Belleville, IL. (05/30/2020) The POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget Leagues' two-day stint at I-44 Riverside Speedway during the seventh annual Turnpike Challenge would take center stage Saturday night as 58 distinct talents would check into the pits in hopes of gaining POWRi glory. In an action-packed slider-filled feature a new name has been added to the all-time win tally as Michael “Buddy” Kofoid would claim the night’s top spot.
The feature action was all over I-44 Riverside Speedway, as front row competitors #3N Jake Neuman and #71K Cannon McIntosh would bring the field of 22 starters to green flags racing as pole-sitter Neuman would gain the early lead. McIntosh would strike early though as a pair of cautions would keep the field bunched and give Cannon all the opportunity he needed, grabbing the lead in a hard-fought battle with Neuman. McIntosh would maintain the lead nearly half the feature as #67 Buddy Kofoid mounted a charge through the pack, stalking the leader for several laps.
With just under ten laps remaining, Kofoid would strike on the exit of turn four using a high-to-low maneuver that would gain the lead from inside momentum as the pair crossed by the flag-stand. Kofoid would hang on to the front position picking up the first POWRi National Midget League feature victory of his career. Previous night’s winner of the 7th Annual Turnpike Challenge #19az Logan Seavey would be among the hunt for the victory in the closing laps finishing in the runner-up position as McIntosh would stay close to the top, rounding out the night’s podium. Early leader Jake Neuman and #9 Daison Pursley would put on displays of driving talents swapping positions and lines lap after lap with Pursley gaining the advantage placing in the fourth position as Neuman placed fifth.
Keizer Wheels Heat 1 Winner: 89 - Chris Windom
Smith Titanium Heat 2 Winner: 35 - Tanner Carrick
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 3 Winner: 9 - Daison Pursley
Schoenfeld Headers Heat 4 Winner: 19m - Ethan Mitchell
Racing Electronics Heat 5 Winner: 7x - Thomas Meseraull
Diversified Machine Inc. Heat 6 Winner: 3n - Jake Neuman
MPI Heat 7 Winner: 82 - Andrew Layser
Mesilla Valley Transportation Heat 8 Winner: 15 - Emerson Axsom
Auto Meter C-Feature Winner: 3b - Shelby Bosie
Super Clean Qualifier Winners: 71k - Cannon McIntosh, 67 - Michael Kofoid, 19az - Logan Seavey, 00 - Trey Gropp
PAC Schroeder Torsion Bars High Point: 3n - Jake Neuman
Rod End Supply Semi-Feature 1: 19m - Ethan Mitchell
AFCO Semi-Feature 2: 5 - Kevin Thomas Jr
TRD Hard Charger: 28 - Ace McCarthy
Lucas Oil Feature Winner: 67 - Michael Kofoid
POWRi Lucas Oil National & West Midget League Feature Results (30 Laps): 1. 67 - Michael Kofoid 2. 19az - Logan Seavey 3. 71k - Cannon McIntosh 4. 9 - Daison Pursley 5. 3n - Jake Neuman 6. 35 - Tanner Carrick 7. 32 - Trey Marcham 8. 28 - Ace McCarthy 9. 95 - Chris Andrews 10. 89 - Chris Windom 11. 5 - Kevin Thomas Jr 12. 4 - Robert Dalby 13. 00 - Trey Gropp 14. 3 - Jake Nail 15. 15 - Emerson Axsom 16. 5d - Zach Daum 17. 71 - Kaylee Bryson 18. 82 - Andrew Layser 19. 20b - Brady Bacon 20. 19m - Ethan Mitchell 21. 7m - Chance Morton 22. 44s - Andrew Felker 23. 7x - Thomas Meseraull 24. 4a - Justin Grant
The POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget Leagues continue action on Sunday, May 31st at Port City Speedway for the final night of the Seventh Annual Turnpike Challenge. Start-time is 5:00 pm. for Hot-Laps racing to follow with the pit’s open all day.
For further information, visit www.powri.com, “Like” POWRi on Facebook, and follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter. Catch each night’s LIVE action via pay-per-view broadcast from POWRi.TV at www.powri.tv.