Belleville, IL. (4/16/22) Chase McDermand would use the extra day of prep to his advantage, parking in Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 victory lane and earning his first career Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget League presented by Realty Connect feature win.
Early Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget League presented by Realty Connect competition of the thirty-one entries would witness Zach Daum clock the quickest hot-lap time with a 13.439-second lap. Tanner Berryhill, Taylor Reimer, Chase McDermand, and Joe B Miller would all notch heat racing victories with Tanner Berryhill earning the high-point qualifier award after racing from starting eighth to finishing first as Hayden Reinbold gained the semi-feature victory.
Launching the field on the initial green flag launch would witness Tanner Berryhill and fellow front-row starter Chase McDermand shoot out to the early advantages and appear to be the competitors to beat with Berryhill leading the opening lap only to see McDermand mount a charge to the front of the field.
Leading the stout field of competitors for the majority of the event would witness the very speedy Chase McDermand stretch out a commanding lead only to see his advantage evaporate when the caution flag flew in the final stages of the feature with McDermand, Joe B Miller, Berryhill, Sam Johnson, and Taylor Reimer all contending inside the top-five.
Holding the field at bay at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 would find Chase McDermand securing his first career POWRi National Midget victory as Joe B Miller placed a close runner-up and leaving Tanner Berryhill in a hard-fought third position. Sam Johnson and Bryant Wiedeman would battle late with Johnson earning fourth, leaving Wiedeman to round out the Lucas Oil POWRi National & West Midget League top-five in the exciting feature finale.
“This has been a dream of mine for a long time to be able to run National Midgets and to be able to get a deal worked out with Jay Mounce and Gavin Stout, it’s honestly a dream come true,” said a celebratory Chase McDermand. Adding “We’ve started this year out really good, and I think it’s taking a lot of guys by surprise, but this is huge for our team to be able to win here at Pevely”.
POWRi National & West Midget League | Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 | 4/16/22:
Hoosier Racing Tire Top Hot Lap Time: 9M – Zach Daum (13.439)
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Race 1 Winner: 17 – Tanner Berryhill
Auto Meter Heat Race 2 Winner: 25K – Taylor Reimer
Schure Built Suspension Heat Race 3 Winner: 40 – Chase McDermand
AFOC Racing Heat Race 4 Winner: 51B – Joe B Miller
Max Papis Innovations Semi Feature Winner: 19AZ – Hayden Reinbold
MVT Services High Point Qualifier: 17 – Tanner Berryhill
Toyota Racing Development Hard Charger: 08 – Cannon McIntosh (+15)
Lucas Oil | Realty Connect Feature Winner: 40 – Chase McDermand
Lucas Oil/Realty Connect A Feature 1: 1. 40-Chase McDermand[2]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 3. 17-Tanner Berryhill[1]; 4. 72-Sam Johnson[10]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[6]; 6. 97-Brenham Crouch[12]; 7. 25K-Taylor Reimer[5]; 8. 08-Cannon McIntosh[23]; 9. 26-Chance Crum[13]; 10. 67-Ryan Timms[11]; 11. 83-Dominic Gorden[15]; 12. 50-Daniel Adler[20]; 13. 97K-Kaidon Brown[7]; 14. 17B-Austin Barnhill[4]; 15. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[17]; 16. 77W-Joey Wirth[16]; 17. 31B-Kyle Beilman[22]; 18. 75-Bryan Stanfill[19]; 19. 21K-Karter Sarff[9]; 20. 17C-Devin Camfield[21]; 21. 9M-Zach Daum[18]; 22. 8J-AJ Johnson[8]; 23. 7D-Michelle Decker[14].
Max Papis Innovations B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[2]; 2. 9M-Zach Daum[9]; 3. 75-Bryan Stanfill[15]; 4. 50-Daniel Adler[3]; 5. 17C-Devin Camfield[12]; 6. 31B-Kyle Beilman[1]; 7. 21-Emilio Hoover[6]; 8. 44-Branigan Roark[7]; 9. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[5]; 10. 3N-Jake Neuman[10]; 11. 3-Lane Warner[4]; 12. 84-Jade Avedisian[8]; 13. 87-Jace Park[11]; 14. 7-Shannon McQueen[13]; 15. 08-Cannon McIntosh[14].
Advanced Racing Suspension Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Tanner Berryhill[8]; 2. 17B-Austin Barnhill[5]; 3. 31B-Kyle Beilman[3]; 4. 7D-Michelle Decker[6]; 5. 21-Emilio Hoover[1]; 6. 44-Branigan Roark[4]; 7. 9M-Zach Daum[7]; 8. 08-Cannon McIntosh[2].
Auto Meter Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 25K-Taylor Reimer[2]; 2. 21K-Karter Sarff[3]; 3. 26-Chance Crum[4]; 4. 83-Dominic Gorden[6]; 5. 77W-Joey Wirth[8]; 6. 50-Daniel Adler[7]; 7. 17C-Devin Camfield[1]; 8. 7-Shannon McQueen[5].
Schure Built Suspension Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[5]; 2. 67-Ryan Timms[1]; 3. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[6]; 4. 8J-AJ Johnson[8]; 5. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[4]; 6. 3-Lane Warner[7]; 7. 87-Jace Park[3]; 8. 75-Bryan Stanfill[2].
AFCO Racing Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 2. 97-Brenham Crouch[1]; 3. 97K-Kaidon Brown[6]; 4. 72-Sam Johnson[7]; 5. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[2]; 6. 84-Jade Avedisian[4]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[5].
Next up for the Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League will be a weekend trip to the Land of Lincoln for the ILLIANA Showdown at Charleston Speedway on Friday, May 6, and Macon Speedway on Saturday, May 7 with the POWRi 600cc Outlaw Micro League presented by Engler Machine & Tool also in attendance.
The Lucas Oil POWRi West Midget League presented by Realty Connect will next witness open-wheel action the weekend of May 13-14 with Valley Speedway’s Mid-MO State Nationals followed by the Open Wheel Showdown at Lucas Oil Speedway, both nights with the Lucas Oil POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League on the racing agenda as well.
Follow along for more information on POWRi and items such as race recaps, updates, full results, and press releases online at www.powri.com, or on Twitter & Instagram at @POWRi_Racing and Facebook at POWRi.