From POWRI
PEVELY, Mo. (August 4, 2018) — Snapping a winless streak at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, Tyler Thomas claimed the POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget League show, leading all 30 laps on his way to a dominant victory over a hard-charging Jason McDougal and POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League point leader Tucker Klaasmeyer. Thomas’s victory in the 2018 Ironman is the 11th of his career and his first with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League in 2018.
Starting on the pole, Thomas wasted no time at the drop of the green flag, taking to the top side of the high-banked 3/8 mile while Ryan Robinson and Karter Sarff filled in the top three. Enduring several cautions, Thomas took advantage of every restart, deflecting early challenges from Robinson, and eventually Jason McDougal in the final laps.
As the laps wound down, a final caution setup a two lap, mad-dash to the finish, with hard-charging Jason McDougal in second behind Thomas, followed by Klaasmeyer. At the drop of the green, McDougal worked the bottom in one and two as Thomas remained committed to the top side. Never faltering, Thomas took the checkers followed by McDougal and Klaasmeyer. Zach Daum rebounded to take fourth, while Ryan Robinson completed the podium.
“It’s been a trying year for us,” stated Tyler Thomas. “We obviously changed a lot throughout the year. We’ve been behind it seems like and missed a lot of races. We finally got things rolling. This Spike Chassis is on a rail. We’ve got Bobby Barth here, he’s helped us out a lot here over the years. He built us a really good set of shocks at Advanced Racing Suspensions. This Toyota motor built by Speedway, it rips. I just can’t thank everybody behind me enough. It just feels good to get them all a win. It feels good to get a win at Pevely. We’ve started on the front row three times and couldn’t get it done the first two times, so I guess the third time’s a charm.”
“The way yesterday went, how hard we rebounded today, I can’t thank my team enough,” Jason McDougal said. “I’ve got to thank Scott Petry for giving me this opportunity. This is where we ended up. On the podium’s good.”
“Just finishing is important,” commented Tucker Klaasmeyer. “I always want to be a couple spots better. We had a good car, about halfway through under the yellows you could kind of see the right rears in front of you looking a little worn. I probably should have pushed it a little harder there at the end, but it was a good race. Hat’s off to Tyler. I know him and his family team have had some bad luck lately. It’s always cool to see someone come back from some unfortunate mechanical failures and get a win. Congrats to Jason, too. We’ve been racing a long time together; since micros. It was fun getting to throw some sliders with him tonight, too.”
POWRi National Midget League / POWRi West Midget Series
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55
Pevely, MO
Saturday August 4, 2018
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 27 – Tucker Klassmeyer, 2. 71 – Ryan Robinson, 3. 67 – Holy Shelton, 4. 3N – Jake Neuman, 5. 5D – Zach Daum, 6. 77W – Joey Wirth, 7. 27B – A.J. Burns, 8. 24 – Hunter Fischer, 9. 44 – Wesley Smith.
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 72 – Sam Johnson, 2. 21KS – Karter Sarff, 3. 15 – Jason McDougal, 4. 7F – Andrew Felker, 5. 9K – Kyle Schuett, 6. 51 – Joe B Miller, 7. 9H – Emilio Hoover, 8. 5 – Danny Frye, 9. 42 – Hank Davis.
Heat Race 3 (8 Laps): 1. 91T – Tyler Thomas, 2. 14JR – Holley Hollan, 3. 3B – Shelby Bosie, 4. 28 – Kory Schudy, 5. 5T – Presley Truedson, 6. 50 – Daniel Adler, 7. 5H – Tyler Vantoll, 8. 23 – Hannah Adair.
B-Main (12 laps): 1. 5T – Presley Truedson, 2. 5H – Tyler Vantoll, 3. 44 – Wesley Smith, 4. 77W – Joey Wirth, 5. 27B – A.J. Burns, 6. 23 – Hannah Adair, 7. 24 – Hunter Fischer, 8. 5 – Danny Frye, 9. 9H – Emilio Hoover, 10. 42 – Hank Davis
Feature: 1. 91T – Tyler Thomas, 2. 15 – Jason MCDougal, 3. 27 – Tucker Klaasmeyer, 4. 5D – Zach Daum, 5. 71 – Ryan Robinson, 6. 3N – Jake Neuman, 7. 67 – Holly Shelton, 8. 21KS – Karter Sarff, 9. 28 – Kory Schudy, 10. 72 – Sam Johnson, 11. 7F – Andrew Felker, 12. 77W – Joey Wirth, 13. 14JR – Holley Hollan, 14. 5T – Presley Truedson, 15. 5H – Tyler Vantoll, 16. 23 – Hannah Adair, 17. 51 – Joe B Miller, 18. 9K – Kyle Schuett, 19. 3B – Shelby Bosie, 20. 27B – A.J. Burns, 21. 42 – Hank Davis, 22. 50 – Daniel Adler, 23. 44 – Wesley Smith.