Grain Valley, MO – In what was an eventful POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget League feature event at Valley Speedway, Ace McCarthy had to fend off several challenges as he wired the field for his second career POWRi victory. McCarthy’s Valley Speedway victory was his first driving for Dave Mac Motorsports.
Taking the early lead from polesitter Zach Daum after going three-wide into turn three, McCarthy took control of the 30-lap feature event coming out of turn four to lead lap one. Enduring several cautions early, McCarthy consistently pulled away from the field on the restarts as the field jockeyed for position on back.
The biggest threat to McCarthy’s momentum occurred with nine laps in, as Ethan Mitchell spun a 360 in turn four while running third, Amber Balcean flipped wildly through turn four bringing out the open red. Returning to racing, McCarthy switched from running the ledge all the way around to rolling the bottom in one and two, while continuing to rip the lip in three and four.
All the while as McCarthy remained out front, the top three jockeyed for position with Michael Buddy Kofoid eventually working the third position away from Zach Daum. Coming down to the final turn, second running Daison Pursley threw everything he had with a slider into three, but McCarthy powered on to victory. Pursley tied his career-best finish of second with Kofoid completing the podium. Cannon McIntosh and Andrew Felker rounded out the top five.
“Towards the end we started getting pretty tight in three and four and I was just trying not to mess that up,” commented Ace McCarthy. “There’s a little rut up there and I was just trying to stay in it and get that drive off. I knew if I kept it down in one and two, Daison wouldn’t get around me. He was definitely putting some pressure on me. That’s where I won here last year. On the bottom in one and two and the top in three and four. You just had to be patient and get in easy in three. Cody Cordell, Robby, and Matt gave me a great car tonight. I can’t thank Dave Mac enough for giving me a car to drive.”
“Congrats to Ace and Dave Mac Motorsports,” said Daison Pursley. “It was a good race there. I wish we wouldn’t have had that red. I would have ran the bottom and tried to pass him, but we had the red flag and had the opportunity for Cody to tell Ace we were running the bottom down there.
“I knew the bottom at the last half was basically the place to be in one and two,” stated Michael Buddy Kofoid. “I could run it so good, and honestly, I think I was better that first and second on the bottom. We were about even on the top in three and four. Towards the end, I saw some guys rolling the bottom, so I moved down there and caught them. The track just made it tough to gain any ground. I think if we actually got third in that heat race, it would have helped us. But I don’t know what the deal was there. I think one spot in the heat race could have made the difference, but we’ll come back here tomorrow and try to be two spots better.”
Midgets
Auto Meter Heat 1 Winner: 15 - EMERSON AXSOM
KSE Racing Products Heat 2 Winner: 28 - ACE MCCARTHY
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 3 Winner: 19M - ETHAN MITCHELL
Schoenfeld Headers Heat 4 Winner: 71K - CANNON MCINTOSH
Racing Electronics Heat 5 Winner: 97 - JESSE LOVE
PAC Schroeder Torsion Bars High Point: 5D - ZACH DAUM
Rod End Supply Semi-Feature 1: 2H - LUKE HOWARD
AFCO Semi-Feature 2: 7U - KYLE JONES
TRD Hard Charger: 3N - JAKE NEUMAN
Lucas Oil Feature Winner: 28 - ACE MCCARTHY
POWRi Lucas Oil National & West Midget League Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 28 - ACE MCCARTHY 2. 9 - DAISON PURSLEY 3. 67 - BUDDY KOFOID 4. 71K - CANNON MCINTOSH 5. 44S - ANDREW FELKER 6. 15 - EMERSON AXSOM 7. 3N - JAKE NEUMAN 8. 5D - ZACH DAUM 9. 7M - CHANCE MORTON 10. 97 - JESSE LOVE 11. 21K - EMILIO HOOVER 12. 7U - KYLE JONES 13. 00 - TREY GROPP 14. 2H - LUKE HOWARD 15. 72 - SAM JOHNSON 16. 08 - NOAH GASS 17. 19M - ETHAN MITCHELL 18. 84M - KADE MORTON 19. 71 - KAYLEE BRYSON 20. 26 - TRISTIN THOMAS 21. 3B - SHELBY BOSIE 22. 10 - AMBER BALCAEN 23. 49 - JOE B MILLER
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Photo Credits: Ryan Black