By Quinn McCabe
July 17, 2021, Tomahawk, WI– The second leg of the “Three for all” took the Badger Midgets to the mystic Northwoods to visit the refurbished Tomahawk Speedway for the first time since 1974 when it was pavement. The veteran Kurt Mayhew won the race in a classic battle with several competitors.
Zach Boden has been on a tear in Schoenfeld Headers qualifying and the drive north didn’t slow him down any, as he would best the field of 23 yet again to claim quick time. Kevin Douglas would claim the Madison Extinguisher Service Non-Qualifier race. Mike Stroik took the win in Auto Meter Heat #1 and Kyle Stark scored his first Badger checkers with a win in the Simpson Products Heat #2.
Mike Stroik and Kurt Mayhew led the field to the green with Mayhew scoring the advantage off the top rope exiting turn two. The racing surface changed over the course of the night, forcing drivers to hunt for grip from the drop of the green flag. With the field scrambling to find grip in the opening laps, it was all Mayhew out in front by himself with a 12 car length lead before Andy Baugh and David Budres found some speed at the top of the racetrack. As those two cars began making headway through the field, Chase McDermand would also venture upstairs making it now a three-car conga dance on the cushion. A Caution would fly on lap 17 when a pair of cars got tangled together in turn three bringing the field to Mayhew’s tail tank for the first time since the drop of the green. At the restart, it was Mayhew leading Baugh, Budres, Stark, and McDermand. Mayhew, glued to the bottom, got a great launch to defend against Baugh up on the cushion and managed to slip away by four car lengths. A three-wide battle behind the veteran for second had the crowd roaring before action was slowed again for Budres who clipped the wall in turn 1 ending the 2015 Series’ champions run to the front with just 6 laps remaining. On the final restart, Mayhew again glued his #21 tight to the bottom rung as McDermand went upstairs to pound the cushion. As if a light switch was flipped off the advantage on top was gone. McDermand tried valiantly on top but only saw Mayhew get smaller as the laps wound down. At the line, it would be Mayhew celebrating his 72nd birthday with his first win since 2016 over McDermand, Stark, Mike Stroik, and Nick Baran.
Howard Law Cash Draw Winner: Andy Baugh
Badger Midget Series 3-4-All Points: 1. Chase McDermand 430; 2. Kyle Stark 286; 3. Kurt Mayhew 280; 3. Kevin Douglas 280; 5. Zach Boden 260; 5. Andy Baugh 260. 7. Mike Stroik 250; 8. Jeremy Douglas 198; 9. Jim Fuerst 190; Lamont Critchett 184
Badger Midget Series Points: 1. Chase McDermand 928; 2. Zach Boden 650; 3. Lamont Critchett 573; 4. Andy Baugh 547; 5. Kyle Stark 524; 6. Mike Stroik 518; 7. Kevin Olson 507; 8. Kurt Mayhew 457; 9. Kyle Koch 433; 10. Scott Hatton 417
Stay tuned to BMARA.com and the BMARA Racing Facebook page for additional announcements and information regarding events for the 2021 season.
Lap Leaders: Kurt Mayhew 1-25
Badger Midgets 23 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 11:20.827
1. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[2]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[9]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[4]; 4. 9S-Mike Stroik[1]; 5. 11N-Nick Baran[6]; 6. 51-Zach Boden[13]; 7. 14-Lamont Critchett[12]; 8. 6-Jeremy Douglas[8]; 9. 5K-Kevin Douglas[16]; 10. 28-Jim Fuerst[17]; 11. 92-Jordan Mattson[22]; 12. 11T-Tyler Baran[15]; 13. 20D-Derek Doerr[3]; 14. 6B-Andy Baugh[10]; 15. 98-Jordan Nelson[19]; 16. 29-Harrison Kleven[18]; 17. 71-Kyle Koch[5]; 18. 10-Denny Smith[21]; 19. 4-Brad Hensen[20]; 20. 31B-David Budres[7]; 21. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[14]; 22. (DNF) 87-Jake Dohner[11]
Non Qualifier 8 Laps Madison Extinguisher Service
1. 5K-Kevin Douglas[1]; 2. 28-Jim Fuerst[4]; 3. 29-Harrison Kleven[3]; 4. 98-Jordan Nelson[6]; 5. 4-Brad Hensen[2]; 6. 10-Denny Smith[7]; 7. (DNF) 31-Shay Sassano[5]
Heat 1 10 Laps 4:59.667 | Auto Meter
1. 9S-Mike Stroik[1]; 2. 20D-Derek Doerr[3]; 3. 31B-David Budres[5]; 4. 71-Kyle Koch[4]; 5. 6B-Andy Baugh[7]; 6. 14-Lamont Critchett[6]; 7. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[8]
Heat 2 10 Laps 3:06.807 | Simpson
1. 2-Kyle Stark[3]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[6]; 3. 11N-Nick Baran[4]; 4. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[2]; 5. 6-Jeremy Douglas[5]; 6. 87-Jake Dohner[1]; 7. 51-Zach Boden[8]; 8. 11T-Tyler Baran[7]
Qualifying Schoenfeld
1. 51-Zach Boden, 15.414[2]; 2. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski, 15.501[16]; 3. 11T-Tyler Baran, 15.541[12]; 4. 6B-Andy Baugh, 15.604[18]; 5. 40-Chase McDermand, 15.677[19]; 6. 14-Lamont Critchett, 15.806[1]; 7. 6-Jeremy Douglas, 15.957[14]; 8. 31B-David Budres, 15.986[20]; 9. 11N-Nick Baran, 16.063[3]; 10. 71-Kyle Koch, 16.120[6]; 11. 2-Kyle Stark, 16.152[4]; 12. 20D-Derek Doerr, 16.182[8]; 13. 21K-Kurt Mayhew, 16.222[7]; 14. 92-Jordan Mattson, 16.246[15]; 15. 87-Jake Dohner, 16.299[13]; 16. 9S-Mike Stroik, 16.348[22]; 17. 10-Denny Smith, 16.576[9]; 18. 98-Jordan Nelson, 16.857[23]; 19. 31-Shay Sassano, 16.901[5]; 20. 28-Jim Fuerst, 16.913[17]; 21. 29-Harrison Kleven, 17.153[11]; 22. 4-Brad Hensen, 17.766[21]; 23. (DNS) 5K-Kevin Douglas, 17.766