Bryant Wiedeman passed Emerson Axsom on a late race restart to win the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Chad McDaniel Memorial at Mitchell County Fairgrounds, the opening round of 2023 Mid-America Midget Week Wednesday night.
The victory is the first in USAC competition for Wiedeman and comes in his home state of Kansas. He became the sixth different Toyota-powered driver to win in the first 10 USAC events this season.
Axsom dominated much of the action on the night, taking over the lead from Ryan Timms on lap two and pulling away from the field, stretching out a 2.7-second lead by the midway point. A caution flag would bunch the field, but Axsom once again pulled away from the field stretching out a 1.6-second lead over second-place Jesse Love by lap 21 with Wiedeman running third.
Axsom appeared to be on the way to Victory Lane before a Justin Grant spin on lap 26, would once again bunch the field with just five laps remaining as he held a 1.5-second lead over Wiedeman. Axsom would hold down the top spot before another yellow came out, setting up a green-white-checkered run to the finish.
On the restart, Wiedeman would get under Axsom into one, then power into the lead coming out of turn two. He would hold off one final charge from both Axsom, who led 27 of the 30 laps, and third-place finisher Logan Seavey to capture the win.
Jacob Denney would place fourth with Love coming home fifth as Toyota-powered drivers captured four of the top five finishing positions on the night.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series heads to Mitchell County Fairgrounds in Beloit, Kansas, for round two of Mid-America Midget Week Wednesday night.
Notes:
With Wiedeman’s victory, six different Toyota-powered drivers from four different teams have combined to win nine of the season’s first 10 events.
Quotes:
Bryant Wiedeman, CB Industries Toyota: “I can’t believe it. I’ve been working really hard for this one. I can’t thank Chad Boat and all my guys enough for this. I just stayed down on one and two the whole race. I think USAC needs to come to Kansas more often. It’s just mind-blowing to win here. I thought tonight might be my night and it was.”
Emerson Axsom, Petry Motorsports Toyota: “I’m frustrated honestly. I hate to lose, but Bryant’s one of my buddies. Congrats to him. We know we’ve got a really fast car for these next few nights. Thanks to Toyota for giving us such a good engine. We had a really good run, so we hope these next few nights can be just as good.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Mitchell County Fairgrounds Wednesday Feature Results
Bryant Wiedeman – 1st
Emerson Axsom – 2nd
Jacob Denney – 4th
Cannon McIntosh – 7th
Zach Daum – 8th
Ryan Timms – 9th
Taylor Reimer – 11th
Justin Grant – 14th
Anton Hernandez – 15th
Mariah Ede – 16th
Jake Andreotti – 17th
Jade Avedisian – 18th
Chance Crum – 19th
Gavin Miller – 22nd
Toyota Racing PR
