By Brian WSalker
BELLEVILLE, ILL. (October 13, 2019) – For Logan Seavey, the 2019 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League season has been one for the ages. After all, his victory on Sunday night at Belle-Clair Speedway sealed the deal on a year-long pursuit of breaking one of POWRi’s most noteworthy records. With his 12th win aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports, Mobil 1, Bullet/Toyota No. 67, Seavey beat Christopher Bell’s 2014 campaign of 11 wins and established the NEW RECORD for the winningest single season in league history.
Potentially his last event on the calendar year due to scheduling conflicts, all the stars aligned on Sunday for a do-or-die situation in the record department. Entering the night on a two-race losing streak, Seavey struggled to seize control of the record at Jacksonville (8th) and SIR (5th), setting himself up for one last shot on Sunday at Lil’ Belleville.
Starting from the outside pole of the 30-lapper, Seavey immediately shot into the lead ahead of PAC Racing Springs #HighPointMan, Andrew Felker. Pulling away to a strong advantage, Seavey looked stout through the opening stages before a lap six caution for a stopped Daniel Adler halted the action.
Jesse Colwell, who led the championship standings by only 10 points, made his way into second before a massive bike through turns one and two allowed Felker to get back by on lap eight. Coming to the final restart with 15 laps left, Seavey continued to control the top spot over Felker and Colwell, while the likes of Cannon McIntosh, Tanner Thorson, Tyler Courtney and Buddy Kofoid came charging forward to fight for top five spots.
Entering the final ten-lap stretch, Seavey set his sights on managing the backmarkers while Felker kept him honest, holding the No. 67 to a 0.6-second lead. Felker, the 2012 POWRi National Midget champion, had Seavey, the 2017 National champ, within focus over the final laps, but simply could not close enough to make a true bid for the lead.
In the end, it was the same story for the twelfth time this season, as Logan Seavey dominated from start-to-finish at Belle-Clair Speedway to win the 2019 Charlene Meents Memorial. His 12th win of the year sets a new record as the winningest single season in POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League history and bumps him into fifth on the all-time wins list with 20 career victories.
Coming home with a second-place finish, Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo. made it back-to-back podium appearances in the Chad Shields Racing, MelMark Pipe & Supply, Ripper/Fontana No. 44S. Taking his Keith Kunz Motorsports, Toyota Racing No. 97 to third-place, Buddy Kofoid of Penngrove, Calif. earned his second POWRi National Midget podium in as many tries.
Cannon McIntosh completed a stunning 23rd-to-4th run in his Dave Mac Motorsports, Drive WFX, Spike/Toyota No. 08 to earn Toyota Racing Development Hard Charger honors. Jesse Colwell of Red Bluff, Calif. extended his championship lead to 50 points with three races remaining as he brought the Keith Kunz Motorsports, IWX Motor Freight, Bullet/Toyota No. 71 home in fifth-place.
Closing out the top ten on Sunday at Belle-Clair was Tyler Courtney running sixth in the Clauson-Marshall Racing, NOS Energy Drink No. 17JR, Tanner Thorson finishing seventh with his Hayward-Thomas Motorsports No. 19, Daison Pursley earning his fourth-straight Belleville top ten in eighth, Zach Daum slipping to ninth, and Andrew Layser rounding out the bunch in tenth.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League resumes the 2019 calendar this Saturday, October 19 at I-30 Speedway on Little Rock, Arkansas alongside the POWRi Lucas Oil West Midgets and POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micros. If you can’t make it, Speed Shift TV will have LIVE coverage.
For more information on POWRi Racing, you can visit www.powri.com online, follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter and Instagram, or like POWRi on Facebook.
Auto Meter Heat One (8 Laps):
1. 67-Logan Seavey, Sutter, CA (2); 2. 19-Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (3); 3. 67F-Kyle O’Gara, Beech Grove, IN (1); 4. 67K-Holley Hollan, Broken Arrow, OK (5); 5. 97A-Austin O’Dell, Rochester, IL (6); 6. 17-Austin Brown, Millstadt, IL (7); 7. 103-Broc Hunnell, Eolia, MO (4).
KSE Racing Products Heat Two (8 Laps):
1. 97-Buddy Kofoid, Penngrove, CA (1); 2. 47BC-Andrew Layser, Collegeville, PA (4); 3. 71K-Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (5); 4. 7U-Kyle Jones, Kennedale, TX (6); 5. 5-Danny Frye III, St. Peters, MO (2); 6. 5H-Ryan Mueller, Wildwood, MO (7); 7. 68-Chase Jones, Greenwood, IN (3).
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Three (8 Laps):
1. 44S-Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO (6); 2. 86C-David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL (2); 3. 08-Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, OK (3); 4. 87-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (5); 5. 57D-Daniel Robinson, Ewing, IL (7); 6. 1T-Thomas Chandler (4); 7. 17C-Devin Camfield, Decatur, IL (1).
Schoenfeld Headers Heat Four (8 Laps):
1. 71-Jesse Colwell, Red Bluff, CA (2); 2. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, Paola, KS (3); 3. 28-Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, OK (4); 4. 21KS-Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (7); 5. 77W-Joey Wirth, Waterloo, IL (5); 6. 56X-Mark Chisholm, Cheyenne, WY (1); DNS, 4W-Ben Welsch, Liberty, MO.
Racing Electronics Heat Five (8 Laps):
1. 97K-Jesse Love, Redwood City, CA (1); 2. 9-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (4); 3. 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (6); 4. 17JR-Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (7); 5. 50-Daniel Adler, St, Louis, MO. (5); 6. 72-Sam Johnson, St. Peters, MO (3); 7. 4F-Chad Frewaldt, Kansas City, KS (2).
Rod End Supply B-Main (12 Laps / 6 Transfer):
1. 87-Mitchell Davis (3); 2. 72-Sam Johnson (13); 3. 50-Daniel Adler (8); 4. 17-Austin Brown (9); 5. 67K-Holley Hollan (2); 6. 103-Broc Hunnell (15); 7. 56X-Mark Chisholm (14); 8. 17C-Devin Camfield (18); 9. 5-Danny Frye III (11); 10. 4F-Chad Frewaldt (17); 11. 5H-Ryan Mueller (10); 12. 1T-Thomas Chandler (12); 13. 67F-Kyle O’Gara (4); 14. 97A-Austin O’Dell (6); 15. 57D-Daniel Robinson (5); 16. 77W-Joey Wirth (7); 17. 4W-Ben Welsch (19); DNS, 08-Cannon McIntosh; DNS, 68-Chase Jones.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Main Event (30 Laps):
1. 67-Logan Seavey (2); 2. 44S-Andrew Felker (1); 3. 97-Buddy Kofoid (7); 4. 08-Cannon McIntosh (23); 5. 71-Jesse Colwell (3); 6. 17JR-Tyler Courtney (13); 7. 19-Tanner Thorson (19); 8. 9-Daison Pursley (5); 9. 5D-Zach Daum (6); 10. 47BC-Andrew Layser (4); 11. 28-Ace McCarthy (15); 12. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (10); 13. 71K-Tanner Carrick (11); 14. 97K-Jesse Love (8); 15. 67K-Holley Hollan (21); 16. 87-Mitchell Davis (17); 17. 86C-Dave Camfield Jr. (14); 18. 21KS-Jake Neuman (12); 19. 72-Sam Johnson (18); 20. 7U-Kyle Jones (16); 21. 103-Broc Hunnell (22); 22. 17-Austin Brown (20); 23. 50-Daniel Adler (19).
Lap Leader(s): Seavey 1-30.
Hard Charger(s): McIntosh +19 (23rd-4th)