By POWRi (Oklahoma City, OK) -- Backing up a dominant performance from the previous night, Logan Seavey doubled down and took a second consecutive Turnpike Challenge victory. Seavey's second Turnpike Challenge POWRi Lucas Oil National & West Midget League victory came again at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
PHOTO: Logan Seavey passes Tucker Klaasmeyer to win Saturday night's Turnpike Challenge at I-44 Riverside Speedway--CREDIT: John Lee of High-Fly'n Photos -- http://www.highfly-nphotos.com
Starting inside the second row behind Cannon McIntosh and Jerry Coons, Jr., Seavey fell in behind Jerry Coons at the start of the race. Coons, Jr. looked to have the upper hand early on until coming up on lap traffic in which Ace McCarthy spun and Coons, Jr. took a direct hit, crushing his hopes of a Turnpike Challenge victory.
Benefitting from Coons, Jr.'s misfortune, Seavey took command of the top position and never looked back. Shortly after midway, a strong Tyler Thomas moved into the second position with Christopher Bell in tow. A much different night than last night for Thomas, switching to a backup machine paid dividends to the Oklahoman, as he was able to not only place on the podium, but also fend off Christopher Bell's advances for the second position.
Bell was forced to settle for second as Thomas took second behind Seavey, while Tucker Klaasmeyer improved one position from the previous night to take fourth. Jake Neuman finished fifth.
"Being that tonight was a lot smoother than last night, I didn't have to work so hard to get up front in the feature," commented Logan Seavey. "Once we got up front, this thing was just so good. Another really physical race track, you're out of breath bouncing through the holes. It makes it really fun, gives it a lot of character. I can't thank the KKM team for the opportunity and Toyota and Mobil 1 for backing me. It's always fun when you can race your teammates close like that. I knew I just couldn't make mistakes."
"It feels really good," stated Tyler Thomas. "After last night we didn't feel like we were as strong as we could be. It's uncharacteristic for us run in the back like that so we decided to make a change with the car and pull the backup down and it was obviously the right decision. My dad did a really good job setting it up tonight and this Toyota power plant was really good. Spike Chassis, Advanced Racing Suspensions, Engler Machine and Tool, all these guys help us run up front."
"It was tough," said Christopher Bell. "Obviously the beginning of the night didn't go as planned. The track was really tough. It got pretty rough getting into turn one. It made it interesting. Thank you to the fans for coming out and hopefully we put a good show on tomorrow."
Midgets
Racing Electronics Heat Race Winners: 25 - JERRY COONS JR, 67 - LOGAN SEAVEY, 21 - CHRISTOPHER BELL, 91T - TYLER THOMAS, 28 - ACE MCCARTHY, 67K - HOLLEY HOLLAN, 21KS - KARTER SARFF
Speed Sport C-Main Winner: 20G - NOAH GASS
Bell Qualifier Winners: 08 - CANNON MCINTOSH, 71 - JESSE COLWELL, 9 - DAISON PURSLEY, 15 - COLE BODINE
Toyota Semi Feature Winner: 28 - ACE MCCARTHY, 5D - ZACH DAUM
Mesilla Valley Transportation Feature Winner: 67 - LOGAN SEAVEY
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 67 - LOGAN SEAVEY 2. 91T - TYLER THOMAS 3. 21 - CHRISTOPHER BELL 4. 27 - TUCKER KLAASMEYER 5. 3N - JAKE NEUMAN 6. 56 - ALEX BRIGHT 7. 9 - DAISON PURSLEY 8. 71 - JESSE COLWELL 9. 71K - TANNER CARRICK 10. 44S - ANDREW FELKER 11. 25 - JERRY COONS JR 12. 5D - ZACH DAUM 13. 15 - COLE BODINE 14. 67K - HOLLEY HOLLAN 15. 52 - BLAKE HAHN 16. 35 - STERLING CLING 17. 08 - CANNON MCINTOSH 18. 10 - MATT SHERRELL 19. 14X - JODY ROSENBOOM 20. 39BC - ZEB WISE 21. 21H - BRADY BACON 22. 11B - KAYLEE BRYSON 23. 28 - ACE MCCARTHY
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