By Quinn McCabe
August 8, 2021- Sycamore, IL– The Badger Midget Series cruised into Sycamore Speedway Saturday night for the “Diabetes Awareness Night 25”. Chase McDermand, with the help of some friends, continued his winning ways by capturing the 25 lap main event.
McDermand’s evening started out rough when the Kevin McDermand #40 entry encountered mechanical problems causing the car to be unusable for the evening. McDermand called on Robbie Ray and the #3 RAVE Motorsports entry to enable him to continue his drive for a third consecutive Badger Midget Series championship. After a third-place finish and a mechanical problem at Angell Park Speedway last weekend, the RAVE Motorsports car was not scheduled to run this weekend. Ray, and his father Mark, scrambled to finish preparing the car to make it to the track just before qualifying took place. McDermand transitioned to his new ride by promptly picking up the Schoenfeld Headers Fast Time Award. In other preliminary action, Jordan Nelson picked up his first victory of the season in the Madison Extinguisher Service Last Chance Qualifier Race. Jack Routson took the win in Auto Meter Heat Race #1 and “K.O.” Kevin Olson won Simpson Race Products Heat Race #2.
The A-main starting lineup saw series Rookie of the Year candidate Kyle Stark on the pole and to his outside veteran contender Andy Baugh. Stark jumped out to the early lead, running the bottom line, while Baugh went for the narrow and treacherous cushion. McDermand, starting from the sixth position, worked his way up to third on the initial opening laps. On lap three, Baugh jumped the cushion in turn three, made contact with the wall, and went for a series of tumbles, bringing out the red flag. When the field came back to action, Stark led McDermand, Adam Taylor, Jack Routson, and Lamont Critchett to the green flag. Over the next several laps a battle ensued for the lead with both Stark and McDermand using the low groove. The two went side by side for several laps before McDermand came out on top working the low groove off of turn four on lap nine. From there the battle for second heated up with legend Kevin Olson battling with Stark for the position. Olson took the position for good on lap 16 and Stark finished out the podium positions.
Stay tuned to BMARA.com and the BMARA Racing Facebook page for additional announcements and information regarding events for the 2021 season.
Howard Law Cash Draw: Cody Weisensel
Advanced Race Suspension Hard Charger: Kevin Douglas
Badger Midget Series Points: 1. Chase McDermand 1300; 2. Zach Boden 841; 3. Kyle Stark 830; 4. Lamont Critchett 769; 5. Mike Stroik 703; 6. Kevin Olson 700; 7. Andy Baugh 666; 8. Kevin Douglas 599; 9. Kyle Koch 586; 10. Harrison Kleven 531.
Badger Midgets 25 Entries
Lap Leaders: Kyle Stark 1-7, Chase McDermand 8-25
A Feature 25 Laps
1. 3-Chase McDermand[6]; 2. 9K-Kevin Olson[8]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[1]; 4. 11N-Nick Baran[13]; 5. 24M-Aaron Muhle[11]; 6. 14-Lamont Critchett[3]; 7. 9S-Mike Stroik[16]; 8. 5K-Kevin Douglas[18]; 9. 71-Kyle Koch[15]; 10. 18-Tyler Roth[10]; 11. 20-Cody Weisensel[12]; 12. 15C-RJ Corson[19]; 13. 98-Jordan Nelson[17]; 14. 59-John Smith[23]; 15. 31-Shay Sassano[22]; 16. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[24]; 17. 5X-Adam Taylor[4]; 18. 57-Jack Routson[7]; 19. 51-Zach Boden[5]; 20. 92-Dan Kleven[21]; 21. 29-Harrison Kleven[20]; 22. 6B-Andy Baugh[2]; 23. 27-Charles Kunz[14]; 24. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[9]
Non Qualifier 8 Laps | Madison Extinguisher Service
1. 98-Jordan Nelson[6]; 2. 5K-Kevin Douglas[7]; 3. 15C-RJ Corson[9]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 5. 92-Dan Kleven[2]; 6. 31-Shay Sassano[4]; 7. 59-John Smith[3]; 8. 3A-Chris Adrien[5]; 9. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[8]
Heat 1 8 Laps | Auto Meter
1. 57-Jack Routson[5]; 2. 51-Zach Boden[8]; 3. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[4]; 4. 14-Lamont Critchett[7]; 5. 6B-Andy Baugh[6]; 6. 20-Cody Weisensel[2]; 7. 27-Charles Kunz[1]; 8. 9S-Mike Stroik[3]
Heat 2 8 Laps | Simpson Race Products
1. 9K-Kevin Olson[4]; 2. 18-Tyler Roth[2]; 3. 3-Chase McDermand[8]; 4. 5X-Adam Taylor[7]; 5. 2-Kyle Stark[5]; 6. 24M-Aaron Muhle[1]; 7. 11N-Nick Baran[6]; 8. 71-Kyle Koch[3]
Qualifying | Schoenfeld
1. 3-Chase McDermand, 14.971[11]; 2. 51-Zach Boden, 15.162[20]; 3. 5X-Adam Taylor, 15.198[16]; 4. 14-Lamont Critchett, 15.343[18]; 5. 11N-Nick Baran, 15.427[23]; 6. 6B-Andy Baugh, 15.511[1]; 7. 2-Kyle Stark, 15.578[24]; 8. 57-Jack Routson, 15.610[15]; 9. 9K-Kevin Olson, 15.644[5]; 10. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski, 15.829[9]; 11. 71-Kyle Koch, 15.888[7]; 12. 9S-Mike Stroik, 16.023[17]; 13. 18-Tyler Roth, 16.105[14]; 14. 20-Cody Weisensel, 16.121[8]; 15. 24M-Aaron Muhle, 16.136[21]; 16. 27-Charles Kunz, 16.138[6]; 17. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 16.158[4]; 18. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 16.194[19]; 19. 98-Jordan Nelson, 16.621[12]; 20. 3A-Chris Adrien, 16.667[2]; 21. 31-Shay Sassano, 16.835[3]; 22. 59-John Smith, 16.994[10]; 23. 92-Dan Kleven, 17.100[13]; 24. 29-Harrison Kleven, 17.358[25]; 25. 15C-RJ Corson, 19.000[22]