Jacob Denney took the lead on lap nine and led the final 22 laps on the way to securing his second consecutive USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature win at Tri-State Speedway to kick off Indiana Midget Week Sunday.
With the victory, Toyota-powered drivers have now won each of the first four USAC events this season. It is Denney’s third national midget feature win in 2023.
Toyota drivers Ryan Timms and Justin Grant started the race on the front row with Grant moving to the lead early with Timms running second, followed by Buddy Kofoid and Denney, who gained two spots on the opening lap going sixth to fourth.
As Grant led the early going, Denney moved past Kofoid for third by lap fourth, then overtook Timms on lap five. Then on lap nine, Denney would dive under Grant going into turn three to take the lead.
The Galloway, Ohio native would open up a 1.452-second lead before a red flag situation came out on lap 12. On the restart, Denney would quickly pull away from the field, opening up a 1.7-second lead over Kofoid before another caution flag would wave as Grant, who was running third at the time, would get together with fourth-place Kevin Thomas Jr. on lap 25 of 30.
That would give Kofoid one last shot at Denney and the two-time USAC champion would slide past Denney in turn two on both lap 25 and 26, but each time Denney responded by cutting back underneath him coming off turn two to maintain the lead.
By lap 28, Denney had opened up a .7-second lead and would drive off to the victory with Kofoid coming home in second to give Toyota-powered drivers a one-two finish on the night.
Four more Toyota drivers would earn top-10 finishes on the night with Jake Andreotti finishing sixth, Cannon McIntosh was seventh, Jade Avedisian came home in eighth and Gavin Miller placed tenth.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series heads to Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis on Monday for the second round of Indiana Midget Week, which features seven events in eight nights.
Quotes:
Jacob Denney, Tom Malloy/Trench Shoring: “This is a great way to start Indiana Midget Week I started making some late mistakes in lapped traffic. Buddy’s one of the best. We had a great, clean race. I can’t thank him enough for that. I can’t thank all my guys enough.”
Buddy Kofoid, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “I hate running second. Hats off to Jacob. He ran a really good race. They were fast all day.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Tri-State Speedway Sunday Feature Results
Jacob Denney – 1st
Buddy Kofoid – 2bd
Jake Andreotti – 6th
Cannon McIntosh – 7th
Jade Avedisian – 8th
Gavin Miller – 10th
Ryan Timms – 12th
Emerson Axsom – 15th
Justin Grant – 16th
Taylor Reimer – 17th
Chance Crum – 18th
Jesse Love – 19th
Bryant Wiedeman – 20th
Toyota Racing PR
