Jesse Colwell finished third as the top placing Toyota in a wild POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Valley Speedway Friday night.
Cannon McIntosh appeared to have earned his first POWRi feature victory, but was disqualified after his car was found to be under weight in the post-race inspection. The win was then awarded to Jake Neuman.
The race featured numerous passes for position and began with three-time POWRi champion Zach Daum going from the outside of the front row into the lead on the opening lap, only to see pole-sitter Chance Morton drive around him on the top side to take the point position on lap two. Behind the top two were Hank Davis, Ace McCarthy, Jake Neuman, McIntosh, Holley Hollan, Kyle Jones, Andrew Felker and Colwell.
As the race neared the midway point, McIntosh began to make his move, jumping from fifth to third on a restart and began to close on Morton and Daum. McIntosh would then begin a fierce battle with Daum as the two traded sliders back and forth for second with McIntosh eventually taking the position.
At that point, the 16-year-old Oklahoma native quickly caught Morton and threw a slider for the lead, only to see Morton drive back around him. Then with nine laps remaining, McIntosh again went for the lead, with the top two cars making slight contact and Morton spinning, resulting in a caution and having Morton re-join the field at the back of the pack.
McIntosh would bring the field back to green with eight laps remaining with Daum right behind him. The two would battle for the next six laps, before Daum appeared to stall his car as he prepared to set McIntosh up for the pass. That resulted in a caution, setting up a two-lap run to the finish.
In the green-white-checkered finish, McIntosh led Neuman to the green flag, where Neuman would throw a slider at McIntosh going into turn one, only to see McIntosh drive back around him for the lead. Neuman would throw another slider at him on the last lap, but couldn’t pull the pass off, giving McIntosh the apparent win with Neuman, Felker and Colwell, who went from sixth to four in the final two laps, crossing the finish line behind McIntosh.
Also earning top-10 finishes were Toyota-powered drivers Holley Hollan in seventh and 14-year-old Daison Pursley in ninth.
With the third-place finish, Colwell moves up to second in the POWRi point standings.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League returns to Valley Speedway on Saturday night.
| Finish | Toyota Results at Valley Speedway |
| 3rd | Jesse Colwell |
| 7th | Holley Hollan |
| 9th | Daison Pursley |
| 12th | Zach Daum |
| 24-DQ | Cannon McIntosh |
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Standings:
| Pos | Driver | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Logan Seavey | 7 | 3010 |
| 2 | Jesse Colwell | 2650 | |
| 3 | Zach Daum | 2590 | |
| 4 | Jake Neuman | 1 | 2540 |
| 5 | Tucker Klaasmeyer | 2530 | |
| 6 | Ace McCarthy | 2240 | |
| 7 | Tanner Carrick | 2150 | |
| 8 | Holley Hollan | 2130 | |
| 9 | Cannon McIntosh | 2070 | |
| 10 | Daison Pursley | 2010 |
*Toyota-powered drivers in bold
Toyota Racing PR
