Pursley Takes Toyota To Winner’s Circle In USAC At Red Dirt Raceway

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Daison Pursley overtook Kevin Thomas Jr. for the race lead on lap 23 and then proceeded to pull away from the field on the way to a 3.471-second victory over eventual second-place finisher Justin Grant as Toyota drivers finished one-two in the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Mid-American Midget Week event at Red Dirt Raceway, Tuesday.  

The victory was the 16-year-old Pursley’s first USAC National Midget national feature win after previously registering four wins in POWRi. He becomes the sixth different Toyota driver to win in USAC competition this season. Overall, it’s the 32nd national midget feature win for a Toyota-powered driver in 2021.

It was Pursley’s Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammate Kaylee Bryson who led the opening lap from her front-row starting position with Jonathan Beason in second, Thomas in third, Emerson Axsom in fourth and Pursley rounding out the top five.

Beason would move past Bryson for the lead on lap two, only to see Bryson come right back for the top spot on lap three.  She would maintain the lead through the first 10 laps while running the high side before Thomas would go low to take the lead on lap 11. Bryson would retain second, while Pursley had moved up to third.

Thomas and Bryson would continue to run first and second through lap 19 before Zach Daum took over the second spot. Just a lap later, Bryson’s hopes for a podium finish would be dashed when she and Trey Gropp made contact. Bryson was able to continue, but would have to restart from the back of the field.

On the restart, Pursley would master the high side to go past Daum for second and then set his sights on Thomas. Finally, on lap 23, Pursley would move past Thomas coming out of turn two and then was able to hold off Thomas through turns three and four to take the lead.

By lap 28, Pursley had stretched out a 2.6 second lead and continued to pull away on the way to the win. Behind him Grant was charging up on the cushion and able to pass Thomas on the final lap to take second, with Daum finishing third, Thomas placed fourth and Chris Windom was fifth – giving Toyota four of the top five finishers.

Also earning top-10 showings were Toyota-powered drivers Buddy Kofoid (sixth), Beason (eighth) and Logan (ninth).

Round two of Mid-American Midget Week is scheduled for Wednesday night at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kansas.

Toyota Driver Quotes: 

Daison Pursley, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “I feel like this has been a long time coming. Everyone at KKM deserves a win.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t been me. We finally got to check that box tonight and get that first USAC win. It’s pretty cool to do it here in my home state.”

Justin Grant, RMS Racing: “We started 14th, but these RMS guys gave me an awesome car. The curb was pretty gnarly. It was definitely the fastest way around for us. I like running the top a lot better anyway. I could pick my marks and take a bite out of that cushion. It was a lot of fun.”

Toyota Racing PR

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