Kyle Larson took the lead on lap 35 of 100 and proceeded to run away from the field on the way to winning the inaugural USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Hangtown 100 at Placerville Speedway, Wednesday night. In addition to taking home $20,000 for winning the A Main feature, Larson also captured the $12,000 prize as the high point scorer over two the two nights of racing featuring the richest purse in USAC Midget history.
Christopher Bell finished second, while Tanner Carrick placed third as Toyota-powered cars captured the top three finishing positions on the night.
Four different drivers led during the race, with Brady Bacon taking the lead at the green flag, followed by Aaron Reutzel, Dillon Welch, Carrick, Jason McDougal, Larson and Logan Seavey. Bacon would maintain the lead briefly before Reutzel took over the top spot on lap three. Bacon fell back to second with Carrick in third and Seavey having climbed all the way up to fourth from his 12th starting position in just three laps, while Larson ran fifth.
Carrick would go inside Bacon for second on lap 12, with Seavey also getting past Bacon on lap 14. Three laps later, he would overtake Carrick for second and begin chasing down Reutzel.
Mastering the high line, Seavey went around Reutzel for the top spot on lap 18. As the reigning series champion settled into the lead, a hard-charging Larson claimed the second position on lap 29 and quickly set his sights on the leader. Closing in through lapped traffic, Larson would eventually use a slider through turns three and four to claim the lead on lap 35. Seavey fell to second, one spot ahead of Carrick. Shortly afterward, Seavey would get caught in traffic, making contact with a lapped car and fell back to fifth.
As the race neared the halfway point, Larson began pulling away from the field opening up a four-second lead over Carrick before a red flag brought the field to a stop on lap 50. After the restart, Larson quickly pulled back away from the field and it was clear that the only thing that could slow him down would be caution flags.
Behind Larson, Bell had climbed up to third and started a battle with Carrick that would last the remainder of the race. The two would trade second place five times from laps 82 to 92 before Bell finally claimed the runner-up spot for good with eight to go.
By lap 100, Larson had stretched out more than an eight-second lead and had lapped all but the top eight cars when he took the checkered flag. Bell finished second, Carrick was third, Ryan Bernal was fourth, followed by Jerry Coons Jr., Dillon Welch and Tuesday’s winner Gio Scelzi in seventh.
Toyota-powered entries have now won 43 national midget car features this season, with 15 different drivers from nine different teams claiming victories.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series heads to Bakersfield Speedway this Saturday, November 24, before closing out the 2019 campaign with the 79th annual Turkey Night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway on Thanksgiving night.
Toyota Placerville Speedway Wednesday A Main Results
Kyle Larson – 1st
Christopher Bell – 2nd
Tanner Carrick – 3rd
Jerry Coons Jr. – 5th
Dillon Welch – 6th
Gio Scelzi – 7th
Michael Pickens – 10th
Logan Seavey – 11th
Aaron Reutzel – 12th
Jason McDougal – 15th
Brady Bacon – 16th
Thomas Meseraull – 17th
Buddy Kofoid – 18th
Kevin Thomas Jr. – 21st
Jesse Colwell – 22nd
Rico Abreu – 26th
Tucker Klaasmeyer – 27th
Toyota Racing PR
