Belleville, IL – After a valiant effort in 2017 with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League, Tucker Klaasmeyer came up one spot short in the final championship standings. Determined to make 2018 his year, the Kansan set with one goal in mind: to win the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League championship. With the conclusion of the 2018 season, Tucker Klaasmeyer is officially your 2018 POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League champion.
In 2018, the hot shoe out of Paola, Kansas set out on the tour with Keith Kunz Curb-Agajanian Motorsports and headed to the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League season opener in Ocala, Florida at the Inaugural Sunshine State Midget Challenge. While a podium and sixth place finish were nothing too exciting for Klaasmeyer, they were all part of the plan to build a foundation of solid finishes and go after the championship.
“Going into the season, with a new team I was a little nervous on how it would go,” commented Klaasmeyer. “Once we got to Florida, that relieved all my fears. The track was a little tricky, but I had good equipment under me. We showed up with the same equipment week in and week out and started getting some wins. That eased a lot of my concerns and then we built on that success for the championship from there.”
It was only a couple months later in which Klaasmeyer found himself in victory lane at Belle-Clair Speedway. Capturing his first of six victories with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League in 2018, this win was particularly special because it was his career-first. Klaasmeyer backed up the performance the next night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 with another victory.
“It’s one thing to run for points, as you don’t necessarily have to win every race to run for points, but I needed those for myself,” said Klaasmeyer. “Once I got the first win, I was able to focus more on driving and getting strong finishes. To get those first two wins and then keep them going throughout the year was pretty special.”
All-in-all, Klaasmeyer had a total of six wins throughout 2018 with a staggering 18 top five finishes in 29 feature events. With a 590-point advantage of teammate, Ryan Robinson, Klaasmeyer was able to not only earn his first POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League championship, but also the first for Keith Kunz Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.
“Ryan and I, we never had any tension,” stated Klaasmeyer. “We actually became good friends. It sucks when you’re competing with your teammates, as you root for their success, too, but at the end of the day, you have to get it done for yourself.”
“To be a champion is pretty special,” Klaasmeyer commented. “It takes a lot of time and work form the guys at the shop. There’re not very many firsts for Keith anymore, so to get him his first POWRi National Championship is pretty special. Between Logan and I sweeping the top midget championships, that’s a testament to what they do and what they accomplish as a team.”
For further information, visit www.powri.com, “Like” POWRi on Facebook and follow “POWRi_Racing” on Twitter.