SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (June 11, 2011)—Brad Loyet drove to his third feature victory of the season Saturday in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series at Springfield Raceway.
Loyet started from sixth position and used the outside line to move into the lead on the 16th of 30 laps, overtaking Austin Brown on the outside exiting Turn Four on the quarter-mile track. The 23-year-old from Sunset Hills, Mo., led the rest of the way.
It was the eighth POWRi Midget event of the season.
“Three wins in eight races, that’s a pretty good average,” Loyet said.
The POWRi Midget champion in 2007 and 2010, Loyet finished seventh Friday night at West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway.
“We rebounded from last night,” Loyet said. “We were able to fix the motor problems, spark plugs and ignition, we had. We definitely weren’t running on all four cylinders Friday. We had a really good car tonight, smoking hot. She was hooked up. The high groove was definitely the fast way. Our win was a big boost to the team.”
Jonathan Beason, of Broken Arrow, Okla., finished second, his best in POWRi Midgets. He started from 12th position, outside on the sixth row and, using the same high line as Loyet, moved up to second on the 22nd lap.
“I tried to run where the rubber came in first,” Beason said. “Both Brad and I were able to go up there. We gambled big time on the choice of tire and went for the softest of the three. We had just enough tire for the 30 laps. It was completely bald at the end of the race.”
Andrew Felker, of Carl Junction, Mo., was a season-best third in the Midget series. He started on the outside of the front row. He challenged Brown, the polesitter, for the opening 14 laps, but surrendered second to the flying Loyet on the next lap.
“I couldn’t get around Brown and Loyet and Beason got around me,” Felker said. “But I’m definitely happy with the run.”
Tyler Thomas, of Collinsville, Okla., finished fourth from 15th on the grid and Nick Knepper, of Belleville, Ill., was fifth.
Trent Beckinger won his second POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micros feature of the season with a dominating performance. The 20-year-old from Evansville, Ind., started on the outside of the front row, took the lead exiting Turn Two on the opening lap and led all 20.
“The race was all about the start,” Beckinger said. “It was just flat footing it once I got the lead. The car was perfect, the engine was strong. I came into this season expecting a lot, but I don’t know if I expected this much.”
Beckinger’s victory was his third in POWRi Micros and he became the first to have two this season. Springfield was the seventh event of 2011.
Felker finished second. “We needed a good run after being taken out last night,” he said. “We need the points.”
Felker was running in the top-five on the final lap at West Plains before contact with another driver eliminated him. He finished 16th.
Brandon Hahn, of Tulsa, was third, Joe B. Miller, of Milersville, Mo., was fourth and Travis Senter Jr., of Oceola, Ark.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series results (30 laps): 1. Brad Loyet, 2. Jonathan Beason, 3. Andrew Felker, 4. Tyler Thomas, 5. Nick Knepper, 6. Chett Gehrke, 7. Gavin Galbraith, 8. Jimmy Glenn, 9. Eric Todd, 10. Austin Brown, 11. Rusty Dukes, 12. Kyle Neal, 13. Ronnie Burke, 14. Alex Sewell, 15. J.D. Black, 16. Pat Schudy, 17. Ken Brown, 18. Brett Anderson, 19. Tim Siner, 20. Ryan Criswell, 21. Tyler Robbins, 22. John Campbell.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series results (20 laps): 1. Trent Beckinger, 2. Andrew Felker, 3. Brandon Hahn, 4. Joe B. Miller, 5. Travis Senter, 6. Will Harvey, 7. Jacob Patton, 8. Jordan Campbell, 9. Chance Terrel, 10. Ryan Guyett, 11. Ryan Marsh 12. Devon Huff, 13. Kara King, 14. Dalton Wiseley, 15. Kade Morton, 16. Jake Neuman, 17. Kevin Horcher, 18. Harli White, 19. Cory Nelson, 20. J.B. Gilbert, 21. Blake Hahn, 22. Chris Andrew, 23. Paul Nienhiser.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.