Tyler Thomas started from the pole position and went on to lead all 30 laps in winning Saturday night’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway as Toyota-powered cars swept the weekend’s POWRi double-header.
The win is the first for Thomas since moving over to Toyota power earlier in the year. He becomes the 12th different Toyota driver to win a national midget feature in 2018.
On Saturday night, Thomas went right to the lead from the start as the race quickly evolved into a chase for who would join him on the podium as five different drivers held down the second and third positions.
As Thomas maintained the point position, Ryan Robinson occupied the second spot for much of the feature with Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammate Tucker Klaasmeyer moving into the top three by the midway point, Holly Shelton in fourth and Jason McDougal running fifth.
As the laps began to wind down, it was Petry Motorsports’ McDougal who would be the one to eventually challenge Thomas as he charged through the field, passing Shelton for fourth on lap 19, moving past Klaasmeyer two laps later on lap 21 and then over-taking Robinson for second on lap 25. At that point, he began to close on Thomas.
After a late-race restart with just two laps remaining, McDougal attempted to pull off a major slide job for the lead on Thomas, but was unsuccessful as Thomas held him off and went on to the victory. McDougal placed second, Klaasmeyer was third, Zach Daum came home in fourth and Robinson made it an all-Toyota top-five. After three consecutive top-three podium finishes, Shelton finished seventh, while Sam Johnson was tenth.
“We finally got our first midget win of the year,” said the victorious 22-year-old Thomas. “A huge thanks to my mom and dad, Spike Chassis, Engler Machine, Advanced Racing Suspensions and to our Speedway Engines and Toyota.”
With a pair of podium finishes this weekend, Klaasmeyer extended his point lead over KKM teammate Robinson to 70 points after 20 of 31 races.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League returns to action at the Macon Speedway, August 18.
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Place
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I-55 Speedway Saturday Toyota Feature Results
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1st
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Tyler Thomas
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2nd
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Jason McDougal
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3rd
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Tucker Klaasmeyer
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4th
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Zach Daum
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5th
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Ryan Robinson
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7th
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Holly Shelton
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10th
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Sam Johnson
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11th
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Andrew Felker
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13th
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Holley Hollan
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14th
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Presley Truedson
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Unofficial POWRi point standings
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Pos
|
Driver
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Wins
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Points
|
|
1
|
Tucker Klaasmeyer
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5
|
5180
|
|
2
|
Ryan Robinson
|
1
|
5110
|
|
3
|
Zach Daum
|
|
4200
|
|
4
|
Karter Sarff
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4130
|
|
|
5
|
Jake Neuman
|
1
|
3960
|
|
6
|
Logan Seavey
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3
|
3680
|
|
7
|
Joe B. Miller
|
3680
|
|
|
8
|
Holly Shelton
|
|
3530
|
|
9
|
Tanner Carrick
|
2
|
2980
|
|
10
|
Kyle Schuett
|
2890
|
*Toyota drivers in bold
Toyota Racing PR
