Belleville, IL – Logan Seavey added himself to the winner’s list of the Charlene Meents Memorial, taking the 14th annual with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League at Belle-Clair Speedway and adding his name alongside some of the best in the business. Seavey’s Meents Memorial victory is his sixth of 2018 with POWRi, tying him with current League point leader Tucker Klaasmeyer.
After the initial start being called because as a result of a spun Tucker Klaasmeyer off turn two, Seavey piloted his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports Toyota-powered Bullet by Spike into the early lead over Holly Shelton and Jerry Coons, Jr. As the laps clicked off, Shelton closed in on Seavey rolling the bottom as Seavey railed the top. But just as Shelton looked close enough to possibly mount a charge for the lead, the caution came out for Paul Nienhiser in turn four.
Returning to racing, Seavey took off until the yellow was displayed for Karsyn Elledge who came to a stop in turns one and two. Resuming green flag conditions, Seavey distanced himself from the rest of the field as Zach Daum moved past both Shelton and Coons, Jr. off turn two. As the laps wound down, Daum appeared to close on Seavey as the duo reached lapped traffic.
With less than a handful of laps remaining, Seavey navigated lapped traffic with no mistakes, closing the door on any opportunity Daum had to challenge for the top position. Coming to the line behind Seavey and Daum, Jerry Coons, Jr. took third with Holly Shelton in fourth. Ryan Robinson completed the top five.
“That was a lot of fun,” commented Logan Seavey. “I’m glad the rain stopped and we were able to get the race track going. The big hole in one, early on, I really tried to get above it, but then later I played it a little safer and moved down and I actually think I got better. I still was just lacking a little bit in three and four. I felt like I fell back a little bit and really had to pick the pace up. I can’t thank all the guys enough at KKM and TRD that let me do this.”
“I tried running above the cushion for a little bit,” said Zach Daum. “I knew I couldn’t do 30 laps up there without making a mistake and possibly crashing the car. The risk wasn’t worth the reward at that moment. I tried to find another line that was a little smoother. We actually reeled them in there and then we caught lapped traffic and tried to make a play for it. He seen me down there and started cheating the entry of two, which is what he had to do. I’m just glad to finally put a good run together. We’ll just try to finish out the season with some good runs.”
“Had a good first start there getting the lead as the yellow came out, but I don’t know if I could have kept Logan behind us,” stated Jerry Coons, Jr. “He was quick and running a very aggressive line, running up above the cushion like that. Holly was faster on the bottom, so I went down there for a while and got back by her and then the bottom went away so I jumped back to the top and they were just faster than us. We had a good car. I can’t thank these guys enough. We were just a little off and we adjusted our baseline a little bit tonight, so it was kind of a test session, if you will. We saw a lot that we liked.”
Midgets
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER, Heat 2: 67 – LOGAN SEAVEY, Heat 3: 67K – HOLLY SHELTON, Heat 4: 25 – JERRY COONS, Heat 5: 5D – ZACH DAUM
Toyota Semi Feature Winners: 37 – TERRY BABB, 21KS – KARTER SARFF
Mesilla Valley Transportation Feature Winner: 67 – LOGAN SEAVEY
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Feature Results (30 laps): 1. 67 – LOGAN SEAVEY 2. 5D – ZACH DAUM 3. 25 – JERRY COONS 4. 67K – HOLLY SHELTON 5. 71 – RYAN ROBINSON 6. 3N – JAKE NEUMAN 7. 39BC – ZEB WISE 8. 71K – TANNER CARRICK 9. 08 – CANNON MCINTOSH 10. 23 – TRAVIS BERRYHILL 11. 37 – TERRY BABB 12. 72 – SAM JOHNSON 13. 28M – ACE MCCARTHY 14. 51B – PAUL NIENHISER 15. 32 – TREY MARCHAM 16. 91 – DANIEL ROBINSON 17. 21KS – KARTER SARFF 18. 83 – KARSYN ELLEDGE 19. 27Z – ZANE HENDRICKS 20. 14JR – HOLLEY HOLLAN 21. 7F – AUSTIN BROWN 22. 77W – JOEY WIRTH 23. 27 – TUCKER KLAASMEYER
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