Austin Brown led all 30 laps in winning the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League “Knepper Memorial” at Belle-Clair Speedway, with Jesse Colwell placing second in a Toyota one-two finish Friday night.
The victory was the fifth national midget feature win for Brown and marked the 12th for a Toyota-powered car in 2019.
Brown’s dominating night began with him earning the pole after charging from sixth to first in his heat race. He would start next to fellow Toyota driver Cannon McIntosh, who won his heat after starting fifth.
At the green flag, Brown went straight to the lead as Zach Daum moved into second, followed by Tucker Klaasmeyer, Tanner Carrick and McIntosh. The front of the field stayed largely intact through the first 10 laps as Daum and Klaasmeyer began to challenge for the lead in lapped traffic only to see the caution wave.
After the restart, Brown resumed the point position with the action heating up behind him. The 16-year-old McIntosh started to climb back through the field after falling as far back as sixth. By lap 14, he had moved into third and then overtook Daum for second on lap 15, only to see Daum take the spot back one lap later. As the two battled for second, fellow Toyota driver Brown was pulling away from the field.
A lap 24 caution would close the field up once again and would lead to a wild six-lap dash for a top-five finishing position. Brown led the field back to green followed by Daum, McIntosh, Colwell, Klasmeyer, Carrick and Logan Seavey.
As Brown closed in on the victory on the final lap, Keith Kunz Motorsports teammates Klaasmeyer, Carrick and Seavey all got together in turn one while battling running fourth, fifth and six bringing out a yellow flag. That would set up a one-lap dash to the finish.
The late yellow wouldn’t deter Brown, though, as he pulled away from the field once more to take the checkered flag, but behind him, things heated up once more as Daum and McIntosh collided in turn four, both coming to a stop and eventually being scored in 15th and 16th as Colwell drove by for a career-best second.
McIntosh’s Dav Mac Motorsports teammate Kaylee Bryson also registered her top national midget feature finish with a fourth-place. Fourteen-year old Daison Pursley finished seventh, while Presley Truedson made if five Toyotas in the top-10 with a ninth-place showing.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League is back in action Saturday night at the Macon Speedway.
| Finish | Toyota Results at Belle-Clair Speedway |
| A Main – 1st | Austin Brown |
| A Main – 2nd | Jesse Colwell |
| A Main – 4th | Kaylee Bryson |
| A Main – 7th | Daison Pursley |
| A Main – 9th | Presley Truedson |
| A Main – 11th | Holley Hollan |
| A Main – 12th | Tucker Klaasmeyer |
| A Main – 13th | Tanner Carrick |
| A Main – 14th | Logan Seavey |
| A Main – 15th | Zach Daum |
| A Main – 16th | Cannon McIntosh |
| A Main – 17th | Tyler Thomas |
| A Main – 19th | Jesse Love |
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Standings:
| Pos | Driver | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Logan Seavey | 3 | 1520 |
| 2 | Tuck Klaasmeyer | 1380 | |
| 3 | Jake Neuman | 1330 | |
| 4 | Christopher Bell | 1 | 1160 |
| 5 | Tyler Thomas | 1150 | |
| 6 | Tanner Carrick | 1140 | |
| 7t | Zach Daum | 1120 | |
| 7t | Jesse Colwell | 1120 | |
| 9 | Ace McCarthy | 990 | |
| 10 | Daison Paisley | 970 |
Toyota Racing PR
