By Tim Tuttle
Chett Gehrkeโs fourth-place finish in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo., changed the course of his 2011 season. Heโll be trying to alter it again when the series returns to the one-third mile track near Kansas City on Friday (May 4), but in a different way.
The event at Valley was the second of the POWRi Midget season and Gehrke and car owner Skip Matteson of Salina, Kan., decided to turn his performance into a springboard to attempt to win the championship. Gehrkeโs season-high second place the next night at Lucas Oil Raceway in Wheatland, Mo., where POWRi races Saturday (May 5) in the Missouri Mid-State Midget Nationals, solidified their decision.
โI didnโt expect to run the whole series and I donโt think Skip (Matteson) did either, but after Grain Valley, we were up in points and decided to run the whole season,โ Gehrke said.
The 27-year-old from Broken Arrow, Okla., finished fifth in the 23-event POWRi Midget championship. He had three top-fives and 11 top-10s and made the feature in 21 of the 22 events he entered.
โThe season went pretty good,โ Gehrke said.
Gehrke has raced in the three POWRi Midget events this season, finishing 13th and 16th in the features at Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, Texas, and falling out of the B Main at Jacksonville (Ill.) last Friday (April 27). Heโs tied for ninth in the points.
โIt hasnโt been as good as weโd hoped for, but not too bad,โ Gehrke said. โI didnโt have any brakes on the first night at Cowtown and we just werenโt very good on the second. We had motor problems at Jacksonville. I didnโt get to do any hot laps because of a broken rocker arm and finished fourth in the heat and I had to pull off with a broken oil pump in the B main.โ
Gehrke arrives to Valley Speedway and Lucas Oil Speedway this year wanting to get his season moving in an upward direction in the points. It may determine which POWRi championship heโll pursue. The two events are also in the inaugural season of the POWRi Lucas Oil West Series, a 14-race championship that includes four races in Gehrkeโs home state of Oklahoma. Gehrke is third in the West points.
โWe were thinking about running for both championships, but we havenโt gotten off to a very good start in the National series,โ Gehrke said. โWeโll run at least for the West championship. Itโs good to be able to run around home more. Iโm 45 minutes from Will Rogers Raceway in Claremore and an hour and a half from I-44 Speedway in Oklahoma City.โ
Gehrke, the Southern Midget Racing Series champion in 2010, likes racing at Valley and three-eighths mile Lucas Oil.
โIโm ready to go,โ Gehrke said. โTheyโre bigger tracks than most of the POWRi drivers are used to and I have experience at Valley and bigger tracks.โ
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series top-10 points standings (after 3 of 31 events); 1. Brad Kuhn 430, 2. Zach Daum 340, 3. Tyler Thomas 310, 4. Tyler Courtney 305, 5. (tie) Garrett Aitken, Jake Blackhurst 255, 7. Andrew Felker 170, 8. Brett Anderson 140, 9. (tie) Chett Gehrke, Levi Roberts 135.
POWRi Lucas Oil West Series (after two of 14 events): 1. Tyler Thomas 200, 2. Andrew Felker 160, 3. Chett Gehrke 130, 4. Chris Bell 120, 5. Garrett Aitken 95, 6. Cameron Hagin 10, 7. (tie) Brunson Behning, Ryan Beechler 0.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series 2012 race winners: Kennedale, TexasโBrady Bacon; Kennedale, TexasโDave Darland; Jacksonville, Ill.โMario Clouser.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.