By Dick Jordan
Defending “Gold Crown Midget Nationals” champion Jerry Coons Jr. of Tucson, Ariz. is looking forward to this week’s event at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill. after winning Saturday night’s “4-Crown Nationals” feature at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
The Eldora win was Coons’ first in the 2010 USAC Mopar National Midget Series but gave car owner Wilke-Pak Racing an all-time record 135th USAC National feature win.
Coons won the “Gold Crown Midget Nationals” title in 2008 and rain forced cancellation of last year’s event at the Tri-City oval. Thursday and Friday night programs conclude with 25-lap features and a 50-lap main event concludes Saturday night’s finals. The event is co-sanctioned by the O’Reilly Powri Midget Series.
Coons led all 25 laps of the “4-Crown Nationals” feature in his Toyota/Speedway Motors Spike/Toyota. He held off fast qualifier Bryan Clauson for the win. Brad Kuhn took third ahead of Tracy Hines and Bobby East. Shane Hmiel escaped injury in a flip on lap eight of the race.
USAC MOPAR NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Bryan Clauson-1,257, 2-Tracy Hines-1,194, 3-Jerry Coons Jr.-1,156, 4-Brad Kuhn-1,143, 5-Darren Hagen-1,118, 6-Dave Darland-1,064, 7-Brad Sweet-860, 8-Henry Clarke-746, 9-Bobby East-724, 10-Zach Daum-719.
USAC MOPAR NATIONAL MIDGET SERIES DIRT POINT STANDINGS
1-Bryan Clauson-953, 2-Brad Kuhn-918, 3-Jerry Coons Jr.-911, 4-Tracy Hines-865, 5-Dave Darland-813, 6-Darren Hagen-718, 7-Brad Loyet-638, 8-Brad Sweet-629, 9-Zach Daum-531, 10-Henry Clarke-527.