By Ken de la Bastide
ANDERSON, IN – Kameron Gladish took the lead from Jack Macenko on the 11th lap of the Day Transportation Mel Kenyon Midget Series and recorded his first feature win of the year.
There was tight racing for position between Gladish, Macenko, Trey Osborne and Colin Grissom throughout the 30-lap feature at Anderson Speedway on Saturday.
Fast qualifier Aryton Houk opted to take the Scudder Performance Award challenge by starting on the tail of the field.
Houk was seeking his third win of 2021 and would have captured a $200 bonus if he won.
He was the first driver to attempt to feat and the pot grows to $250 on June 27 at Mt. Lawn Speedway.
The driver on the move in the early stages of the race was Houk as he began the climb toward the front.
Houk moved into the sixth position on lap nine and by the halfway point was running third asking passing both Osborne and Macenko.
With Gladish out front and Grissom a close second, Houk was unable to finish above the third position.
Gladish won by 1.2-seconds over Grissom.
“It’s been awhile,” Gladish said of his feature win. “The crew gave me a good car when we unloaded. “There was a lot of tight racing early,” he said.
Houk not only set fast time, but won the heat race by only .176-seconds over Gladish with Macenko coming home in third.
Every driver in the feature race has won a Mel Kenyon Midget race at Anderson Speedway during their career.