.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

PICKENS DOUBLES DOWN AT PUTNAMVILLE FOR 2ND STRAIGHT INDIANA MIDGET WEEK VICTORY

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana......June 8, 2017 - A standing ovation is reserved for a performance that transcends the ordinary.

What is considered the common or run-of-the-mill may be admirable, but when an individual witnesses one of those handful of instances when the stars align to create a lasting image that will be ingrained in memory, the event is elevated to a status above the norm.

Michael Pickens performance in the final laps of Thursday's Indiana Midget Week round at Lincoln Park Speedway was certainly not ordinary and the audience responded in kind by rising to their feet and applauding the New Zealand driver who captivated them in a mesmerizing five-lap sequence.

One night after bringing a healthy contingent of supporters from his homeland to their feet with a victory at Gas City, Pickens directed an academy award winning performance. In true dramatic fashion, Pickens kept the large crowd in suspense as he saved his best performance for the final act, swapping the race lead back-and-forth between he and Spencer Bayston in a dramatic finish that's fate wasn't decided until the final corner.

Pickens' victory brought race fans to a fever pitch as the veteran driver finally begins to receive his due as one of the top drivers in the sport of midget racing and an international racing star with his electric stage act that has the U.S. midget racing scene abuzz.

Pickens' night began in a completely different light after pulling off in the first practice session without taking a single lap at speed. Apparently, two laps were all that were necessary as the 34-year-old from Auckland set ProSource Fast Qualifying time in his Brett & Leigh Morris/Seamount Racing - Tony Elliott Foundation/King/GRD Toyota.

Funny enough, after being docked two rows in Wednesday night's feature at Gas City for arriving late to pre-race staging, Pickens was the first car to hit the track Thursday at Lincoln Park, making sure that he wouldn't have to make his job any more difficult than it already was.

Pickens would start six, but for the third consecutive night, USAC/ARDC point leader Alex Bright began the feature event from the pole and, as he did in the IMW opener at Montpelier, would jump his way out to the lead on the opening lap.

Back a handful of positions behind Bright was fifth-running Pickens who, on the fifth lap would find himself nearly running into trouble as he got sideways and airborne after elevating all four wheels off the ground. He would gather it up and ride on, but not without losing a position to drop to six.

While much of the field remained on the bottom, Bayston was the top front runner to venture to the outside and pass at will in the first third of the 30-lap event. Sure enough, those dues he paid up top would pay off as he entered the top-three on the eighth lap around the outside of Chad Boat, then swooped to the bottom to swipe Boat's line away on the bottom entry into turn one.

Bayston's crew had replaced the powerplant of the No. 97 prior to the feature event after finishing second in the third heat race. The engine was a songbird as Bayston stuck to his guns to complete the same move on Brent Beauchamp for second into the first turn on lap 11 and, a lap later, the lead would be his own after utilizing another outside pass around A. Bright.

Immediately, Bayston opened up a substantial gap for the lead until a lap 15 yellow for a Tyler Thomas/Brayton Lynch turn two tangle brought out the yellow at the halfway point. Shortly after the ensuing restart, eighth-running Gage Walker received contact to the rear bumper that sent him sideways at the entrance of turn three, collecting Lynch, as another yellow flag hit the speedway.

Time and again, Bayston was a force on the restarts and, on the lap 17 resumption, the 2015 series Rookie of the Year would jump out to an eight car-length lead over Bright. With 12 to go, the push was on as Bright slid up the track in turn two, allowing Boat to squeeze underneath for second.

Meanwhile, Pickens began to pound the cushion entering turn one with the right rear, then instantly flicked the steering wheel to the left and used the momentum from diamonding down the hill to blast around Bright for third.

Following a caution for the stoppage of reigning Putnamville Indiana Midget Week winner Tanner Thorson and Ronnie Gardner, Pickens continued to hold down his own patented line, entering turn one higher than any man or woman had ventured as he kept tabs on Bayston.

An outside backstretch pass for second around Boat moved Pickens to second on the leaderboard with just eight laps remaining. With anticipation building and senses working overtime, the decreasing gap between the two was increasingly visible as voices from the crowd began to murmur in excitement about the potential finish with the tension so evident, you could feel it seeping into your pores.

Pickens had closed to the tail of Bayston with five to go when sixth-running Brent Beauchamp attempted to exit the track after losing power, but was not able to get far away enough off the racing surface to set up one final shootout for the win.

The final five laps will be remembered for those in attendance as one of the most exciting midget racing duels in Lincoln Park Speedway's history, immediately bringing to mind Kyle Larson and Bryan Clauson's savage duel in 2011. Yet again, though, Bayston was strong enough on the restart to gap Pickens who stayed true to the top and his diamonding pattern off turns one and three to find any extra ounce of speed he could get like a downhill skier.

On laps 26, 27 and 28, Pickens was able to get a big enough launch from the turn one berm, but the momentum would cease off the exit where Bayston was strong enough to keep Pickens an arm's distance away. Through turns three and four, Bayston took the high road as Pickens followed suit.

Coming to the white flag, Pickens attacked the cushion like a rabid animal, lifting the left side wheels off the ground as he flat-footed the turn three cushion and countered underneath off of four to beat Bayston to the stripe with one to go. Pickens, who had so spectacularly executed the entry into turn one time-after-time, wasn't so graceful on his final entry as he bounced his way through the corner, getting completely with a half-spin that caused a slight disruption in his rhythm before pointing his car in the right direction as Bayston pulled alongside underneath.

Amazingly, little ground was lost as Pickens regained control and stood on the pedal to pull even with Bayston halfway down the back straight. Both entered the high line in three with Bayston a couple car lengths ahead, but Pickens had his plan stapled to his mind as he countered below Bayston in a wheel-to-wheel drag race to the line that Pickens prevailed in by a single car length.

It was Pickens fourth-career USAC National Midget victory and his second in as many nights to become the first driver to win consecutive races in a single Indiana Midget Week since Bryan Clauson in 2009! By virtue of finishes of 2nd, 1st and 1st in the first three Indiana Midget Week feature, Pickens now holds a 31-point lead over Brady Bacon at the midway point of the six-race series.

Lebanon, Indiana's Spencer Bayston just narrowly missed his second career USAC win and his second straight year with an Indiana Midget Week victory, coming home second in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Curb Records - TRD/Bullet by Spike/Speedway Toyota.

Tyler Courtney's crew had to swap out the engine overnight after mechanical trouble sidelined the Montpelier winner the previous night at Gas City. A rough start and a 20th place starting position would not hold back Courtney as he raced to a third-place finish to earn KSE Racing Products Hard Charger of the Race in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/Driven 2 Save Lives - Indiana Donor Network/Spike/Stanton SR-11.

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway include Michael Pickens (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Ronnie Gardner (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tanner Carrick (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Alex Bright (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Zach Daum (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Dave Darland (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Holly Shelton (ProSource Hard Work Award).

-----------------------------

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 8, 2017 - Putnamville, Indiana - Lincoln Park Speedway - 13th "Indiana Midget Week"

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, Seamount-13.036; 2. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-13.133; 3. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.150; 4. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.159; 5. Rico Abreu, 21, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.218; 6. Shane Golobic, 17w, Clauson-Marshall/Wood-13.227; 7. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-13.262; 8. Chance Morton, 7MF, Morton-13.322; 9. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.349; 10. Brent Beauchamp, 11B, B & B-13.360; 11. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-13.369; 12. Jerry Coons Jr., 25, Petry/Goff-13.375; 13. Courtney Crone, 25c, Rodela-13.379; 14. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.387; 15. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.394; 16. Justin Grant, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.424; 17. Ronnie Gardner, 25x, Rodela-13.485; 18. Brenden Bright, 92, Bright-13.486; 19. Gage Walker, 7, Walker-13.508; 20. Dave Darland, 11, Gray-13.545; 21. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.546; 22. Ryan Greth, 4R, Lesher-13.566; 23. Michael Koontz, 17K, Koontz-13.574; 24. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-13.587; 25. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.588; 26. Brayton Lynch, 1K, RKR-13.602; 27. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-13.646; 28. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-13.659; 29. Jimi Quin, 8GQ, Quin-13.702; 30. Holly Shelton, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.731; 31. Trey Marcham, 32, Marcham-13.946; 32. Kade Morton, 8m, Morton-14.286; 33. Cole Fehr, 15F, Live Loud-14.464; 34. Kyle Jones, 04, Hefler-14.773; 35. Paul Raynes, 7x, Seven-15.095; 36. Andrew Felker, 37, Felker-NT; 37. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-NT

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Gardner, 2. Abreu, 3. Thorson, 4. Pickens, 5. Courtney, 6. Boat, 7. Quin, 8. Fehr, 9. Crone. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Carrick, 2. Beauchamp, 3. Bacon, 4. Greth, 5. Golobic, 6. B. Bright, 7. Shelton, 8. Lynch, 9. Jones. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. A. Bright, 2. Bayston, 3. Walker, 4. Thomas, 5. Koontz, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Neuman, 8. Marcham, 9. Raynes. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Daum, 2. Grant, 3. Darland, 4. Coons, 5. Robinson, 6. C. Morton, 7. K. Morton, 8. Ray. 2:17.52

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Golobic, 2. Courtney, 3. Boat, 4. Shelton, 5. Robinson, 6. Lynch, 7. B. Bright, 8. Quin, 9. Neuman, 10. Jones, 11. Fehr, 12. Raynes, 13. Koontz, 14. Buckwalter, 15. Marcham, 16. K. Morton, 17. C. Morton. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Michael Pickens, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Shane Golobic, 7. Chad Boat, 8. Brady Bacon, 9. Alex Bright, 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 11. Ryan Robinson, 12. Zach Daum, 13. Dave Darland, 14. Holly Shelton, 15. Tyler Thomas, 16. Tanner Carrick, 17. Brayton Lynch, 18. Ronnie Gardner, 19. Brent Beauchamp, 20. Tanner Thorson, 21. Gage Walker, 22. Ryan Greth. NT
----------------------------
**Felker flipped during qualifying. Crone flipped during the first heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 A. Bright, Laps 13-28 Bayston, Laps 29-30 Pickens

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (20th to 3rd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dave Darland

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Holly Shelton

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-421, 2-Bayston-380, 3-Golobic-331, 4-Grant-330, 5-Thorson-330, 6-Courtney-291, 7-Coons-276, 8-A. Bright-260, 9-Boat-254, 10-Thomas-237.

NEW USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Pickens-236, 2-Bacon-205, 3-Bayston-194, 4-Golobic-180, 5-Courtney-178, 6-Abreu-178, 7-A. Bright-167, 8-Grant-162, 9-Thorson-155, 10-Boat-147.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 9 - Bloomington, Indiana - Bloomington Speedway - 13th "Indiana Midget Week"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

COURTNEY CONNECTS ON FIRST USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WIN IN MONTPELIER INDIANA MIDGET WEEK OPENER

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Montpelier, Indiana.........June 6, 2017 - Just four nights ago, Tyler Courtney had yet to break into the win column in USAC competition for 2017.

A mere four nights later, the Indianapolis, Indiana native is two victories richer following last Friday night's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car score at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska, before the latest triumph - his very first USAC National Midget points-paying victory - in Tuesday's opener for the 13th installment of Indiana Midget Week at Montpelier Motor Speedway.

The 23-year-old driver used the bottom to slip past Alex Bright for the lead on the fifth lap, then immediately fended off a slider thrown by hard-charging Brady Bacon. Courtney then mastered a late-race restart to drive away for a commanding win to become the first driver ever to earn both his first USAC National Midget and National Sprint Car wins in Indiana Midget Week and Indiana Sprint Week.

The 2016 Gas City "Sprint Week" winner began Tuesday night's race from the fifth spot, but quickly became a challenger after moving to third on the opening lap. Meanwhile, up front, pole sitter Alex Bright held the point as Zach Daum pursued. On lap four, Daum scampered to the high side to complete the pass of race leader Bright exiting turn two, but the yellow flag fell for a spinning Tanner Carrick before the lap could be scored, thus negating Daum's good fortune.

On the restart, the battle at the front became a three-car dance as the trio stacked up wheel-to-wheel-to-wheel with Bacon, Courtney and Bright even-Steven exiting the second turn. One lap later, Courtney skimmed the bottom lane to take ownership of the lead between turns one and two.

"With how many good guys we had up front like Michael (Pickens) and (Kyle) Larson, I knew we had to go to the bottom at the beginning," Courtney recalls. "I knew those guys were able to stay with me up top, so once I got past them, I knew I was going to have to get back to the top. I did that and, luckily, it started cleaning off and getting dark, so I knew I needed to stay up there because it was going to take rubber pretty soon. I feel like I had my own line in (turns) three and four by going in high and coming across the bottom. That worked for me in the heat race and I stuck with it in the feature."

Following the same trail as Courtney was Bacon, who slid across the bottom of turn three to the top of four in front of Bright for second. He then immediately pointed his arrow squarely in the direction of race leader Courtney. Brady took a run at Courtney, serving up a slider exiting turn two on the sixth lap. Bacon came up short, and lost a tad of momentum, allowing Courtney to break away.

"In conditions like that, you just have to stay in it and hope he knows well enough not to just keep going and take both he and you out, especially when both of us are racing for a championship. Brady's a smart racer, obviously. There was a little bit of worry, but you just have to make sure you pull your belts tight and keep going after it. The race is just 30 laps and you have to get going when you have guys like that behind you and you know they're coming after you. You must play defense with these guys because they'll be playing offense when you're in the lead."

With 20 laps remaining, Courtney's burst saw him expand his lead to a full-straightaway as he attacked lapped traffic with authority until a yellow with three to go slowed his pace for the stopped car of Tyler Thomas. By rule, the lapped cars between first and second moved to the tail of the field at that point, erasing the substantial gap that Courtney had constructed.

When the green dropped, a mad scramble ensued for the runner-up spot as Michael Pickens, Bacon, Bright and defending Montpelier winner Kyle Larson all wagered for the runner-up spot. All that did was allow Courtney to pull away unchallenged and unscathed on the final circuits to land his first USAC Midget points win in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/Driven 2 Save Lives - Indiana Donor Network/Spike/Stanton SR-11 over Pickens, Larson, Bacon and Bright.

"I knew it was going to be tough when they took those lapped cars out. That's the rule and, I know when I'm running second, I'm excited when they take the lapped cars out because it gives you a fresh chance at the leader. Luckily, we were good enough tonight to where we didn't have to battle anybody there at the end. It made my job a little bit easier."

The win snapped Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports' seemingly unrelenting grasp on the Indiana Midget Week series in which his drivers had won seven feature events in a row dating to 2015 coming into Tuesday night's event. The name Clauson has its fingerprints on the bookends surrounding KKM's IMW winning streak. Bryan Clauson raced to victory in the last event prior to the KKM's lengthy succession of wins, while Tuesday's was captured by a car fielded by Bryan's father, Tim Clauson.

The Clauson-Marshall Racing team has already proven themselves to be a formidable foe to challenge Kunz/Curb-Agajanian's reign of supremacy in its first full-year of existence, with Justin Grant also nabbing a win in the season opener at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin.

"I think we're definitely on our way," Courtney believes. "With that said, Keith has one heck of a lineup. They've definitely proven what they've got. Our goal this year was to come in and make them get up on their heels. I feel like we've got them a little bit against the ropes right now, but I know they're going to dig deep and they're going to come back at us just like we're going at them right now. It's going to be fun. It's not easy to win these races and you have to take advantage of them every chance you get. You can never take them for granted. That's what we love about racing and competition. I have a ton of respect for Pete and Keith and all those guys over there. They've got a hell of a group over there racing against us. It's going to be tough, but this is why we race. This is why we do what we do."

Auckland, New Zealand's Michael Pickens returned to the Indiana Midget Week tour for the first time since 2014, taking second-place honors in his Brett & Leigh Morris/Seamount Racing - Tony Elliott Foundation/King/GRD Toyota.

Kyle Larson used a rare day off between Monster Energy NASCAR Cup duties to play in the dirt where he made a late-race charge to run third in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Walker Filtration - TRD/Bullet by Spike/Speedway Toyota.

Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Montpelier Motor Speedway include Kyle Larson (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Shane Golobic (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Tanner Thorson (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tanner Carrick (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Spencer Bayston (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Davey Ray (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jerry Coons, Jr. (ProSource Hard Work Award).

-----------------------------

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 6, 2017 - Montpelier, Indiana - Montpelier Motor Speedway - 13th "Indiana Midget Week"

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 21, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.965; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Wood-14.102; 3. Michael Pickens, 1nz, Morris-14.346; 4. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-14.386; 5. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.419; 6. Ryan Greth, 4R, Lesher-14.429; 7. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.456; 8. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-14.466; 9. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-14.578; 10. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.586; 11. Rico Abreu, 97k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.591; 12. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.622; 13. Trey Marcham, 32, Marcham-14.625; 14. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-14.679; 15. Justin Grant, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.690; 16. Dave Darland, 11, Gray-14.718; 17. Shane Golobic, 17w, Clauson/Marshall/Wood-14.769; 18. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.886; 19. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-14.922; 20. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-14.947; 21. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-14.949; 22. Ronnie Gardner, 25x, Rodela-14.965; 23. Tanner Carrick, 71lk, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.997; 24. Holly Shelton, 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.009; 25. Justin Peck, 7k, Irwin-15.013; 26. Kyle Jones, 04, Hefler-15.053; 27. Brayton Lynch, 1k, Kunz-15.084; 28. Jerry Coons Jr., 25, Petry/Goff-15.093; 29. Chris Baue, 2, Baue-15.240; 30. Jimi Quin, 8GQ, Quin-15,256; 31. Michael Koontz, 17k. Koontz-15.323; 32. Kade Morton, 8M, Morton-15.436; 33. Brad Kraus, 6B, Knaus-15.445; 34. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-15.514; 35. Chance Morton, 7MF, Morton-15.538; 36. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-15.608; 37. Ryan Secrest, 17o, Koontz-15.753; 38. Courtney Crone, 25c, Rodela-15.770; 39. Tylar Rankin, 95, Rankin-16.236; 40. Gage Walker, 47, Mason-NT; 41. Tyler Nelson, 88T, Nelson-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Golobic, 2. Ray, 3. Larson, 4. Thomas, 5. Bright, 6. Marcham, 7. Peck, 8. Baue, 9. Kraus, 10. Seacrest. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Courtney, 3. Gardner, 4. Windom, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Greth, 7. Crone, 8. Quin, 9. Jones, 10. Dickerson. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Carrick, 2. Pickens, 3. Grant, 4. Boat, 5. Abreu, 6. Chance Morton, 7. Robinson, 8. Lynch, 9. Koontz, 10. Rankin. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Daum, 3. Coons, 4. Bacon, 5. Shelton, 6. Darland, 7. Neuman, 8. DiMattia, 9. Kade Morton. 2:55.38

C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Chance Morton, 2. Neuman, 3. Crone, 4. Dickerson, 5. Kraus, 6. Seacrest. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Robinson, 3. Abreu, 4. Ray, 5. Darland, 6. Shelton, 7. Buckwalter, 8. Chance Morton, 9. Jones, 10. Koontz, 11. Crone, 12. Dickerson, 13. Neuman, 14. Lynch, 15. Greth, 16. DiMattia, 17. Quin, 18. Lynch. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Michael Pickens, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Alex Bright, 6. Shane Golobic, 7. Justin Grant, 8. Tanner Thorson, 9. Ryan Robinson, 10. Spencer Bayston, 11. Chad Boat, 12. Tanner Carrick, 13. Davey Ray, 14. Rico Abreu, 15. Chris Windom, 16. Justin Peck, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Holly Shelton, 20. Ronnie Gardner, 21. Jerry Coons Jr., 22. Jake Neuman, 23. Tyler Thomas. NT
----------------------------
**Quin flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Bright, Laps 5-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Shane Golobic (14th-6th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH-PLACE FINISHER: Davey Ray

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Jerry Coons Jr.

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-285, 2-Bayston-237, 3-Thorson-232, 4-Grant-226, 5-Golobic-214, 6-Coons-198, 7-Robinson-162, 8-Bright-157, 9-Boat-153, 10-Darland-148.

NEW USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Courtney-82, 2-Pickens-78, 3-Larson-77, 4-Bacon-69, 5-Bright-64, 6-Golobic-63, 7-Grant-58, 8-Thorson-57, 9-Bayston-51, 10-Robinson-49.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 7 - Gas City (IN) I-69 Speedway - 13th "Indiana Midget Week"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

INDIANA MIDGET WEEK HAS ARRIVED; SIX NIGHTS, SIX TRACKS, SIX RACES SET FOR JUNE 6-11

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

A glance at the calendar indicates that the month of June has arrived. The temps have begun to rise and the intensity has multiplied as the thick of the USAC racing schedule is upon us.

As the first of 16 scheduled USAC National events this month were completed last weekend, it's crystal clear the urgency has increased. For this upcoming stretch of races can set the tone on a quest for a season championship. It can also break you when you're least suspecting it.

Indiana Midget Week is one of those tests. It's a test of endurance and a trial by fire. It's what racers hunger for - the opportunity to overcome the most daunting of tasks by proving to others, and themselves, that they can achieve anything no matter how challenging the scenario.

USAC's biggest week of midget racing arrives in the Hoosier state beginning this Tuesday night, June 6th with the first of six consecutive nights of the 13th annual edition of Indiana Midget Week.

Elk Grove, California's Kyle Larson sure hasn't forgotten his short track roots. The current Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series' standings second-place driver and two-time Cup winner won last year's Indiana Midget Week opener at Montpelier. He plans to compete in the first two rounds of this year's Indiana Midget Week - Tuesday at Montpelier and Wednesday at Gas City.

Rico Abreu of St. Helena, California, always brings the excitement when he gets behind the wheel of any type of racecar, but when he's at the control of a USAC Midget, he becomes Superman. The two-time Midget Week champ in 2014 and 2015 won the finale a year ago at Kokomo and is back to compete in all six races of this year's series.

Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports took all five rounds of Midget Week in 2016 with Spencer Bayston at Gas City, Tanner Thorson at Putnamville and Christopher Bell at Bloomington rounding out the remainder of KKM's sweep. All but Bell will return for this year's IMW.

But the team has been shut out of victory lane thus far in 2017 by Ione, California's Justin Grant (5th in points), who seeks his first career Midget Week win, and point leader Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, who won his first career USAC feature as a 16-year-old in 2006 during Indiana Midget Week at Kokomo. Tucson, Arizona's Jerry Coons, Jr. was a Midget Week champ in 2007, but the USAC Triple Crown champ, who stands fourth in series points, aims to earn his first win of any kind with the series since 2010!

Following Tuesday's Montpelier round, Indiana Midget Week picks up Wednesday, June 7 at Gas City (one of two remaining original Midget Week tracks from the series inception in 2005). Thursday, June 8 takes you to Putnamville's Lincoln Park Speedway while Friday, June 9 brings the red clay of Bloomington Speedway. The penultimate round heads to the second of the originals, Lawrenceburg Speedway, on Saturday night, June 10. Sunday's finale on June 11 hits one of USAC's most regularly-visited tracks in Kokomo Speedway.

As if a week straight of USAC midget racing isn't enough of a mouthwatering enticement, all six nights will feature sprint car racing as an addition to each night's festivities.

Wednesday's round at Gas City and Sunday's event at Kokomo will be streamed LIVE on http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/. You can catch flag-to-flag coverage of each and every Indiana Midget Week event, plus much, much more, a day following the event, on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/!

2017 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE
Tue., June 6: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
Wed., June 7: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN (http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/)
Thu., June 8: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, IN
Fri., June 9: Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, IN
Sat., June 10: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, IN
Sun., June 11: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN (http://www.SpeedShiftTV.com/)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

BACON BRINGS HIS BROOM, SWEEPS KOKOMO GRAND PRIX

Kokomo, Indiana April 9, 2017 .........The month of April has quickly become the "sweeps" period for USAC's national series as Brady Bacon became the second driver in as many weeks to complete an undefeated weekend by capturing both nights of the "Kokomo Grand Prix" at Indiana's Kokomo Speedway.

One week after Chris Windom claimed victories in consecutive nights at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car and Silver Crown action, respectively, it was Bacon's turn to do a little spring cleaning of his own as he cleared out space in his cabinet to bring home a pair of brand-new trophies earned this weekend in USAC National Midget competition.

The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native took the lead from Tanner Thorson just shy of the midway point of the 30-lap affair after starting from the outside of the fifth row, then promptly dominated the second-half to grab his fifth-career USAC National Midget feature win, and third at Kokomo.

Sunday night was nearly identical to Saturday night for Bacon. For the second straight evening, he entered the Midget feature just after posting a runner-up finish in the Kokomo Sprint Car main event. Yet, it would take Bacon just a little bit longer to reach the point as opposed to the night prior, but not by that much.

Polesitter Chad Boat would control the pace early on as he slid up to the top to grab the lead in turn one on the opening lap. Outside second-row starter Tanner Thorson would instantly pose a threat as he took a peek to the inside of Boat off turn two on laps three and four.

On the sixth circuit, Thorson made his charge on the bottom, but Boat was able to hold onto his advantage by the skin of his teeth, more accurately the circumference of a single front wheel. One lap later, Thorson duplicated the same move, but this time was able to get enough of a run off turn four to propel him to the lead by a single wheel over Boat.

Boat wouldn't accept this fate without a fight and, instead, worked his way back around the topside to retake the lead from Thorson on the eighth lap. However, the move was negated due to a yellow for the turned-around car of ProSource Fast Qualifier Justin Grant, which reverted the running order back to the last completed lap.

Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows was third-running Bacon who had already overtaken seven positions in the first seven laps. After the green flag dropped for the restart, Thorson led the way on the bottom as Boat stayed true to the top. Bacon followed Thorson's lead and used the low line to motor past Boat for second.

The chase was on as Thorson led a train on the bottom with Bacon in tow as he aimed to escape the rapid pursuit of the previous night's winner. On the 13th lap, with little room for error and Bacon ready to pounce, Thorson left the door cracked open at the exit of turn four, which was just enough daylight for Bacon to squeeze through to snare the race lead away.

Just as it was the night before, Bacon put his Bob East-wrenched, FMR Racing/Brown & Miller Racing Solutions - Black Watch Farms/Beast/Toyota anywhere he pleased, running the bottom between turns one and two and using a diamond pattern on the other end of the racetrack in which he'd enter on the cushion in turn three and exit turn four on the bottom.

The interval between he and Thorson continued to expand in the final laps, growing to a substantial 4.5 second margin as Bacon took the checkered ahead of Thorson, Tyler Courtney, Rico Abreu (who charged from 22nd to 4th after flipping earlier in the night during time trials) while Kevin Thomas, Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Bacon's victory puts him in an exclusive club of drivers who've tallied at least three USAC National Midget wins at Kokomo, joining Rich Vogler (7), Mel Kenyon (6), Jimmy Davies (3) and Bob Wente (3). Bacon's monumental weekend has given him a healthy early-season point cushion where he stands with a 30-point lead in the standings as the series takes an extended break before returning May 19 at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill.

"We had to work a little harder tonight," Bacon remarked. "We were able to get to the front really quickly and then the track changed quite a bit. It got pretty treacherous with some holes on the bottom. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time every time and made some good decisions. I'm just glad to have a car I can be confident moving around in, especially here. You've got a lot of options and there's a big difference between the top and bottom. The car worked great wherever it went. We've worked so hard and, last year, we got our package together and we're finally getting the results to show for all that hard work."

Minden, Nevada's Tanner Thorson followed up a third-place run the night before with a second-place finish Sunday night in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet by Spike/Speedway Toyota, getting back into the groove after a tough opening to the season in Du Quoin, Ill. back in March.

"We just took what it gave us tonight," Thorson stated. "We've had a pretty good car here the last two days. We definitely wanted to win that one, but Brady just beat us. He was better through the holes tonight, but we'll back and we'll come to the next race even stronger."

Indianapolis, Indiana's Tyler Courtney took a wild tumble while running third in Saturday night's feature at Kokomo. Sunday night, the team rolled out the backup car for Courtney and took a well-earned third-place finish in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/Driven 2 Save Lives - Indiana Donor Network/Spike/Stanton SR-11.

"After the start I've had this year in the midget and sprint car, to get a podium here is a pretty good confidence booster," a rejuvenated Courtney exclaimed. "Hopefully, moving forward from here will be just a little smoother sailing than the start of the year. I can't thank everybody who came to the shop last night and busted their butts. We found out just last night that our car was junk and they finished putting this backup car together, came back to the track and kept faith in me. I've got all the faith in the world in them and their racecars and what they do in the shop. I think it showed tonight."

Contingency award winners Sunday night at Kokomo Speedway include Justin Grant (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Alex Bright (Simpson Race Products First Heat Race Winner & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Jake Neuman (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Race Winner) Tanner Carrick (Chalk Stix Third Heat Race Winner), Tyler Thomas (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Race Winner) and Rico Abreu (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).

---------------------------

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 9, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Kokomo Grand Prix"

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.081; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 7B, Brown-13.199; 3. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.246; 4. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.247; 5. Dave Darland, 11, Gray-13.347; 6. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.350; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.385; 8. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.402; 9. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Klaasmeyer-13.452; 10. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-13.530; 11. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-13.554; 12. Shane Golobic, 17w, Clauson-Marshall/Wood-13.574; 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 25, Petry/Goff-13.577; 14. Holly Shelton, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.625; 15. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.626; 16. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.658; 17. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-13.690; 18. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-13.804; 19. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.828; 20. Tyler Nelson, 88T, Nelson-13.869; 21. Ryan Greth, 4R, Lesher-13.981; 22. Chase Jones, 22, Petry/Goff-13.992; 23. Kyle Schuett, 9K, Schuett-14.114; 24. Brayton Lynch, 1K, RKR-14.118; 25. Anton Julian, 44, Pace-14.167; 26. Bear Wood, 8JR, LW Racing-14.516; 27. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-14.603; 28. Ray Seach, 2, Seach-14.664; 29. Rico Abreu, 21, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 30. Gage Walker, 7, Walker-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bright, 2. Abreu, 3. Grant, 4. Greth, 5. Coons, 6. Klaasmeyer, 7. Darland, 8. Julian. 2:19.35

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Neuman, 2. Ray, 3. Robinson, 4. Shelton, 5. K. Thomas, 6. Jones, 7. Wood, 8. Walker. 2:18.80

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Carrick, 2. Bayston, 3. Bacon, 4. Courtney, 5. Windom, 6. Shane Cottle (#9K), 7. Dickerson. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. T. Thomas, 2. Thorson, 3. Boat, 4. Golobic, 5. Nelson, 6. Lynch, 7. Seach. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Darland, 3. Windom, 4. Coons, 5. Jones, 6. Nelson, 7. Cottle, 8. Lynch, 9. Dickerson, 10. Wood, 11. Klaasmeyer, 12. Julian, 13. Seach. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Spencer Bayston, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Ryan Robinson, 10. Holly Shelton, 11. Davey Ray, 12. Jerry Coons, Jr., 13. Alex Bright, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Tyler Nelson, 16. Jake Neuman, 17. Brayton Lynch, 18. Ryan Greth, 19. Chad Boat, 20. Justin Grant, 21. Chris Windom, 22. Chase Jones, 23. Tanner Carrick. NT
----------------------------
**Abreu flipped during qualifying. Klaasmeyer flipped during the semi. Julian flipped during the semi.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Boat, Laps 7-12 Thorson, Laps 13-30 Bacon.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Rico Abreu (22nd to 4th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Alex Bright

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-216, 2-Bayston-186, 3-Thorson-175, 4-Coons-169, 5-Grant-168, 6-Golobic-151, 7-Neuman-125, 8-Darland-120, 9-Courtney-113, 10-Robinson-113.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 19 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

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

BACON BACK IN KOKOMO VICTORY LANE; TAKES GRAND PRIX NIGHT 1

Kokomo, Indiana April 8, 2017........ Brady Bacon entered Saturday night's USAC Midget National Championship feature as the only driver in the field to have previously won a race in the series at Indiana's Kokomo Speedway.

After 30 laps were complete, the story remained the same as Bacon outdueled Spencer Bayston in the waning laps to take his fourth career series win and second at Kokomo, the site of his very first USAC National win in 2006.

The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native pulled double-duty Saturday on night one of the "Kokomo Grand Prix." Moments after finishing in the runner-up spot to Justin Grant in the Kokomo Sprint Car portion of the program, Bacon lined up outside the second row at the start of the Midget feature.

Wasting no time, Bacon found his way to the front of the field, slipping under Chad Boat for the race lead exiting turn two on the opening lap. Bacon worked the middle while Boat climbed the ladder up to the top side as the pair locked down the top two positions in the opening third of the event.

After a caution for a Tyler Nelson spin, the ensuing lap 10 restart witnessed the most frightening incident of the evening. Third-running Tyler Courtney biked his way into the first turn, then proceeded to flip nose-to-tail several times before coming to a rest on top of the hood of Clauson/Marshall Racing teammate Justin Grant's car just short of the turn one concrete. Courtney would climb out of the car under his own power, though his night was finished. Grant would restart from the tail and, by race end, would claw his way back to a sixth-place finish.

On the second lap 10 restart, Boat's right foot was cocked and locked as he fired past Bacon into turn one. Bacon responded by diving underneath Boat, outpacing him to regain the lead at the exit of turn two.

Meanwhile, ProSource Fast Qualifier Bayston entered the fray and, after getting by Boat for second, two laps later he was in position to grab the lead. A Bayston turn three slider momentarily put him in front before Bacon countered by slipping back under to retake the lead at the stripe. Bayston kept his foot in it and hit the topside where he powered by Bacon to take the top spot on the 13th lap.

Bayston quickly separated himself from the field, but Bacon stayed in touch, reeling Bayston back in to challenge him for first with less than ten laps remaining. With seven to go, the two battled wheel-to-wheel with Bacon pulling the front wheels to the sky as he rallied to the lead. Bayston got back by to reclaim the position at the head of the pack, though Bacon put his foot down and possessed the spot for good after charging past Bayston one final time in turn four.

From that point forward, Bacon ripped the high-side between turns one and two and the middle in three and four where nobody else was able to lay a finger on him in the waning laps as he took the victory by a little over a half-second in his FMR Racing/Brown & Miller Racing Solutions - Black Watch Farms/Beast/Toyota over Bayston, Thorson, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Jerry Coons, Jr.

"I knew the top was probably going to come in," Bacon remembers. "I felt the bottom slowing down. When you're in the lead, it's hard to really know what to do. I knew I was going to be tight after that red (flag). I was afraid that hole in (turn) one was going to get me if I moved up too early. Once (Bayston) got by me, I moved up and got some speed back up and he started freeing up in (turns) three and four. We were able to get the diamond pattern going over there and got a really good run off of four, and that's how we got by him."

"It was tough; we bounced around on the cushion a couple times," Bacon continued. "(Bayston) did the same thing. I got pretty close to the wall of (turn) four a couple times. Once we got a few laps and the tires got hot and got some air in them, it was a little easier. It was a little hairy a couple times, but you got to drive hard if you want to win these races, especially here. I didn't want to give up. I didn't want to move up until somebody proved to me the top was faster. Bob (East) gave me a car good enough that I could move up there and still go fast."

Five drivers competed in both the midget and sprint features Saturday night, including Bacon. The differences between the two disciplines are stark, but Bacon was able to master the challenge, finishing first and second in the respective features.

"The top is faster in the sprint car," Bacon explains. "There were things I didn't even notice in the sprint car when I got out there in the midget. I was like, 'Man, that hole looks a lot bigger now that in in a midget!' Sprint cars go through the bumps a little better. Midgets are a little more sensitive to it. You don't have the horsepower in a midget, so you have to be careful and it might be too far around the top at the beginning. The track was great as usual. It's nice to get a good racetrack, somewhere you can really open it up and race on. Hopefully, we get that again tomorrow and can put on another good show."

Lebanon, Indiana's Spencer Bayston came up just short of his second career USAC National Midget victory, instead having to settle for his fifth second-place finish dating back to 2016 after leading 11 laps in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Curb Records - TRD/Bullet by Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"I got out front and Brady found the bottom in (turns) three and four better than I did," Bayston conceded. "We had a really good racecar. I just thought we were better in (turns) one and two than he was, but he was just killing me so much in three and four, he got me.

"The first time I came here, I didn't finish the race and the time after that, I don't think I even made the A-main," Bayston added. "We've made a lot of progress. It's all thanks to the people around me who gave me the opportunity and taught me as much as they have."

Defending series champion Tanner Thorson overcame an early-race skirmish with Tyler Courtney that shuffled him from fourth to seventh, but persevered to take third in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/JBL Audio - TRD/Bullet by Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"We had a great car all night," Thorson praises. "Al (Scroggins) worked his butt off to try and get this thing better and better throughout the night. The track was a little bit tricky tonight, but we'll get back to the shop, get everything cleaned up and try again tomorrow."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway include Spencer Bayston (ProSource Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Race Winner), Tyler Thomas (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Race Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Justin Grant (Chalk Stix Third Heat Race Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Race Winner) and Gage Walker (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

------------------------------------------------------------

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 8, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Kokomo Grand Prix"

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.318; 2. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.320; 3. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-13.326; 4. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.346; 5. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13,382; 6. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.486; 7. Justin Grant, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.499; 8. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-13.507; 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 7B, Brown-13,595; 10. Tanner Carrick, 71k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.609; 11. Holly Shelton, 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.616; 12. Jerry Coons Jr., 25, Petry/Goff-13.630; 13. Dave Darland, 11, Gray-13.652; 14. Shane Golobic, 17w, Clauson-Marshall/Wood-13.719; 15. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.722; 16. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-13.742; 17. Shane Hollingsworth, 85, Hollingsworth-13.750; 18. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.796; 19. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Klaasmeyer-13,802; 20. Ryan Greth, 4R, Lesher-13.918; 21. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-13.948; 22. Billy Wease, 12w, Wease-13.949; 23. Anton Julian, 44, Pace-13.991; 24. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-14,023; 25. Gage Walker, 7, Walker-14.100; 26. Ray Seach, 2, Seach-14.102; 27. Tyler Nelson, 88T, Nelson-14.116; 28. Brayton Lynch, 1k, RKR-14.263; 29. Kyle Schuett, 9k, Schuett-14.297; 30. Scott Orr, 88, Orr-14.520; 31. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-14.521; 32. Bear Wood, 8jr, LW Racing-14.568; 33. Cole Fehr, 15F, Live Loud-14,578; 34. Chase Jones, 22, Petry/Goff-14.747; 35. Brad Kraus, 6B, Kraus-15.052.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Darland, 3. K.Thomas, 4. Robinson, 5. Bright, 6. Walker, 7. Schuett, 8. Fehr, 9. Hollingsworth. 2:19.06

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. T.Thomas, 2. Golobic, 3. Thorson, 4. Boat, 5. Wease, 6. Jones. 7. Carrick, 8. Orr, 9. Seach. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Windom, 4. Bacon, 5. Shelton, 6. Nelson, 7. Julian, 8. Kraus, 9. Dickerson. 2:18.59

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Courtney, 2. Coons, 3. Newman, 4. Ray, 5. Greth, 6. Lynch, 7. Wood. 8. DiMattia. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Shelton, 2. Bright, 3. Walker, 4. Carrick, 5. Nelson, 6. Greth, 7. Schuett, 8. Julian, 9. Wease, 10. Jones, 11. Lynch, 12. Kraus, 13. Dickerson, 14. Wood, 15. Fehr, 16. Seach. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Justin Grant, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Tyler Thomas, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Ryan Robinson, 11. Chad Boat, 12. Holly Shelton, 13. Gage Walker, 14. Alex Bright, 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 16. Jake Neuman, 17. Tanner Carrick, 18. Brayton Lynch, 19. Tyler Nelson, 20. Shane Golobic, 21. Ryan Greth, 22. Kyle Schuett, 23. Tyler Courtney, 24. Davey Ray. NT
----------------------------
**Courtney flipped on lap 10 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-12 Bacon, Laps 13-23 Bayston, Laps 24-30 Bacon.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tyler Thomas (20th to 8th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Gage Walker

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bacon-140, 2-Grant-133, 3-Coons-129, 4-Bayston-120, 5-Thorson-98, 6-Golobic-97, 7-Neuman-86, 8-Boat-76, 9-Walker-76, 10-T.Thomas-67.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 9 - Kokomo (IN) Speedway - "Kokomo Grand Prix"