By Matt Vaade
June 5, Sycamore, IL–The Badger Midget Series made their first of seven appearances at the Sycamore Speedway Saturday night. 28 cars made the trip and the Illinois faithful turned out in droves packing the grandstands for the night’s events.
Getting things started with quick time in the Schoenfeld Headers qualifying was Tomahawk Wisconsin’s Nick Barren, who laid down a lap of 16.413. Jeff Zelinski, Jake Neuman, Chase McDermand, Adam Taylor, and Andy Baugh all snagged preliminary race wins.
The B main transfer spot was a hotly contested battle that saw John Smith steal the final position coming to the line. Andy Baugh sailed to victory with Jeff Zelinski, Kyle Koch, Harrison Kleven, Denny Smith, Jake Dohner, and John Smith all advancing to the 25 lap main event.
In the A-main it was all Jake Neuman, earlier in the night he figured out the cushion was the place to be, and from the drop of the green flag, he wasted no time jumping to the top of the racetrack. Neuman, driving the Bullet chassis powered by Mazda for car owner Bill Ecker, powered his way passed McDermand and Mike Stroik to claim the lead on lap 3 and built a healthy advantage while McDermand was left to fend off challenges from Adam Taylor. Taylor made several attempts to work the bottom of the racetrack to no avail before settling into third. With just five laps remaining, the leaders caught heavy lap traffic slowing Neuman considerably. The action in front of Neuman allowed McDermand, Taylor, and the hard-charging Zelinski to enter the fight and hurl one final hail mary attempt at the win. Neuman was able to hold ground to score his first win of the season in BMARA competition. McDermand, Taylor, Zelinski, and Baran completed the top five.
The Badger Midgets are back in action Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway to complete the weekend double header.
Badger Midgets 28 Entries
Howard Law Cash Draw Winner: Kurt Mayhew
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:10:52.650
1. 57-Jake Neuman[3]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[2]; 3. 7T-Adam Taylor[7]; 4. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[17]; 5. 11T-Nick Baran[9]; 6. 2-Kyle Stark[13]; 7. 14-Lamont Critchett[10]; 8. 9K-Kevin Olson[12]; 9. 1-Scott Koerner[11]; 10. 19-Daltyn England[15]; 11. 71-Kyle Koch[18]; 12. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[6]; 13. 10-Denny Smith[19]; 14. 15C-RJ Corson[4]; 15. 9S-Mike Stroik[1]; 16. 59-John Smith[22]; 17. 87-Jake Dohner[20]; 18. 92-Dan Kleven[21]; 19. 5X-Sean Murphy[8]; 20. 5K-Kevin Douglas[14]; 21. 6B-Andy Baugh[16]; 22. (DNS) 51-Zach Boden
B Feature 1 12 Laps | 00:07:32.948 | High Performance Lubricants
1. 6B-Andy Baugh[5]; 2. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[7]; 3. 71-Kyle Koch[1]; 4. 10-Denny Smith[3]; 5. 87-Jake Dohner[9]; 6. 92-Dan Kleven[2]; 7. 59-John Smith[11]; 8. 29-Harrison Kleven[10]; 9. 31-Shay Sassano[13]; 10. 8-Jake Goeglein[12]; 11. 3A-Chris Adrien[4]; 12. 77-Ken Hanson[8]; 13. 20X-Cody Weisensel[6]
Heat 1 8 Laps | Auto Meter
1. 57-Jake Neuman[5]; 2. 19-Daltyn England[1]; 3. 9S-Mike Stroik[4]; 4. 51-Zach Boden[6]; 5. 9K-Kevin Olson[3]; 6. 20X-Cody Weisensel[7]; 7. 10-Denny Smith[2]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:33.866 | Simpson
1. 40-Chase McDermand[4]; 2. 5X-Sean Murphy[7]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[2]; 4. 1-Scott Koerner[3]; 5. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[6]; 6. 92-Dan Kleven[1]; 7. 6B-Andy Baugh[5]
Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:02:43.385 | Engler
1. 7T-Adam Taylor[6]; 2. 14-Lamont Critchett[3]; 3. 5K-Kevin Douglas[1]; 4. 11T-Nick Baran[7]; 5. 15C-RJ Corson[5]; 6. 71-Kyle Koch[4]; 7. 3A-Chris Adrien[2]
Qualifying | 00:06:27.000 | Schoenfeld
1. 11T-Nick Baran, 00:16.406[2]; 2. 5X-Sean Murphy, 00:16.413[5]; 3. 20X-Cody Weisensel, 00:16.538[7]; 4. 7T-Adam Taylor, 00:16.560[3]; 5. 21K-Kurt Mayhew, 00:16.628[6]; 6. 51-Zach Boden, 00:16.649[20]; 7. 15C-RJ Corson, 00:16.655[4]; 8. 6B-Andy Baugh, 00:16.749[21]; 9. 57-Jake Neuman, 00:16.829[17]; 10. 71-Kyle Koch, 00:17.003[18]; 11. 40-Chase McDermand, 00:17.101[9]; 12. 9S-Mike Stroik, 00:17.119[12]; 13. 14-Lamont Critchett, 00:17.164[10]; 14. 1-Scott Koerner, 00:17.356[27]; 15. 9K-Kevin Olson, 00:17.373[15]; 16. 3A-Chris Adrien, 00:17.379[24]; 17. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:17.444[19]; 18. 10-Denny Smith, 00:17.488[13]; 19. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 00:17.511[22]; 20. 92-Dan Kleven, 00:17.605[14]; 21. 19-Daltyn England, 00:17.668[28]; 22. 59-John Smith, 00:17.688[16]; 23. 31-Shay Sassano, 00:17.997[25]; 24. 87-Jake Dohner, 00:18.072[26]; 25. 8-Jake Goeglein, 00:18.088[11]; 26. 29-Harrison Kleven, 00:18.135[1]; 27. 77-Ken Hanson, 00:18.539[23]; 28. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski, 00:26.645[8]
Non Qualifier 8 Laps | 00:02:52.110 | Madison Extinguisher Service
1. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[1]; 2. 77-Ken Hanson[2]; 3. 87-Jake Dohner[5]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven[3]; 5. 59-John Smith[7]; 6. 8-Jake Goeglein[4]; 7. 31-Shay Sassano[6]