By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (August 15, 2023)………From southern Illinois to central Illinois, the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship truly becomes the Flyin’ Illini this weekend, August 18-19.
Two dates await drivers and teams starting with Friday’s 10th running of the Jason Leffler Memorial Presented By Peoples National Bank at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Ill. followed by the series’ first visit to Macon Speedway in six seasons on Saturday night.
“Unpredictability” is the word on these two dirt bullrings. Wayne City’s 1/8-mile and Macon’s 1/5-mile may be short of stature but are most definitely big on excitement. In 19 combined USAC National Midget events at these two venues dating back to 1959, never has there been a repeat winner. That’s all you need to know.
However, after a monthlong layoff for the series, there’s so much more to talk about. We dig in right here with these six storylines for an Illinois doubleheader weekend for the USAC National Midgets.
DAUMINATING IN ILLINOIS
There have been nine previous runnings of the Jason Leffler Memorial since 2013. There have been 12 appearances of USAC National Midgets at Macon since 1959. Neither has seen a repeat winner.
Zach Daum and Tanner Thorson, however, will try to change that narrative this weekend at Wayne City. Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.) was the inaugural Jason Leffler Memorial winner in 2013 and the runner-up a year ago in 2022. Thorson, meanwhile, was first in 2020 and second in 2016.
Macon will likely see a first-time USAC Midget winner unless Donnie Beechler or Brad Kuhn burst out of retirement to return to competition. But the magic eight ball says “Don’t count on it.”
Daum has won with the POWRi Midgets and MOWA Sprint Cars in recent years at Macon and also owns the track’s qualifying record with a time of 10.325 seconds. Thorson is also a winner in the POWRi Midget ranks at Macon, scoring one win in 2016.
Astonishingly, no driver has won twice in either event, although some have come close. Jason Leffler Memorial winners Zach Daum (2013), Tyler Thomas (2018), Tanner Thorson (2020) and Christopher Bell (2021) have also all finished second. Daum took runner-up honors just last year in 2022 as did Thorson in 2016, Thomas in 2019 and Bell in 2014.
Macon winners Leroy Warriner (1959), Jimmy Davies (1960) and Tony Elliott (1992) also came within a hair of becoming multi-time victors. Warriner and Davies grabbed second place results there in 1959 while Elliott nearly captured the 1991 race before winning the following year.
T.E.A.M. = TOGETHER EVERYONE ACHIEVES MORE
While the high majority of drivers are chasing first career USAC National Midget wins at either Wayne County or Macon, there are several teams who’ve enjoyed the spoils of victory.
CB Industries, RMS Racing and Tom Malloy have all seen their teams win the Jason Leffler Memorial during the decade of the 2020s.
CBI scored at Wayne City with Mitchel Moles in 2022, RMS in 2021 with Christopher Bell and Malloy with Tanner Thorson in 2020. While only Thorson is expected to repeat his triumphant performance, those teams are champing at the bit to see their car return with a new gun.
CBI will field Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), who recently captured his first career USAC victory in July in his home state of Kansas at the Mitchell County Fairgrounds.
RMS will have the talents of Justin Grant and Thomas Meseraull at the wheel of their machines. Grant (Ione, Calif.) and Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) share a best career Leffler Memorial finish of 4th. Grant achieved it in 2014 and 2018 while Meseraull did the same in 2022.
Malloy will have two-time 2023 series winner Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) in the seat as well as Jake Andreotti (Castro Valley, Calif.) who sits second in the Rookie of the Year standings at press time.
A STATISTICAL ODDITY FOR KKM
Oddly enough, Wayne County Speedway is literally the only track on this year’s schedule that a Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports car has never won a USAC National Midget feature event at.
KKM, the owner of an all-time record 142 USAC National Midget entrant wins, has finished second place on four occasions at the Jason Leffler Memorial: Christopher Bell (2014), Rico Abreu (2015) and Tanner Thorson (2016).
A victory in the Jason Leffler Memorial would be a major one for Kunz and KKM CEO Pete Willoughby. Leffler captured the first USAC National Midget championship for both Kunz and Willoughby in 1997. Willoughby was also the recipient of USAC’s Jason Leffler Award in 2014 in recognition of his intense appreciation of the sport’s history reflected in his professionalism and outstanding representation as an ambassador of the United States Auto Club, exhibiting the same standard of ideals upheld by the late Jason Leffler during his USAC racing career.
With all that said, the team does enter Macon’s round as the defending winner when Christopher Bell raced to victory back in 2017. KKM will have in its stable the likes of Jade Avedisian (Clovis, Calif.), Ryan Timms (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.) and Rookie point leader Gavin Miller (Allentown, Pa.) throughout the weekend.
LOGAN STREAKY
By all estimates, Logan Seavey is officially on a roll. He carries a streak of seven straight USAC National Midget podium finishes into the weekend.
That makes him only the fourth driver in the last 10 years to have seven or more consecutive top-three feature results with the series.
The only other drivers in that timeframe to accomplish the feat are Rico Abreu (9 straight in 2014 and 8 straight in 2015); Tyler Courtney (9 straight in 2020); and Buddy Kofoid (7 straight in 2022 and 8 in 2022).
With two more top-three results this weekend, Seavey would tie the best run of its sort in this decade. The 2018 series champion’s latest finishes of 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, 1st and 2nd have pushed him into the point lead by a healthy 76-point margin.
THE SHORTEST SHORT TRACK CHALLENGE
In the entire 68-year history of USAC National Midget racing, no driver has won more often on dirt tracks shorter than a quarter mile in size than Tanner Thorson with eight.
Thorson (Minden, Nev.) is not only the victor of the most recent round of the 2023 USAC National Midget season in July, it also just so happened to occur at the 1/5-mile Jefferson County Speedway in Nebraska. Thorson will attempt to repeat his 2020 Jason Leffler Memorial victory on Wayne City’s 1/8-mile.
Justin Grant is second all-time in that category with six victories in his career. However, three such events on the shortest short tracks this season have hosted victories by Thorson as well as Jacob Denney at the 1/6-mile Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Missouri and Logan Seavey at Jefferson County.
PICKING THE LOCK TO THE KEY OF ILLINOIS SUCCESS
Is experience the key? Well, it’s not a lock, but it sure does help. A handful of drivers at least have some fresh perspective and a successful baseline to run with this weekend.
Zach Daum swept both nights of Xtreme Outlaw Midget racing earlier this season at Wayne City. There, Gavin Miller ran 2nd and 3rd across both nights. Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) took a 3rd and a 6th while Chance Crum (Snohomish, Wash.) scored a 5th. Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.) ran inside the top-10 with a 7th as did Chase McDermand (Springfield, Ill.) with a 9th and Jade Avedisian with a 10th, all of whom will be in Friday night’s field.
In POWRi action at Macon during June’s Illinois Midget Week a couple months ago, Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) captured a dramatic victory over McIntosh which brought about its share of dramatic on-track fireworks and a few post-race barbs from the two as they crossed the stripe first and second, respectively. Avedisian, meanwhile, pocketed a solid fourth that same night.
Furthermore, Macon hosted a pair of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car events in the early part of July. Of the drivers on this Saturday’s midget roster, Logan Seavey was the best with a fast qualifying time on night one and a 5th place finish on night two. Daison Pursley advanced from 12th to 8th while Zach Daum jetted from 18th to 10th.
RACE DETAILS
The 10th running of the Jason Leffler Memorial featuring the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship along with Non-Wing Outlaw Micros, Restrictors & Junior Sprints takes place on Friday night, August 18, at Wayne County Speedway in Wayne City, Illinois. Adult general admission tickets are $25. Kids 12 & under are free. Pit passes are $40. Pits open at 3pm Central, grandstands open at 5pm with the drivers meeting at 6:00pm and hot laps at 6:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following.
On Saturday night, August 19, at Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois, the pits open at 4pm Central, the front gates open at 5pm with the drivers meeting at 5:30 and cars on track at 6. Adult tickets are $25 with children age 11 and under free. Pit passes and tickets will be sold at the gate on race day. Red’s Place Modifieds and Hornets are also on the event card.
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-780, 2-Jacob Denney-704, 3-Justin Grant-692, 4-Bryant Wiedeman-676, 5-Jade Avedisian-647, 6-Daison Pursley-647, 7-Ryan Timms-638, 8-Cannon McIntosh-622, 9-Taylor Reimer-529, 10-Chase McDermand-527.
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JASON LEFFLER MEMORIAL WINNERS:
2013: Zach Daum (8/28)
2014: Daryn Pittman (8/26)
2015: Bryan Clauson (10/23)
2016: Brady Bacon (10/20)
2018: Tyler Thomas (10/21)
2019: Tyler Courtney (10/17)
2020: Tanner Thorson (10/9)
2021: Christopher Bell (12/18)
2022: Mitchel Moles (10/7)
MACON SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS:
1959: Don Branson (7/9), Don Boorse (7/30) & Leroy Warriner (9/15)
1960: Jimmy Davies (7/21)
1962: Chuck Rodee (6/1)
1964: Danny Frye (6/25)
1965: Bob Tattersall (7/11)
1991: Donnie Beechler (8/16)
1992: Tony Elliott (8/21)
1996: Randy Koch (8/16)
2007: Brad Kuhn (8/17)
2017: Christopher Bell (7/1)
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PAST JASON LEFFLER MEMORIAL RESULTS:
2013 FEATURE: 1. Zach Daum, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Shane Cockrum, 5. Bryan Clauson, 6. Chett Gehrke, 7. Dereck King, 8, Andrew Felker, 9. Hud Cone, 10. Daniel Robinson, 11. Bobby East, 12. Parker Price-Miller, 13. Tyler Robbins, 14. Justin Grant, 15. Jake Blackhurst, 16. Austin Brown, 17. Chris Bell, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Tim Siner, 20. Colten Cottle, 21.Tyler Robbins, 22. Seth Motsinger.
2014 FEATURE: 1. Daryn Pittman, 2. Christopher Bell. 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Zach Daum, 6. Spencer Bayston, 7. Andrew Felker, 8. Darren Hagen, 9. Rico Abreu, 10. Tanner Thorson, 11. Chris Windom, 12. Tyler Thomas, 13. Dave Darland, 14. Daniel Robinson, 15. Garrett Aitken, 16. Nick Knepper, 17. Shane Cockrum, 18. Colten Cottle, 19. Chett Gehrke, 20. Austin Brown, 21. Brady Bacon, 22. Parker Price-Miller, 23. Seth Motsinger.
2015 FEATURE: 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Rico Abreu, 3. Zach Daum, 4. Daryn Pittman, 5. Payton Pierce, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Jonathan Beason, 8. Danny Stratton, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Kyle Schuett, 14. Anton Hernandez, 15. Ryan Robinson, 16. Tanner Thorson, 17. Isaac Chapple, 18. C.J. Leary, 19. Dereck King, 20. Tyler Thomas, 21. Darren Hagen, 22. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 23. Austin Brown, 24. Spencer Bayston, 25. Justin Peck, 26. Tyler Courtney.
2016 FEATURE: 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Carson Macedo, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Andrew Felker, 6. Alex Bright, 7. Chett Gehrke, 8. Spencer Bayston, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. Shane Cottle, 12. Justin Peck, 13. Grady Chandler, 14. Jonathan Beason, 15. Chad Boat, 16. Riley Kreisel, 17. Ryan Robinson, 18. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 19. Andy Malpocker, 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 21. Jake Neuman, 22. Brayton Lynch, 23. Damion Gardner, 24. Colten Cottle, 25. Holly Shelton, 26. Jason McDougal, 27. Rico Abreu, 28. Gage Walker. NT
2017 FEATURE: Rained Out
2018 FEATURE: (starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Thomas (2), 2. Chad Boat (4), 3. Tyler Courtney (3), 4. Justin Grant (16), 5. Jonathan Beason (18), 6. Christopher Bell (7), 7. Spencer Bayston (8), 8. Zeb Wise (12), 9. Logan Seavey (9), 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (17), 11. Ryan Robinson (21), 12. Cole Bodine (11), 13. Sam Johnson (23), 14. Alex Bright (14), 15. Jerry Coons, Jr. (10), 16. Brady Bacon (6), 17. Tanner Carrick (15), 18. Dave Darland (13), 19. Jake Neuman (5), 20. Holly Shelton (20), 21. Tucker Klaasmeyer (22), 22. Jason McDougal (1), 23. Zach Daum (19).
2019 FEATURE: (starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (3), 2. Tyler Thomas (1), 3. Jason McDougal (2), 4. Logan Seavey (19), 5. Justin Grant (6), 6. Chris Windom (10), 7. Brady Bacon (16), 8. Daryn Pittman (15), 9. Sam Johnson (13), 10. Tucker Klaasmeyer (18), 11. Jesse Colwell (4), 12. Russ Gamester (21), 13. Gio Scelzi (11), 14. Daniel Robinson (8), 15. Zeb Wise (17), 16. Thomas Meseraull (12), 17. Tanner Carrick (7), 18. Jake Neuman (14), 19. Cannon McIntosh (22), 20. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 21. Andrew Layser (20), 22. Holley Hollan (23), 23. Jerry Coons, Jr. (9).
2020 FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (6), 2. Chris Windom (2), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (4), 4. Cannon McIntosh (1), 5. Daison Pursley (3), 6. Tyler Courtney (10), 7. Kyle Cummins (11), 8. Chase Randall (5), 9. Emerson Axsom (7), 10. Justin Grant (9), 11. Jerry Coons Jr. (15), 12. Cole Bodine (20), 13. Cody Brewer (18), 14. Robert Dalby (19), 15. Tyler Thomas (14), 16. Chase Johnson (12), 17. Buddy Kofoid (17), 18. Kaylee Bryson (22), 19. Sam Johnson (21), 20. Hayden Reinbold (23*), 21. Brady Bacon (13), 22. Logan Seavey (8), 23. Jason McDougal (16). NT
2021 FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Christopher Bell (3), 2. Cannon McIntosh (2), 3. Chance Crum (5), 4. Sam Johnson (9), 5. Mitchel Moles (4), 6. Jordan Kinser (13), 7. Chad Boespflug (8), 8. Zach Daum (10), 9. Chett Gehrke (14), 10. Chase Briscoe (1), 11. Terry Babb (12), 12. Greg Mitchell (15), 13. Chase Howard (20), 14. Rylan Gray (7), 15. Jake Neuman (18), 16. Cory Eliason (6), 17. Max Adams (11), 18. Zach Boden (19), 19. Dillon Silverman (17), 20. Daniel Robinson (16). NT
2022 FEATURE: (40 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Mitchel Moles (3), 2. Zach Daum (4), 3. Buddy Kofoid (5), 4. Thomas Meseraull (1), 5. Bryant Wiedeman (2), 6. Ethan Mitchell (7), 7. Sam Johnson (9), 8. Chase McDermand (15), 9. Jacob Denney (14), 10. Cannon McIntosh (18), 11. Dominic Gorden (19), 12. Daison Pursley (6), 13. Daniel Robinson (13), 14. Chance Crum (10), 15. Kyle Cummins (21), 16. Karter Sarff (8), 17. Brenham Crouch (17), 18. Kaylee Bryson (11), 19. Hayden Reinbold (22), 20. Justin Grant (16), 21. Taylor Reimer (12), 22. Maria Cofer (20). NT
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MACON SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL MIDGET RESULTS
JULY 9, 1959 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Don Branson, 2. Leroy Warriner, 3. Gene Force, 4. Buddy Cagle, 5. Jim Packard, 6. Gene Hartley, 7. Bob Wente, 8. Danny Oakes, 9. Gene Weyant, 10. Johnny White, 11. Chuck Rodee, 12. Johnnie Parsons, 13. Bill Homeier, 14. David Lee, 15. Dwight Brown, 16. Willie Hunziker, 17. Arnie Knepper, 18. Russ Congdon.
JULY 30, 1959 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Don Boorse, 2. Jimmy Davies, 3. Bill Homeier, 4. A.J. Foyt, 5. Leroy Warriner, 6. Gene Hartley, 7. Bob Tattersall, 8. Gene Force, 9. Don Branson, 10. Bob Wente, 11. Bob McLean, 12. Bobby Grim.
SEPTEMBER 15, 1959 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Leroy Warriner, 2. John Slowiak, 3. Gene Weyant, 4. Jimmy Davies, 5. Bill Eubank, 6. Bill Homeier, 7. Red Hamilton, 8. Gene Hartley, 9. Johnny Riva, 10. Russ Congdon, 11. Allen Crowe, 12. Tommy Copp.
1960 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Jimmy Davies, 2. Billy Wood, 3. Allen Crowe, 4. Gene Force, 5. Tommy Copp, 6. Russ Congdon, 7. Bob Tattersall, 8. Leroy Warriner, 9. Gene Hartley, 10. Bob Wente, 11. George Benson, 12. Johnny Roberts, 13. Bobby Grim, 14. Bob Ellingham, 15. Les Scott, 16. Keith Thomas, 17. S. Arms, 18. Jim Neff.
1962 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Chuck Rodee, 2. Russ Congdon, 3. Jimmy Davies, 4. Johnny Riva, 5. Allen Crowe, 6. Tommy Copp, 7. Chuck Marshall, 8. Porky Rachwitz, 9. Dwight Brown, 10. Danny Frye, 11. Dick Kincaid, 12. Ray Elliott, 13. Bob Mathouser, 14. Chuck Weyant, 15. Bill Sarles, 16. Ralph Parkinson, 17. Jim Neff, 18. Gary Congdon.
1964 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Danny Frye, 2. Bob Wente, 3. Mel Kenyon, 4. Dwight Brown, 5. Chuck Weyant, 6. Arnie Knepper, 7. Don Meacham, 8. Tommy Copp, 9. Chuck Rodee, 10. Mike McGreevy, 11. Jimmy Knight, 12. Tom Sellberg, 13. Bob Tattersall, 14. Jimmy Davies, 15. Bill Mehner, 16. John Batts, 17. Leroy Stolle.
1965 FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Bob Tattersall, 2. Bill Puterbaugh, 3. Mike McGreevy, 4. Tommy Copp, 5. Bob Wente, 6. Danny Frye, 7. Chuck Rodee, 8. Bobby Grim, 9. Sonny Ates, 10. Bill Mehner, 11. Warren Schiebe, 12. Bob Lithgow, 13. Walt Kennedy, 14. John Taylor, 15. Larry Majeski, 16. Jimmy Davies, 17. Joe Lane.
1991 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Donnie Beechler, 2. Tony Elliott, 3. Mike Streicher, 4. Donnie Lehmann, 5. Curtis Evans, 6. Phil Heavelow, 7. Doug Kalitta, 8. Roy Caruthers, 9. Gary Baugh, 10. John McEntire, 11. Jim Davies, 12. Tim Siner, 13. Aaron Truax, 14. Duke DeRosa, 15. Greg Lueckert, 16. Tyce Carlson, 17. Stevie Reeves, 18. Stan Fox, 19. P.J. Jones, 20. Steve Knepper. NT
1992 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Tony Elliott, 2. Steve Knepper, 3. Donnie Lehmann, 4. Stevie Reeves, 5. Kevin Doty, 6. Kenny Irwin Jr., 7. Dean Billings, 8. Donnie Beechler, 9. Mike Streicher, 10. Ray Morgan, 11. Bruce Donaldson Jr., 12. Fred Tegarden Jr., 13. Tyce Carlson, 14. Bryon Walters, 15. Scott Hatton, 16. Page Jones, 17. Dan Drinan, 18. Danny Frye Jr., 19. Johnny Crawford, 20. Phil Heavelow. NT
1996 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Randy Koch, 2. Brian Gerster, 3. Andy Michner, 4. Dean Billings, 5. Scott Hatton, 6. Steve Knepper, 7. Tony Elliott, 8. Russ Gamester, 9. Andy Pierce, 10. David Bridges, 11. Carl Olsen, 12. Nick Lundgreen, 13. Scott Weyant, 14. Jim Davies, 15. Bruce Donaldson Jr., 16. Danny Frye Jr., 17. Kenneth Nichols, 18. Ryan Newman, 19. Kenny Irwin Jr., 20. Donnie Lehmann, 21. Kevin Newton, 22. Scott Hansen. NT
2007 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Brad Loyet, 3. Shane Hollingsworth, 4. Dereck King, 5. Darren Hagen, 6. Jon Stanbrough, 7. Chuck Gurney Jr., 8. Nick Knepper, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Justin Allgaier, 11. Brad Sweet, 12. Danny Stratton, 13. Dave Camfield Jr., 14. Derrick Myers, 15. Brady Bacon, 16. Kevin Swindell, 17. Mike Hess, 18. Jerry Coons Jr., 19. Brad Mosen, 20. Davey Ray, 21. Tim Siner, 22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 23. Bryce Townsend, 24. Tom Hessert III. NT
2017 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Christopher Bell, 2. Spencer Bayston, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Shane Golobic, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Chad Boat, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Daniel Robinson, 11. Holly Shelton, 12. Ryan Robinson, 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 14. Gage Walker, 15. Jake Neuman, 16. Brayton Lynch, 17. Tyler Nelson, 18. Kyle Schuett, 19. Colten Cottle, 20. Tyler Thomas, 21. Nick Knepper, 22. David Budres, 23. Tanner Thorson. NT
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY:
10 Laps – 10/7/2022 – Justin Grant – 1:43.92
12 Laps – 10/21/2016 – Ryan Robinson – 2:19.19
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL MIDGETS AT MACON SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 7/1/2017 – Zach Daum – 10.325
4 Laps – 6/25/1964 – Jimmy Davies – 51.10
10 Laps – 8/21/1992 – Page Jones – 1:54.88
12 Laps – 8/21/1992 – Fred Tegarden Jr. – 2:20.84
50 Laps – 7/30/1959 – Don Boorse – 11:00.26