Disappointments and surprises at POWRi Midget Shows
There were disappointments and surprises at the POWRi Midgets shows firstly at Valvoline Raceway Sydney Australia and at the two night shows at Jacksonville and Macon Speedways in Illinois .
The build up to the final round of the Lucas Oils POWRi Speedcar Super Series sponsored by Diamond Air Conditioning was full of enthusiasm and excitement .A field of 33 cars with the best from across Australia plus the appearance of current Western Springs Track Champion Hayden Williams added fuel to what was already a red hot field. Series Leader and defending Champion Nathan Smee, and four times Australian Champion Adam Clarke are just a part of the sensational field assembled.
Valvoline wet track
The weather looked shaking early but prediction of it clearing could not have been more wrong and the heavens opened forcing promoters to call it off early .A decision on a reschedule date will be announced shortly.
Programming so late in the season might pose some problems but the immediate focus is on this Saturday night when the track will host the Carling 50 Lapper. This event is high on the agenda of all speedcar driver’s schedule with good prize money. The field will be strengthened by the addition of current Australian Champion Michael Pickens in the Bret Morris owned car .To see the A1 go around will be sure to heighten the energy and determination of every Aussie keen to prevent the Kiwi rustler from capturing another of our prestige’s races .
The POWRi two night show in the States at Illinois opened with friday nights Jacksonville POWRi show. The show attracted all the top POWRi racers and the quality field was swamped by the invasion of a six car Keith Kunz Motorsports Team headed by the return of 2015 /16 Chili Bowl Champ and current NASCAR Truck racer Rico Abreu.
Headed by Abreu and backed by Thorson, Bayston, Macedo, Robinson and Holly Shelton the program looked stacked in the KKM favour.Could anybody have ever expected the best the team could deliver over the two nights was a second to Bryan Clauson in the Jacksonville opener and a best place of fourth to Rico Abreu over the two nights. It was not only the KKM team that found themselves beaten but also the former POWRi Champ and Chili Bowl place getter in 2016 Zach Daum . Clauson’s win at Jacksonville was his 30th POWRi Lucas Oils win from 77 starts and his 44th race in his 2016 200 race schedule.
The Jacksonville results.
Great Clips Feature Winner: 63 – Bryan Clauson
Bryan Clauson Jacksonville
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 63 – Bryan Clauson 2. 67 -Tanner Thorson 3. 91T – Tyler Thomas 4. 97K – Rico Abreu 5. 5D – Zach Daum 6. 32 – Garrett Aitken 7. 11A – Andrew Felker 8. 11AG – Dave Darland 9. 97 – Spencer Bayston 10. 71 – Ryan Robinson 11. 3N – Jake Neuman 12. 5X – Justin Peck 13. 91 – Dereck King 14. 41 – Austin Prock 15. 7 – Austin Brown 16. 67K – Holly Shelton 17. 9K – Kyle Schuett 18. 1K – Brayton Lynch 19. 31 – David Budres 20. 22 – Andy Malpocker 21. 88 – Terry Babb 22. 56Y – Daniel Robinson 23. 71K – Carson Macedo
Most of the established stars got into the action at Jacksonville but the Macon results would have been a surprise, particularly the way Andrew Felker went about his work and rounding up some of the more fancied stars in his run to the checker and the Feature win.
It is not often, in fact very rare for the Kunz Team to miss out on major Hardware. The efforts of Tucker Klaasmeyer, Austin Brown to get their spots on the podium were a reward for some hard work in preparation and steely determination. Klaasmeyer’s second was a career best and Browns podium was his first for the year. The fourth placed finish by Justin Peck was a fine result after starting way back in position 15. It was a night when the BOSS Chassis really BOSSED the field.
Klaasmeyer and Brown’s BOSS Cars
Drivers interviews after the Macon show ,
ANDREW FELKER
“I knew we had a good car, but [Tanner Thorson] was getting better restarts than me,” explained a victorious Andrew Felker. “I knew we had a good car, just a matter of finding our time to make it. It’s hard to beat Keith Kunz cars any night and to have all BOSS cars up here is pretty special. Right now we’re fighting for our lives, we’re out of sponsorship, and so as long as we keep winning races, we’ll be out here every week.”
TUCKER KLAASMEYER
Tucker Klaasmeyer heading back to pits after 2nd at Macon
“I can’t thank KBR and BOSS Chassis enough,” said Tucker Klaasmeyer with a career-best second. “The car was awesome and this is actually my best finish in a midget, which is pretty cool.”
AUSTIN BROWN
“I knew it was going to be fast up top and it was,” Austin Brown said. “Everybody kind of lined up, but we had to look out for all the wrecks, but we got through most of them. Congrats to Andrew Felker on the win.”
The Macon results , .
Great Clips Feature Winner: 11A – ANDREW FELKER
Andrew Felker Macon
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 11A – ANDREW FELKER 2. 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER 3. 7 – AUSTIN BROWN 4. 5X – JUSTIN PECK 5. 88 – TERRY BABB 6. 5D – ZACH DAUM 7. 97K – RICO ABREU 8. 32 – GARRETT AITKEN 9. 3N – JAKE NEUMAN 10. 41 – AUSTIN PROCK 11. 50 – DANIEL ADLER 12. 67 – TANNER THORSON 13. 56Y – DANIEL ROBINSON 14. 56X – MARK CHISHOLM 15. 67K – HOLLY SHELTON 16. 31 – DAVID BUDRES 17. 28 – KORY SCHUDY 18. 97 – SPENCER BAYSTON 19. 91 – DERECK KING 20. 9K – KYLE SCHUETT 21. 71 – RYAN ROBINSON 22. 71K – CARSON MACEDO 23. 91T – TYLER THOMAS
The next event on the POWRi Lucas Oils 2016 schedule is Bell-Clair Friday April 29th .
Photo credits Valvoline Raceway,POWRi , Klaasmeyer Racing
