Logan Seavey took the lead on lap 11 and then pulled away in the second half of Saturday’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Jacksonville Speedway to earn his 12th national midget car victory of the season. Seavey’s Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammates Tanner Carrick and Jesse Colwell finished second and third to give Toyota a podium sweep on the night.
The win is the 22nd of Seavey’s career, with 21 coming with Toyota power. It also marked the manufacturer’s 32nd national midget feature victory in 2019.
It was Colwell who would lead the early going, jumping from the outside of the front row to take the lead from pole-sitter Ethan Mitchell with 14-year-old KKM driver Jesse Love holding down the third position on the opening lap and quickly moving up to second on lap two.
The top three would hold their positions for the first eight laps before a caution bunched the field on lap nine, with Seavey climbing up from seventh to fourth. Colwell maintained the lead on the restart, but Love bobbled slightly on the cushion, giving up second to Mitchell, but not for long, as Seavey used a slider to pass both drivers and move into the second position.
Shortly after, another caution waved, setting up the scariest moment of the night on the restart as Mitchell bounced off the cushion in turn two, flipping his car while his throttle stuck. He was able to get out of the car uninjured as safety workers were able to shut the car down.
When the racing resumed, Seavey would take advantage of the restart to get a run on Colwell and take the lead down the backstretch before throwing a slider into turn three to clear his teammate on lap 11. Behind them, Carrick had moved up to third, with Love, Tucker Klaasmeyer and Tyler Thomas making up the top six.
As Seavey paced the field, the battle for second between Colwell and Carrick heated up, with Carrick eventually taking over the position at the midway point on lap 15.
As the laps began to wind down, Seavey would pull out to a full straightaway lead, with Carrick, Colwell, Thomas and Klaasmeyer rounding out the top five and that’s the way it would finish. Fellow Toyota drivers Cannon McIntosh and Love would finish sixth and seventh, with Daison Pursley bringing it home in ninth.
With the third-place finish, Colwell now has opened up a 360-point lead over Zach Daum in the POWRi standings with 11 races remaining in the championship in what has turned into a two-car battle for the title.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League returns to the track Saturday night at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill.
Toyota Jacksonville Speedway Results
Logan Seavey – 1st
Tanner Carrick – 2nd
Jesse Colwell – 3rd
Tyler Thomas – 4th
Tucker Klaasmeyer – 5th
Cannon McIntosh – 6th
Jesse Love – 7th
Daison Pursley – 9th
Holley Hollan – 13th
Zach Daum – 15th
Michael Pickens – 19th
POWRi Point Standings
1. Jesse Colwell – 5480
2. Zach Daum – 5120
3t. Jake Neuman – 4590
3t. Holley Hollan – 4590
5. Daison Pursley – 4390
*Toyota Drivers in Bold
Toyota Racing PR
