TOYOTA USAC: Timms Wins Hotly Contested Battle At Lawrenceburg

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Ryan Timms led 28 of 30 laps, but it was anything but easy as he would trade the lead six times on the way to winning the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ feature at Lawrenceburg Speedway Saturday in the penultimate round of Indiana Midget Week.

Timms’ win is his second this season in USAC competition and it marks the fourth for a Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) Toyota this week. 

Starting from the fourth position, Timms quickly moved up to second behind pole-sitter Jake Andreotti on the first lap. On lap two, he would throw a slider at the leader to take over the point position, but Andreotti would return the favor to take the lead on lap three.  Timms then came right back and was able to slide Andreotti to take over first place on lap four.

Behind them, Logan Seavey was charging and moved into second on lap nine and it would begin an epic battle as he began to chase down Timms for the top spot. By lap 13, the lead was less than half a second and it would stay that way for most of the final 17 laps.

Over the last half of the race, Seavey would slide Timms to move into the lead on four different laps, only to see Timms cross back over to hold the lead coming to the flag stand in standard Lawrenceburg fashion.

Seavey was right on Timms tail when a caution waved on lap 23. On the restart, Timms would get an outstanding jump and pull out by a couple of car lengths. After that, Seavey was able to stay right with the 16-year-old Timms but was never able to push past him as Timms would eventually start to pull away with two laps remaining to collect the victory.

Timms’ KKM teammate Jade Avedisian would make a strong charge late to overtake Bryant Wiedeman for third, with Justin Grant finishing fifth as Toyota drivers captured four of the top-five finishing positions.

The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series closes out 2023 Indiana Midget Week at Kokomo Speedway on Sunday. 

Notes:

-Ryan Timms became the fourth different Toyota-powered driver to win during the 2023 Indiana Midget Week, joining Jacob Denny (Tri-State), Buddy Kofoid (Circle City and Lincoln Park) and Gavin Miller (Bloomington). In addition, eight different Toyota drivers have earned top-three podium finishes in the first six events.

-Toyota drivers have now won eight of the season’s first nine USAC events

Quotes:

Ryan Timms, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “I knew Logan was going to be fast, so I was just trying to be consistent and make as few mistakes as possible. I’m really stoked right now. This is my first time here. I’ve always thought this was the coolest place ever, so to win here is just awesome. That was one of the funnest times ever in a midget. You carry so much speed around here. I want to thank Mobil 1, Toyota, JBL and everyone on my team. Just glad to get this one done. Hopefully, we can knock off a few more.”

Jade Avedisian, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “We had a chance (to win) last night, but then I threw it away. Hats off to everyone at KKM. I feel like it’s coming. I just need to put a complete night together. We had a really good pace. I just didn’t get going fast enough in the beginning. Thanks to Mobil 1 and Toyota Racing, this wouldn’t be possible without them. Hats off to Ryan for a really good win. Hopefully, we’ll get one here soon.”

TRD PR

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