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Eastern Storm Preview 2019
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car 'Eastern Storm' returns June 11-16.
(John DaDalt Photo)
EASTERN STORM PREVIEW 2019
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (June 8, 2019).........Three past Eastern Storm champions are headed eastbound June 11-16 for one of the most-highly anticipated events on the USAC calendar with five USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship races in a six-day span at five different tracks in three states - Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
The series begins Tuesday, June 11, at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville and honors the memory of the 2009 Grandview Eastern Storm winner who lost his life tragically in the Spring of 2010 with the "Jesse Hockett Classic." The 40-lap event pays a sweet $10,000-to-win prize.
From there, the series travels to the 3/8-mile Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey for the second time ever on Wednesday, June 12. Then, it's back to the Keystone State and BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa. on Thursday, June 13. The following night is an idle night for the Sprint Cars, but the USAC Silver Crown Cars are in action on the half-mile Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa. on Friday, June 14.
It's the Sprint Cars turn on the half-mile the following night on Saturday, June 15, at Port Royal Speedway in Pa. The series closes out on Sunday, June 16, in New York at the 3/8-mile Weedsport Speedway.
In each of the last two years, Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) has been the dominant force, capturing three wins and both titles. The 2017 USAC National Sprint champ is the lone driver to have won Eastern Storm feature events in each of the past three seasons and owns six career wins in the series, including last year's round at Williams Grove and the two most recent trips to Port Royal. His six Eastern Storm victories are tied with Levi Jones and Bryan Clauson for the most all-time. His first career USAC win came in 2010 at Big Diamond.
Robert Ballou's stellar 2015 Eastern Storm performance was one for the ages as the Rocklin, Calif. driver swept all three nights and walked away with a title. The Eastern part of the country has been kind to Ballou, who also claimed the 2015 National title. Last year's trip to BAPS is the most recent of his 29 career USAC National Sprint Car victories, which rank 13th on the all-time list.
Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) captured the Eastern Storm crown in 2014 and has won thrice in the series along the way. The two-time USAC National Sprint Car champion in 2014 and 2016 has been spectacular the past two seasons when the series has arrived at Grandview, using late race passes to claim each of the wins.
A handful of additional drivers are aiming to add onto their Eastern Storm feature win title. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) has been victorious the last two seasons, first in 2017 at Williams Grove and in last year's debut at Bridgeport. He's been excellent this year with six top-6 finishes in seven series starts and, at press dates, has won four local sprint features in four nights at four different tracks in the state of Indiana.
The Eastern Storm one-win club includes a talented bunch who are hungry to reach the pinnacle once again during the series. Defending USAC National Sprint Car titlist Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.) took the BAPS closer by storm in 2017. Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.), your most recent USAC Sprint winner in May's "Tony Hulman Classic" at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, nailed down the win in the 2014 Grandview opener. Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.), a 2013 Port Royal winner, was recently tabbed as the driver of New Jersey car owner Tim Hogue's ride for Eastern Storm. Chad Boespflug (Hanford, Calif.) was dominant in his lone Eastern Storm triumph at New Egypt in New Jersey back in 2016.
Drivers who've tasted USAC victory lane but are seeking a first Eastern Storm include current USAC National Sprint Car point leader C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.), a winner in Ocala, Fla. in February. Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) has won in both USAC National Sprint Cars and Midgets in 2019, including a last-lap midget win at BAPS in 2017. His TOPP Motorsports team was previously victorious in Eastern Storm with Courtney at BAPS in 2017.
Speaking of victorious teams with drivers aiming for Eastern Storm victory number one, you can include Carson Short (Marion, Ill.) who has joined Chris Dyson Racing for the tour. Dyson's ride took the 2018 finale at Weedsport with driver Thomas Meseraull. Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) is an Eastern Storm Rookie, arriving on the scene with Daigh/Phillips Motorsports who won with Darland at Port Royal in 2013.
Isaac Chapple (Willow Branch, Ind.) made his USAC Sprint Car debut at Eastern Storm in 2015. The North Pole Nightmare Bill Balog (Brookfield, Wisc.) is set to make his debut as well along with Brian VanMeveren (Woodbury, Minn.) and Dustin Christie (Washington, Ind.).
A strong representation from the USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series contingent will be on display with three of the series' winners making plans to do the tour, including 2018 East Coast champ and current point leader Steven Drevicki (Reading, Pa.), who will pilot his own car with technical assistance from 2018 USAC National Sprint Car owner champ Clauson/Marshall/Newman Racing and 2013 Eastern Storm feature winning car owner Gene Franckowiak. Timmy Buckwalter (Douglassville, Pa.) is a force on the National scene, capturing co-Rookie of the Year honors in 2018. Joey Biasi (Mary D, Pa.) and Carmen Perigo (Stoystown, Pa.) have been regular competitors on the National scene and are top-flight forces to reckon with when USAC travels to their home turf.
Jarett Andretti (Mooresville, N.C.) has had some impressive Eastern Storm performances, earning his best career USAC National Sprint Car feature finish of 2nd at Lincoln Speedway in 2017. Landon Simon (Tipp City, Ohio) won a USAC Sprint Car Special Event feature at Lincoln in 2016. Versatile racing veteran Ryan Godown (Ringoes, N.J.) was a regular on the Eastern Storm tour a year ago while the ever-popular "Colfax Comet" Robert Bell (Colfax, Iowa) is making the trip east for the full deal.
Tuesday at Grandview, pits open at 2pm (Eastern), front gates open at 5pm and racing at 7:30pm. NASCAR 358 Modifieds will join the USAC Sprint Cars. Adult general admission tickets are $30, kids 6-11 are $10. Children 6 and under are free. Advance tickets may be ordered by calling (443) 513-4456.
Wednesday at Bridgeport, racing starts at 7:30pm (Eastern). Adult general admission tickets are $30, students 10-15 are $10, children 9 and under are free.
Thursday at BAPS, Adult general admission tickets are $25, seniors are $15, students 13-17 are $15, kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 apiece.
Friday at Williams Grove for the Silver Crown race, pits open at 5pm (Eastern), hot laps begin at 7pm with qualifying and racing immediately following. The 410 wing sprints are also on the event card. Adult general admission tickets are $28, age 13-20 are $10, kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 apiece.
Saturday at Port Royal, it's a sprint car doubleheader with 410 wing sprints also on hand. Adult general admission tickets are $25, students are $10 and pit passes are $35 apiece.
Sunday at Weedsport, pits open at 4pm (Eastern), front gates open at 5pm and hot laps begin at 7pm with qualifying and racing immediately following. Champion Oil Modifieds and NY6A Micro Sprints are also on the docket. Reserved seating is $32, adult general admission tickets are $28, age 11-17 are $12 and age 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $32 apiece for members and $36 for non-members. Reserve camping is $30 and general camping is $24.
World of Outlaws
Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
KING SHARK: Schuchart dominates in North Dakota
Logan Schuchart holds off Kasey Kahne Racing teammates for River Cities Speedway victory
With his grinning shark teeth painted helmet in one hand and the checkered flag in the other in Victory Lane at River Cities Speedway Friday night, Logan Schuchart accomplished more than just another win.
He did what no World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series driver has done since 2014 – win more races than 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz a third of the way through the season.
By claiming his fourth win of the season at the Grand Forks, N.D. track, Schuchart is now the winningest driver this year. Schatz and David Gravel are behind him with three wins each.
“To lead the Outlaws in Series wins this time of the year is a pretty cool accomplishment, for where you look at where this team was six years ago and how it started and where we’ve come,” Schuchart said.
Last year, the Shark Racing driver had two wins in total for the season. He won four races in total in 2017 but has yet to surpass that number in a single season. He’s knocking on the door to beat that record now – especially with his performance on the 3/10-mile track to claim his 12th career Series victory.
He started the night winning his Drydene Heat race and then won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.
In the 40-lap Feature, Schuchart did not favor sharing the lead. The record book will show he led every lap. However, Gravel and Australian James McFadden have stories that say otherwise.
At the start of the Feature, Schuchart was a shark racing minnows. He pulled away from second-place Brad Sweet by almost a straightaway, leaving the top-five to figure out their running order as they swapped positions lap after lap. Some cranked their car sideways to the bottom of the track, while others tempted disaster by riding the outside rim of the turns, hoping to not slide off track and down the steep embankment on the other side.
Hope was not enough to keep several drivers on track. Carson Macedo brought out the first of seven cautions by going off track in turn three. On the restart, Gravel went from fourth to second in the first turn, while Kasey Kahne Racing teammates McFadden and Brad Sweet battled for third.
Running the high side, Gravel found enough traction to eat into Schuchart’s lead, getting to his outside by Lap 15. However, before he could attempt a pass. Another caution for a car going off track.
On the following restart, Gravel launched ahead of Schuchart, taking the lead and pulling away to a two-car length lead. It was short lived, though. Exiting turn two, Gravel slid off the corner allowing Schuchart to dart back by him.
The lap went to Schuchart. There was no sharing the lead.
“It’s tough when you’re leading to be able to tell where to go, when the rubber or where the rubber’s coming in,” Schuchart said. “Actually, in the beginning, when Dave got around me, I knew he got a run from the top of three and four, but it actually wasn’t totally rubber, yet. I knew he had to get a run from the top, so I moved up in three and four and I wasn’t going to move my line in one and two until I saw somebody or heard somebody.”
While Schuchart put distance between himself and the top-five once again, the KKR teammates were now battling for second – continuing their spectacular battling from Tuesday night’s race at Fairbury Speedway.
Riding the low line of the slick track, McFadden found enough traction to pull ahead of Sweet and begin his march toward Schuchart.
Round two of Schuchart versus McFadden, after the two raced for the win a couple of weeks ago at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. Schuchart won that battle.
McFadden ran Schuchart down. He could stay on his bumper, but couldn’t find a big enough run to get by the Hanover, Pa. driver.
Then, on a restart with 13 laps to go, McFadden found that run. He launched pass Schuchart on the outside and sailed away. This time, it looked like Schuchart would have to share the lead. But before McFadden could complete the lap, another caution.
McFadden showed his hand. Schuchart now knew what he had to do to win.
“I wasn’t squirting off the bottom as hard as I needed to in (turns) one and two and it was cleaned off a little bit above the bottom,” Schuchart said. “He (McFadden) showed me that, and lucky enough the caution did come out.”
When the race went back green, McFadden could keep Schuchart close enough in sight to read the sponsors on his car, but never garnered enough of a run again to get back by him.
“Once Logan’s out front on that kind of track, he’s probably one of the best guys at racing that,” McFadden said. “I think he was holding back, trying not to get to lap traffic, thinking if he didn’t make a mistake, he wasn’t going to get past. I was just sitting there waiting, and hoping, and it didn’t happen. Still happy with second.”
While Schuchart claimed his fourth win this season, Sweet, who ended up third, earned his fourth podium finish in-a-row.
“We’ll keep plugging away,” Sweet said. “As long as we’re standing on the front stretch each and every night, the wins will start coming.”
Sweet, with two wins this season, continues to sit second in points to Schatz. But with Schatz finishing fourth, the Grass Valley, Calif.-native gained two points on the reigning champion and is now 36 points behind him.
Being the winningest driver, so far, this season has injected Schuchart with pride and confidence. Although, the amount of wins he has won’t mean anything if he can’t find consistency. His performance this year has left him fifth in points -- 202 points behind Schatz.
“It seems one night we win, the next night we’re fifteenth,” he said. “We’re going to keep working at it, try to figure it out and hopefully pick up some more wins.”
UP NEXT:
The World of Outlaws will continue its tour through the Northwest on Saturday, June 8, at Granite City Speedway in Sauk Rapids, Minn.
As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.
For tickets and more information, go to www.WorldofOutlaws.com.
Race Results: 6/7/19 – River Cities Speedway
NOS Energy Drink Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$10,000]; 2. 9-James McFadden [3][$5,500]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [2][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [11][$2,800]; 5. 41-David Gravel [4][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [15][$2,300]; 7. 4-Terry McCarl [6][$2,200]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [7][$2,100]; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser [9][$2,050]; 10. 13-Mark Dobmeier [13][$2,000]; 11. 5-Shane Stewart [23][$1,500]; 12. 83-Daryn Pittman [8][$1,200]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [10][$1,100]; 14. 2-Carson Macedo [18][$1,050]; 15. 18-Ian Madsen [12][$1,000]; 16. O-Nick Omdahl [19][$900]; 17. 7S-Jason Sides [21][$800]; 18. 8-Jack Croaker [16][$800]; 19. 20A-Jordan Adams [22][$800]; 20. 31-Shane Roemeling [25][$800]; 21. 8H-Jade Hastings [24][$800]; 22. 2A-Austin Pierce [14][$800]; 23. 9N-Wade Nygaard [17][$800]; 24. 1A-Jacob Allen [5][$800]; 25. 11M-Brendan Mullen [20][$800];
Lap Leaders: Logan Schuchart 1-40;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 5-Shane Stewart[+12]
Qualifying – 1. 41-David Gravel, 10.399; 2. 15-Donny Schatz, 10.432; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 10.47; 4. 9-James McFadden, 10.477; 5. 4-Terry McCarl, 10.624; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen, 10.648; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 10.68; 8. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 10.734; 9. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 10.768; 10. 8-Jack Croaker, 10.819; 11. 5-Shane Stewart, 10.836; 12. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 10.841; 13. O-Nick Omdahl, 10.866; 14. 49-Brad Sweet, 10.915; 15. 2-Carson Macedo, 10.928; 16. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 10.932; 17. 11M-Brendan Mullen, 11.015; 18. 18-Ian Madsen, 11.035; 19. 20A-Jordan Adams, 11.039; 20. 83-Daryn Pittman, 11.057; 21. 8H-Jade Hastings, 11.057; 22. 19-Brent Marks, 11.22; 23. 2A-Austin Pierce, 11.361; 24. 7S-Jason Sides, 11.536; 25. 31-Shane Roemeling, 12.192
DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer – 1. 9-James McFadden [2]; 2. 41-David Gravel [1]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 19-Brent Marks [8]; 5. 13-Mark Dobmeier [6]; 6. 8-Jack Croaker [4]; 7. O-Nick Omdahl [5]; 8. 20A-Jordan Adams [7]; 9. 31-Shane Roemeling [9]
DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 2. 4-Terry McCarl [2]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [7]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 5. 2A-Austin Pierce [8]; 6. 9N-Wade Nygaard [3]; 7. 11M-Brendan Mullen [6]; 8. 5-Shane Stewart [4]
DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps) – Top 10 Transfer – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [6]; 5. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 6. 2-Carson Macedo [5]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [8]; 8. 8H-Jade Hastings [7]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (8 Laps) – 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 9-James McFadden [5]; 4. 41-David Gravel [4]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [3]; 6. 4-Terry McCarl [6]
Courtney Connects in Bloomington IMW Victory
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Friday night's Bloomington 'Indiana Midget Week' winner Tyler Courtney from Indianapolis, Indiana. (David Nearpass Photo)
COURTNEY CONNECTS IN BLOOMINGTON IMW VICTORY
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Bloomington, Indiana (June 7, 2019).........On Friday morning, the engine that Tyler Courtney would use later that night was in the process of being rebuilt. On Friday night, that same engine helped power the Indianapolis, Ind. driver to victory in round four of "Indiana Midget Week" at Bloomington Speedway.
It had been a trying week for Clauson/Marshall Racing throughout the first three races of IMW. Courtney had gone through one engine and had a minor issue on another. Teammate Chris Windom went through two and another teammate, Andrew Layser, had to step into a backup as well.
Still, when the deck seemed stacked against them amidst trying circumstances, the team was able to persevere as Courtney drove to his fifth USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory of the year with only ten races in the books. In fact, his quick start already has him halfway to the double-digit win mark, something that hasn't been achieved in the series since Rich Vogler's magical 16-win season in 1988.
"It's crazy," Courtney said. "But, you know, I wouldn't want to do this with anybody else. These guys are never going to stop. The least I can do is do my job and give them 110 percent because I know they're going to give me 110 percent. It's been nuts, but if this was easy, everybody would do it. It's part of it."
Courtney started from the fourth spot, while Justin Grant bolted to the lead from the pole position, utilizing the high line as outside front row starter Thomas Meseraull followed in tow and Chad Boat worked the bottom.
Meanwhile, Thursday night's Lincoln Park hero Tanner Thorson saw his feature go from bad to worse, first spinning over the turn three banking to a stop on lap four while running 16th. Three laps later, as the Indiana Midget Week point leader coming in tried to work his way back through the field, he found contact at the bottom of turn one, bounced and flipped sidewinder style over the banking. Noah Gass and Jesse Colwell were also collected. Thorson walked away, but only Colwell restarted.
Back to the front, Boat had the low groove working, and had already moved into the second position by lap five. Following the incident, he went right back to the well on the bottom and was digging his way closer to race leader Grant, missing the point at the strip by a half car length at the conclusion of lap 8.
One lap later, series Rookie Karsyn Elledge, who had been having a career-best fifth place run at the time, caught the turn three lip and flipped over the banking. She walked away without injury but finished 22nd.
On the restart, the high/low battle between Grant and Boat would resume with Grant ripping the cush and Boat skimming inches from the infield tires. Boat surged once again, but Grant was precise on the high line, nipping Boat by the width of a dime at the stripe, 0.012 of a second to be precise.
Suddenly, series point leader Courtney emerged as a contender just behind Grant and Boat, carving through the middle as a third line came to fruition between turns three and four. By lap 17, they were three-wide for the lead with Courtney clearing around the outside of Boat in turn four for second and were still three-wide by the conclusion of the 18th lap.
"I saw where they'd blown the good stuff off the bottom," Courtney observed. "Chad was running the bottom and JG the top and I just had to go where they weren't. I did it once and it worked alright. I did it again a little differently and it worked pretty well. I knew if I could keep doing it, keep chipping away, chipping away, we were going to catch them."
Catching is one part of the equation, passing is another, and Grant was the class through the first two-thirds of the 30-lapper. However, it all went awry for Grant, Wednesday's Gas City winner, who had a right rear tire give way entering turn one on the 20th lap. He managed to control the car from jumping over the banking while Courtney did a masterful job of avoiding tagging the back of suddenly off-the-pace Grant who crawled around the quarter mile before stopping in turn four. Grant restarted, but only mustered a 20th place finish after leading a race-high 19 laps.
On the lap 20 restart, second-running Boat once again found solace on the low line, appearing to have the kind of surge that could carry him to the front, missing out on the lead by a mere 0.026 of a second to Courtney at the line. The bottom appeared to slightly fade for Boat who dropped back from Courtney by a few car lengths the following time by.
Taking Boat's place in second was opening night IMW winner Logan Seavey who found the outside rubber to run his fastest lap of the race with seven circuits remaining and was invading Courtney's fortress of solitude at the front. However, Courtney heard the oncoming freight train that was Seavey and moved off the middle line to go to the top and stifle Seavey's charge on the open path up on the cushion.
Tyler Courtney's third career 'Indiana Midget Week' victory Friday at Bloomington was also the 10th USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget win of his career, tying him for 68th on the all-time list with Allen Heath, Doug Kalitta, Brad Kuhn, Steve Lotshaw, Jerry McClung & Chuck Weyant. (Rich Forman Photo)
"I figured somebody would be coming and the middle kind of went away there in three and four," Courtney recalled. "I started hearing somebody doing something and I knew it didn't sound like somebody on the bottom, so I knew I needed to get up and take their line away, run my own race and make sure I didn't fall off the track and do anything dumb the last few laps."
To get into a rhythm in a which a driver is trying to hit his marks lap-after-lap is key, but once those marks change midstream with another driver ready to pounce, it can present a difficult challenge, but Courtney was game.
"It's a big change, especially here," Courtney explained. "This place gets really technical. It gets slick up to a big curb. If you hit it too hard, you're throwing the nose. You take the chance of bouncing over it and you throw your whole race away. So, you have to kind of ease your way into it. I knew Logan was probably pounding (the cushion) a lot harder than I was. I just knew if I could stay smooth on it, we would be alright. I felt we had good enough speed to maintain up there."
During the final laps, Seavey remained about two car lengths behind the tail tank of Courtney and, on the final lap, fired one last shot, repositioning at the midway point of the back straightaway, angling his car toward the bottom of turn three. Seavey slid up between turns three and four, but had to tuck in behind the flawless Courtney who made no mistakes down the stretch to win his second-straight Bloomington USAC Midget race. Seavey took second ahead of Boat, hard-charging Chris Windom (from 22nd) and a career-best performance from the night's fast qualifier Ethan Mitchell to round out the top-five.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Bloomington Speedway were Ethan Mitchell (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Justin Grant (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Chad Boat (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Chris Windom (ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger & ProSource Hard Work Award), Jerry Coons, Jr. (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Cannon McIntosh (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 7, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼- Mile Dirt Oval
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-11.652; 2. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.707; 3. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-11.750; 4. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-11.807; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.824; 6. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-11.834; 7. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-11.840; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-11.844; 9. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-11.865; 10. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.869; 11. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.877; 12. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-11.885; 13. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.888; 14. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.901; 15. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-11.909; 16. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-11.937; 17. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.946; 18. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-11.956; 19. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-11.982; 20. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.005; 21. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.021; 22. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-12.035; 23. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.054; 24. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-12.064; 25. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.075; 26. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-12.128; 27. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.153; 28. Kendall Ruble, 11m, Martin-12.216; 29. Michael Koontz, 17, Koontz-12.314; 30. Kyle Cummins, 2G, Yeley/Styres-12.315; 31. Sam Johnson, 72, Johnson-12.504; 32. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-12.764; 33. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Courtney, 3. Hollan, 4. Windom, 5. McDougal, 6. Klaasmeyer, 7. Mitchell, 8. Koontz. 2:03.18 (New Track Record)
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Darland, 2. Thorson, 3. Elledge, 4. Gass, 5. Daum, 6. Layser, 7. Cummins, 8. Seavey. NT
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Thomas, 2. Colwell, 3. Pickens, 4. Carrick, 5. Wise, 6. Bacon, 7. Cling, 8. Johnson. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Boat, 2. Golobic, 3. Meseraull, 4. Coons, 5. McIntosh, 6. Bodine, 7. Dickerson, 8. Ruble. NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Seavey, 2. Bacon, 3. McDougal, 4. Mitchell, 5. Layser, 6. Klaasmeyer, 7. McIntosh, 8. Wise, 9. Daum, 10. Bodine, 11. Koontz, 12. Cling, 13. Dickerson, 14. Akard. 2:40.02 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (4), 2. Logan Seavey (8), 3. Chad Boat (5), 4. Chris Windom (22), 5. Ethan Mitchell (7), 6. Brady Bacon (9), 7. Michael Pickens (6), 8. Thomas Meseraull (2), 9. Andrew Layser (10), 10. Shane Golobic (18), 11. Zach Daum (24), 12. Zeb Wise (23), 13. Jerry Coons, Jr. (12), 14. Tanner Carrick (11), 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 16. Jesse Colwell (21), 17. Jason McDougal (19), 18. Dave Darland (20), 19. Holley Hollan (16), 20. Justin Grant (1), 21. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (15), 22. Karsyn Elledge (3), 23. Noah Gass (17), 24. Tanner Thorson (14). NT
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**Thorson flipped on lap 7 of the feature. Elledge flipped on lap 9 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-19 Grant, Laps 20-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE/ANDY PETERSON RE/MAX ACCLAIMED PROPERTIES HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (22nd to 4th)
PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Chris Windom
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jerry Coons, Jr.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Cannon McIntosh
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-730, 2-Seavey-637, 3-Thomas-611, 4-Windom-584, 5-Wise-573, 6-Boat-525, 7-C.J. Leary-490, 8-Carrick-470, 9-Klaasmeyer-469, 10-Coons-450.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Seavey-280, 2-Courtney-274, 3-Thorson-251, 4-Golobic-218, 5-McDougal-212, 6-Thomas-194, 7-Windom-187, 8-Coons-183, 9-Grant-181, 10-Boat-178.
NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Windom-28, 2-Thorson-18, 3-Wise-18, 4-Boat-15, 5-McDougal-15, 6-Courtney-14, 7-Daum-14, 8-Seavey-12, 9-McIntosh-10, 10-Golobic-10.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 8, 2019 - Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval
Buckwalter Blasts to Big Diamond Victory
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Winner Timmy Buckwalter and family.
(Chad Warner Photo)
BUCKWALTER BLASTS TO BIG DIAMOND VICTORY
By: Nick Fillman - USAC East Coast Sprint Cars
Pottsville, Pennsylvania (June 7, 2019).........For the second time in their first four races together, Timmy Buckwalter piloted the Bill Gallagher-owned, Curt Michael-prepared entry into victory lane in Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series action.
The win for Buckwalter kicks off what is a busy schedule for the driver as he will compete in modified action on Saturday at Grandview Speedway before moving on to action next week with the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series in their annual "Eastern Storm."
Buckwalter was able to maneuver his way to the heat race victory in a duel with Carmen Perigo which would send Buckwalter to the redraw. Timmy drew the second-place position, start him alongside Chandler Leiby.
As the field went to green Buckwalter slid back a couple of positions with Leiby grabbing the early race lead. A caution would quickly fly for Joe Biasi who clipped an infield tire and sent him spinning into the infield ending his night. As the field would go back to green Leiby would again work his way into the lead holding off challenges from Carson Short and Steven Drevicki.
The caution would again fly on lap 9 for Jonathan Swanson and Ryan Quackenbush bunching the field back up. On the ensuing restart Buckwalter would power to the outside around Leiby in turns three and four, taking the lead and looking to run away. Buckwalter would maintain a solid lead while the battle was on for positions two through seven. Steven Drevicki, Leiby, Short, Perigo, Strada, and Chris Allen were all in close competition with no driver feeling in comfortable control of their position. A caution flag would fly again on lap 16 for a spinning Eric Jennings, setting up a restart.
The restart would again see high contention for positions inside the top 10 with Drevicki moving into the second-place position. Other drivers would see highly contested action for spots in the top six. The final caution of the event would fly on lap 22 for Steve Surniak who ended up getting into an infield tire. The restart would be the chance the Drevicki wanted to try and grab the win away from Buckwalter, but it wasn't meant to be as Buckwalter would go on to take the checkers. Steven Drevicki would come home second, Carson Short third, Carmen Perigo made a strong high side move to grab fourth powering to the outside around Strada and Leiby, with Chandler Leiby collecting yet another top five finish.
While the night was great for some, it was bad for others, with some in the in between. The night started off rough for Ryan Quackenbush and Brian Riccio. Quackenbush would have the front end folded up on his machine on lap one, of heat one before collecting Riccio who would go for a series of flips into the infield. Riccio was making just his second start of the season before the flip.
Trevor Kobylarz would make his return to the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Series, following missing the last two events with engine issues. Kobylarz was out to a solid lead in heat race number three before an exploding left rear would end his heat race. Unfortunately, the tire failure broke the shock and other components off the Kobylarz car. The team opted to sit out for the remainder of the night to keep things fresh for the upcoming eastern swing.
Despite the troubles in the heat race for Ryan Quackenbush, and a caution early on in the feature, he would rebound with a solid effort to collect the Scotty Signs Hard Charger award. The New York turned Pennsylvania transplant has had a bit of an up and down season, but the team never quits and works hard to get to every event. They were rewarded with a solid finish and a few extra winnings on Friday night, proving that while they may get down, they're never out.
In their first race together Carson Short, and the Chris Dyson Racing, Sean Michael-prepared entry had a solid night. The team pulled the number one pill for the night and started on the pole of heat one. Carson would cruise to the heat victory before having a strong third place run in the feature event as a great tune up before next week's USAC National Sprint action.
The next event for the Rapid Tire USAC East Coast Sprint Car Series comes on Sunday, June 30th at the Glen Ridge Motorsports Park where the series will make their inaugural visit.
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USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: June 7, 2019 - Big Diamond Speedway - Pottsville, Pennsylvania
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer, top-3 to redraw) 1. Carson Short (#20 Dyson), 2. Joey Biasi (#B1 Biasi), 3. Chandler Leiby (#119 Leiby), 4. Bill Unglert (#33B Unglert), 5. Steve Surniak (#1ST Surniak), 6. John Stehman (#23 Stehman), 7. Craig Pellegrini, Jr. (#11A Pellegrini), 8. Ryan Quackenbush (#5Q TQT), 9. Brian Riccio (#09 Riccio). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer, top-3 to redraw) 1. Mark Bitner (#15 Bitner), 2. Eddie Strada (#42E Strada), 3. Steven Drevicki (#19 Drevicki), 4. Jake Winters (#1J Winters), 5. Austin Bishop (#11 Bishop), 6. Larry McVay (#83 McVay), 7. Heidi Hedin (#3H Hedin), 8. David Swanson (#117 Swanson). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer, top-3 to redraw) 1. Timmy Buckwalter (#5G Gallagher), 2. Carmen Perigo (#21 Perigo), 3. Chris Allen, Jr. (#71 Allen), 4. Tyler Brehm (#21R Brehm), 5. Connor Leoffler (#22 Leoffler), 6. Eric Jennings (#32 Neiger/Hamilton), 7. Jonathan Swanson (#17J Swanson), 8. Trevor Kobylarz (#14 Kobylarz). NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Jennings, 2. Stehman, 3. McVay, 4. Pellegrini, 5. J. Swanson, 6. Hedin, 7. D. Swanson. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Timmy Buckwalter, 2. Steven Drevicki, 3. Carson Short, 4. Carmen Perigo, 5. Chandler Leiby, 6. Eddie Strada, 7. Chris Allen, Jr., 8. Bill Unglert, 9. Connor Leoffler, 10. Mark Bitner, 11. Tyler Brehm, 12. Austin Bishop, 13. Ryan Quackenbush, 14. John Stehman, 15. Eric Jennings, 16. Larry McVay, 17. Jonathan Swanson, 18. Jake Winters, 19. Steve Surniak, 20. Craig Pellegrini, Jr., 21. Joey Biasi. NT
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**Riccio flipped during the first heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Leiby, Laps 10-25 Buckwalter.
SCOTTY SIGNS HARD CHARGER: Ryan Quackenbush (21st to 13th)
NEXT USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT RACE: June 30 - Glen Ridge Motorsports Park - Fultonville, New York
RESULTS: Brock Zearfoss tames Outlaw Speedway for first-ever All Star triumph
Posted by: | Comments
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
Winner Brock Zearfoss (Trent Gower Photo)
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com
Brock Zearfoss tames Outlaw Speedway for first-ever All Star triumph
DUNDEE, N.Y. (June 7, 2019) - Brock Zearfoss has been a man on a mission thus far in 2019, and now his mission his complete.
For the first time in his career, Brock Zearfoss is an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 main event winner, leading all 30 circuits on Friday night at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, N.Y., to secure a $5,000 payday.
Despite maintaining command the entire distance, the top spot on the podium was not an easy reach, as the Jonestown, Pennsylvania- native and former Port Royal Speedway champion was forced to withstand heavy pressure from fellow full-time All Star traveler and recent BAPS Motor Speedway winner, Cory Eliason.
“I wanted to get this one so bad for my team. They have been working their tails off all season,” Brock Zearfoss said in Outlaw Speedway victory lane. “We’ve had the speed to win all year, but no luck to go with it. It feels great to get it done here tonight. I’m so proud of these guys.”
Starting from the pole position, Zearfoss rocketed to an early lead, keeping Rudeen Racing’s Eliason and former World of Outlaws champion, Dave Blaney, at bay.
Although left behind initially, Eliason wasted little time applying the pressure on Zearfoss, nearly pulling even with the ‘Jonestown Jet’ as the pair battled off of turn two on lap four. Just as Eliason was set to make a move in traffic, caution flags waved giving Zearfoss an opportunity to restart in clean air with a clear track ahead.
The next five circuits went undisturbed for the Premier Motorsports entry, that until caution flags waved again on lap 13, once again giving Zearfoss the single-file advantage. When green flag action resumed, Zearfoss returned to the topside of the speedway, but this time increasing his lead as the laps clicked off the counter. By lap 22, Zearfoss’ advantage increased to nearly a straightaway, and despite recurring traffic, Eliason was unable to make up the distance.
Flowing through traffic effortlessly, it was not until the final circuit that Zearfoss encountered a major roadblock; a trio of lapped cars hogging most of the speedway, ultimately leaving little room to navigate. A slight hesitation by Zearfoss allowed Eliason the opportunity for a last-ditch effort maneuver around the familiar No. 70, but the attempt did not succeed. Zearfoss drove through the final two corners unscathed to claim top honors at Outlaw Speedway.
“Things got pretty sketchy,” Zearfoss said of the final lap, driver of the Premier Motorsports/Moose’s LZ Bar & Grill/Heavy Equipment, Loaders & Parts Inc./BAPS Auto Paint & Supply/Meckley's Limestone Products/Berkebile Oil Company/River City Wood Products/No. 70 sprint car. “I just kinda floated through the corner and I thought to myself ‘I just lost it on the last lap.’ But it all worked out. We got it done tonight and that’s all that matters.”
“All of the names on this car make opportunities like this possible,” Zearfoss continued. “I certainly wouldn’t be in this position without them. I appreciate everything they do.”
Cory Eliason held on to finish second at the final checkers, followed by Dave Blaney, who battled the final laps with a severed nose wing, Gerard McIntyre, and Danny Varin.
Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their three-day swing through the Empire State with a one-night stand at the ‘New’ Stateline Speedway in Busti, N.Y., on Saturday, June 8. Like Outlaw Speedway, the traveling All Stars will visit Stateline Speedway only once in 2019, chasing a $5,000 payday.
The ‘New’ Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York, will open pit gates at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 8. A mandatory All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:15 p.m. with hot laps to follow at 6:10 p.m. More news and notes can be found online at www.newstatelinespeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results:
Outlaw Speedway - Friday, June 7, 2019:
Entries: 24
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Justin Barger - 12.693
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cory Eliason - 12.827
Ford Performance Heat #1: Cory Eliason
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Danny Varin
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Justin Barger
JE Pistons Dash presented by Fatheadz Eyewear #1: Brock Zearfoss
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Brock Zearfoss
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Brandon Spithaler [+10]
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.827; 2. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.004; 3. 98H-Dave Blaney, 13.051; 4. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi, 13.065; 5. 98-Joe Trenca, 13.076; 6. 10-Joe Kata, 13.290; 7. 46-Michael Bauer, 13.301; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.702
Group (B)
1. 72-Ryan Smith, 12.972; 2. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 13.028; 3. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.075; 4. J4-John Garvin, 13.101; 5. 29-Dan Shetler, 13.180; 6. OO-Danny Varin, 13.246; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.365; 8. 40-George Hobaugh, NT
Group (C)
1. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 12.866; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 12.925; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.006; 4. 5-Justin Barger, 13.082; 5. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.087; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.115; 7. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.137; 8. K4-Chad Kemenah, 13.439
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 8 Transfer
1. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 2. 98H-Dave Blaney [2]; 3. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [1]; 4. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca [5]; 6. 46-Michael Bauer [7]; 7. 10-Joe Kata [6]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 8 Transfer
1. OO-Danny Varin [6]; 2. 29-Dan Shetler [5]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 70X-Spencer Bayston [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 6. 72-Ryan Smith [4]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh [8]; 8. J4-John Garvin [1]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (8 Laps) - Top 8 Transfer
1. 5-Justin Barger [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee [2]; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [5]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]; 6. 14-Tony Stewart [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [4]; 8. K4-Chad Kemenah [8]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. 98H-Dave Blaney [1]; 3. 29-Dan Shetler [6]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre [4]; 6. OO-Danny Varin [3]; 7. 5-Justin Barger [7]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee [8]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 3. 98H-Dave Blaney [2]; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre [5]; 5. OO-Danny Varin [6]; 6. 5-Justin Barger [7]; 7. 70X-Spencer Bayston [12]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [15]; 9. 11-Dale Blaney [13]; 10. 13-Paul McMahan [10]; 11. 99-Skylar Gee [8]; 12. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [9]; 13. 35-Tyler Esh [11]; 14. 22-Brandon Spithaler [24]; 15. K4-Chad Kemenah [21]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson [16]; 17. 98-Joe Trenca [14]; 18. 46-Michael Bauer [19]; 19. 40-George Hobaugh [23]; 20. 10-Joe Kata [20]; 21. 72-Ryan Smith [17]; 22. 14-Tony Stewart [18]; 23. J4-John Garvin [22]; 24. 29-Dan Shetler [3] Lap Leaders: Brock Zearfoss (1-30)
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 6/7/2019):
1. Aaron Reutzel - 806
2. Paul McMahan - 760
3. Dale Blaney - 748
4. Spencer Bayston - 744
5. Cory Eliason - 734
6. Brock Zearfoss - 718
7. Skylar Gee - 706
8. Gerard McIntyre -690
9. Greg Wilson - 682
10. George Hobaugh - 640
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Bubba Raceway Park (1/31/2019): Tim Shaffer
Bubba Raceway Park (2/1/2019): Tim Shaffer (2)
Bubba Raceway Park (2/2/2019): Tony Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/6/2019): Shane Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/7/2019): Brad Sweet
Virginia Motor Speedway (4/11/2019): Cory Eliason
Port Royal Speedway (4/13/2019): Lance Dewease
Attica Raceway Park (5/24/2019): Aaron Reutzel
Fremont Speedway (5/26/2019): Aaron Reutzel (2)
Outlaw Speedway (6/7/2019): Brock Zearfoss
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2019, MAVTV Motorsports Network will continue to be the official television home of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast ten high-profile events.
About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet:
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., founded in 1982, is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts and excess inventory, offering real brands at real bargain prices. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s has a huge variety of famous brand-name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring, seasonal items and so much more – at up to 70 percent off the fancy stores’ prices. You never know what you’ll find at one of Ollie’s 327 “semi-lovely” stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, visit www.ollies.us. Like us on Facebook or find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet. Ollie’s is a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OLLI.
About Mobil 1:
The world's leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
For more information, visit www.mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1.
Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Thorson Triumphs in Frenzied IMW Round at Putnamville
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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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)
THORSON TRIUMPHS IN FRENZIED IMW ROUND AT PUTNAMVILLE
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
Grant Gets Redemption at Gas City Indiana Midget Week Rd. 2
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant won his first career 'Indiana Midget Week' feature Wednesday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway. (David Nearpass Photo)
GRANT GETS REDEMPTION IN GAS CITY INDIANA MIDGET WEEK RD. 2
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana (June 5, 2019).........Less than 24 hours after what he termed was a "toolbox issue" that put him behind eight ball just prior to Tuesday's "Indiana Midget Week" opening night feature, Justin Grant found the ultimate redemption by scoring his first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory of the season in round two of the series Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
One way of looking at the six-night stretch of consecutive races that is "Indiana Midget Week" is as a grueling physical and mental test that can take a toll, especially when things don't go as anticipated. On the other side of the coin, an individual can look at the week as chance to immediately redeem yourself again and again, night-after-night, if an issue happens to arise along the journey.
Either way, there's no time to dwell on the past. Another opportunity for success is just around the corner. That's the path the Ione, California driver and his RAMS Racing crew chose to take.
"Last night, it's all over and everybody's upset," Grant recalled. "But, that's why there's more than one race a year. Let's go to the carwash. Let's do our jobs. Let's act like we're ready to win tomorrow."
"What's great about this team is its people constantly building you up," Grant explained. "Last night, I had a huge blunder on my part. I really let my car owners and my team down in our race prep. But the first text message I got after the race was from Rick Young who said, 'I'm not upset in the least. Every time I see that racecar on the track, I'm proud of it. Go win tomorrow.' Having that kind of support system and that kind of backing is huge. Just being able to shake that night off, nobody's more worried about it than you are, so just shake it off and go do your job tomorrow."
When that tomorrow arrived on Wednesday night, Grant went to work from the word "go," leading the troops into turn one from his outside front row starting spot. Meanwhile, pre-race favorite Kyle Larson, who started fifth, was shuffled back to ninth on the opening lap, forcing him into playing catchup mode for much of the 30-lap event.
Following a lap three caution for Jesse Colwell, who stopped in the infield grass at the bottom of turn one, Grant knew he had a good car. One of those indicators came from an unlikely source over the one-way radio.
"I felt really good out of the gate," Grant said. "It was a little tight, which was a good thing, but the track really came to us right out of the gate more or less. After that first caution, (USAC Race Director) Kirk Spridgeon said, 'alright, hustle around' to the second-place car. I thought we must be way out there. It got me a bit worried because I thought we were too good too early. If this thing goes away, we might be in trouble."
There was no indication of that happening any time soon as Grant proceeded to click off his best laps of the race, just less than a tenth off his qualifying time. Grant opened his lead to roughly eight car lengths over Jason McDougal nearing the midway point as the two lone past IMW champs collided at the exit of turn four while battling for eighth. Shane Golobic, the 2017 champ, and Jerry Coons, Jr., the 2007 titlist, made contact with Golobic inheriting the worst end of the deal, stopping, and necessitating a yellow flag.
One lap following the ensuing restart, on the 16th circuit, March "Shamrock Classic" winner Cannon McIntosh slipped into second under McDougal in turn four. Moments later, Colwell spun to a rest in turn four to bring out the yellow. That moment seemed to flip a switch for a pair of previous Gas City IMW winners in Michael Pickens (2017) and Larson (2013).
Justin Grant celebrated his first career 'Indiana Midget Week' win Wednesday at Gas City, which was also his fourth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature victory. (David Nearpass Photo)
New Zealand's Pickens began the second half running sixth while Larson held down eighth. Steadily, the two moved forward nearly in tandem, with Larson hitting the top and Pickens alternating between the bottom and the middle as they worked their way past Tanner Thorson and McDougal, while both Pickens and Larson occupied positions three and four, respectively, with just five laps remaining.
Meanwhile, up front, race leader Grant was enjoying a nice half-straightaway cushion over McIntosh with a first win for the Grant/RAMS combo seemingly within grasp. As Grant saw the white flag on the horizon, however, 16th running Tucker Klaasmeyer slid off the edge in turn four, forcing a green-white-checker finish for Grant, McIntosh, Pickens, Larson and a host of others.
Grant's pattern around the quarter mile was a circle, swinging out to the wall on the straightaways, then straight to the bottom in the turns. He'd keep his NOS Energy Drink - Rockwell Security - MPV Express/Bullet/Stanton SR-11 tighter on the bottom when he heard noise from a trailing car, then opened it a bit wider when the atmosphere became a bit quieter.
However, for Grant, it was anything but quiet on the lap 29 restart.
"On the second to last restart, I let the motor get loaded up and it didn't take off," Grant recalled. Then I got tight, then I missed the bottom, then I was hanging off four, then I was hanging down the front stretch. I'm like 'oh god, here it goes.' Fortunately, our car was good enough and I was able to get back to the bottom of (turn) one quick enough and shut the door on that. I thought, just stick the bottom from here and we'll be good."
That plan would be drafted into action one last time following a Coons and Karsyn Elledge tangle on the front straightaway, forcing one final GWC try where Grant executed perfectly on the bottom to slip away from McIntosh and disallow any move generated from him into one.
Third-running Pickens' bid for a repeat Gas City IMW win evaporated as he ran out of fuel on the restart. At the head of the field, Grant distanced himself from McIntosh by four car lengths with both seeking their initial IMW win. Heading into turn three, McIntosh had a nice run through the middle on entry, then angled his car down toward the infield tires at the exit of turn four. Grant swung just a tad wide at the exit, but it was still good enough by two car lengths to capture his fourth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory over McIntosh with Larson, McDougal and new IMW point leader Thorson rounding out the top-five.
Contingency award winners Wednesday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway were Shane Golobic (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Holley Hollan (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Logan Seavey (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (ProSource Hard Work Award & 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: June 5, 2019 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.349; 2. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.416; 3. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.421; 4. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.450; 5. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-12.455; 6. Kyle Larson, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.457; 7. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-12.503; 8. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-12.524; 9. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.561; 10. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.569; 11. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-12.594; 12. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-12.630; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.663; 14. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.673; 15. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-12.701; 16. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-12.702; 17. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.720; 18. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-12.734; 19. Kyle Cummins, 1G, Yeley/Styres-12.735; 20. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.753; 21. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.756; 22. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.773; 23. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.779; 24. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.829; 25. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-12.897; 26. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-12.923; 27. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-12.928; 28. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-12.938; 29. Anton Hernandez, 8JR, Wood-12.939; 30. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.976; 31. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.994; 32. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-13.080; 33. Michael Koontz, 17x, Koontz-13.093; 34. Justin Peck, 17, Bus-13.106; 35. Brady Bacon, 1ST, Saucier-13.320; 36. Chris Baue, 9, Baue-13.473; 37. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-13.537; 38. Critter Malone, 7, Seven-13.611; 39. Brent Watson, 17K, Watson-14.561; 40. Davey Ray, 8, Cornell-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Leary, 4. Larson, 5. Daum, 6. Coons, 7. Welch, 8. Hernandez, 9. Koontz, 10. Ray. 2:05.54 (New Track Record)
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Hollan, 2. Bodine, 3. Colwell, 4. McIntosh, 5. Pickens, 6. Cummins, 7. Hendricks, 8. Bacon, 9. Watson, 10. Windom. 2:05.68
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Seavey, 2. Wise, 3. Golobic, 4. Grant, 5. Gass, 6. Thorson, 7. Layser, 8. Cling, 9. Peck, 10. Akard. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Thomas, 2. Boat, 3. Elledge, 4. McDougal, 5. Carrick, 6. Darland, 7. Mitchell, 8. Malone, 9. Baue, 10. Meseraull. 2:06.32
C-MAIN: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Bacon, 2. Mitchell, 3. Peck, 4. Koontz, 5. Baue, 6. Watson, 7. Malone. 1:43.50
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Thorson, 2. Pickens, 3. Coons, 4. Carrick, 5. Layser, 6. Daum, 7. Mitchell, 8. Darland, 9. Bacon, 10. Cummins, 11. Cling, 12. Gass, 13. Hernandez, 14. Windom, 15. Welch, 16. Peck, 17. Koontz. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Cannon McIntosh (3), 3. Kyle Larson (5), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Tanner Thorson (7), 6. Tyler Courtney (15), 7. Zach Daum (12), 8. Tanner Carrick (13), 9. Chris Windom (23), 10. Zeb Wise (18), 11. C.J. Leary (1), 12. Logan Seavey (14), 13. Andrew Layser (22), 14. Holley Hollan (17), 15. Shane Golobic (6), 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (16), 17. Karsyn Elledge (10), 18. Cole Bodine (21), 19. Jesse Colwell (11), 20. Jerry Coons, Jr. (8), 21. Tucker Klaasmeyer (19), 22. Michael Pickens (9), 23. Chad Boat (20). NT
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**Akard flipped during the third heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Grant.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (15th to 6th)
PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Andrew Layser
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Andrew Layser
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Ethan Mitchell
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-593, 2-K. Thomas-512, 3-Wise-488, 4-Seavey-483, 5-Leary-458, 6-Windom-455, 7-Boat-416, 8-Carrick-401, 9-Klaasmeyer-389, 10-Colwell-341.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Thorson-144, 2-Courtney-137, 3-McDougal-130, 4-Seavey-126, 5-Wise-121, 6-McIntosh-119, 7-Grant-110, 8-Golobic-109, 9-Carrick-106, 10-Thomas-95.
PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Courtney-11, 2-McIntosh-10, 3-Coons-9, 4-Layser-9, 5-Wise-8, 6-Thomas-7, 7-Boat-7, 8-Daum-6, 9-McDougal-5, 10-Carrick-5.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 6, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval
