Urbana, IL – For the first open wheel racing event held at the Champaign County Fairgrounds since the late 1970’s, and the inaugural appearance of the POWRi Lucas Oil ILLINI Division II Midget Series, Tyler Vantoll of Freeburg, Illinois was the dominant car from the moment cars touched the dirt of the semi-banked quarter mile. Vantoll started on the outside front row of the heat race, getting the jump on the opening lap and holding off Champaign-native, Patrick Bruns.
Come feature time, Vantoll started on the pole for the 20 lap feature event with Bruns to his outside. Vantoll would lead Bruns by a narrow margin entering turn one and the duo would race virtually side-by-side for the early half of the feature. Vantoll eventually pulled away from Bruns by virtue of momentum running the preferred line, but the field would be bunched up on lap 18 after Justin Behrens brought out the red flag by flipping entering turn three. Returning to racing for a two lap shootout, Bruns’s last shot at the lead vanished into thin air when the drivers entered turn one and Vantoll powered away for his second POWRi Lucas Oil ILLINI Division II Midget Series victory. Adam Taylor took third, while Chett Gehrke finished fourth. Scott Koerner finished fifth.
“When we came here, we came up for hot laps and the turns were really tricky,” stated Tyler Vantoll. “I’ve never seen a track like this. We had a good car. The whole heat race, I saw Bruns right there on me, so I knew we had to run good in the feature. This is a good track for what it is and I’m awful glad to come out on top.”
“It was fun,” Patrick Bruns said. “Hat’s off to the fair board here. The race track kind of ended up being a one lane groove around the bottom, which made it difficult to pass. Other than that, I love racing here and hope we can come back and do it again. Thanks the fans that came out and braved the heat.”
“We tried a few things on the car tonight that paid off and I just want to thank all my sponsors,” said Adam Taylor.
D II Midgets
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 30T - TYLER VANTOLL
Great Clips Feature Winner: 30T - TYLER VANTOLL
POWRi Lucas Oil ILLINI D II Midget Series Feature Results (20 laps): 1. 30T - TYLER VANTOLL 2. 10B - PATRICK BRUNS 4. 11C - CHETT GEHRKE 6. 10R - JACK ROUTSON 3. 7 - ADAM TAYLOR 5. 24 - SCOTT KOERNER 7. 3 - JORDAN CASKEY 8. 0 - DOUG ORSESKE 9. 17 - JUSTIN BEHRENS
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