Tyler Thomas registered a dominating performance on the way to winning the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Belle-Clair Speedway Friday night, leading Cannon McIntosh and Jesse Colwell across the finish line in a one-two-three Toyota finish.
The victory is the first of the season for Thomas as he becomes the 12th different Toyota-powered driver to win a national midget feature in 2019. The manufacturer has now registered 25 national wins this year.
McIntosh started the race from the pole, but Jake Neuman quickly powered around the outside to lead the opening lap with Thomas moving into second and McIntosh falling back into third.
Thomas began to close in on Neuman and was challenging for the lead on lap five, as Colwell and McIntosh traded sliders for the third spot.
Neuman’s day would come to an early end as he lost power coming out of turn two and slowed to a stop after leading the first seven laps. That would hand the lead over to Thomas, with McIntosh in second, Colwell running third, Sam Johnson in fourth and Ace McCarthy in five.
The race would be slowed for two more cautions by the midway point, but Thomas would perfectly time each re-start, pulling back away from McIntosh. As they reached the 20-lap point of the 30-lap feature, Colwell started to close on McIntosh, allowing Thomas to pull away by half a straightaway.
McIntosh would hold off the challenge for second, with Johnson moving up to contest Colwell for the third position. The two young drivers would then steal the show as they traded sliders corner after corner for third.
Out front, it was all Thomas as he drove to his 13th national POWRi victory, with the 16-year-old McIntosh second and Colwell eventually holding off Johnson for third. Behind Johnson was Ace McCarthy, Broc Hunnell, Daniel Robinson, Karter Sarff, Daison Pursley and Holley Hollan. With Pursley and Hollan’s finish, Toyota drivers captured five of the top-10 finishing positions.
Zach Daum recovered from an early spin to finish 11th, with Jesse Love in 12th and Presley Truedson rounding out the Toyota contingent in 15th.
With the podium finish, Colwell remains the series point leader with three-time series champion Daum 180 points behind in second.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League is back in action Saturday night at Macon (Ill.) Speedway.
| Finish | Toyota Feature Results at Belle-Clair Speedway |
| 1st | Tyler Thomas |
| 2nd | Cannon McIntosh |
| 3rd | Jesse Colwell |
| 9th | Daison Pursley |
| 10th | Holley Hollan |
| 11th | Zach Daum |
| 12th | Jesse Love |
| 15th | Presley Truedson |
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Standings:
| Pos | Driver | Wins | Points |
| 1 | Jesse Colwell | 1 | 3440 |
| 2 | Zach Daum | 3260 | |
| 3 | Jake Neuman | 1 | 3160 |
| 4 | Ace McCarthy | 1 | 3040 |
| 5 | Logan Seavey | 7 | 3010 |
| 6 | Holley Hollan | 2890 | |
| 7 | Daison Pursley | 2750 | |
| 8 | Cannon McIntosh | 2740 | |
| 9 | Tucker Klaasmeyer | 2530 | |
| 10 | Tanner Carrick | 2150 |
*Toyota-powered drivers in bold
Toyota Racing PR
