BELLEVILLE, ILL. (May 17, 2019) – Extending his record as the all-time winningest driver in POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League history, Joe B. Miller of Millersville, Missouri won Friday’s appearance at Belle-Clair Speedway for his 34th-career victory.
Opening the “Southern Illinois Shootout” with a bang, a packed pit area with 54 entries set the stage for Friday’s showdown at the Belleville, Illinois 1/5th-mile. The six heat race victories were split by Tony Clifton, Gunner Ramey, Jordan Herrman, Noah Key, Jordan Howell and Joe B. Miller, while Austin Schaeffer and Harley Hollan took a pair of B-Main triumphs.
After a seventh-to-second heat race bid slotted him on the outside pole, Luke Veradi of Taylorville, Illinois commanded the opening lap of the 20-lap POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League main event. His pace was shortly lived, however, as Joe B. Miller maneuvered his No. 51B around Veradi and to the lead on the second lap.
From there, Miller went the distance and held command of the top spot until the checkered flag dropped, securing his 34th-career POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League victory on the opening night of the “Southern Illinois Shootout” at Belle-Clair Speedway.
Gunner Ramey of Sedalia, Missouri drove his Driven Midwest No. 14G from sixth-to-second with a methodical run to snag back-to-back podium finishes. Early leader Luke Veradi closed out the podium with a strong third-place finish aboard his No. 28 entry.
“We’ve been busting our butt all week, and this is a great way to cap it off with a win,” said Miller, after his 34th-career win. “I can’t thank Jamie, Dad, Derek, Chris, Austin, and everyone back at the shop enough for all of the great help.”
“It was pretty treacherous up there on the top, but there late in the race I had to start making moves and cut down to the bottom trying to pick some guys off,” noted Ramey, who nabbed his second-straight podium finish. “We went sixth-to-third last week here and now sixth-to-second tonight, so hopefully we can make it one position better tomorrow at SIR.”
“Anytime you can run with Joe B. and the Hollan crew, especially on a night with 54 great cars here, you are doing something right, so overall a good night for us on the podium” stated third-place finisher Veradi.
Rounding out the top ten on Friday night at Belle-Clair was Trevin Littleton in fourth, Harley Hollan in fifth-from-16th, Chad Elliott coming from 19th-to-sixth, Michael Brummitt with a seventh-place finish, Sean Robbins from 21st-to-eighth, Bryan Wiedemann in the ninth spot and Tony Clifton in tenth.
The “Southern Illinois Shootout” resumes tomorrow night on Saturday, May 18 as the POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League visits Marion, Illinois for a thrilling show at Southern Illinois Raceway.
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Smith Titanium Heat One (8 Laps):
- 23C-Tony Clifton (3); 2. 28-Luke Veradi (7); 3. 94-Jordan Clary (2); 4. 53-Sean Robbins (4); 5. 14H-Harley Hollan (9); 6. 40-Devin Feger (5); 7. 88K-Kelsey Gray (6); 8. 76-James Koenigstein (1); 9. 82X-Andy Bishop (8).
Keizer Wheels Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 14G-Gunner Ramey (3); 2. 37-Aiden Purdue (1); 3. 14-Kurt Westerfield (6); 4. 71-Jake Cheatham (8); 5. 11-Riley Goodno (7); 6. 25J-Delaney Jost (2); 7. 97-Scotty Milan (4); 8. 44-Branigan Roark (9); 9. 20M-Mattie Lienemann (5).
Saldana Racing Products Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 92-Jordan Herrman (2); 2. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (4); 3. 4C-Rob Cook (3); 4. 12C-Austin Schaeffer (6); 5. 65E-Chad Elliott (7); 6. 88G-Garrett Hulsey (9); 7. 12S-Adyn Schmidt (5); 8. 82H-Hunter Pruitt (1); 9. 06-Dustin Dane (8).
Rod End Supply Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 14K-Noah Key (1); 2. 93-Matt Carr (2); 3. 38-Jackson Frisbie (8); 4. 82-Gabe Veradi (5); 5. 2J-Jaxon Bishop (7); 6. 5T-Ryan Timms (6); 7. 73S-Samuel Wagner (9); 8. 18-Steve Finn (4); 9. 8B-Mickey Bullock (3).
Racing Electronics Heat Five (8 Laps):
- 3J-Jordan Howell (1); 2. 44T-Trevin Littleton (7); 3. 73J-Jack Wagner (9); 4. 11X-Alex Midkiff (4); 5. 949-Dustin Clary (3); 6. 21M-Matt Morton (2); 7. 72X-Adam Johnson (6); 8. 10-Jacob Tipton (5); 9. 55-Dylan Politte (8).
BOSS Chassis Heat Six (8 Laps):
- 51B-Joe B. Miller (6); 2. 72-Michael Brummitt (3); 3. 8-Gunner Bowden (4); 4. 1-Bryant Wiedeman (8); 5. 9W-Nick Worley (5); 6. 41-Bret Gale (1); 7. 5TX-Shawn Lampe (9); 8. 15F-Kyle Foutch (2); 9. 101-Tobias Midkiff (7).
Toyota Racing B-Main One (10 Laps / 4 Transfer):
- 12C-Austin Schaeffer (3); 2. 93-Matt Carr (1); 3. 65E-Chad Elliott (6); 4. 53-Sean Robbins (7); 5. 9W-Nick Worley (8); 6. 40-Devin Feger (10); 7. 82-Gabe Veradi (5); 8. 73J-Jack Wagner (4); 9. 88G-Garrett Hulsey (9); 10. 88K-Kelsey Gray (13); 11. 18-Steve Finn (16); 12. 15F-Kyle Foutch (18); 13. 8B-Mickey Bullock (20); 14. 44-Branigan Roark (14); 15. 82H-Hunter Pruitt (19); 16. 41-Bret Gale (21); 17. 5TX-Shawn Lampe (12); 18. 06-Dustin Dane (17); 19. 21M-Matt Morton (11); 20. 97-Scotty Milan (15); 21. 37-Aiden Purdue (2).
Mesilla Valley Transportation B-Main Two (10 Laps / 4 Transfer):
- 14H-Harley Hollan (1); 2. 4C-Rob Cook (3); 3. 11-Riley Goodno (5); 4. 94-Jordan Clary (4); 5. 8-Gunner Bowden (2); 6. 25J-Delaney Jost (10); 7. 20M-Mattie Lienemann (18); 8. 5T-Ryan Timms (9); 9. 11X-Alex Midkiff (7); 10. 82X-Andy Bishop (15); 11. 73S-Samuel Wagner (11); 12. 72X-Adam Johnson (12); 13. 12S-Adyn Schmidt (13); 14. 55-Dylan Politte (16); 15. 76-James Koenigstein (17); 16. 949-Dustin Clary (8); 17. 2J-Jaxon Bishop (6); 18. 101-Tobias Midkiff (19); 19. 10-Jacob Tipton
POWRi Engler Machine & Tool Outlaw Micro League Main Event (20 Laps):
- 51B-Joe B. Miller (1); 2. 14G-Gunner Ramey (6); 3. 28-Luke Veradi (2); 4. 44T-Trevin Littleton (3); 5. 14H-Harley Hollan (16); 6. 65E-Chad Elliott (19); 7. 72-Michael Brummitt (14); 8. 53-Sean Robbins (21); 9. 1-Bryant Wiedemann (13); 10. 23C-Tony Clifton (5); 11. 94-Jordan Clary (22); 12. 14K-Noah Key (10); 13. 12C-Austin Schaeffer (15); 14. 92-Jordan Herrman (7); 15. 11-Riley Goodno (20); 16. 14-Kurt Westerfield (9); 17. 3J-Jordan Howell (11); 18. 8-Gunner Bowden (23); 19. 93-Matt Carr (17); 20. 71-Jake Cheatham (12); 21. 11B-Kaylee Bryson (8); 22. 4C-Rob Cook (18); 23. 38-Jackson Frisbie (4).
Lap Leader(s): Veradi 1, Miller 2-20.
Hard Charger(s): Elliott +13, Robbins +13.
Photo Credit: Connor Hamilton