Jesse Colwell recovered from an early-race mechanical problem to charge back through the field to earn his second victory of the season in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at I-30 Speedway Saturday night, with Colwell’s Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Daison Pursley finishing second in a Toyota one-two finish.
It was a hectic night for Colwell, who started from the pole position, but fell back to second on the opening lap as fellow KKM teammate Holley Hollan went to the lead. Hollan quickly began to pull away from the field in her pursuit to become the first woman in history to win a national midget feature on dirt.
After leading the first seven laps, Hollan’s lead would evaporate as Colwell slowed to a stop with a battery problem bringing out a full-course caution. Colwell would make his way to the pits and then rejoin the field from the back of the problem.
Unfortuntely for Hollan, her hopes of a historic victory would come to an end on the restart as she would bike going into turn one, then flipping the car. She would climb from the car under her own power, but her night was over.
At that point, Jake Neuman would assume the point position on lap eight and hold the top spot through the middle portion of the race. Behind him, Colwell was on the move, climbing back into the top five by lap 13, while Pursley ran fourth. By lap 18, Colwell had risen to third and moved into second on lap 20. On lap 23, race leader Neuman would spin, giving Colwell the spot. After charging from the back of the field to the lead in 15 laps, no one was going to catch the Red Bluff, Calif., native as he pulled away from the field on the way to the victory.
Behind him, Pursley would come on to finish second, matching a career-best finish for the 14-year-old. Hank Davis would finish fifth to give Toyota three of the top-five finishers on the night.
With the victory, Colwell extended his championship lead to 350 points over Zach Daum, who sat out the event due to medical issues.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League concludes its season next weekend with a double-header at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, Oct. 25-26.
Toyota I-30 Speedway Results
Jesse Colwell – 1st
Daison Pursley – 2nd
Hank Davis – 5th
Holley Hollan – 14th
Cannon McIntosh – 15th
POWRi Point Standings
1. Jesse Colwell – 7260
2. Zach Daum – 6610
3. Jake Neuman – 6280
4. Daison Pursley – 6200
5. Holley Hollan – 6030
*Toyota Drivers in Bold
Toyota Racing PR
