By Lonnie Wheatley (Fairbury, NE) -- Tanner Thorson made it two USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature wins in as many nights by wiring the field in Friday night’s 30-lap Fourth Annual Riverside Chevrolet Midwest Midget Championship presented by Westin Packaged Meats and Schmidt’s Sanitation feature event atop the 1/5-mile Jefferson County Speedway clay oval.
Leading the field to the green flag from the pole position, Thorson gunned into the lead at the outset and kept Kevin Thomas, Jr., and Chris Windom at bay the entire distance to snare his fourth series win of the season aboard the Stanton SRX-11 powered Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports No. 19T AME Electrical/The Healing Tree Spike-chassis.
PHOTO CREDIT: Lonnie Wheatley
“I think what they say it’s better to be lucky than good any day, it was a good night to start on the front row,” Thorson said in victory lane. “The track was really fast, Cody Brewer and his track crew are second to none in this business.”
Following a pair of early incidents, the final 29 circuits ran off in non-stop fashion with Thorson leading the way ahead of Kevin Thomas, Jr., and Chris Windom.
Thomas, Jr., and Windom kept the pressure on as traffic came into play, but Thorson made a nifty maneuver past a pair of lapped cars with ten laps to go to amass enough breathing room to secure the victory and put himself in strong position for Saturday night’s Midwest Midget Championship $10,000 winner’s share.
Thorson knew that Thomas, Jr., was in striking position much of the way though, explaining that, “He’s really good at running the bottom, I was just trying to hit my marks the best that I could and get by lapped cars the best that I could.”
Thomas, Jr., settled for runner-up honors abord the Petry Motorsports Toyota-powered Gray Auto No. 5, summing up that, “We had a good car, Tanner got us on the start and that was all she wrote.”
Defending series champion brought the CB Industries NOS Energy Drink across the stripe in the show position with an eye on Saturday night, “ We’ll come and try to win the big show tomorrow.
Emerson Axsom was fourth with Justin Grant rounding out the top five. After establishing a quick time of 10.710 seconds in qualifying, Logan Seavey advanced from “B” Main action to climb from 11th to sixth in the main event with Ethan Mitchell, Trey Gropp, 18th-starter Thomas Meseraull and 20th-starter Cannon McIntosh completing the top ten.
The feature went red after one lap when Jerry Coons, Jr., took a wild tumble in turn three and then went immediately back to caution on the restart when the field stacked up and collected series points leader Buddy Kofoid along with Daison Pursley and Kyle Jones. The balance of the race went non-stop.
After Seavey set quick time over the 35-car field, Tyler Thomas, Coons, Jr., Jones and Grant topped heat races with Pursley rebounding from a turn one flip in hot laps to win the “B” Main.
USAC’s “Mid-America Midget Week” wraps up with Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win Midwest Midget Championship at Jefferson County Speedway.
Jefferson County Speedway – Fairbury, Neb.
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midgets “Riverside Chevrolet Midwest Midget Championship presented by Westin Packaged Meats and Schmidt’s Sanitation” Preliminary Results – July 16, 2021
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Logan Seavey, 25, Malloy-10.710; 2. Daison Pursley, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.712; 3. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.745; 4. Trey Gropp, 00, Mounce/Stout-10.827; 5. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-10.840; 6. Chase Randall, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-10.840; 7. Chris Windom, 89, CBI-10.865; 8. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-10.869; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5, Petry-10.871; 10. Tanner Thorson, 19T, Reinbold/Underwood-10.911; 11. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.913; 12. Ryan Timms, 85T, CBI-10.919; 13. Bryant Wiedeman, 01, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.921; 14. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-10.948; 15. Sam Johnson, 72J, Johnson-10.951; 16. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-10.967; 17. Jason McDougal, 4, Klatt-10.994; 18. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.999; 19. Kyle Jones, 7u, Tri-Fecta-11.017; 20. Justin Grant, 2J, RMS-11.053; 21. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-11.074; 22. Jerry Coons Jr., 85, Central-11.083; 23. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-11.184; 24. Jake Bubak, 27B, Bourke-11.195; 25. Austin Barnhill, 17B, Johnson-11.222; 26. Travis Buckley, 7NZ, BLS-11.268; 27. Brett Becker, 2B, Becker-11.282; 28. Kyler Johnson, 45x, KJR-11.367; 29. Zac Taylor, 71T, Henry-11.387; 30. Keith Rauch, 27, Bourke-11.400; 31. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-11.411; 32. Cade Cowles, 70, Gariss-11.672; 33. Shaun Shapel, 84s, Shapel-12.014; 34. Blake Spicer, 4s, John-12.324; 35. J.R. Ewing, 2c, Ewing-12.795; 36. Hayden Williams, 1NZ, BSL-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Thomas, 2. Bryant Wiedeman, 3. Emerson Axsom, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Jason McDougal, 7. Zac Taylor, 8. Austin Barnhill, 9. Shaun Shapel. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Brenham Crouch, 4. Tanner Thorson, 5. Daison Pursley, 6. Chase Randall, 7. Keith Rauch, 8. Blake Spicer, 9. Travis Buckley. 1:51.210
INDY METAL FINISHING THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Jones, 2. Kaylee Bryson, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Shannon McQueen, 6. Sam Johnson, 7. Hayden Reinbold, 8. Brett Becker, 9. J.R. Ewing. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Cannon McIntosh, 4. Ethan Mitchell, 5. Trey Gropp, 6. Jake Bubak, 7. Hayden Williams, 8. Cade Cowles, 9. Kyler Johnson. 1:50.360 (New Track Record)
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Daison Pursley, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Jason McDougal, 4. Trey Gropp, 5. Chase Randall, 6. Sam Johnson, 7. Jake Bubak, 8. Austin Barnhill, 9. Hayden Reinbold, 10. Zac Taylor, 11. Kyler Johnson, 12. Keith Rauch, 13. Cade Cowles, 14. Shaun Shapel, 15. Hayden Williams, 16. Shannon McQueen, 17. Blake Spicer, 18. Travis Buckley. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (1), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 3. Chris Windom (4), 4. Emerson Axsom (5), 5. Justin Grant (8), 6. Logan Seavey (11), 7. Ethan Mitchell (3), 8. Trey Gropp (13), 9. Thomas Meseraull (18), 10. Cannon McIntosh (20), 11. Brenham Crouch (22), 12. Daison Pursley (12), 13. Bryant Wiedeman (17), 14. Buddy Kofoid (6), 15. Chase Randall (14), 16. Ryan Timms (16), 17. Sam Johnson (19), 18. Kyle Jones (7), 19. Jason McDougal (21), 20. Kaylee Bryson (15), 21. Tyler Thomas (9), 22. Jerry Coons Jr. (10). NT
**Daison Pursley flipped during practice. Jerry Coons Jr. flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Tanner Thorson.
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RUESCHENBERG AND BENSON BEST LUCAS OIL NOW600 FIELD
By Inside Line Promotions (Fairbury, NE) -- - Corbin Rueschenberg became the first driver this season to capture a victory in all three premier Lucas Oil National Open Wheel 600 Series presented by Hi-Plains Building Division classes thanks to a trip into the Winner's Circle on Friday at Jefferson County Speedway.
Rueschenberg won the Stock Non-Wing main event during Round 3 of Mid-America Micro Week for the first time in his career during the series debut at the track. Garrett Benson posted his fourth Restricted 'A' Class triumph of the season to increase his advantage in the championship standings.
Rueschenberg capitalized on starting the 25-lap Stock Non-Wing A Main on the pole as he held off fifth-starting Daison Pursley for the win. Points leader Chelby Hinton finished third with Gavin Miller fourth and Cale Coons fifth.
Rueschenberg, Colby Sokol, Coons, Jack Kassik and Pursley were the heat race winners. Trey Zorn and Kenton Brewer picked up B Main victories.
Benson advanced from third to win the 20-lap Restricted 'A' Class feature. Jett Nunley was the runner up with Jaxton Wiggs placing third. Cale Lagroon was fourth and Talin Turner rounded out the top five.
Nunley, Lagroon and Riley Osantowski each won a heat race. Dominic White was the B Main winner.
Mid-America Micro Week concludes on Saturday at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb. The pits open at 4 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m.
LUCAS OIL NOW600 NATIONAL MICRO SERIES PRESENTED BY HI-PLAINS BUILDING DIVISION RESULTS AT JEFFERSON COUNTY SPEEDWAY (July 16, 2021) -
NOW600 Stock Non-Wing
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg (1); 2. 71-Daison Pursley (5); 3. 28-Chelby Hinton (3); 4. 71M-Gavin Miller (2); 5. 3-Cale Coons (8); 6. 24S-Colby Sokol (4); 7. 2B-Garrett Benson (10); 8. 26T-Kyle Thompson (6); 9. 5K-Kelbie Volkman (11); 10. 7K-Kenton Brewer (16); 11. 25S-Justis Sokol (13); 12. 3Z-Trey Zorn (15); 13. 9T-Tanner Holwerda (7); 14. 33K-Jack Kassik (9); 15. 10T-Talin Turner (18); 16. 5A-Ava Gropp (17); 17. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (20); 18. 75-Blayne Buntin (21); 19. 98-Ed Libonati (19); 20. 14X-Kyle Kugel (12); 21. 8-Cody Berkenmeier (14).
B-Main 1 (12 Laps): 1. 3Z-Trey Zorn (2); 2. 5A-Ava Gropp (1); 3. 98-Ed Libonati (6); 4. 29-Trevor Cohn (4); 5. 75-Blayne Buntin (3); 6. 3W-John Kilmer (5); 7. 77E-Cole Esgar (8); 8. 1M-Zach Middleton (13); 9. 34X-Bill Mikesell (9); 10. 74X-Brandon Herrick (10); 11. 12J-Colton James (14); 12. 81-Brandon Lucking (7); 13. 58-Treyton Kindel (12); 14. 74-Blake Mikesell (11).
B-Main 2 (12 Laps): 1. 7K-Kenton Brewer (2); 2. 10T-Talin Turner (4); 3. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (3); 4. 7J-Jacob Latta (13); 5. 04-Kormick Linner (6); 6. 1-Graham Hamilton (7); 7. 34J-Alan LeDuc (8); 8. 51W-Jason Trosper (11); 9. 6D-Daryl Gates (14); 10. 17E-Kaylee Esgar (9); 11. 10D-Domnick Crocker (12); 12. 1B-Brian Bennett (1); 13. 35-Gaige Weldon (5); 14. 21T-Auric Myers (10).
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg (5); 2. 71M-Gavin Miller (7); 3. 7K-Kenton Brewer (2); 4. 10T-Talin Turner (3); 5. 3Z-Trey Zorn (8); 6. 04-Kormick Linner (9); 7. 17E-Kaylee Esgar (6); 8. 12J-Colton James (1); 9. 6D-Daryl Gates (4).
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Colby Sokol (3); 2. 14X-Kyle Kugel (2); 3. 26T-Kyle Thompson (6); 4. 75-Blayne Buntin (5); 5. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (7); 6. 34X-Bill Mikesell (1); 7. 74X-Brandon Herrick (4); 8. 21T-Auric Myers (9); 9. 7J-Jacob Latta (8).
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Cale Coons (1); 2. 2B-Garrett Benson (3); 3. 8-Cody Berkenmeier (4); 4. 5K-Kelbie Volkman (7); 5. 3W-John Kilmer (6); 6. 81-Brandon Lucking (5); 7. 58-Treyton Kindel (2); 8. 74-Blake Mikesell (8).
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 33K-Jack Kassik (1); 2. 28-Chelby Hinton (7); 3. 9T-Tanner Holwerda (6); 4. 29-Trevor Cohn (4); 5. 35-Gaige Weldon (5); 6. 1-Graham Hamilton (3); 7. 10D-Domnick Crocker (2); 8. 51W-Jason Trosper (8).
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Daison Pursley (2); 2. 25S-Justis Sokol (1); 3. 5A-Ava Gropp (4); 4. 1B-Brian Bennett (6); 5. 98-Ed Libonati (8); 6. 77E-Cole Esgar (3); 7. 34J-Alan LeDuc (7); 8. 1M-Zach Middleton (5).
NOW600 Restricted 'A' Class
A-Main (20 Laps): 1. 2B-Garrett Benson (3); 2. 33-Jett Nunley (1); 3. 71-Jaxton Wiggs (2); 4. 24C-Cale Lagroon (4); 5. 10T-Talin Turner (7); 6. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg (8); 7. 25S-Justis Sokol (10); 8. 38X-Riley Osantowski (5); 9. 9-Abigayle Lett (14); 10. 21L-Rayce Lockman (13); 11. 59-Evan Semerad (11); 12. 15V-Cole Vanderheiden (9); 13. 38-Jackson Kounkel (17); 14. 5-Brody Hibdon (16); 15. 11D-Dominic White (15); 16. 21-Keegan Osantowski (19); 17. 14-Kamden Gossard (18); 18. 67JR-Waylon Phillips (20); 19. 30-Kyler Bearce (12); 20. 10S-Scout Spraggins (6).
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 11D-Dominic White (1); 2. 5-Brody Hibdon (2); 3. 38-Jackson Kounkel (5); 4. 14-Kamden Gossard (4); 5. 21-Keegan Osantowski (6); 6. 67JR-Waylon Phillips (8); 7. 6-Brylee Kilmer (3); 8. 11-Trevin Frye (11); 9. 8Z-Kasen Zorn (9); 10. 1-Remmi Butolph (10); 11. 64G-Gery Lockman Jr (7).
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Jett Nunley (7); 2. 10T-Talin Turner (3); 3. 15V-Cole Vanderheiden (5); 4. 10S-Scout Spraggins (8); 5. 6-Brylee Kilmer (1); 6. 21-Keegan Osantowski (4); 7. 5-Brody Hibdon (9); 8. 67JR-Waylon Phillips (6); 9. 11-Trevin Frye (2).
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24C-Cale Lagroon (1); 2. 26-Corbin Rueschenberg (3); 3. 2B-Garrett Benson (8); 4. 59-Evan Semerad (2); 5. 21L-Rayce Lockman (5); 6. 14-Kamden Gossard (6); 7. 64G-Gery Lockman Jr (7); 8. 8Z-Kasen Zorn (4).
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 38X-Riley Osantowski (1); 2. 71-Jaxton Wiggs (6); 3. 25S-Justis Sokol (5); 4. 30-Kyler Bearce (2); 5. 9-Abigayle Lett (4); 6. 11D-Dominic White (7); 7. 38-Jackson Kounkel (8); 8. 1-Remmi Butolph (3).
2021 LUCAS OIL NOW600 NATIONAL MICRO SERIES FEATURE WINNERS -
STOCK NON-WING:
Gavin Miller - 3 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9 and Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10 and June 13); Chelby Hinton - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11 and Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kan., on July 15); Daison Pursley - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6 and July 13); Johnny Boland - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); Gavan Boschele - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 8); Kris Carroll - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on June 12); Frank Flud - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7); Garrett Hulsey - 1 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30); Corbin Rueschenberg - 1 (Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb., on July 16); and Colby Sokol - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6)
WINGED 'A' CLASS:
Frank Flud - 3 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7; Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30; and Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 8); Johnny Boland - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11 and Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 13); Garrett Benson - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6); Kris Carroll - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on June 12); Noah Key - 1 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10); Jeffrey Newell - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6); Laydon Pearson - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); and Corbin Rueschenberg - 1 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9)
RESTRICTED 'A' CLASS :
Garrett Benson - 4 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6, May 8 and June 12; and Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb., on July 16); Jett Nunley - 3 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10 and June 13, and Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11); Corbin Rueschenberg - 3 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7; Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30; and Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kan., on July 15); Kaley Mahaffey - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); Justis Sokol - 1 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9); and Jaxton Wiggs - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6)