By Bryan Gapinski
Sun Prairie, Wis., July 7—Logan Seavey (Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League), Davey Ray (Zimbrick Chevrolet of Sun Prairie Badger Midget Racing Series), Ryan Zelski (The Auto Meter Wisconsin WingLESS Sprint Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet Performance Parts), and Drew Papke (Wis. Dirt Racing Legends Series) claimed feature victories during the 38th annual Pepsi Midget Nationals, Sunday Night at Angell Park Speedway.
Midget auto racing’s third oldest continuous running event “The Pepsi Midget Nationals”, saw Tucker Klaasmeyer take the lead at the start, with Seavey starting in fifth position. Two cautions on Lap 7 and 11, kept the field bunched up. Seavey took over second place one lap after the final restart, and one lap later passed Klaasmeyer for the lead exiting Turn 4.
Seavey’s two second lead over Cannon McIntosh was erased with the leader spending the final ten laps in traffic. McIntosh pulled to the rear bumper of Seavey, with three laps remaining but couldn’t make a pass for the lead sucessful. Seavey finished three car lengths ahead of McIntosh. Klaasmeyer, last year’s winner Tanner Carrick and Chase Jones completed the top five.
In the Badger Midget feature fast qualifier Justin Peck took the lead at the start/finish line to complete lap 1, and began increasing his lead over the field each lap. Ray moved into third place on Lap 3, and one lap later was in second place. The pair pulled away from the field, with Ray challenging for the top position several times.
Peck held a 1.2 second lead at the midway point. The events only caution appeared for a multi-car tangle on Lap 15. Ray and Peck ran the “thin cushion” to perfection over the final five laps, with Ray taking the lead exiting Turn 2, with two laps remaining. Ray driving the Mark Ray owned DRC/Hona No. 3 finished 1.04 seconds ahead of Peck, followed by Chase Jones, Zach Boden, and Chase McDermand.
Jack Routson leads McDermand by twenty-three-points entering the July 20-21 doubleheader which sees the series visit Sycamore (Ill.) Speedway on Saturday Night July 20, then Sunday Night July 21 at Angell Park Speedway.
Ryan Zelski took the lead on the fourth lap, and survived a late race restart to win the 20-lap Sprint Car feature. The event started with a “wild” eight-car accident on the opening lap entering Turn 1. Derek Crane who led the events first four laps, finished second, followed by Allen Hafford, Jimmy Siva, and former series champion Jordan Mattson.
The Legends feature saw front row starter Warren Ropp jump into the lead at the start. Ropp increased his lead each lap, over a tightly bunched pack of cars racing for second place. Ryan Mech escaped injury in a series of flips, on Lap 17, bringing the event to a stop, erasing Ropp’s almost five second advantage.
Drew Papke passed Ropp for the lead entering Turn 1, on the final lap. Papke finished one-car length ahead of Ropp, with Ryan Sullivan, Dominick Troyan, and Dan Troyan completing the top five.
SUMMARY
POWRi Midgets
30-lap Feature:1. Logan Seavey; 2. Cannon McIntosh; 3. Tucker Klaasmeyer; 4. Tanner Carrick; 5. Chase Jones; 6. Zach Daum; 7. Jesse Colwell; 8. Tanner Thorson; 9. Davey Ray; 10. Daison Pursley; 11. Ace McCarthy; 12. Jesse Love; 13. Jake Neuman; 14. Holley Hollan; 15. David Budres; 16. Tracy Hines; 17. Brandon Waelti; 18. Tyler Baran; 19. Mike Hess; 20. Thomas Meseraull; 21. Shelby Bosie; 22. Cody Weisensel.
8-lap Heat Race Winners: McIntosh, Hollan, Daum.
Cars Present: 22 Feature Lap Leaders: Klaasmeyer 1-13, Seavey 14-30.
Badger Midgets
20-lap Feature: 1. Davey Ray; 2. Justin Peck; 3. Chase Jones; 4. Zach Boden; 5. Chase McDermand; 6. Scott Hatton; 7. Jack Routson; 8. Kevin Douglas; 9. Brian Peterson; 10. Jim Fuerst; 11. Mike Stroik; 12. Kevin Olson; 13. Jeff Zelinski; 14. Jeremy Douglas; 15. Kyle Koch; 16. Harrison Kleven; 17. Shay Sassano; 18. Pat Henson; 19. Ryan Probst; 20. Mike Ungar; 21. Denny Smith; 22. Mike Clements; 23. Kurt Mayhew; 24. Aaron Muhle.
8-lap AutoMeter Heat Race Winner: Jones.
8-lap Engler Machine Heat Race Winner: Routson.
8-lap Madison Extinguisher Heat Race Winner: Olson.
Schoenfeld Headers Fast Time: Routson, 15.316 seconds.
Cars Present: 26 Feature Lap Leaders: Peck 1-18, Ray 19-20.
Badger Midget Series Points: 1. Jack Routson 719; 2. Chase McDermand 696; 3. Zach Boden 606; 4. Ryan Probst 600; 5. Kevin Olson 513; 6. Brian Peterson 470; 7. Scott Hatton 451; 8. Mike Stroik 444; 9. Chase Jones 437; 10. Matt Rechek 391.