point, utilizing the bottom of the racetrack to track down early race leader Kevin Thomas, Jr. on lap 15 and carry on to nab the eighth win of his career in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x, tying him for 77th all-time.

Courtney began his expedition from the outside of row three while pole sitter K. Thomas slid up past outside front row starter Thomas Meseraull in turn one for the point on the opening lap.

The first stoppage of the night arrived on the fourth lap of the main when Tony DiMattia took a tumble in turn four from which he walked away uninjured.

On the ensuing restart, K. Thomas once again spurted away to a relatively comfortable margin of one second while CMR teammates Chris Windom and Courtney battled side-by-side for the runner-up spot. Courtney found the bottom of the quarter-mile to his liking and quickly ate up enough ground to nip Windom at the line for second on lap six, just before the yellow flag flew for a turn two spin by Justin Peck.

When racing resumed, K. Thomas and Courtney formed a two-car breakaway to distance themselves from the herd. Courtney kept inching closer and closer, sticking right within earshot of Thomas nearing the midway point. On the 14th lap, Courtney's stick-to-itiveness paid off when he ran down K. Thomas, beating him to the entry of turn one before sliding up in front to nail down the lead.

Courtney had a plan and executed it perfectly on the bottom, something he attributes to his extensive experience watching, crewing and racing at Kokomo over the years.

"I ran the bottom all night, especially in (turns) three and four," Courtney explained. "It got pretty rough in one and two, so you had to search to find other ways to go. I knew the bottom was going to be the place to be. I watched a lot of races that were won here on the bottom, especially off of four. Watching those guys and learning from the best, Bryan (Clauson) being one of them, I was fortunate I got to watch him race a lot here and be a part of it. I think I would credit a lot to being a part of it and watching and take notes mentally and using it to capitalize here tonight."

Courtney's lead grew to two seconds by the 20th lap as K. Thomas became mired in lapped traffic, allowing Courtney to break away into his own zip code, albeit briefly, as Zane Hendricks slowed to a stop in turn two, thus resetting the landscape for the finish of the 30-lapper.

However, Courtney was unfazed with the lapped car of Cole Bodine separating he and K. Thomas, Windom and Jason McDougal in second, third and fourth. Courtney said 'sayonara' as a cornucopia of drivers behind him jostled for position. McDougal eventually prevailed with the second spot using a topside pass of K. Thomas in turn four on lap 24. But, with Courtney a distant three seconds ahead, McDougal needed a caution for any shot and, alas, he would receive one when Andrew Layser flipped between turns three and four on the 28th lap. He was uninjured.

The stage was set for a three-lap dash to the finish with Courtney leading and McDougal in second. Rewind back to last Labor Day Weekend and McDougal was in relatively the same position in Pevely, Mo. to win his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race. He conquered that quest, and now had a similar storyline setting up for his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget score in his first ever drive for Steve Reynolds Motorsports.

Courtney had other plans, however.

"I didn't really know what I was going to get with Jason," Courtney pondered. "He's good at the end of races; he proved it last year at Pevely. I was a little bit in defense mode, but I knew I just needed to hit my marks and make three good laps there at the end to put ourselves in position to be where we were."

"I knew he'd be running the top because that's where he loves to be," Courtney continued. "But nobody had passed me on the bottom the whole night, so I knew if I could just run where they were running, nobody was going to go where I was going. It was just a matter of putting yourself in the right place at the right time."

Courtney stuck to his guns and burst away on the restart, never allowing McDougal to get anywhere close enough to throw a haymaker for the win, closing out his fifth career USAC National win at Kokomo (3 sprint, 2 midget) by just a tick under a full second ahead of a wheel-standing McDougal in second, followed by Windom, Zeb Wise and K. Thomas.

Contingency award winners Friday night at Kokomo Speedway were Dillon Welch (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tanner Carrick (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Ethan Mitchell (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Zeb Wise (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Dave Darland (KSE Racing Products/Sundollar Restoration Hard Charger), Tyler Thomas (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Neuman (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 5, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.665 (New Track Record); 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.695; 3. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-12.712; 4. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.747; 5. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.819; 6. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.844; 7. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.869; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 7R, RMS-12.904; 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.921; 10. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.936; 11. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.946; 12. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.957; 13. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.980; 14. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.022; 15. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-13.027; 16. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.033; 17. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.066; 18. Ace McCarthy, 28, Neuman-13.100; 19. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-13.107; 20. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-13.118; 21. Justin Peck, 17, Bus-13.146; 22. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.149; 23. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.247; 24. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-13.250; 25. Tyler Nelson, 88, Nelson-13.265; 26. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-13.283; 27. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-13.289; 28. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-13.295; 29. Kyle O'Gara, 67F, SFH-13.458; 30. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-13.717; 31. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-13.965; 32. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-14.943.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Carrick, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Klaasmeyer, 4. Windom, 5. Welch, 6. Peck, 7. Nelson, 8. O'Gara. 2:10.06 (New Track Record)

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. T. Thomas, 3. McDougal, 4. Boat, 5. McCarthy, 6. Hollan, 7. Cling, 8. Elledge. 2:12.78

AUTO METER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Mitchell, 2. Coons, 3. Leary, 4. Colwell, 5. DiMattia, 6. Neuman, 7. Dickerson, 8. Grant. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Wise, 2. Darland, 3. Meseraull, 4. Layser, 5. Seavey, 6. Hendricks, 7. Bodine. 2:13.62

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Seavey, 2. Welch, 3. Hollan, 4. Hendricks, 5. Peck, 6. DiMatta, 7. Neuman, 8. Bodine, 9. O'Gara, 10. Cling, 11. Elledge, 12. McCarthy, 13. Nelson. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Jason McDougal (3), Chris Windom (4), 4. Zeb Wise (12), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (1), 6. Logan Seavey (8), 7. Thomas Meseraull (2), 8. Dillon Welch (7), 9. C.J. Leary (5), 10. Tanner Carrick (16), 11. Dave Darland (21), 12. Chad Boat (10), 13. Tyler Thomas (20), 14. Jesse Colwell (11), 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 16. Andrew Layser (15), 17. Holley Hollan (14), 18. Ethan Mitchell (24), 19. Cole Bodine (22), 20. Karsyn Elledge (23), 21. Zane Hendricks (18), 22. Jerry Coons, Jr. (17), 23. Justin Peck (19), 24. Tony DiMattia (9). NT
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**Boat flipped during practice. Grant flipped during the third heat. Nelson flipped during the semi. DiMattia flipped on lap 4 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 K. Thomas, Laps 15-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/SUNDOLLAR RESTORATION HARD CHARGER: Dave Darland (21st to 11th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tyler Thomas

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Jake Neuman

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-299, 2-K. Thomas-272, 3-Leary-244, 4-Windom-242, 5-Boat-228, 6-Wise-214, 7-Klaasmeyer-214, 8-Carrick-213, 9-Seavey-212, 10-Colwell-186.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 6, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval