Belleville, IL. (7/15/22) Chase McDermand would use a late-race restart at Valley Speedway Friday Night to narrowly notch his second career feature win with the Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget Leagues opening the Thunder in the Valley Weekend stretch in a nail-bitter at the finish line.
Early POWRi National Midget League competition with a stout field of entries would find Chase McDermand set the tone by clocking a 13.424-second lap and earning the quickest hot-lap time with Kyle Jones and McDermand each earning heat race victories.
Launching the field on the initial green flag launch would find high point qualifier Kyle Jones line up with Taylor Reimer opening on the outside of the front row. Using the inside-to-out momentum in the first corner, Jones would shoot out to the early racing advantage with Reimer and Chase McDermand filing in behind the front-runner as laps rapidly clicked away.
Intense action for the front of the field would find Chase McDermand mounting a lead-taking charge with Mitchell Davis and Gavan Boschele quickly working through traffic and into the front pack. Mitchell Davis would take the lead on the penultimate lap as caution flags would bunch the field for a dramatic final revolution around the speedway.
“For the first 20 or so laps, I thought I was clear, once Mitchell and Gavan got by me I moved to the top and held on after the late restart. I knew I had to slide the leader into turns one and two, they could have run me really wide so hats off to those two for racing me clean,” said a celebratory Chase McDermand. in the Grain Valley Missouri winner’s circle.
Restarting behind Davis on the final lap, Chase McDermand would not be denied in notching his second career National Midget victory with Gavan Boschele running the high-line into the runner-up placement over a fast-circling Karter Sarff that finished third.
Mounting a charge back to the front of the field would find Taylor Reimer finishing fourth place as Mitchell Davis would slip high-side in the final corner to round out the Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget Leagues top-five finishers at Valley Speedway for Night One of the Thunder in the Valley Weekend.
POWRi National Midget League | Valley Speedway | 7/15/22:
Hoosier Racing Tire Top Time: 40-Chase McDermand (13.424)
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Race 1 Winner: 17-Kyle Jones
Auto Meter Heat Race 2 Winner: 40-Chase McDermand
MVT Services High Point Qualifier: 17-Kyle Jones
Toyota Racing Development Hard Charger: 5-Gavan Boschele
Lucas Oil Feature Winner: 40-Chase McDermand
Lucas Oil/Realty Connect A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[3]; 2. 5-Gavan Boschele[5]; 3. 21K-Karter Sarff[4]; 4. 25K-Taylor Reimer[2]; 5. 56-Mitchell Davis[7]; 6. 87-Jace Park[6]; 7. 51B-Joe B Miller[9]; 8. 97-Brenham Crouch[8]; 9. 77W-Joey Wirth[10]; 10. 17-Kyle Jones[1]; 11. 31K-Kyle Beilman[14]; 12. 51-Joe Walker[13]; 13. 44-Branigan Roark[11]; 14. 21-Emilio Hoover[12]; 15. 33GC-George Campbell Jr[15].
Advanced Racing Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Kyle Jones[7]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff[3]; 3. 87-Jace Park[4]; 4. 97-Brenham Crouch[5]; 5. 77W-Joey Wirth[1]; 6. 21-Emilio Hoover[2]; 7. 51-Joe Walker[6]; 8. 31K-Kyle Beilman[8].
Auto Meter Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[1]; 2. 25K-Taylor Reimer[4]; 3. 56-Mitchell Davis[2]; 4. 5-Gavan Boschele[7]; 5. 51B-Joe B Miller[6]; 6. 44-Branigan Roark[5]; 7. (DNS) 33GC-George Campbell Jr.
Next up for the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League, as well as the POWRi West Midget League presented by Realty Connect, will be Night Two of the Thunder in the Valley weekend sweep on Saturday, July 16th along with the Lucas Oil POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League followed by the trio of Leagues traveling to Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex on Sunday, July 17th to finalize the three-day speed-fest.
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