The blitz continues for Kunz Its Abreu at Kokomo

The final round of the USAC Indiana Midget Weeks was well and truly closed out by the Keith Kunz/Toyota Team when Rico Abreu in his DC Solar # 97K added a fifth win for Team owner Keith Kunz at Kokomo.Rico started the night without a Feature win during the Midget week but his pace during qualifying was an indication of what was to come .Posting fast time for the Prosource Qualifying time over Bell and Bacon and the stage was set for an exciting last night of racing in Indiana.

Heat race wins went to Bryan Clauson, Carson Macedo, Ryan Greth and Davey Ray.

Chad Boat and Bryan Clauson shared the front row for the 30 lap Feature in the Final Indiana Midget Championship Week.Boat lead the Feature for 21 laps before the power of the Kunz team started to take affect with Abreu, Bell and Bayston all looking for a piece of the #84.If the powerful Kunz boys was not enough Clauson was lurking and intent on securing the Indiana Midget Week Title .Clauson entered the race with a 40 points advantage over Bayston.

For the next 9 laps Abreu made the pace up front while Bayston pushed Boat back to third and Brady Bacon got the better of Bell for fourth leaving Clauson to finish in sixth place but on top of the points for the week. It was Abreu’s Feature but Clauson left Kokomo as the 2016 Indiana Midget Week Champion

What can you say about the performance of the Keith Kunz/Toyota Team with wins by Larson, Bayston,Thorson ,Bell and finally Abreu. The Team sponsors will be overjoyed and just like the fans impressed with the management and ability to get all 8 cars  up and racy for each and every race during the week.

Bryan Clauson’s work rate through this week has also been impressive driving both the Midget and the no winged Sprints .Champion in both classes for Indiana Midget Week.

Rico Abreu at the post race interview ““Running the top the way we did tonight is tough because you have to keep the tires spinning and not let the motor get bogged down,” Abreu explained.  “Midget racing is all about momentum and I felt like, running the bottom, you could get to the middle really quick, but then it would kill your exit because you are so sideways.  So, I just tried to keep it straight up top and keep the wheels spinning, so it didn’t start bouncing.  It means a lot to win another one of these races because this midget deal is so competitive right now with Clauson and guys like Brady Bacon, Tyler Thomas, plus eight Keith Kunz cars now.  So, instead of just four or five competitive cars, there’s more like ten.  Track position and qualifying are even more important now.  It was a great week for us, but we would’ve liked to have had a better start to the week.  But, big congratulations to Bryan because I know how tough it is to win this whole deal.  I want to run it next year and get a third one.”

Spencer Bayston ““I was running the top, just not running it right,” Bayston admitted.  “When Rico went by me, he kind of showed me a little different line.  I’d run it deep into three, but turn off too early and start bouncing.  So, when he went by, it showed me I could run in deeper and come across a little smoother.  I think if I’d gotten up there before he got to me, we would’ve been alright.”

Chad Boat ““It’s a little disappointing to lead that much and run third, but it was still a great run for us,” Boat said.  “We had a solid week and I was excited to get back here to the Indiana bullrings and to come here to Kokomo, which is my favorite track.  We obviously wanted to cap off the week with a win, but we’ll take the third and try to keep the momentum up for Arkansas.”

FEATURE FINISH: Abreu, Bayston, Boat, Bacon, Bell, Clauson, Thorson, Macedo, Ray, Robinson, Golobic, Kingshott, Johnson, T.Thomas, Quin, Greth, Budres, Daum, Shelton, Nelson, Walker, Darland, Buckwalter.

Clauson was not able to secure a win during the 5 night but his collection of points during the week ensure that the Team of  RKR-Dooling Racing/Cancer Treatment Centers of America – B & H Contractors/Spike/Stanton SR-11 took home the prize at the conclusion of the 5 nights of racing .

On receiving the Indiana Midget Week trophy Clauson had this to say ““We were strong all week long,” Clauson exclaimed.  “We knew tonight, seeing how rough and heavy the track was, that it wasn’t really our cup of tea, so we were just trying to make sure we did our job and finish this thing off.  We ran strong all week; we just came up a little short the first few nights to get a win, but a few years from now, the only thing people will remember is who won ‘Indiana Midget Week.’  I’m proud of these guys, so we’ll just keep plugging along and see if we can get into victory lane.”

Final standing Indiana Midget Week: FINAL USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Clauson-362, 2-Bayston-331, 3-Abreu-312, 4-Bell-288, 5-Bacon-275, 6-Boat-274, 7-Thorson-258, 8-Thomas-240, 9-Macedo-226, 10-Golobic-221.

Australian’s entry Dyane Kingshott finished with 136 points in 21^st position out of a field of 53.Making his first USAC appearance and at tracks that he had only ever heard about his performance in making all 5 Main events was a superb achievement and the team will have to regroup quickly for the POWRi Illinois Speed Week starting June 8 at Belle-Clair and running for 5 night  .

NEXT USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 17 – West Memphis, Arkansas – Riverside International Speedway

Photo credits Ric Forman,DB3Imaging,Robert Brown Jr and Bryaan Clauson Racing

Keith Kunz again, but it Bell who wins this time

What can you say, 4 starts at Indiana Midget Week and now four win with four different drivers.I guess the only question that need answers with two rounds left is who of the team will get the next win?

Bell started the night with fast time over Clauson and Ryan Robinson. Heat winners were Abreu, Thorson, Brown and Klaasmeyer.Bell race plans looked a bit shaky when he finished 5^th in his heat and was forced to work for his transfer from the semi, which he won.Bryan Clauson also had car troubles and had to get the backup car out to get his transfer by finishing second to Bell.

Bell started from P 7 and by lap 7 had taken control of the race .Lap 10 and Holly Shelton rolled and Kingshott and Tyler Thomas were involved.Bell had speed that those following could but dream about and had little difficulty in controlling the race.Bryan Clauson had found some pace up on the cushion and quickly move into contention to challenge Darland who was secure in second.

Australian  Dayne Kingshott brought out a late caution for a blown rear right tyre just 6 laps from the finish.On the restart Bell bolted away building a lead that Darland and Clauson could not match. With Bell out front Darland had to call on all his years of tough racing to keep Clauson from taking his hard fought position.

Across the stripe at Bloomington and the Kunz/Toyota Team with Bell directing posted win number four , just remarkable but it must be frustrating and have the other 44 teams wondering just how do we beats these dudes !

Driver post race interviews

Christopher Bell “This place is really technical and that plays to my advantage,” Bell assured.  “Tonight, there was a big ledge up top and I didn’t spend a lot of time up there, but when I did, I could use it to my advantage and pass guys.  The bottom here is really tough to run; you have to make sure you have enough angle in your car, but not too much so you miss the moisture.  It’s tough, but very fun too, and, obviously, Keith’s (Kunz) cars are always good so that helps.”

Dave Darland“I could hit the bottom of (turns)  three and four really well, but in (turns) one and two, it was a lot harder,” Darland explained.  “When Bryan (Clauson) got up next to me, I might’ve bobbled down there and let him get around me.  But I just had to get into turn one easy and not get out into the slick.  I did that a couple of times early on, but, luckily, it didn’t cost me anything.  Tonight is a great confidence builder.  It feels good for the team.  These guys are still new to the midget scene, so it feels really good to reward their effort.”

Bryan Clauson“The middle was never really the fastest, but on restarts, I could use it to pick some guys off,” Clauson said.  “It made the guys on the bottom overdrive the corner a little bit and let me sneak by and that was really the only option I had.  It was a herculean effort tonight to get back into contention with having to pull out the backup car and it kept our ‘Midget Week’ hopes alive.”

FEATURE FINISH: 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Shane Golobic, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Chad Boat, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Rico Abreu, 11. Tanner Thorson, 12. Steve Buckwalter, 13. Garrett Aitken, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Ryan Greth, 16. Gage Walker, 17. Austin Brown, 18. Jimi Quin, 19. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 20. David Budres, 21. Jerry Coons, Jr., 22. Dayne Kingshott, 23. Zach Daum, 24. Holly Shelton.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Darland, Laps 7-30 Bell.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER (in memory of Dean Wever): Tyler Thomas (21st to 9th)

**Robinson flipped during the third heat. Shelton flipped on lap 10 of the feature.

NEW USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Clauson-320, 2-Bayston-312, 3-Bacon-285, 4-Thorson-253, 5-Golobic-247, 6-Boat-240, 7-Thomas-238, 8-Daum-214, 9-Coons-194, 10-Darland-193.

NEW USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Clauson-297, 2-Bayston-257, 3-Abreu-231, 4-Bell-220, 5-Bacon-204, 6-Thomas & Boat-203, 8-Thorson-201, 9-Coons-194, 10-Darland-183.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 4 – Lawrenceburg (IN) Speedway – 12th “Indiana Midget Week”

Tanner Thorson takes victory at Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park Speedway night three of the Indiana Midget Week was another triumph for the Keith Kunz Motorsports /Toyota Racing but this time it was Tanner Thorson turn in victory lane.The last time Thorson was at Lincoln Park Speedway he left the track in a ambulance and ruined his chance at a maiden USAC National Title .To get the win Thorson had to overcome firstly his younger teammate 15year old Ryan Robinson ,Bryan Clauson and an aggressive Rico Abreu.

Missing from the KKM team for LPS was Larson and Bell but the strength of this team is its depths as both Thorson and Robinson proved tonight.Night three started with Brady Bacon getting fast time during the Resource qualifying followed by last start winner Spencer Bayston and Tanner Thorson.

Heat race winners were Rico Abreu, Tyler Thomas, Carson Macedo and Chad Boat.

Robinson started the 30lap feature with Clauson on his outside and just like Bayston did the previous night showed experience way beyond his years to lead Clauson from the green.Robinson held the race lead for the first 14 laps before Thorson was able to penetrate his defense and get into the lead. As the race entered the 18^th lap Abreu’s presence was starting to be felt as the 2015 USAC Champion started to cut through the field, he was on a mission to get to the race lead, sitting in third Abreu progress was disrupted when Jmi Quinn spun. On the restart Abreu disposed of Robinson with a familiar slide job and now with Thorson firmly in his sight aimed for the race lead.

The race was nearing the end when Thorson had trouble on the cushion and suddenly Abreu looked a real chance and as he started to work past Thorson Darland and Holley Shelton tangled and the yellow was displayed .Abreu had lost a certain race lead and had to revert to second for the restart.

Abreu attacked Thorson with every move he had and the pressure worked to his own disadvantage when he slid high on the cushion and the every present and a patient Clauson took full advantage to take second. Abreu was not finished, pushing the limit of both car and track he jumped the cushion a number of times effectively killing any chance of the race win.

Thorson had one final barrier to overcome, a charging Bryan Clauson made one last desperate slide for the win but track position and the momentum was all with Thorson and win number three in the Indiana Midget Week went again to a Keith Kunz/Toyota driver Tanner Thorson.The podium on night three at Lincoln Park Speedway was Thorson, Clauson and Tyler Thomas.

Driver quotes .Tanner Thorson“I left here last year in an ambulance, so to come back to this track and win is pretty awesome,” Thorson said.  “These guys work their butts off starting at 2:30 in the morning when we get back to the shop and it feels great to reward them with another win.  Rico had me nervous just because you know a big move is coming.  I knew the laps were winding down, but I knew that I just needed to keep hitting my marks.  The top was so treacherous that you had to nail it perfectly every lap.  I kept getting tight on the cushion and just tried to keep my composure towards the end because the last ten laps were really tricky with the track the way it was and knowing I had fast guys behind me.”

Bryan Clauson “We just needed more time,” Clauson said.  “I was a little snug early and each yellow just wasn’t what we needed.  We got rolling towards the end and Tanner was getting tight on the curb, but we were good enough off of it to make some decent speed; we just ran out of laps.  I saw the white and made my move in turns one and two because it seemed like it was easier to counter a slide job at the other end.  I felt like if I slid him in (turns) three and four, it’d be too easy to cross me over, so I took a shot in (turns) one and two and just came up a little short.”

Tyler Thomas “I moved to the bottom in the early laps of the race and it stuck, so I knew I needed to be down there if I wanted to pick some off,” Thomas explained.  “The top was so fast early on and the only way to pass was to slide somebody, but you had to have so much momentum to pull it off that it was just really difficult to make happen.  Fortunately, our car was really working well on the bottom and I could slide myself in turns three and four and catch the cushion on exit.  We qualified better tonight too, so if we can keep that up these next three nights, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

All six members of the Kunz Motorsports/Toyota Racing made the feature and all finished .The result 3 wins, three different drivers what an amazing display of team management, engineering and commitment to Midget racing.

FEATURE FINISH: 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Tyler Thomas, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Steve Buckwalter, 8. Ryan Robinson, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Chad Boat, 11. Jake Neuman, 12. Ryan Greth, 13. Gage Walker, 14. Chase Johnson, 15. Holly Shelton, 16. Jimi Quin, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Tyler Nelson, 19. Brady Bacon, 20. Dave Darland, 21. Logan Jarrett, 22. David Budres, 23. Dayne Kingshott, 24. Shane Golobic.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Robinson, Laps 14-30 Thorson.

NEW USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Clauson-250, 2-Bayston-249, 3-Bacon-225, 4-Thorson-204, 5-Thmas-191, 6-Daum-189, 7-Boat-188, 8-Golobic-181, 9-Coons-165, 10-Robinson-143.

NEW USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Clauson-227, 2-Bayston-194, 3-Abreu-180, 4-Coons-165, 5-Bacon-164, 6-Thomas-156, 7-Thorson-152, 8-Boat-151, 9-Kyle Larson-150, 10-Daum-146.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 3 – Bloomington (IN) Speedway – 12th “Indiana Midget Week”

Pic credits Rich Foreman & David Wilson and Toyota Racing

Larson returns to Indiana Midget Week and Wins

Montpelier Motor Speedway-Montpelier –Opening race in the Indiana Midget Week showcased the best of the best with Kyle Larson returning for a guest drive with KKM. Larson was joined by Bell and Abreu in an expanded Keith Kunz effort for the Indiana Midget Week opener.

Kyle Larson showed that his presence in NASCAR has not diminished his dirt track talent .driving the 1K Keith Kunz – Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Parker Store – Target/Bullet/Speedway Toyota Larson won the pole position after the strong qualifying and the win in heat four.. The Larson win came after being passed early by Thorson and then attacking his teammate for the next 23 laps before banging in a slider on lap 25 to move into the race lead with only 5 to run.

Thorson had been under heavy fire from Larson and Clauson but kept the pair searching for the opening while Christopher Bell was working his way out of a difficult start that had Oklahoma charger making up ground from his rear of the field starting position.

What an amazing effort by the Kunz Team to managing 8 race cars, keeping the drivers tuned in must be a massive effort and quite demoralizing f or some of the less experienced teams and driver’s .For Kunz drivers to take two of the three podiums position and the remaining 5 to finish the feature was a super effort.

There can be no doubt that the old saying “the cream always rises to the top “and the podium at Montpelier of Kyle Larson, Bryan Clauson and Christopher Bell certainly underpins that.Larson’s successful return to the Midget was welcomed by the Midget mad crowd but you had to feel for Thorson after taking the race to and past the NASCAR star only to then fall back for a 18^th final placing , disappointing but mark our words he will be back up front very quickly.

The Larson win was the 10^th for the Kunz team and with the sixth different driver this season. The race win was Larson’s 4^th career Indiana Midget Week win and his 13^th USAC National Midget win.

The Resource fast time went to Christopher Bell from Chad Boat and Spencer Bayston and heat races wins went to Steve Buckwater, Carson Macedo, Rico Abreu and Kyle Larson.

Post race interview:

Kyle Larson  “That was a lot of fun.” Larson exclaimed.  “I didn’t think the top in (turns) one and two would be that great, but Tanner was able to rip around me.  I knew I was a lot better than him in (turns) three and four.  I just couldn’t quite figure out turn two.  I was getting beat pretty bad over there.  I don’t know if it just got cleaned off or what, but my grip off of turn two got a little better and I could stay closer to Tanner and then, eventually, throw the slider.  I had so much fun, though!  Thirty laps fly by in these races.  It’s so enjoyable to run with Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby).  They deserve all the attention that they’ve been getting the last few years.”

Bryan Clauson “It became a race between me and Kyle to see who could clear Tanner first,” Clauson explained.  “I got a run and threw something at him and Tanner got into me when he came back across and I let Kyle get by us.  We just started getting tight there at the end.  It might not have made a difference because it got tough to run once the track got real curby, but second is a solid start to “Indiana Midget Week.”

Christopher Bell “Staying out of trouble was huge,” Bell said with a sigh of relief.  “Everybody kept crashing each other and it got me on the first lap.  But once I got back there, they kept running into each other and I didn’t really feel like I passed a whole lot of cars.  I was good at the end; it just got to be so fast around the top that you couldn’t really slide anybody unless you had a big run like Kyle did.  I worked around the bottom really well, so that helped, but we just needed them to bottle up on the top one more time.”

Both Bell and Larson will be back for round two at Gas City but we understand Abreu will return for the Bloomington race with Bell .

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Buckwalter, 2. Windom, 3. Bacon, 4. Quin, 5. Bell, 6. Walker, 7. Ray, 8. Nocella, 9. Greth, 10. Hatton, 11. Baue. Ton raceNT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Boat, 3. Clauson, 4. Coons, 5. Biggs, 6. Kingshott, 7. Golobic, 8. Koontz, 9. Schuett, 10. Secrest, 11. Gray. 2:28.28

BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Bayston, 3. Shelton, 4. Darland, 5. Nelson, 6. DiMattia, 7. White, 8. Morton, 9. Conover, 10. Daum, 11. Neuman. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Larson, 2. Thorson, 3. Robinson, 4. Peck, 5. Thomas, 6. Jarrett, 7. Johnson, 8. Prock, 9. Fehr, 10. Gehrke, 11. Nemire. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Ray, 2. Neuman, 3. Kingshott, 4. Jarrett, 5. Hatton, 6. Morton, 7. Nemire, 8. Fehr, 9. Koontz, 10. Secrest. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bell, 2. Daum, 3. Golobic, 4. Thomas, 5. Walker, 6. DiMattia, 7. Ray, 8. Nelson, 9. Jarrett, 10. Prock, 11. Schuett, 12. Neuman, 13. Biggs, 14. Kingshott, 15. Nocella, 16. Greth, 17. Gehrke. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Chad Boat, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Jimi Quin, 11. Zach Daum, 12. Spencer Bayston, 13. Kyle Schuett, 14. Rico Abreu, 15. Tony DiMattia, 16. Holly Shelton, 17. Gage Walker, 18. Tanner Thorson, 19. Carson Macedo, 20. Ryan Robinson, 21. Shane Golobic, 22. Justin Peck, 23. Steve Buckwalter. NT

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 1 – Gas City, IN – Gas City I-69 Speedway – “Indiana Midget Week”

Photo credits USAC Racing ,Bryan Clauson Racing and  MAJ1K Motorsports