Belleville, IL — (April 11, 2015) — 2014 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Rookie of the Year Spencer Bayston earned his first career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature win in a thrilling battle with 2014 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Champion, Zach Daum during the “Battle at Belle-Vegas I” at Belle-Clair Speedway.
Darren Hagen of Riverside, California started on the pole with the defending POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series champion Zach Daum to his outside. On the initial start trouble would ensue in turn one as a pile up of cars would occur including Daniel Robinson, Tyler Robbins, Kyle Schuett, and Tucker Klaasmeyer. A complete restart would be called for as Hagen and Daum would again lead the field to green, only for Chett Gehrke to bring out the yellow as he slowed to a stop entering turn one after contact along the front stretch. Hagen and Daum would again pace the field back to green for another complete restart only for the red flag to fly as Justin Grosz would flip wildly in turns three and four, taking down a bill board. Grosz would be alright, but done for the remainder of the event.
Due to multiple attempts to start the race, the field would be lined up single file for this restart as Darren Hagen would lead the field to green. Flexing the muscles right out of the gate, Hagen’s Esslinger-powered BOSS Chassis would power into the lead rim-riding the 1/5th mile Belle-Clair Speedway. In a matter of 10 short laps, Hagen would rapidly close in on lap traffic. Just as quickly as Hagen closed in on lap traffic, bad luck would strike as Andrew Felker and Dalton Camfield would tangle atop turns three and four, collecting leader Darren Hagen.
Capitalizing on Hagen’s misfortune, Zach Daum would inherit the lead on lap 12 and lead the field back to green followed by Dereck King, Nick Knepper, and Spencer Bayston. Entering turn one on the restart, Bayston would dive to the bottom and slide Knepper for third as Daum would take off. On lap 16 Bayston would overtake King for second and set his sights on Daum. As Bayston would try to reel in Daum, Kyle Schuett and Nick Bailey would tangle on the bottom side of turn one bringing out the caution.
With 18 laps in the books, Zach Daum would lead the field back to green followed closely by 2014 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Rookie of the Year, Spencer Bayston. As the green flag would fly, Bayston would dive to the bottom of turn one and slide Daum for the lead and hold off repeated attempts by Daum to regain the lead. On lap 24 Seth Motsinger would slow on the front stretch bringing out the caution, bunching the field back together, and allowing Daum the opportunity to regain the lead.
With five laps left Bayston would lead the field back to green and fend off two more laps of attempts from Daum before gaining enough ground to pull away. Crossing the line first and claiming his first career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature win was the 53rd different feature winner in POWRi history, Spencer Bayston. Crossing in second was Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Illinois and coming in third was Daniel Robinson of Ewing, Illinois. Fourth was Austin Brown of Millstadt, Illinois and Darren Hagen rounds out the top five.
“I’m speechless right now,” exclaimed an ecstatic Spencer Bayston. “I’m worn out for sure. Great job by the track crew, the place was hooked up and the car was hooked up. I’m just glad I’m in victory lane right now. I’m pretty happy.”
“We didn’t have nothing for that thing,” stated 2013 and 2014 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Champion, Zach Daum. “He deserves that one. ”
“Thanks everybody for coming and thanks to A.J. Felker for letting me drive his car tonight,” said third place finisher Daniel Robinson.
Heat Race #1: 1. 5D – Zach Daum, 2. 7 – Austin Brown, 3. 11A – Andrew Felker, 4. 2 – Seth Motsinger, 5. 9K – Kyle Schuett, 6. 25M – Derrick Myers, 7. 15 – Tim Siner, 8. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer.
Heat Race #2: 1. 63 – Bryan Clauson, 2. 91T – Tyler Thomas, 3. 10C – Dalton Camfield, 4. 86C – Dave Camfield, 5. 5C – Colten Cottle, 6. 11C – Chett Gehrke, 7. 11R – Ryan Criswell.
Heat Race #3: 1. 55 – Nick Knepper, 2. 17 – Darren Hagen, 3. 35T – Tyler Robbins, 5. 37 – Daniel Robinson, 5. 16C – David Camfield, Jr,. 6. 1T – Tony Roney, 7. 1K – Brayton Lynch.
Heat Race #4: 1. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 2. 91 – Dereck King, 3. 3N – Jake Neuman, 5. 89 – Nick Bailey, 5. 94 – Darren Kingston, 6. 99G – Justin Grosz, 7. 3R – Jason Allen.
B-Main: 1. 89 – Nick Bailey, 2. 9K – Kyle Schuett, 3. 99G – Justin Grosz, 4. 11R – Ryan Criswell, 5. 11C – Chett Gehrke, 6. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer, 7. 25M – Derrick Myers, 8. 3R – Jason Allen, 9. 94 – Darren Kingston, 10. 15. – Tim Siner, 11. 1T – Tony Roney, 12. 1K – Brayton Lynch, 13. 16C – David Camfield, Jr.
A-Main: 1. 39 – Spencer Bayston, 2. 5D – Zach Daum, 3. 37 – Daniel Robinson, 4. 7 – Austin Brown, 5. 17 – Darren Hagen, 6. 3N – Jake Neuman, 7. 5C – Colten Cottle, 8. 91 – Dereck King, 9. 9K – Kyle Schuett, 10. 89 – Nick Bailey, 11. 86C – Dave Camfield, 12. 2 – Seth Motsinger, 13. 35T – Tyler Robbins, 14. 55 – Nick Knepper, 15. 91T – Tyler Thomas, 16. 11A – Andrew Felker, 17. 10C – Dalton Camfield, 18. 11C – Chett Gehrke, 19. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer, 20. 99G – Justin Grosz, 21. 63 – Bryan Clauson, 22. 11R – Ryan Criswell.