Tanner Thorson takes victory at Lincoln Park

Posted on June 3, 2016 by admin

Tanner Thorson takes victory at Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park Speedway night three of the Indiana Midget Week was another triumph for the Keith Kunz Motorsports /Toyota Racing but this time it was Tanner Thorson turn in victory lane.The last time Thorson was at Lincoln Park Speedway he left the track in a ambulance and ruined his chance at a maiden USAC National Title .To get the win Thorson had to overcome firstly his younger teammate 15year old Ryan Robinson ,Bryan Clauson and an aggressive Rico Abreu.

Missing from the KKM team for LPS was Larson and Bell but the strength of this team is its depths as both Thorson and Robinson proved tonight.Night three started with Brady Bacon getting fast time during the Resource qualifying followed by last start winner Spencer Bayston and Tanner Thorson.

Heat race winners were Rico Abreu, Tyler Thomas, Carson Macedo and Chad Boat.

Robinson started the 30lap feature with Clauson on his outside and just like Bayston did the previous night showed experience way beyond his years to lead Clauson from the green.Robinson held the race lead for the first 14 laps before Thorson was able to penetrate his defense and get into the lead. As the race entered the 18^th lap Abreu’s presence was starting to be felt as the 2015 USAC Champion started to cut through the field, he was on a mission to get to the race lead, sitting in third Abreu progress was disrupted when Jmi Quinn spun. On the restart Abreu disposed of Robinson with a familiar slide job and now with Thorson firmly in his sight aimed for the race lead.

The race was nearing the end when Thorson had trouble on the cushion and suddenly Abreu looked a real chance and as he started to work past Thorson Darland and Holley Shelton tangled and the yellow was displayed .Abreu had lost a certain race lead and had to revert to second for the restart.

Abreu attacked Thorson with every move he had and the pressure worked to his own disadvantage when he slid high on the cushion and the every present and a patient Clauson took full advantage to take second. Abreu was not finished, pushing the limit of both car and track he jumped the cushion a number of times effectively killing any chance of the race win.

Thorson had one final barrier to overcome, a charging Bryan Clauson made one last desperate slide for the win but track position and the momentum was all with Thorson and win number three in the Indiana Midget Week went again to a Keith Kunz/Toyota driver Tanner Thorson.The podium on night three at Lincoln Park Speedway was Thorson, Clauson and Tyler Thomas.

Driver quotes .Tanner Thorson“I left here last year in an ambulance, so to come back to this track and win is pretty awesome,” Thorson said. “These guys work their butts off starting at 2:30 in the morning when we get back to the shop and it feels great to reward them with another win. Rico had me nervous just because you know a big move is coming. I knew the laps were winding down, but I knew that I just needed to keep hitting my marks. The top was so treacherous that you had to nail it perfectly every lap. I kept getting tight on the cushion and just tried to keep my composure towards the end because the last ten laps were really tricky with the track the way it was and knowing I had fast guys behind me.”

Bryan Clauson “We just needed more time,” Clauson said. “I was a little snug early and each yellow just wasn’t what we needed. We got rolling towards the end and Tanner was getting tight on the curb, but we were good enough off of it to make some decent speed; we just ran out of laps. I saw the white and made my move in turns one and two because it seemed like it was easier to counter a slide job at the other end. I felt like if I slid him in (turns) three and four, it’d be too easy to cross me over, so I took a shot in (turns) one and two and just came up a little short.”

Tyler Thomas “I moved to the bottom in the early laps of the race and it stuck, so I knew I needed to be down there if I wanted to pick some off,” Thomas explained. “The top was so fast early on and the only way to pass was to slide somebody, but you had to have so much momentum to pull it off that it was just really difficult to make happen. Fortunately, our car was really working well on the bottom and I could slide myself in turns three and four and catch the cushion on exit. We qualified better tonight too, so if we can keep that up these next three nights, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

All six members of the Kunz Motorsports/Toyota Racing made the feature and all finished .The result 3 wins, three different drivers what an amazing display of team management, engineering and commitment to Midget racing.

FEATURE FINISH: 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Tyler Thomas, 4. Rico Abreu, 5. Spencer Bayston, 6. Carson Macedo, 7. Steve Buckwalter, 8. Ryan Robinson, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Chad Boat, 11. Jake Neuman, 12. Ryan Greth, 13. Gage Walker, 14. Chase Johnson, 15. Holly Shelton, 16. Jimi Quin, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Tyler Nelson, 19. Brady Bacon, 20. Dave Darland, 21. Logan Jarrett, 22. David Budres, 23. Dayne Kingshott, 24. Shane Golobic.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Robinson, Laps 14-30 Thorson.

NEW USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Clauson-250, 2-Bayston-249, 3-Bacon-225, 4-Thorson-204, 5-Thmas-191, 6-Daum-189, 7-Boat-188, 8-Golobic-181, 9-Coons-165, 10-Robinson-143.

NEW USAC INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Clauson-227, 2-Bayston-194, 3-Abreu-180, 4-Coons-165, 5-Bacon-164, 6-Thomas-156, 7-Thorson-152, 8-Boat-151, 9-Kyle Larson-150, 10-Daum-146.

NEXT USAC NATIONAL MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 3 – Bloomington (IN) Speedway – 12th “Indiana Midget Week”

Pic credits Rich Foreman & David Wilson and Toyota Racing

Bayston Bags first USAC Win at Gas City

Posted on June 2, 2016 by admin

Spencer Bayston bags first USA WIn at Gas City

Gas City and 45 Midgets gather the pits for race two for the Indiana Midget Week. The crowd and most of the USAC teams would have been privately concerned that Larson would again remind them of his unbelievable versatility and ability to adjust from the pavement of the NASCAR World back to the hustle of the real raw racing on dirt .

The Gas City track was lighting fast with the track record coming under attack during the warm ups with both Clauson and Abreu getting under the mark.Once qualifying was done and dusted Rico Abreu would emerge as the Prosourse fast qualifier over Ryan Robinson and Bryan Clauson. Heat winners were Ryan Greth, Tanner Thorson, Christopher Bell and Brady Bacon.

Spencer Bayston and Zach Daum had the front row for the 30 lap featurewith Clauson and Larson in row two.Bayston won the start and headed Daum into the first corner.The 2015 rookie of year started to settle nicely into the race lead and moved from the bottom into the middle of the track. The race was stopped on lap 9 when Chase Johnson’s night ended suddenly with a barrel roll in turn four .Johnson’s effort brought out the first caution. Thankfully Johnson was unhurt.

The restart was the only time Bayston was under real pressure and Daum got to the inside to lead the 17year old only to lose it by time the pair reached the stripe for lap 9.At this point Daum’s race started to fade under the pressure from Larson and Clauson.By the halfway point Clauson had pushed past Larson but Bayston was clear with one-and-half second .up his sleeve.

When other 17 year olds are planning their summer vacation Bayston was blitzing past back markers with the skill of a second professional and nothing that Clauson or Larson had made any difference .With just 7 laps remaining Thorson’s car stopped and brought out a caution , providing Clauson and Larson one last chance to overhaul the 2015 Rookie of the year .If Bayston was nervous on the restart, and who could blame him with a host of USAC winners all over his tank he showed no signs and took the restart with total authority leaving Clauson and Larson to argue over the runner up position.

The battle for second between Clauson and Larson grabbed the attention but Larson’s efforts came to an end when he clipped a turn four tyre marker and slowed and would he would have to settle for third.Bayston’s drive was that of a master professional and the Gas City win was the first of many more USAC National wins to come.

Keith Kunz must surely be about the best judge of new talent around, his ability to pick replacements when his stars Larson, Bell and Abreu move on to the bigger NSCAR stage is nothing short of stunning.

With the sun setting above the Gas City Landscape the haulers head out with their cargo of midgets to Lincoln Park Speedway Putnamville night two of the Indiana Midget week comes to a close and Bryan Clauson with two second places finds his way into the lead for the Indiana Midget Week Championship with 152 over Larson 150 and Bell third with 140.

Driver interviews: Spencer Bayston “I’m speechless right now,” Bayston exclaimed. “Big Al (Scroggins) had the car absolutely perfect. I could hold it to the ground and it would dig the whole way around. I was waiting for Bryan (Clauson) and Kyle (Larson) to show up, but these guys gave me a good enough race car that I could stay out front. I was getting some signals under the red from my guys about where those two were running, so I just tried to focus on my line and tried to keep making good laps. To race against these guys is special and to beat them is even more special because both of them are guys that I’ve looked up to my whole career.”

Bryan Clauson “Our car was alright tonight; we were just a little off,” Clauson admitted. “We could hang; we just didn’t have enough to mount anything. I pulled out everything I had to hold Kyle off. Those three points could play a big factor at the end of the week, but it’s a great start to ‘Indiana Midget Week’ for us.”

Kyle Larson “It’s always fun racing Bryan (Clauson),” Larson said. “I needed the caution, but I needed to restart in front of Bryan and, after that, I didn’t really have a shot at Spencer (Bayston). He wasn’t on the bottom in (turns) three and four and I could get through there pretty well. Bryan was running on the bottom in (turns) three and four too and it was enough to slow me down a little, but I had a lot of fun. It was a pretty solid weekend of racing for me, so a big thanks to Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby).”

FEATURE FINISH: (30 laps) 1. Spencer Bayston, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Christopher Bell, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Brady Bacon, 8. Shane Golobic, 9. Justin Peck, 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 11. Ryan Robinson, 12. Chad Boat, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Ryan Greth, 15. Tyler Thomas, 16. Chris Windom, 17. Gage Walker, 18. Tony DiMattia, 19. Tanner Thorson, 20.* Dayne Kingshott, 21. Jimi Quin, 22. Holly Shelton, 23. Chase Johnson, 24. Dave Darland. NT
—————————-
**Hatton flipped during the fourth heat. Johnson flipped on lap 9 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Bayston.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Shane Golobic (17th to 8th)

Photo Credits :Travis Branch,Spencer Bayston Racing,Bryan Clauson Racing

Larson returns to Indiana Midget Week and Wins

Posted on June 1, 2016 by admin

Larson returns to Indiana Midget Week and Wins

Montpelier Motor Speedway-Montpelier –Opening race in the Indiana Midget Week showcased the best of the best with Kyle Larson returning for a guest drive with KKM. Larson was joined by Bell and Abreu in an expanded Keith Kunz effort for the Indiana Midget Week opener.

Kyle Larson showed that his presence in NASCAR has not diminished his dirt track talent .driving the 1K Keith Kunz – Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Parker Store – Target/Bullet/Speedway Toyota Larson won the pole position after the strong qualifying and the win in heat four.. The Larson win came after being passed early by Thorson and then attacking his teammate for the next 23 laps before banging in a slider on lap 25 to move into the race lead with only 5 to run.

Thorson had been under heavy fire from Larson and Clauson but kept the pair searching for the opening while Christopher Bell was working his way out of a difficult start that had Oklahoma charger making up ground from his rear of the field starting position.

What an amazing effort by the Kunz Team to managing 8 race cars, keeping the drivers tuned in must be a massive effort and quite demoralizing f or some of the less experienced teams and driver’s .For Kunz drivers to take two of the three podiums position and the remaining 5 to finish the feature was a super effort.

There can be no doubt that the old saying “the cream always rises to the top “and the podium at Montpelier of Kyle Larson, Bryan Clauson and Christopher Bell certainly underpins that.Larson’s successful return to the Midget was welcomed by the Midget mad crowd but you had to feel for Thorson after taking the race to and past the NASCAR star only to then fall back for a 18^th final placing , disappointing but mark our words he will be back up front very quickly.

The Larson win was the 10^th for the Kunz team and with the sixth different driver this season. The race win was Larson’s 4^th career Indiana Midget Week win and his 13^th USAC National Midget win.

The Resource fast time went to Christopher Bell from Chad Boat and Spencer Bayston and heat races wins went to Steve Buckwater, Carson Macedo, Rico Abreu and Kyle Larson.

Post race interview:

Kyle Larson “That was a lot of fun.” Larson exclaimed. “I didn’t think the top in (turns) one and two would be that great, but Tanner was able to rip around me. I knew I was a lot better than him in (turns) three and four. I just couldn’t quite figure out turn two. I was getting beat pretty bad over there. I don’t know if it just got cleaned off or what, but my grip off of turn two got a little better and I could stay closer to Tanner and then, eventually, throw the slider. I had so much fun, though! Thirty laps fly by in these races. It’s so enjoyable to run with Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby). They deserve all the attention that they’ve been getting the last few years.”

Bryan Clauson “It became a race between me and Kyle to see who could clear Tanner first,” Clauson explained. “I got a run and threw something at him and Tanner got into me when he came back across and I let Kyle get by us. We just started getting tight there at the end. It might not have made a difference because it got tough to run once the track got real curby, but second is a solid start to “Indiana Midget Week.”

Christopher Bell “Staying out of trouble was huge,” Bell said with a sigh of relief. “Everybody kept crashing each other and it got me on the first lap. But once I got back there, they kept running into each other and I didn’t really feel like I passed a whole lot of cars. I was good at the end; it just got to be so fast around the top that you couldn’t really slide anybody unless you had a big run like Kyle did. I worked around the bottom really well, so that helped, but we just needed them to bottle up on the top one more time.”

Both Bell and Larson will be back for round two at Gas City but we understand Abreu will return for the Bloomington race with Bell .

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Buckwalter, 2. Windom, 3. Bacon, 4. Quin, 5. Bell, 6. Walker, 7. Ray, 8. Nocella, 9. Greth, 10. Hatton, 11. Baue. Ton raceNT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Macedo, 2. Boat, 3. Clauson, 4. Coons, 5. Biggs, 6. Kingshott, 7. Golobic, 8. Koontz, 9. Schuett, 10. Secrest, 11. Gray. 2:28.28

BENIC ENTERPRISES THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Abreu, 2. Bayston, 3. Shelton, 4. Darland, 5. Nelson, 6. DiMattia, 7. White, 8. Morton, 9. Conover, 10. Daum, 11. Neuman. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Larson, 2. Thorson, 3. Robinson, 4. Peck, 5. Thomas, 6. Jarrett, 7. Johnson, 8. Prock, 9. Fehr, 10. Gehrke, 11. Nemire. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Ray, 2. Neuman, 3. Kingshott, 4. Jarrett, 5. Hatton, 6. Morton, 7. Nemire, 8. Fehr, 9. Koontz, 10. Secrest. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bell, 2. Daum, 3. Golobic, 4. Thomas, 5. Walker, 6. DiMattia, 7. Ray, 8. Nelson, 9. Jarrett, 10. Prock, 11. Schuett, 12. Neuman, 13. Biggs, 14. Kingshott, 15. Nocella, 16. Greth, 17. Gehrke. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Larson, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Chad Boat, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Jimi Quin, 11. Zach Daum, 12. Spencer Bayston, 13. Kyle Schuett, 14. Rico Abreu, 15. Tony DiMattia, 16. Holly Shelton, 17. Gage Walker, 18. Tanner Thorson, 19. Carson Macedo, 20. Ryan Robinson, 21. Shane Golobic, 22. Justin Peck, 23. Steve Buckwalter. NT

NEXT USAC MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 1 – Gas City, IN – Gas City I-69 Speedway – “Indiana Midget Week”

Photo credits USAC Racing ,Bryan Clauson Racing and MAJ1K Motorsports

Kingshott is 6th but Bayston wins Macon

Posted on May 22, 2016 by admin

Macon Speedway Illinois was the second of 13 races on the Kingshott racings tour and after the disappointment of the gremlin invaded Esslinger at Fayette Speedwaythe team had the #24 cracking during hot laps.

Dyane Kingshott was pushed out for heat 2 and his first go at the POWRi pack. Kingshott drove with caution aware that the cushion at Macon is fast and has been the undoing of many as they worked the cushion to the limit. Kingshott finished fourth and was guaranteed his first Main event on only his second try.

Starting well back in 15^th position Kingshott manage his race carefully in the face of at least 12 cautions. Aggressive driving, tangles and loops were the order of the day with the Fayette winner Macedo the first to cause a stoppage when he spun on the opening lap.

Bayston was the early leader but it was not long before Robinson ,Dum and Brown tangled pushing Daum to the rear of the field for the restart.Daum was the charger working his way back as high as third before again getting involved in other drivers problems that would end his night .

Kingshott with drama all around remained calm taking advantage of others misfortunes to gradually move through the field.Kingshott’s night was almost undone when Neumann and King got together forcing Kingshott and the recovering Macedo to spin to protect both their cars and their race chances

With just 7 laps left to race Kingshott had moved into the top 10 and by race end would secure a sixth place finish in his first US Feature.While all the drama was happening around Kingshott Spencer Bayston had cleared out and was unchallenged to record another win for the Kunz Toyota Team. It was a successful two nights for the Toyota boys with Macedo winning at Fayette and now Bayston on top at Macon.

While KKM took the honors the boy from Bunbury Western Australia will head to race three of his US tour Montpellier Motor Speedway full of confidence and enthusiasm when he meets up with the USAC team and POWRi drivers in Montpellier for six nights of successive racing starting May 31,

The full race results from Macon Speedway’s POWRI show

Engine problems for Kingshott in US debut

Posted on May 21, 2016 by admin

17,831 Km that’s a long, long way from Perth to Brownstown, Illinois. and made even more distant when your racecar decides to host some friendly gremlins that creates engines problems for you .

Kingshott Racing’s Dwayne Kin.gshott was terribly disappointed when the W24 would not fire and run after returning to the pits from hot lapping and forcing the Western Australian to miss his maiden start in the US and any chance of a start in his first US feature.

Brimming with Aussie pride the team will have to wait until their second schedule even at Macon Speedway on Saturday night before measuring their skill against the Americans.

Disappointed no doubt the team will regroup overnight and be ready to tackle the POWRi teams at Macon Speedway Saturday (US times) .Consigned to the role of spectator Kingshott had valuable time to analyze and rate and his competition.

The race was won by Carson Macedon, his first Midget win over Zach Daum and team mate Tanner Thorson. Zach Daum had the Red Toyota #5 cracking and blazed his way into second by the time the checker was waved.Macedo’s win was his first for Keith Kunz Motorsports in the Toyota powered Bullet #71K Midget..

Kingshott flies the Aussie flag at POWRi

Posted on May 18, 2016 by admin

Kingshott flies the Aussie flag at POWRi

Western Australian Speedcar hot shot Dayne Kingshott has arrived in the US and will start his US racing tour this Friday night at Fayette Country Speedway in Brownstown Illinois.

Facing a totally new track and the force of the Keith Kunz Motorsports team Kingshott is sure to receive a full on welcome to midget racing with the POWRi pack.

First up facing Tanner Thorson and Zach Daum will be a tough assignment but the Bunbury” Buster” is campaign tough from races across Australia on a variety of different tracks.

Kingshott will be right in the middle of points clash between the leading POWRi National contenders Daum, Thorson and Felker and these guys will not want the Aussie intruder to milk points from them.

With a fresh race car under him and the energy and excitement this first up race will deliver I am expecting Dayne Kingshott to turn a few heads as powers out for his introduction laps in front of the Fayette crowd.

We will keep race fans up to date with all of Dayne Kingshott’s results as he works his way through this Midget Tour of POWRi and USAC Midget Shows.After this first up race at Fayette Speedway the team will move across to Macon Speedway and do it all again.

No bad luck for Clauson on Friday 13th at Plymouth

Posted on May 14, 2016 by admin

No bad luck for Clauson this Friday 23th at Plymouth

Friday the 13^th held no fears for Bryan Clauson as he went about his 54^th race in the quest for 200 at the USAC National Midget Indiana Midgets show at Plymouth Speedway the Bob Newton Classic. Clauson started out position 3 and worked his way into the race lead by lap 4 and held control right up until the race was called because of rain on lap 24.

Win 13 for the year for Clauson came on Friday 13^th in the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/B & H Contractors Spike/Stanton SR-11 #63. Tanner Thorson and Spencer Bayston joined Clauson on the podium.

The Plymouth race was another good hit out for the “newbie’s” in the Kunz Team with their 5 cars inside the top 7.

The next race in the Indiana Midget Championship will again be at Plymouth on June 29th

FEATURE: (24 laps – Halted by rain) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Spencer Bayston, 4. Carson Macedo, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Ryan Robinson, 7. Holly Shelton, 8. Brady Bacon, 9. Gage Walker, 10. Brayton Lynch, 11. Tyler Nelson, 12. Justin Peck, 13. David Budres, 14. Logan Jarrett, 15. Justin Dickerson, 16. Ross Rankine, 17. Ken Drangmeister, 18. Logan Arnold, 19. Gary Gipson.

Photo credits USAC Racing and David J Brio3DBimaging

Adam Clarke takes the SSS Final at Valvoline

Posted on May 9, 2016 by admin

Hurricanes are not local to Eastern Australia but last Saturday night at Valvoline Raceway in the outer Sydney suburb of Grandville the Hunter Hurricane Adam Clarke worked his JBR Polar Ice Spike Esslinger to the win in the final of the Speedcar Super Series.

In successive weeks the Novercastrian got the better of many of the classiest Speedcar drivers adding the Speedcar Super Series feature win to the Carline50 Lapper won the week before.

With such a strong level of nominations and interest in the Diamond Air Conditioning supported series the race was always going to be hotly contested .The Kiwi Australian Champion Michael Pickens entered with the support of Steven Graham in the Eagle Toyota #14.The race also attracted the sensational Western Australian Champion Kaiden Manders and the McAllan Motorsports Team.

After some exciting heat races the dash the Feature line up was full of class from the pole thru to row three. Smee on pole with his fericest challenger Adam Clarke alongside side, Followed by Kaiden Manders Matt Smith and Michael Pickens .The start was anticipated by the huge crowd as the green signaled the start of the 30 lap Final.

Smee was out first but it was not long before Adam Clarke had worked the Polar Ice car into the race lead .Clarke would not be headed and controlled the race. Darren Jenkins left his best performance for the final and made stunning progress thru the field from his 15^th starting position

Jenkins made positions quickly and with 8 laps left in the final he gets around Pickens for third but the charge by Jenkins still had more but brutal charge would stop after passing Smee for second and he would settle for a magnificent second behind Clarke.

There were many inspiring performances particularly those of the youngsters Braydan Wilmington and Matt Jackson. Jackson came from deep in the field to finish 4^th behind Smee and Willington from 17^th to finish in a creditable 6^th place.

The Diamond Air Conditioning Speedcar Super series was over for another year with the defending Champion Nathan Smee again taking out the overall Championship ahead of Michael Stewart and Anthony Chaffey .17 year old Braydan Willmington after his heavy travelling schedule was rewarded with 4^th place overall. It has been a season where young Willmington has proved his ability and when the new season starts the Marulan based youngster is certainly going to a force to contend with.

Clarke unbeaten in 70 laps now heads back to Queensland to steer the JBR Polar Ice Spike in the Archerfield 50 lapper where he will again come into head to head combat with Nathan Smee. Victories b

The Spike Esslinger #Q29 of JBR is up for sale and with big recent wins the car is sure to attract plenty of attention .70 laps fresh interested in one of fastest and most reliable midget then don’t hesitate to Contact : Adam Clarke 0423 270 251

Photo credits Gavin Skene Blackjack

Tanner Thorson drives KKM back to the top

Posted on May 9, 2016 by admin

Tanner Thorson drives KKM back to the top

Night one of the Missouri Mid-State Midget Nationals

With a new squad of young drivers the Keith Kunz Motorsports Toyota Team was back in race winning form at the POWRI West and National Mid Missouri Midget Nationals. As lead driver for the team Thorson set the example at the highest level starting the weekend on the front foot claiming the opening night at Grain Valley.

Thorson settled into his task aboard the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports Toyota-powered Bullet from his 12^th starting position .The #67 Bullet with Thorson pressing the pedal slowly gather up the field and was in the race lead by lap 9 after running down the bottom to pass Zach Daum and team mate Spencer Bayston.

By lap 14 Bayston’s chosen top grove finally proved a good decision and he passed Thorson into the race lead. Thorson continued to lead up until lap 18 as the pair race side by side with Bayston claiming the top and Thorson working the bottom. Lap 21 and Thorson finally reclaimed the race lead. Daum left it right to the last corner to make his move into second pushing young Bayston back into the final podium position.This was big return to form for the 5 car KKM team with all drivers making the Main event.

The KKM Team relaxing at Missouri

Driver interviews,

“I can’t thank these guys enough,” stated Tanner Thorson. “Keith, Pete, Big Al, Chuckie, all the guys in the pits. They work their butts off. We have five cars out here, so it gets pretty hectic in the pits. It was getting pretty frustrating to not win a race in so long. It feels pretty good to win this race.”

“I just couldn’t chalk up like they could on the bottom, especially off three,” explained Zach Daum. “That was really the only spot I could see they were beating us at. The cushion went almost off the track in turn four. It wasn’t terrible, I just hate getting beat by those guys. We haven’t won a race yet all year.”

“In the beginning, my line was good, then his burnt up and then my line burnt up,” said Spencer Bayston. “It was disappointing. There at the end, we just got beat. My line burnt up and then I was out of ideas. He had that bottom rolling pretty well. He’s a good driver and he’s a lot of fun to race with, but I hate losing.”

Night one Grain Valley

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 67 – TANNER THORSON 2. 5D – ZACH DAUM 3. 97 – SPENCER BAYSTON 4. 91T – TYLER THOMAS 5. 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER 6. 71K – CARSON MACEDO 7. 72 – GRADY CHANDLER 8. 8 – ALEX SEWELL 9. 88 – TERRY BABB 10. 11A – ANDREW FELKER 11. 11C – CHETT GEHRKE 12. 93K – RILEY KRIESEL 13. 73 – JASON MCDOUGAL 14. 71 – RYAN ROBINSON 15. 67K – HOLLY SHELTON 16. 1K – BRAYTON LYNCH 17. 28 – KORY SCHUDY 18. 7 – AUSTIN BROWN 19. 5X – JUSTIN PECK 20. 3N – JAKE NEUMAN 21. 82M – STEVEN SHEBESTER 22. 4M – MICHELLE DECKER 23. 52 – ANDREW DEAL 24. 17E – BLAKE EDWARDS

Night two of the Missouri Mid-state midget National was actually Tanners Thorson birthday and the Minden Nevada youngster warped up his own birthday present with dominating win from P7.Unlike the night one Thorson was untroubled in taking his 5^th career National POWRI win. With Thorson setting the benchmark team mates Spencer Bayston and Carson Macedo stepped up to the challenge giving the team a podium sweep confirming the confidence Keith Kunz has with this young Team.

Holly Sheldon driving the 67K was up to 7^th before a mistake dropped her back to 10^th and Ryan Robinson finished 17^th in the #71.This young squad could not be under a better guiding hand than that of Keith Kunz..The Illinois Speed and the USAC Midget Weeks will be another opportunity for the Team to go to another level.

Driver interviews,

“This track is pretty sweet,” said Tanner Thorson. “Keith and Big Al put an awesome car underneath me. It’s pretty cool to be able to win on your birthday. These guys have five cars out here. It’s pretty crazy for these guys. They work their butts off at the shop and we come out here and it gets pretty hectic sometimes, but it pays off. ”

“It feels good,” Carson Macedo stated. “I’m just really happy for this team. For Keith to finish one, two, three is pretty awesome. Just goes to show all the hard work they put in. Everyone at Keith Kunz Motorsports works really hard for this. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

“I was really hoping after a strong run last night, we could get the win tonight, but hats off to Tanner and Carson,” said Spencer Bayston. “I enjoy racing with these guys, I’ve gotten pretty close with both of them.”

Night two Wheatland results

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 67 – TANNER THORSON 2. 71K – CARSON MACEDO 3. 97 – SPENCER BAYSTON 4. 5X – JUSTIN PECK 5. 5D – ZACH DAUM 6. 91T – TYLER THOMAS 7. 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER 8. 11A – ANDREW FELKER 9. 67K – HOLLY SHELTON 10. 3N – JAKE NEUMAN 11. 4M – MICHELLE DECKER 12. 11C – CHETT GEHRKE 13. 8 – ALEX SEWELL 14. 7M – CHANCE MORTON 15. 21 – TY HULSEY 16. 5B – ARIEL BIGGS 17. 71 – RYAN ROBINSON 18. 7 – AUSTIN BROWN 19. 72 – GRADY CHANDLER 20. 1K – BRAYTON LYNCH 21. 17E – BLAKE EDWARDS 22. 73 – JASON MCDOUGAL 23. 89 – NICK BAILEY

Photos credits: POWRI & KKM,Holley Shelton racing,Carson Macedo Racing

The next POWRi National Midget show is Friday May 20^th at Layette Country Speedway

Kaiden Manders finish the season as he started with win

Posted on May 1, 2016 by admin

Kaiden Manders finish the season as he started with win

Kaiden Manders

Young Western Australian Kaiden Manders in the McAllen Motorsports entry finished the 2015/16 season on a high. Winning the final Feature on the Perth Motorplex program. Manders dominated the race and the win added another page to his impressive list of speedcar success.The 2016 season ended with the Team adding the Perth Track Championship to their 2016 list of wins

This year the promise Manders showed when he won the 2014 Magic Man 34 was carried forward with wins in the Western Australian Title, the Laurie Mathew Classic and the Sheehan Haulage Grand Prix Series plus a swag of feature wins at tracks around the West.Overcoming the talents of lee Redmond and Dyane Kingshott for most of this past season clearly stamps Manders as the leading driver in Western Australia.

Kingshott has been driving the Lee Redmond #52 as his car is well on the way to the US where Kingshott wil compete in the USAC and POWRi Midget Weeks .

Kaiden Manders

The combination of the McAllen Motorsports and Kaiden Manders continues to grow and with the careful management from the McAllen’s the future will be filled with many more major wins and Titles.

The results from the final night at Perth Motorplex ,

Heat One – 10 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Neville Lance, 3. Jason Tremeer, 4. Dayne Kingshott, 5. Phil Tremeer, 6. Glen Mears, 7. Daniel Golding, 8. Chris Telenta, 9. Ryan Condren, 10. Steven Henderson, 11. Rob Golding. DNF: Travis White (6). DNS: Chris Griffiths. Total Time: 2.44.533. Winning Margin: 0.060. Fastest Lap: 15.724 Kaiden Manders.

Heat Two – 10 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Dayne Kingshott, 3. Neville Lance, 4. Glen Mears, 5. Ryan Condren, 6. Jason Tremeer, 7. Travis White, 8. Rob Golding, 9. Steven Henderson. DNF: Dan Golding (6), Phil Tremeer (6), Chris Griffiths (6). DNS: Chris Telenta. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 0.905. Fastest Lap: 15.461 Kaiden Manders.

Feature – 20 laps: 1. Kaiden Manders, 2. Glen Mears, 3. Ryan Condren, 4. Travis White, 5. Rob Golding, 6. Jason Tremeer, 7. Chris Telenta. DNF: Steven Henderson (16), Dayne Kingshott (5), Neville Lance (5). DNS: Dan Golding, Chris Griffiths, Phil Tremeer. Total Time: No Time. Winning Margin: 14.110. Fastest Lap: 15.705 Kaiden Manders.

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