Nineteen-year-old leads by 400 points over defending champion Brad Kuhn
MILLSTADT, Ill. (Sept. 30, 2007) – Brad Loyet (Sunset Hills, Mo.) hopes to wrap up his inaugural O’Reilly POWRi National Midget Series and first Midget championship of any kind as the 2007 POWRi season comes to a conclusion at two southern Illinois tracks.
Loyet, who has competed in all but one event on the POWRi schedule this season, owns a swarming 400-point lead over defending series champion Brad Kuhn (Avon, Ind.) with races set for Saturday at Belle-Clair Speedway (Belleville, Ill.) and Sunday at Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, Ill.). The two are the only drivers in contention for the title after 19 rounds.
Kuhn, the two-time National Midget Driver of the Year, missed races early in the season and the last race at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill., due to other obligations. Kuhn needs strong finishes in races this weekend at Belle-Clair and Tri-City if he is to defend his crown.
Third- and fourth-place drivers Mike Hess (Petersburg, Ill.) and Brett Anderson (Belleville, Ill.) have each won races at Belle-Clair Speedway this season and each hope to score another victory before the 2007 season ends. Dave Camfield Jr., currently fifth in points, also hopes to take his first POWRi victory of the season.
Both races are part of the annual Octoberfest. Saturday’s race at Belle-Clair Speedway is being dubbed the “Charlene Meents Memorial” and will be sponsored by Toejnes Brick Contracting. The race is also offering $2,000 to the race winner as well as lap money prizes. A $25 bonus will be awarded to the driver who leads each lap, and $50 will go to the leader of Laps 15 and 30.
Sunday’s event is the “Bob Wente Memorial,” honoring the career and life of one of Midget racing’s all-time greats. Wente is from the St. Louis area and his family has promoted Tri-City in the past. The only other POWRi race scheduled at Tri-City this season, which occurred in May, was rained out.
The 600cc Micro-Sprints will also accompany the National Midgets at Belle-Clair with $1000 on the line for the feature winner. As recently announced, the 600cc Micro Sprints will not complement the Midgets at Tri-City as previously scheduled. Dereck King (Vienna, Ill.) continues his quest for the 2007 title as he battles the remainder of the top five in points in Tony Roney, Daniel Robinson, Ryan Guyett and Zach Daum. The final Micro-Sprint event is Oct. 20 at Wayne County Speedway in Illinois.
The O’Reilly POWRi Series, based out of the St. Louis, Mo. area, is in its third season of competition with two levels of open-wheel racing. The National Midget Car Series currently travels around the Midwest with stops in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. The series races exclusively on dirt and attracts some of the nation’s top Midget drivers every race. The 600cc Micro-Sprints are a stepladder to the National Midgets, where younger drivers get experience before making the move to full Midgets.
MILLSTADT, Ill. (Sept. 30, 2007) – Brad Loyet (Sunset Hills, Mo.) hopes to wrap up his inaugural O’Reilly POWRi National Midget Series and first Midget championship of any kind as the 2007 POWRi season comes to a conclusion at two southern Illinois tracks.
Loyet, who has competed in all but one event on the POWRi schedule this season, owns a swarming 400-point lead over defending series champion Brad Kuhn (Avon, Ind.) with races set for Saturday at Belle-Clair Speedway (Belleville, Ill.) and Sunday at Tri-City Speedway (Pontoon Beach, Ill.). The two are the only drivers in contention for the title after 19 rounds.
Kuhn, the two-time National Midget Driver of the Year, missed races early in the season and the last race at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill., due to other obligations. Kuhn needs strong finishes in races this weekend at Belle-Clair and Tri-City if he is to defend his crown.
Third- and fourth-place drivers Mike Hess (Petersburg, Ill.) and Brett Anderson (Belleville, Ill.) have each won races at Belle-Clair Speedway this season and each hope to score another victory before the 2007 season ends. Dave Camfield Jr., currently fifth in points, also hopes to take his first POWRi victory of the season.
Both races are part of the annual Octoberfest. Saturday’s race at Belle-Clair Speedway is being dubbed the “Charlene Meents Memorial” and will be sponsored by Toejnes Brick Contracting. The race is also offering $2,000 to the race winner as well as lap money prizes. A $25 bonus will be awarded to the driver who leads each lap, and $50 will go to the leader of Laps 15 and 30.
Sunday’s event is the “Bob Wente Memorial,” honoring the career and life of one of Midget racing’s all-time greats. Wente is from the St. Louis area and his family has promoted Tri-City in the past. The only other POWRi race scheduled at Tri-City this season, which occurred in May, was rained out.
The 600cc Micro-Sprints will also accompany the National Midgets at Belle-Clair with $1000 on the line for the feature winner. As recently announced, the 600cc Micro Sprints will not complement the Midgets at Tri-City as previously scheduled. Dereck King (Vienna, Ill.) continues his quest for the 2007 title as he battles the remainder of the top five in points in Tony Roney, Daniel Robinson, Ryan Guyett and Zach Daum. The final Micro-Sprint event is Oct. 20 at Wayne County Speedway in Illinois.
The O’Reilly POWRi Series, based out of the St. Louis, Mo. area, is in its third season of competition with two levels of open-wheel racing. The National Midget Car Series currently travels around the Midwest with stops in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. The series races exclusively on dirt and attracts some of the nation’s top Midget drivers every race. The 600cc Micro-Sprints are a stepladder to the National Midgets, where younger drivers get experience before making the move to full Midgets.
