BELLEVILLE, ILL. (May 10, 2019) – Commanding the lead from the outset, Aiden Purdue of Clinton, Illinois picked up a wire-to-wire win on Friday night at Belle-Clair Speedway as he earned his first-career POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League victory aboard the Hyper Racing No. 37.
With an aggressive field of 43 entries signed-in for action, the large field was split into six heat races with a pair of semi-features to fill out the 22-car feature field. Heat races were won by Matt Carr, Andy Bishop, Joe B. Miller, Chad Elliott, Harley Hollan and Tom Curran, but it was Oklahoma’s Kaylee Bryson with a sixth-to-second charge as the high point driver.
From the drop of the green flag, Purdue used a phenomenal start from the outside pole to steal the lead away from Bryson, who slipped into second. The lightning fast 600cc Outlaw Micros ran unstopped through the opening half as Purdue worked into traffic and Bryson began threating for the top spot.
A caution past halfway set up a new battle as Joe B. Miller went to work on Bryson for the second spot, allowing Purdue to run away in command. Hosting an exciting side-by-side fight with several position swaps, Miller and Bryson’s duel came to an end on lap 19 in heartbreaking fashion. As the white flag dropped, Bryson’s No. 11B slowed to a stop in turn four and brought out the caution to create a green-white-checkered finish.
However, nobody could offer a challenge to Aiden Purdue on this night, as the Clinton, Illinois driver dominated Belle-Clair Speedway for his first-career POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League victory.
Purdue was followed to the line by Joe B. Miller in second and Gunner Ramey in third. Closing out the top ten was Austin Schaeffer in fourth, Chase Porter in fifth, Chad Elliott in sixth, Luke Veradi in seventh, Breanna Wirth in eighth, Matt Carr in ninth and Rob Cook in tenth.
Tomorrow night, the POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League marches on to the “Mighty” Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois. Joined by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets, the gates are slated to open at 1:00 PM with driver registration from 3:00 PM to 5:15 PM followed by hot laps at 6:00 PM. Fans catch watch LIVE on www.speedshifttv.com!
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Smith Titanium Heat One (8 Laps):
- 93-Matt Carr (1); 2. 14G-Gunner Ramey (4); 3. 1-Bryant Wiedeman (3); 4. 15F-Kyle Foutch (5); 5. 72X-Adam Johnson (2); 6. 41-Bret Gale (8); 7. 3J-Jordan Howell (6); 8. 82H-Hunter Pruitt (7).
Keizer Wheels Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 42B-Andy Bishop (1); 2. 11-Riley Goodno (2); 3. 37-Aiden Purdue (8); 4. 4C-Rob Cook (6); 5. 1X-Cailin Hunt (4); 6. 97-Scotty Milan (3); 7. 11X-Alex Midkiff (5); 8. 949-Dustin Clary (7).
Saldana Racing Products Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 51B-Joe B. Miller (3); 2. 12C-Austin Schaeffer (1); 3. 14-Kurt Westerfield (4); 4. 28-Luke Veradi (6); 5. 14K-Noah Key (5); 6. 71-Jake Cheatham (7); 7. 14B-Bill Livezey (2).
Rod End Supply Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 65E-Chad Elliott (2); 2. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (6); 3. 2-Chase Porter (4); 4. 21M-Matt Morton (1); 5. 32-Drake Turner (3); 6. 8-Gunner Bowden (7); 7. 1G-Bryant Paver (5).
Racing Electronics Heat Five (8 Laps):
- 14H-Harley Hollan (1); 2. 40-Devin Feger (4); 3. 72-Michael Brummitt (3); 4. 82-Gabe Veradi (7); 5. 94-Jordan Clary (6); 6. 00-Cole Tinsley (5); 7. 38-Jackson Frisbie (2).
Mesilla Valley Transportation Heat Six (8 Laps):
- 11C-Tom Curran (2); 2. 18-Steve Finn (3); 3. 8W-Breanna Wirth (6); 4. 22-Darrell Moser Jr. (4); 5. 76-James Koenigstein (1); 6. 53-Sean Robbins (5); 7. 44T-Trevin Littleton (7).
Toyota Racing B-Main One (10 Laps):
- 2-Chase Porter (1); 2. 72-Michael Brummitt (3); 3. 28-Luke Veradi (2); 4. 14K-Noah Key (6); 5. 32-Drake Turner (8); 6. 53-Sean Robbins (10); 7. 71-Jake Cheatham (7); 8. 22-Darrell Moser Jr. (4); 9. 76-James Koenigstein (9); 10. 11X-Alex Midkiff (11); 11. 41-Bret Gale (5); 12. 82H-Hunter Pruitt (14); 13. 14B-Bill Livezey (12); 14. 949-Dustin Clary (13).
Hoosier Tire B-Main Two (10 Laps):
- 4C-Rob Cook (1); 2. 94-Jordan Clary (4); 3. 97-Scotty Milan (10); 4. 72X-Adam Johnson (8); 5. 00-Cole Tinsley (9); 6. 3J-Jordan Howell (13); 7. 8-Gunner Bowden (7); 8. 44T-Trevin Littleton (14); 9. 21M-Matt Morton (5); 10. 1G-Bryant Paver (11); 11. 15F-Kyle Foutch (3); 12. 1-Bryant Wiedeman (2); 13. 38-Jackson Frisbie (12); 14. 1X-Cailin Hunt (6).
POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League Main Event (20 Laps):
- 37-Aiden Purdue (2); 2. 51B-Joe B. Miller (3); 3. 14G-Gunner Ramey (6); 4. 12C-Austin Schaeffer (15); 5. 2-Chase Porter (17); 6. 65E-Chad Elliott (4); 7. 28-Luke Veradi (21); 8. 8W-Breanna Wirth (8); 9. 93-Matt Carr (9); 10. 4C-Rob Cook (18); 11. 11C-Tom Curran (5); 12. 94-Jordan Clary (20); 13. 14-Kurt Westerfield (16); 14. 14H-Harley Hollan (11); 15. 72-Michael Brummitt (19); 16. 11-Riley Goodno (14); 17. 97-Scotty Milan (22); 18. 18-Steve Finn (12); 19. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (1); 20. 40-Devin Feger (7); 21. 44T-Trevin Littleton (23); 22. 82-Gabe Veradi (13); 23. 42B-Andy Bishop (10).
Lap Leader(s): Purdue 1-20.
Hard Charger(s): L. Veradi +14.
Photo Credit: Connor Hamilton