.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

THORSON THWARTS MACEDO'S LATE-RACE CHARGE TO SWEEP 2ND STRAIGHT "GOLD CROWN" AT GRANITE CITY

Granite City, Illinois October 8, 2016 - For the second consecutive year, the "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" became the "Tanner Thorson Show" at Tri-City Speedway.

The 20-year-old Minden, Nevada native held off hard-charging teammate Carson Macedo after a late-race restart to win his fifth "Gold Crown" feature in a row dating back to the 2015 event.

Thorson's unforgettable weekend also vaulted him to within arm's reach of the USAC Midget National Championship point lead behind teammate Spencer Bayston with two races remaining as he now stands in the shadows of Bayston just nine back by virtue of three consecutive victories in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

"I could see those guys on the restarts throwing sliders at each other, so I knew I just needed to hit my marks perfectly on the last one," Thorson said. "I knew it'd happen to me eventually, but thankfully, we had enough of a buffer over Carson when we got to turn one that we were able to hold on. I love this place, though; it's so much fun to race on. The "Gold Crown" is a marquee event and to sweep it two years in a row is awesome. Big Al (Scroggins) gave me an awesome setup tonight and that makes my job easy."

As high-point man for the night, Thorson began Saturday night's 40-lap finale from the pole and, from the outset, he immediately established himself as the driver to beat, constructing a lead of more than a second-and-a-half over his fellow championship contenders Bayston, Chad Boat and Brady Bacon who ran first through fourth in the early going.

But on lap nine, two of those contenders would see their nights take an unexpected turn for the worse.

Entering turn one side-by-side, Boat's right rear tire ramped over Bacon's left front, sending Bacon into a series of violent snap rolls into the catch fencing before coming to a rest on the track surface.

With the fence heavily damaged, extensive repairs had to be made before racing could continue. Uunder the lengthy red flag, Brady Bacon's FMR Racing crew thrashed feverishly to make repairs to their Beast/Toyota in time for the restart as did Boat who joined Bacon at the tail of the field when the race resumed.

With Bacon and Boat both out of the contention at the front for the meantime, it became a two-car race between Thorson and Bayston at the head of the pack.

Thorson found a comfort zone at the top of turns one and two and the bottom of turns three and four with Bayston in tow, hugging the low line all the way around the 3/8-mile dirt oval.

However, Bayston was only able to hang with Thorson for a couple of laps following the restart before Thorson began separating himself from the field once again as the race crossed the halfway point.

On the lap 24 restart following Kyle Jones' slide into the infield with a collapsed front end, the fiercest battle for position became the race for second as Macedo hit the bottom of turn one before sliding up in front of Bayston. Macedo took the position, albeit briefly, when Bayston countered and dove underneath to reclaim the spot exiting turn two.

One lap later, Macedo gave the all-out assault on Bayston one more try, but saw the same result once again as Bayston answered each successive challenge that was thrown at him.

With less than ten laps remaining, Brad Loyet was a man on a mission just laps after entering the top-five from the back half of the field in Ken Malpocker's No. 22. A furious battle between the two waged on and, on the 33rd circuit, Loyet raced high into turn one alongside Bright for fourth. Loyet ran out of racetrack and out of luck as he rode his right side wheels up the concrete perimeter, somersaulting nose-to-tail a couple of times before coming to a rest on his wheels.

The ensuing restart presented another opportunity for Macedo to set up a slide job on Bayston for second. This time was a success las Macedo blasted by his teammate in turn one. Bayston once again crossed-over, cutting beneath Macedo exiting turn two, then partaking in a side-by-side drag race into turn three that was won by Macedo.

Macedo could now set his laser-focus on running down Thorson, who hadn't yet faced much of a battle at the end of the feature during the first two nights of the "Gold Crown." But Macedo was only able to trim a miniscule amount of time between he and Thorson as the laps ticked away and the odds became slimmer.

With just two laps to go, Thorson had victory just within his grasp, but the hard-charging Zach Daum, who was running fourth, tagged the outside wall with quite a force between turns one and two before coming to a stop, necessitating a yellow flag.

With Macedo right on Thorson's tail for the green-white-checkered finish, Macedo shot to the bottom entering turn one on the restart, overtaking the top spot from Thorson momentarily, but Thorson anticipated the move and crossed over, using the downhill momentum off the turn two banking to drive back by Macedo for the lead.

That proved to be Macedo's last shot as Thorson was able to thwart the attack and pull away on the final lap and a half to defeat Macedo by 0.724 seconds, followed by Bayston and a remarkable comeback by Brady Bacon who raced from the tail to grab fourth after nearly clearing the turn one fence earlier in the feature. Ryan Robinson rounded out the top-five.

Carson Macedo's second-place run in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Mobil 1/Bullet/Speedway Toyota equaled his best career result set back in June of this season in West Memphis, Arkansas. With two races remaining, Macedo, the series' leading rookie in the standings, seeks to become just the 13th driver (and the first since Christopher Bell in 2013) to win the USAC National Midget "Rookie of the Year" award and be victorious in a feature in the same season.

"We were really fast," Macedo stated matter-of-factly. "I thought I had a shot. I was pretty thankful when that yellow came out with three (laps) to go. I threw everything I had at him and we just came up short. Overall, though, I'm happy with the weekend. We were consistent and that's big. I really like this race track and had a blast; I just wish we were up there in victory lane tonight."

Lebanon, Indiana's Spencer Bayston continues to hold onto the USAC Midget National Championship lead after his third place finish Saturday night in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Mobil 1/Bullet/Speedway Toyota, though the gap has now shrunk to a mere nine points over the rapidly-approaching Thorson.

"Early on, I was following Tanner and trying to learn," Bayston explained. "We didn't lose too much ground on him there and then, once we went up top, I felt stronger. Under the red, we started to have a right rear issue and it blistered when we went back to green. I was sort of in defense mode at the end, which allowed Carson to get by. I'm happy for Tanner, though. To sweep this race two years in a row and for us to sweep the podium tonight tells you how good this team is and how hard everybody works."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Tri-City Speedway included Ryan Robinson (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Carson Macedo (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Spencer Bayston (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Jake Neuman (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Brayton Lynch (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

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

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 8, 2016 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Jerry Coons, Jr. (#25 Petry/Goff), 4. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 5. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 6. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 7. Tyler Roth (#13 Zero), 8. Joey Rinne (#0 Zero). 2:02.83

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Brady Bacon (#76m FMR), 3. Tyler Thomas (Thomas #91T), 4. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 5. Gage Walker (#7 Walker), 6. Davey Ray (#23 Two-Three), 7. Broc Hunnell (#73 Hunnell). 2:01.95

BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Kyle Jones (#5B Daum), 3. Alex Bright (#77 Hemler), 4. Brayton Lynch (#1K RKR), 5. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 6. Ryan Greth (#4 Lesher), 7. Brad Loyet (#22 Malpocker). 2:03.41

FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Bacon, 3. Greth, 4. Jones, 5. Lynch, 6. Hunnell, 7. Roth. 2:34.51

SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Robinson, 2. Ray, 3. Walker, 4. Loyet, 5. Thomas, 6. Bright, 7. Neuman. 2:35.61

THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Shelton, 2. Boat, 3. Bayston, 4. Macedo, 5. Daum, 6. Darland. 2:37.03

FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Carson Macedo, 3. Spencer Bayston, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Ryan Robinson, 6. Holly Shelton, 7. Jake Neuman, 8. Alex Bright, 9. Chad Boat, 10. Tyler Thomas, 11. Gage Walker, 12. Dave Darland, 13. Brayton Lynch, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Joey Rinne, 16. Zach Daum, 17. Brad Loyet, 18. Broc Hunnell, 19. Kyle Jones, 20. Ryan Greth, 21. Tyler Roth, 22. Jerry Coons, Jr. NT
--------------------------------
**Bacon flipped on lap 9 of the feature. Loyet flipped on lap 33 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Thorson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jake Neuman (21st to 7th)

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-1136, 2-Thorson-1127, 3-Boat-1096, 4-Bacon-1059, 5-Macedo-994, 6-Robinson-843, 7-Shelton-787, 8-Bryan Clauson-720, 9-Thomas-704, 10-Greth-562.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 20 - Wayne City, IL - Wayne County Speedway - "Jason Leffler Memorial" (Co-Sanctioned by POWRi)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

THORSON WINS 4TH IN A ROW AT GRANITE CITY; CRUISES TO NIGHT #2 "GOLD CROWN" VICTORY

Granite City, Illinois October 7, 2016 - Throughout history, certain tandems have become synonymous with each other: Lewis and Clark, Lennon and McCartney, Calvin and Hobbes, Milk and Cookies, etc.

After his USAC Midget National Championship feature victory Friday night, a new duo to add to the list may very well be Tanner Thorson and Tri-City Speedway.

The Minden, Nevada driver dominated every lap of the caution-free affair in which he established a new 35-lap track record at the 3/8-mile dirt oval on the way to his fourth straight "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" win dating back to 2015.

In the process, Thorson was able dig a little closer to the point-lead, as he is now just 15 points behind teammate Spencer Bayston in the latest series standings with three events remaining including Saturday night's "Gold Crown" finale.

Thorson began the feature from outside of the front row alongside Brady Bacon and immediately established the point as the field hit turn one on the opening lap.

Bacon, another driver in the thick of the series point race, encountered trouble one night prior after suffering a cut tire while leading with six laps to go. On this night, the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native settled into second in the early going, running the high side as Thorson worked the bottom.

Suddenly, on lap six, heartbreak met Bacon for the second consecutive night as his mount began to slow dramatically entering turn three, resulting in an early exit, a 20th place finish and the loss of substantial ground in the title race - a race that he now finds himself 74 points out of the lead after entering Thursday down just 22.

With Bacon now out of sight, no one was able to put up much of a fight on Thorson for the remaining 30 laps and, though, Thorson quickly distanced himself to a three-second lead by the 15th lap, he was unable to completely break away from his fellow competitors involved in the point race.

With his pass on Thursday night runner-up Zach Daum, Chad Boat positioned himself in third, a straightaway behind leader Thorson and Bayston with 20 to go.

The only obstacle separating Thorson from certain victory in the second half of the contest was lapped traffic. But, with a full straightway lead, Thorson was in a zone and a backmarker or two wasn't going to trip him up on this night.

Thorson had to negotiate the eighth, ninth and tenth place cars with less than five laps to go as the battle for position between Holly Shelton, Jerry Coons, Jr. and Kyle Jones waged on in front of the leader.

Thorson had little trouble as he stuck to the bottom while the lappers pursued the high side, providing Thorson a clear path to an eventual, commanding 4.85 second victory over Bayston, Boat, Ryan Robinson and Carson Macedo.

Thorson completed the 35-lap feature at a track record time of nine minutes, 24.36 seconds in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota, his series-leading fifth USAC National Midget victory of the 2016 season and the ninth of his career.

"I don't know if it's me or this car that keeps getting to victory lane, but these Keith Kunz guys are awesome," Thorson exclaimed. "They deserve to be here. The track was in our favor tonight, for sure. You can't enter the bottom too early here; that makes it tough, but having that track position at the start was really big. Our confidence level is really high heading into tomorrow and I'm looking forward to trying to make it two 'Gold Crowns' in a row."

Lebanon, Indiana's Spencer Bayston held serve at the head of the points race, finishing one spot behind Thorson in Friday night's feature to take second in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Mobil 1/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

"I was more confident tonight than I was last night," Bayston thought. "I made a couple mistakes earlier in the night and the guys made sure to point them out to me so we could correct them for the feature; I feel like we made some progress in that sense. Tanner was really good through the lapped cars. I felt like I was catching him a little bit, but he was so strong on the bottom that it was hard to make up any ground. We probably needed a yellow, but we'll take a second for points, though, and go try to get a win tomorrow."

Chad Boat, of Phoenix, Arizona, now stands 22 markers out of the lead and seven behind Thorson in the updated series standings after earning third in his Tucker-Boat Motorsports/PristineAuction.com - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway Toyota.

"Track position hurt us a little bit," Boat admitted. "We were rolling there for ten laps or so and I thought we could get Spencer. I felt like we were better than Tanner, but then our tire went away and I just had to hold on. Overall, though, it was a decent night. We learned some things last night and got better tonight, so we'll hopefully be two spots better tomorrow."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Tri-City Speedway included Brady Bacon (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tanner Thorson (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Alex Bright (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Jake Neuman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

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

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 7, 2016 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brady Bacon (#76m FMR), 2. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 3. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 4. Ryan Greth (#4 Lesher), 5. Jerry Coons, Jr. (#25 Petry/Goff), 6. Gage Walker (#7 Walker), 7. Kyle Jones (#5B Daum), 8. Davey Ray (#23 Two-Three). 2:02.44

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 4. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 5. Tyler Thomas (Thomas #91T), 6. Johnny Murdock (#0 Zero). 2:03.28

BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 2. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Brad Loyet (#22 Malpocker), 4. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Justin Peck (#5x Peck), 6. Brayton Lynch (#1K RKR), 7. Tyler Roth (#13 Zero). 2:05.01

FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Bayston, 3. Thorson, 4. Neuman, 5. Shelton, 6. Bright, 7. Lynch, 8. Murdock. 2:40.66

SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Loyet, 3. Boat, 4. Robinson, 5. Walker, 6. Coons, 7. Roth. NT

THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Daum, 3. Macedo, 4. Darland, 5. Greth, 6. Peck, 7. Ray. 2:45.99

FEATURE: (35 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Chad Boat, 4. Ryan Robinson, 5. Carson Macedo, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Brad Loyet, 8. Holly Shelton, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Kyle Jones, 11. Dave Darland, 12. Alex Bright, 13. Jake Neuman, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Justin Peck, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Brayton Lynch, 18. Davey Ray, 19. Tyler Roth, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Johnny Murdock, 22. Ryan Greth. 9:24.36
--------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-35 Thorson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Alex Bright (22nd to 12th)

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-1072, 2-Thorson-1057, 3-Boat-1050, 4-Bacon-998, 5-Macedo-927, 6-Robinson-785, 7-Shelton-732, 8-Bryan Clauson-720, 9-Thomas-661, 10-Greth-539.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 8 - Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

THORSON THRILLS AT GRANITE CITY; WINS NIGHT #1 OF "GOLD CROWN MIDGET NATIONALS"

Granite City, Illinois October 6, 2016 - While it may not become as famous as Danny Sullivan's "Spin and Win" at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, Minden, Nevada's Tanner Thorson's "Half Spin and Win" performance on Thursday's opening night of the 2016 "Gold Crown Midget Nationals" at Tri-City Speedway will surely go down as one he won't soon forget.

While running fourth on the sixth lap of the 30-lap feature, Thorson drifted into the infield after getting sideways between turns three and four. Thorson regained control of the car, kept the RPMs up and was able to continue on, albeit after kicking up a cloud of southern Illinois soil as he gassed his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota through the infield to rejoin the action on the front straightaway.

The mishap immediately dropped Thorson back to seventh as teammates Carson Macedo and Spencer Bayston sped past as did 2008 "Gold Crown" winner Jerry Coons, Jr.

Not only was Thorson's bid for a third straight Granite City victory in jeopardy, an opportunity to cash in on valuable points toward a tight USAC National Midget championship were in danger of being squandered.

Thorson didn't panic and, one lap later, he was able to get back around Coons for sixth just before the yellow flag flew for a Brayton Lynch spin on the back straight.

On the ensuing restart, Thorson worked his way back to the fourth spot as, up front, Brady Bacon threw a successful slider on Chad Boat for the lead entering turn one.

After disposing of Zach Daum for third, Thorson engaged in a see-saw battle with Boat for second that changed hands three times.

On the tenth lap, Thorson used a big run on the bottom of turn four to grab the spot from Boat. But, on lap 11, Boat cruised the cushion to glide around the outside of Thorson in turn four to retake the position. Thorson stuck within close range and was able to take ahold of second for good with another run on the bottom of turn four past Boat on the 12th lap.

The spectacular back-and-forth game of chess between Boat and Thorson played into Bacon's favor as it allowed Bacon to stretch his lead out front to more than a second as he sought his first USAC National Midget win since 2012's "Hut 100" at Haubstadt, Indiana's Tri-State Speedway.

Thorson also began to put distance between himself and third-running Boat, but with ten laps to go, race leader Bacon began to encounter lapped traffic. With cars running high and low, Bacon had the daunting task of carefully wading his way through the backmarkers with a flying Thorson set to pounce at a moment's notice.

Bacon had difficulty working his way around the lapped car of Gage Walker, eventually executing a lap 22 slide job on Walker, but that allowed Thorson to knock a half-second off of the interval and slice Bacon's lead down to a mere three car lengths.

With Thorson hot on the trail of Bacon with six laps remaining, Bacon bounced over the turn four cushion, contacting the outside wall before continuing on as Thorson shot by for the lead.

There would be no victory lane celebration for Bacon on this particular night as, by the time he hit turn two, it became apparent that the right rear tire on his machine was flat, necessitating a yellow that brought the action to a halt.

The late-race restart set up a rematch of last year's Saturday night "Gold Crown" showdown between Thorson and Daum. This time around would be the same as the last as Thorson would once again hold the upper hand, pulling away on the restart to tame the three-eighths-mile dirt oval in Granite City for the third time in as many tries dating back to last year's sweep of the "Gold Crown."

Thorson's eighth career victory in the series came one and a half second in front of Daum, Macedo, Boat and Bayston. Thorson became just the second driver to win three straight at the "Gold Crown," joining Darren Hagen, who won three in a row during a single weekend in 2010.

Meanwhile, a minor bit of redemption was in store for Bacon in the end as he raced to a sixth place finish during the final six laps after changing his right rear tire and restarting from the tail.

With Thorson's win and Bacon's misfortune, the tide has once again turned in the race for the 2016 USAC National Midget title. The points battled that entered Thursday night with just a 30-point separation between first and fourth remained at 30, but with a few positions rearranged.

Thorson leapfrogged both Bacon and Boat to vault from fourth to second in the standings with four races remaining while Bayston's lead shrunk from 22 to 18. With Thorson's recent dominance at Granite City, he has the chance to make up a good chunk of ground during the next two nights of the "Gold Crown."

"This is one of my favorite tracks," Thorson exclaimed. "Saving the tires is going to be a big factor in these races this weekend because the track is so fast and the races are longer. I feel like I saved them pretty well tonight, but it's a 40-lapper on Saturday. The last couple of restarts were tricky because I knew the bottom was good. It went away on entry, though, toward the end of the race so I knew I needed to get to the top. I just went with my gut and it worked out for us. My guys gave me a great car and we're excited for tomorrow and Saturday."

Zach Daum had to settle for his second straight runner-up performance at Granite City behind Thorson in his Dan Daum/TRD - Daum Crop Insurance/Eagle/Stanton Toyota, but the Pocahontas, Illinois native was pleased to bring home his best USAC finish of the season.

"We were back there in the thick of it, even though we were towards the front." Daum explained. "The big sliders are probably more nerve-wracking to watch than when you're in the car and I know that nine out of ten guys out here aren't going to stick you in the fence if they can't clear you. We'll take a second tonight; it's the same as last year with Tanner out front, but hopefully by the end of the weekend, we can change that."

Leading series rookie Carson Macedo of Lemoore, California turned in another solid performance Thursday night, grabbing third in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - Tarlton & Son/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

"The car was good tonight, but the track was tricky," Macedo said. "You had to find where you were good at right away and Tanner did that. I'm happy with our night, though; it was fun to race with all of these guys the way we did, really hard, but very clean. This place is wild! You have to respect it because you're moving. There's not a lot of room on the top of turn four, but you have to commit to the top if you're going to run it. It's tricky, but I'm really excited for the next two nights."

Davey Ray and Ryan Greth walked away uninjured after both flipped in turn one on the second lap of the feature.

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Tri-City Speedway included Tyler Thomas (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner and Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher), Chad Boat (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Brad Loyet (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner) and Gage Walker (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).

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

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: October 6, 2016 - Granite City, Illinois - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Tyler Thomas (Thomas #91T), 2. Justin Peck (#5x Peck), 3. Zach Daum (#5D Daum), 4. Dave Darland (#11AG Gray), 5. Ryan Robinson (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Kyle Jones (#5B Daum), 7. Alex Bright (#77 Hemler), 8. Steve Buckwalter (#25 Buckwalter), 9. Gage Walker (#7 Walker). NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chad Boat (#84 Tucker/Boat), 2. Davey Ray (#33 RAYPRO), 3. Ryan Greth (#4 Lesher), 4. Spencer Bayston (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Tanner Thorson (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Holly Shelton (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 7. Jake Neuman (#3N Neuman), 8. Andrew Felker (#11A Felker). 2:01.55

BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brad Loyet (#05 Loyet), 2. Brady Bacon (#76m FMR), 3. Carson Macedo (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr. (#25x Petry/Goff) 5. Brayton Lynch (#1K RKR), 6. Andy Malpocker (#22 Malpocker), 7. Tyler Roth (#13 Zero), 8. Johnny Murdock (#0 Zero). 2:03.44

FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Ray, 3. Jones, 4. Coons, 5. Lynch, 6. Murdock, 7. Loyet, 8. Bright. 2:37.67

SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Bacon, 3. Daum, 4. Darland, 5. Neuman, 6. Malpocker, 7. Robinson. NT

THIRD QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Thorson, 2. Greth, 3. Shelton, 4. Bayston, 5. Peck, 6. Thomas, 7. Roth. 2:36.61

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Chad Boat, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Kyle Jones, 8 Jerry Coons, Jr., 9. Dave Darland, 10. Holly Shelton, 11. Jake Neuman, 12. Justin Peck, 13. Tyler Thomas, 14. Gage Walker, 15. Andy Malpocker, 16. Ryan Robinson, 17. Steve Buckwalter, 18. Johnny Murdock, 19. Brayton Lynch, 20. Tyler Roth, 21. Alex Bright, 22. Davey Ray, 23. Ryan Greth. NT
--------------------------------
**Ray and Greth flipped on lap 2 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Boat, Laps 8-24 Bacon, Laps 25-30 Thorson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Gage Walker (22nd to 14th)

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-1005, 2-Thorson-987, 3-Boat-986, 4-Bacon-975, 5-Macedo-869, 6-Robinson-724, 7-Bryan Clauson-720, 8-Shellton-683, 9-Thomas-626, 10-Greth-516.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: October 7-8 - Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Contact: Richie Murray | richie@usacracing.com

RICO ROMPS IN ELDORA 4-CROWN MIDGET ROUT

Rossburg, Ohio September 24, 2016 - Rico Abreu arrived at Eldora Speedway Saturday evening via an airplane ride alongside Tony Stewart after competing in the afternoon's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in New Hampshire.

As soon as the St. Helena, California driver hit the western Ohio half-mile for the first time on Saturday, it almost seemed as if Abreu was still on-board a jet as he piloted his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports entry to a complete sweep of the night's USAC National Midget events, recording ProSource Fast Qualifying time, then following that up with a new 8-lap track record run on his way to a heat race victory before slashing his way to third from his sixth starting position by the end of the first lap of the feature.

Abreu rocketed around the outside of teammate Tanner Thorson in turn two on the second lap, and then quickly ran down leader Chad Boat by the time the two got to turn three.

Abreu instantly shot down to the bottom of turn three for a classic Eldora slide job right up in front of Boat to take the top spot as Boat countered underneath Abreu and drag raced to the line with Abreu beating Boat back to the stripe by a wheel.

Boat, who won both nights at the "Belleville Midget Nationals," one month ago, made one more attempt on Abreu into turn one on the third lap, but came up short as Abreu shot out of a cannon off the turn two cushion to instantly leave Boat in his afterthoughts.
By the tenth lap, Abreu had established a full-straightaway lead that continued to grow as he sliced, diced and pureed his way through the backmarkers while the lap counter on the scoreboard ticked away, but with just four laps remaining, Abreu's lead would be wiped away as Tyler Courtney slowed with a broken U-Joint.

On the lap 22 restart, it was no contest as Abreu pulled away without missing a beat, but the battle for second waged between Boat, Thorson and Brady Bacon became the race to watch as Thorson slid by Boat for second entering turn one. Bacon slipped past Boat as well for third and made a mad-dash toward Thorson for second in turn one a lap later that came up short.

Yet, in the distance was Abreu who finished off one of the most impressive drives in "4-Crown" midget history as he lapped up to sixth place on his way to his second career USAC Midget victory at Eldora (2013) in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian/DC Solar - Abreu Vineyards/Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

"Keith Kunz gives me phenomenal racecars every time I come and race with him. I'm very fortunate I get to race with him," Abreu praised. "It's special every time I get to stand up here (at Eldora). I've come close a lot this year and last year, but just never was able to get a win, but we've had solid finishes here."

Minden, Nevada's Tanner Thorson took second in his Keith Kunz - Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/TRD - JBL Audio/Bullet/Speedway Toyota as he edged his way into the thick of a tightened USAC National Midget point race where he now sits just 30 points out of the lead behind Spencer Bayston who dropped out on the sixth lap of Saturday night's feature and finishing in the 22nd position.

Brady Bacon, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, finished third in his FMR Racing/Beast/Toyota. With five races remaining, Bacon finds himself 27 points out of the lead in the series standings and just five behind Boat.

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Eldora Speedway included Rico Abreu (ProSource Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Spencer Bayston (Competition Suspension, Inc. (CSI) Second Heat Winner), Chad Boat (Benic Enterprises/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Carson Macedo (KSE Racing Products/Larry Rice High Performance Hard Charger) and Jake Neuman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Feature Finisher).

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

USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 24, 2016 - Rossburg, Ohio - Eldora Speedway - 35th "4-Crown Nationals"

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Rico Abreu, 97k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.164; 2. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.647; 3. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-17.647; 4. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.721; 5. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-17.724; 6. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-17.775; 7. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.852; 8. Holly Shelton, 67k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.972; 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 25x, Petry/Goff-18.065; 10. Jake Blackhurst, 37, Felker-18.153; 11. Tyler Courtney, 7k, Irwin-18.155; 12. Ryan Greth, 4, Lesher-18.197; 13. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-18.211; 14. Dave Darland, 11AG, Gray-18.236; 15. Justin Grant, 37x, Felker-18.391; 16. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-18.491; 17. Isaac Chapple, 52c, Chapple-18.528; 18. Bear Wood, 8JR, LW-19.075; 19. Eric Hein, 3, Drangmeister-20.411; 19. Robert Bell, 71-1/2, Bell-NT (Time of 19.266 disallowed); 20. Gary Gipson, 5, Byers-NT (Time of 19.763 disallowed); 22. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-NT; 23. Steve Buckwalter, 25, Buckwalter-NT; 24. Carson Macedo, 71k, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-NT; 25. Ken Drangmeister, 76, Drangmeister-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Thorson, 3. Felker, 4. Robinson, 5. Neuman, 6. Blackhurst, 7. Hein, 8. DiMattia. 2:08.94 (NTR)

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Darland, 3. Ray, 4. Shelton, 5. Chapple, 6. Courtney, 7. Bell. 2:15.76

BENIC ENTERPRISES/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boat, 2. Bacon, 3. Macedo, 4. Coons, 5. Grant, 6. Greth, 7. Wood, 8. Gipson. 2:14.25

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Chad Boat, 5. Holly Shelton, 6. Davey Ray, 7. Carson Macedo, 8. Ryan Robinson, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Dave Darland, 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Justin Grant, 13. Jake Neuman, 14. Isaac Chapple, 15. Jake Blackhurst, 16. Bear Wood, 17. Robert Bell, 18. Tyler Courtney, 19. Eric Hein, 20. Gary Gipson, 21. Ryan Greth, 22. Spencer Bayston, 23. Steve Buckwalter. NT
--------------------------------
**DiMattia and Macedo flipped during qualifying.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Boat, Laps 2-25 Abreu.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/LARRY RICE HIGH PERFORMANCE HARD CHARGER AWARD: Carson Macedo (23rd to 7th)

NEW USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Bayston-947, 2-Boat-925, 3-Bacon-920, 4-Thorson-917, 5-Macedo-805, 6-Bryan Clauson-720, 7-Robinson-693, 8-Shellton-640, 9-Tyler Thomas-589, 10-Greth-493.

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: October 6-7-8 - Granite City, IL - Tri-City Speedway - "Gold Crown Midget Nationals"