Logan Seavey took the lead on lap 12 and led the final 19 laps on the way to his second consecutive victory at the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League’s Turnpike Challenge event at I-44 Riverside Speedway, Saturday night. Tyler Thomas finished second and Christopher Bell was third in a Toyota one-two-three finish.
After winning the past two nights in POWRi competition, Seavey now has three national midget car victories this season, while Toyota-powered drivers have registered nine national midget feature wins in 2019.
The night began with Jerry Coons Jr. driving his Petry Motorsports Toyota into the lead on the green flag, followed by Tucker Klaasmeyer, Seavey, Jake Neuman, Cannon McIntosh and Thomas.
Coons continued to run up front, while Seavey moved past his Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammate Klaasmeyer on lap seven as Toyota-powered entries held down the top-five running positions with Klaasmeyer in third, McIntosh in fourth and Thomas climbing into fifth.
The race would see a major shake-up on lap 12 as Seavey drove under Coons in turns one and two to take the lead. Things quickly became worse for Coons. Just after giving up the lead, he would get collected in a spin by a lapped car that left Coons with no place to go. After coming to a stop, he was able to re-fire, but forced to go to the back of the pack.
The cars would restart on lap 12 with Seavey leading Klaasmeyer, McIntosh, Thomas and Alex Bright. The car on the move, though, was sitting not far behind as Christopher Bell had climbed from the 22nd starting position to eighth in just 11 laps. After a lap 16 caution closed the field up, Bell continued his rise through the field as he moved past his 14-year-old KKM teammate Daison Pursley for fifth.
By lap 24, Seavey had pulled away to a full straightaway lead as Bell moved past Klaasmeyer for third place and then began to close on Thomas for second. A late caution would then set up a three-lap shootout between Seavey, Thomas and Bell.
Seavey got a strong restart to maintain the lead, while Thomas went low and Bell stayed high in the battle for second. By the white flag Seavey had pulled out to a comfortable lead on the way to the victory, while Thomas was able to hold off Bell for second. It marked the third consecutive night that both Seavey and Bell had earned podium finishes with Bell winning Thursday’s opener at Creek County Speedway on Thursday.
Klaasmeyer would place fourth, with Bright in sixth, Pursley in seventh, Jesse Colwell in eighth and Tanner Carrick finishing ninth as Toyota-powered drivers captured eight of the top-10 finishing positions. Overall, Toyota drivers earned 16 berths in Saturday’s A Main out of 52 cars entered.
POWRi’s four-race Turnpike Challenge will conclude Sunday night at Port City Raceway in Tulsa.
TRD PR
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