Ryan Timms charged from sixth to first to win night one of the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Firemen’s Nationals at Angell Park Speedway, Sunday. He would lead Keith Kunz Motorsports (KKM) teammates Gavin Miller and Jade Avedisian to the checkered flag in a one-two-three Toyota finish.
Timms swept the night’s activities earning fast qualifier, winning his heat race, and then taking top honors in the feature. The win is the third of the season for the 17-year-old Oklahoma City native, who has placed fourth or better in five of the last six USAC events.
With the top six starters being inverted, it was Miller who started from the pole position and immediately went to the lead, opening up a sizeable lead in the early going over Bryant Wiedeman. Further back in the field, Timms quickly moved up from sixth to fourth on the first lap and then started to dice his way through the field, eventually passing Justin Grant for second on lap 12 two seconds behind Miller.
Timms began to reel Miller in, closing to within a half second when the caution flag waved on lap 19. Timms would slide Miller in turn one on the lap 20 restart to take the lead as the two KKM drivers would continue to slide each other for the top spot. Miller would retake the lead by inches on lap 22, but Timms came right back to capture the point position on lap 23.
At that point, Timms began to pull away. Behind the top two, Avedisian began to inch forward, climbing into third and eventually battling Miller for second in the final laps, but Miller would hold on for runner-up honors.
Three more Toyota drivers would earn top-eight finishes on the night with Grant coming home in sixth, followed by Taylor Reimer in seventh and Cannon McIntosh in eighth.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series is back in action Monday for the second night of the Firemen’s Nationals.
Quotes:
Ryan Timms, Keith Kunz Motorsports: “On that last restart I was catching Gavin and I knew if I got a good enough restart, I could catch him in turn one. We had two or three crossovers. After I got the lead, I made a couple of mistakes, but I just chilled myself out at the end and we were able to bring it back home. I’m glad we could bring it home tonight. I have to thank everyone on my KKM team as well as JBL and Toyota.”
Jade Avedisian Keith Kunz Motorsports: “I feel like I had a really fast Mobil 1 Toyota. I felt I could have been there if I had run a little differently the first 15 laps. We’ll learn from it and going into tomorrow I think we have a really good shot.”
Toyota-Powered Drivers USAC Angell Park Speedway Sunday Feature Results
Ryan Timms – 1st
Gavin Miller – 2nd
Jade Avedisian – 3rd
Justin Grant – 6th
Taylor Reimer – 7th
Cannon McIntosh – 8th
Jake Andreotti – 12th
Emerson Axsom – 14th
Bryant Wiedeman – 15th
Toyota Racing PR
