Zach Daum led the final 13 of 40 laps to win the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature on night two at the 1/4-mile Belleville Short Track, with Jade Avedisian finishing second as Toyota-powered cars ran one-two on Saturday night. With the runner-up finish, Avedisian moves into the series point lead, marking the first time a woman has led the national USAC championship point standings.
Daum’s triumph gives Toyota a sweep of the opening weekend’s action after Ryan Timms captured top honors on Friday.
For much of Saturday night’s feature, it appeared as if another Toyota driver would end the night in victory lane as Bryant Wiedeman took the lead from the pole position and quickly opened up a 2.8-second lead in the first 10 laps.
The CB Industries driver was into lapped traffic by the midway point and continued to comfortably pace the field before a caution flag waved heading into lap 28, bunching the field. On the restart, Wiedeman’s dominance would come to an end as second-place Chase McDermand tried to go underneath coming out of turn two and clipped Wiedeman, spinning the leader as both cars came to a stop. Wiedeman would be forced to restart from the back of the pack and eventually placed 11th.
Daum assumed the lead on the following restart and was able to hold off Avedisian over the final 13 laps for the win. They were joined in the top five by Jacob Denney in fourth and Justin Grant placed fifth.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series closes out its opening weekend at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex on Sunday night.
Quotes:
Zach Daum, Ramco Speed Group: ”We have won a race on both the big track here at Belleville and now the small track. That’s pretty cool. I can’t thank these guys enough for giving me a really good car tonight.”
Jade Avedisian, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “We’re starting to pick up. We’ve got Indiana Midget Week coming up and I’m looking forward to that. I’d like to have been one spot better tonight, but Zach did a really good job. I have to thank my entire KKM team and I wouldn’t be here without Mobil 1, Toyota and all of our great sponsors.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Belleville Saturday Feature Results
Zach Daum – 1st
Jade Avedisian – 2nd
Jacob Denney – 4th
Justin Grant – 5th
Gavin Miller – 9th
Bryant Wiedeman – 11th
Chance Crum – 12th
Ryan Timms – 13th
Mitchel Moles – 18th
Mariah Ede – 19th
Jake Andreotti – 20th
Taylor Reimer – 22nd
Cannon McIntosh – 23rd
Toyota Racing PR
