Logan Seavey passed Tyler Thomas on lap 25 and then was able to hold him off in the final laps to win Saturday’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Spoon River Speedway in earning his ninth POWRi victory of the season. Seavey’s Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Tanner Carrick finished third as Toyota drivers swept the podium for the second consecutive night.
The victory gives Seavey a sweep of the weekend’s two POWRi events as he closed to within two wins of Christopher Bell’s single-season POWRi record of 11 set in 2014. The triumph was the 33rd for Toyota-powered drivers in a national midget feature in 2019.
Jake Neuman led the opening lap, but gave way to Carrick on lap two as Seavey and Thomas then captured the second and third positions. That set up a battle that would last throughout the 30-lap feature.
Carrick would stay up front until lap eight when Thomas rolled the bottom into the lead as Carrick and Seavey ran the cushion in a fierce three-car battle for the lead.
After a lap nine caution, Thomas would come back to the green followed by Carrick, Seavey, Tucker Klaasmeyer and Spencer Bayston. Thomas and Carrick continued to run one-two, while Klaasmeyer and Bayston began to challenge Seavey for third.
Thomas continued to lead at the midway point and then began to pull away from Carrick, with Seavey turning up the heat on his teammate in the battle for second. The race would come to a halt on lap 20 when Klaasmeyer and Bayston got together in turn three while battling for fourth. Bayston would eventually flip in turn four, but both drivers were able to climb out of their cars.
Once again, Thomas would bring the field back to green with 11 laps remaining ahead of Carrick and Seavey, while Ace McCarthy had moved into fourth and Zach Daum ran fifth, one spot ahead of championship rival Jesse Colwell.
Running the lip, Seavey would move around Carrick to take over second on lap 23 and immediately began to close on Thomas. Seavey then made a big run to overtake Thomas on lap 25. While Seavey was in the lead, the race was far from over as Thomas came right back at him. As the race entered the final laps, Thomas was able to close as the two Toyotas ran side-by-side for the lead heading into the final three laps.
Catching Seavey was one thing, but passing him proved to be another as the 2017 POWRi champion would retain the lead on the way to the victory with Thomas close on his tail. Carrick was third, followed by Daum and Colwell.
Fellow Toyota drivers Jesse Love (seventh), Holley Hollan (ninth) and Daison Pursley (tenth) also earned top-10 finishes on the night.
Colwell leads the POWRi championship by 350 points over Daum with just 10 races remaining.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League is back in action with a pair of races next weekend, kicking off with Belle-Clair Speedway on Friday night and then moving on to Macon Speedway on Saturday.
Toyota Spoon River Speedway Results
Logan Seavey – 1st
Tyler Thomas – 2nd
Tanner Carrick – 3rd
Zach Daum – 4th
Jesse Colwell – 5th
Jesse Love – 7th
Holley Hollan – 9th
Daison Pursley – 10th
Cannon McIntosh – 11th
Michael Pickens – 13th
Tucker Klaasmeyer – 18th
POWRi Point Standings
1. Jesse Colwell – 5740
2. Zach Daum – 5390
3. Holley Hollan – 4810
4. Jake Neuman – 4690
5. Daison Pursley – 4600
*Toyota Drivers in Bold
Toyota Racing PR
