By Bryan Gapinski
Sun Prairie, Wis., July 1—Defending Champion Zach Daum, leads the list of drivers excepted to compete in the 33rd annual Pepsi Midget Nationals at Angell Park Speedway on Saturday and Sunday Nights July 5-6.
Sun Prairie, Wis., July 1—Defending Champion Zach Daum, leads the list of drivers excepted to compete in the 33rd annual Pepsi Midget Nationals at Angell Park Speedway on Saturday and Sunday Nights July 5-6.
The two-day event will be co-sanctioned by the USAC Honda National Midget, POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Zimbrick Chevrolet of Sun Prairie/Mid-State Equipment Badger Midget Series.
Joining Daum are five former winners of the event, with a total of a dozen Pepsi Midget Nationals titles. They include: Kevin Olson (1983, 1986, 1987, 1997, 1998), Tracy Hines (2001, 2002 and 2010), Scott Hatton (2004-2005), Jerry Coons Jr. (2007), and Brady Bacon (2008).
A repeat victory for Daum would mark the seventh time in event history a driver has scored back-to-back victories. Daum currently leads the POWRi points, while Rico Abreu is atop the USAC points, with his teammate Christopher Bell leading the Badger standings.
A complete program of racing is slated each night, will Saturday being highlighted by a 30-lap feature, along with the track’s traditional Fireworks display presented by Budweiser at the conclusion of racing events.
Sunday’s feature will crown the Pepsi Midget Nationals Champion, and will also include the popular Pepsi “Lets Make a Deal” fan activities on the front stretch.
The Badger 600 Micro series will compete both nights. Defending series champion Matt Paderta will be seeking to extend his feature win streak to four, and is currently second in series points behind Brandon Sletten.
Spectator gates open at 4;30 pm, with practice at 6:00 pm, followed by racing. General admission is $20, students, ages 12-18, are $15, and children 12 and under are free.
POINTS
USAC National Midget Standings: 1. Rico Abreu 481, 2. Tracy Hines 388, 3. Bryan Clauson 387, 4.Christopher Bell 370, 5. Dave Darland 311, 6. Tanner Thorson 311, 7. Zach Daum 285, 8. Andrew Felker 272, 9. Chris Windom 267, 10. Kevin Thomas 257.
POWRi National Midget Standings: 1. Zach Daum 2140, 2. Tyler Thomas 2070, 3. Christopher Bell 1950, 4. Tanner Thorson 1920, 5. Darren Hagen 1725, 6. Parker Price-Miller 1560, 7. Andrew Felker 1555, 8. Jake Blackhurst 1435, 9. Daniel Robinson 1410, 10. Austin Brown 1315.
Badger Midget Standings: 1. Christopher Bell 319, 2. Tanner Thorson 242, 3. Rico Abreu 240, 4. Darren Hagen 235, 5. Andrew Felker 218, 6. Parker Price-Miller 200, 7. Zach Daum 198, 8. Brandon Waelti 185, 9. Jake Blackhurst 147, 10. Scott Hatton 143.
Badger 600 Micro Standings: 1. Brandon Sletten 508, 2. Matt Paderta 404, 3. Tory Strauss 396, 4. Will Gerrits 369, 5. Chad Bogar 333, 6. Zach Boden 297, 7. Norm Ehrke 287, 8. Ben Paderta 273, 9. Bobby Ollerman 268, 10. Dusty Gerrits 266.