Daison Pursley took the lead on lap 21 of 30 and led the final ten laps to score his third consecutive USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series win at Mitchell County Fairgrounds Wednesday on night two of Mid-America Midget Week.
The victory continues Pursley’s incredible run to open the 2024 campaign, scoring five wins and nine top-three podium finishes in the season’s first 10 races. He now holds a commanding 107-point championship lead over fellow Toyota driver Cannon McIntosh.
After qualifying second, Pursley would start from the fifth position in the inverted field. He immediately began moving up through the field, climbing up into second place by lap 11 behind Justin Grant as the two Toyota-powered began a fierce battle for the lead through the middle of the race.
Pursley would eventually slide Grant in turn four to take the lead on lap 18, only to see Grant retake the lead in turn two on the following lap. The lead would be short-lived, though, as Grant’s car appeared to over rotate and slid to a stop in turn two on lap 21, bringing out a yellow flag.
Down the stretch, Pursley would stretch out as much as a 1.6-second lead over second place. He would eventually take the checkered flag .408 seconds ahead of runner-up Thomas Meseraull. The victory is Pursley’s 14th overall national midget feature win, tying him for ninth all-time among Toyota-powered drivers.
Also scoring top-10 finishes on the night were Jacob Denney in fourth, McIntosh was sixth, Gavin Miller seventh, fast qualifier Zach Wigal came home in eighth with Ryan Timms and Jade Avedisian placing ninth and tenth, respectively.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series heads to Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Nebraska, to close out Mid-America Midget Week with races on Friday and Saturday.
Toyota Quotes:
Daison Pursley, CB Industries Toyota: “The Pristine Auction, NOS Energy Drink and Toyota number 86 was fast tonight and I think it was going to be one heck of a race with Justin with how the track was developing. Hats off to Chad Boat and the entire CB Industries team. It’s a long week and it’s good to kick if off with two wins. The track kind of threw everyone a curveball, as the bottom and the middle came back into play as the race went on. I felt it was another really good racetrack for us to race on and kept us guessing tonight.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Mitchell County Fairgrounds Feature Results
Jacob Denney – 4th
Cannon McIntosh – 6th
Gavin Miller – 7th
Zach Wigal – 8th
Ryan Timms – 9th
Jade Avedisian – 10th
Trey Zorn – 15th
Justin Grant – 16th
Kale Drake – 20th
Toyota USAC PR
