Pevely, MO – Snapping a winless streak at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55, Tyler Thomas claimed the POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget League show, leading all 30 laps on his way to a dominant victory over a hard-charging Jason McDougal and POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League point leader Tucker Klaasmeyer. Thomas’s victory in the 2018 Ironman is the 11th of his career and his first with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League in 2018.
Starting on the pole, Thomas wasted no time at the drop of the green flag, taking to the top side of the high-banked 3/8 mile while Ryan Robinson and Karter Sarff filled in the top three. Enduring several cautions, Thomas took advantage of every restart, deflecting early challenges from Robinson, and eventually Jason McDougal in the final laps.
As the laps wound down, a final caution setup a two lap, mad-dash to the finish, with hard-charging Jason McDougal in second behind Thomas, followed by Klaasmeyer. At the drop of the green, McDougal worked the bottom in one and two as Thomas remained committed to the top side. Never faltering, Thomas took the checkers followed by McDougal and Klaasmeyer. Zach Daum rebounded to take fourth, while Ryan Robinson completed the podium.
“It’s been a trying year for us,” stated Tyler Thomas. “We obviously changed a lot throughout the year. We’ve been behind it seems like and missed a lot of races. We finally got things rolling. This Spike Chassis is on a rail. We’ve got Bobby Barth here, he’s helped us out a lot here over the years. He built us a really good set of shocks at Advanced Racing Suspensions. This Toyota motor built by Speedway, it rips. I just can’t thank everybody behind me enough. It just feels good to get them all a win. It feels good to get a win at Pevely. We’ve started on the front row three times and couldn’t get it done the first two times, so I guess the third time’s a charm.”
“The way yesterday went, how hard we rebounded today, I can’t thank my team enough,” Jason McDougal said. “I’ve got to thank Scott Petry for giving me this opportunity. This is where we ended up. On the podium’s good.”
“Just finishing is important,” commented Tucker Klaasmeyer. “I always want to be a couple spots better. We had a good car, about halfway through under the yellows you could kind of see the right rears in front of you looking a little worn. I probably should have pushed it a little harder there at the end, but it was a good race. Hat’s off to Tyler. I know him and his family team have had some bad luck lately. It’s always cool to see someone come back from some unfortunate mechanical failures and get a win. Congrats to Jason, too. We’ve been racing a long time together; since micros. It was fun getting to throw some sliders with him tonight, too.”
Midgets
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 27 - TUCKER KLAASMEYER, Heat 2: 72 - SAM JOHNSON, Heat 3: 91T - TYLER THOMAS
Toyota Semi Feature Winner: 5T - PRESLEY TRUEDSON
Mesilla Valley Transportation Feature Winner: 91T - TYLER THOMAS
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 91T - TYLER THOMAS 2. 15 - JASON MCDOUGAL 3. 27 - TUCKER KLAASMEYER 4. 5D - ZACH DAUM 5. 71 - RYAN ROBINSON 6. 3N - JAKE NEUMAN 7. 67 - HOLLY SHELTON 8. 21KS - KARTER SARFF 9. 28 - KORY SCHUDY 10. 72 - SAM JOHNSON 11. 7F - ANDREW FELKER 12. 77W - JOEY WIRTH 13. 14JR - HOLLEY HOLLAN 14. 5T - PRESLEY TRUEDSON 15. 5H - TYLER VANTOLL 16. 23 - HANNAH ADAIR 17. 51 - JOE B MILLER 18. 9K - KYLE SCHUETT 19. 3B - SHELBY BOSIE 20. 27B - AJ BURNS 21. 42 - HANK DAVIS 22. 50 - DANIEL ADLER 23. 44 - WESLEY SMITH
For further information, visit www.powri.com, “Like” POWRi on Facebook and follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter.