Bloomington, IN. – Christopher Bell earned his sixth POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series victory of the 2014 season and extended his points lead in the POWRi Midget World Championship at the 1/4 mile semi-high banked Bloomington Speedway to open the Ford EcoBoost Challenge Weekend. The Ford EcoBoost Challenge Weekend is also the finale for the POWRi Midget World Championship.
Race winner Christopher Bell sat outside the front row next to teammate and pole sitter Tanner Thorson of Minden, Nevada. Thorson took command at the drop of the green flag, putting some distance between himself and Bell until a caution for the piled-up cars in turns three and four bunched the field back up. When the field took the green again, Bell was able to power past Thorson in his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports’ Toyota-powered Bullet. Leading the remaining 26 laps, Bell went relatively unchallenged by second place finisher and defending Chili Bowl Champion, Bryan Clauson. “Keith gave me an awesome car,” said Christopher Bell. “We got the lead early and just tried to not make any mistakes. It was a little tricky down there. I just had to be real patient to make sure I didn’t throw the nose or get it loose.”
Clauson, of Noblesville, Indiana charged through the pack in his Joe Dooling/Rusty Kunz Esslinger-powered Spike from his ninth place starting position to crack the top five on lap nine. Clauson battled with Michael Pickens of Auckland, New Zealand for the fourth position until he was able to overtake him on lap twelve. Clauson then set his sights on the top three, which he inherited from Danny Stratton when Stratton’s Esslinger-powered Beast lost its left rear wheel entering turn three on lap 24. Not settling for the final place upon the podium, Clauson took second from Tanner Thorson on lap 25, but was unable to make a move on Bell to challenge him for the lead. “It was a good night for us, just had a little too much ground to make up starting ninth,” explained Bryan Clauson. “It was just a good night overall for the team.”
“We started on the pole in the main and we got a good jump on [teammate Christopher] Bell,” explained third place finisher Tanner Thorson. “From there on, I think we were a little bit too good in the beginning, but it shaped out to be alright and we got a podium out of it. I can’t thank my guys and all my sponsors enough.” Fourth place finisher in his Esslinger-powered Boss Chassis, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Zach Daum’s Toyota-powered Eagle round out the top five.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature results (30 laps): 1. 71 – Chris Bell 2. 63 – Bryan Clauson 3. 67 – Tanner Thorson 4. 9K – Kevin Thomas 5. 5D – Zach Daum 6. 3F – Michael Pickens 7. 2 – Seth Motsinger 8. 11A – Andrew Felker 9. 91T – Tyler Thomas 10. 7NZ – Brad Mosen 11. 85 – Shane Hollingsworth 12. 57D – Daniel Robinson 13. 25 – Jake Blackhurst 14. 56S – Danny Stratton 15. 11C – Chet Gehrke 16. 56 – Darren Hagen 17. 7 – Austin Brown 18. 55 – Nick Knepper 19. 9P – Parker Price-Miller 20. 88 – Terry Babb 21. 79J – Jacob Patton 22. 32 – Garrett Aitken
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Derek Schuett
POWRi Media
Derek.schuett@gmail.com