BELLEVILLE, Ill. (June 28, 2011)–Double-duty driver Dereck King is having an outstanding season in POWRi’s Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series going into the 2nd FanFest presented by Budweiser on Friday (July 1) and Saturday (July 2) at Belle-Clair Speedway.
The 26-year-old from Vienna, Ill., ranks sixth in the Midget points and second in the Micros. King has four top-fives in his six Midget features and six top-fives in eight Micro features.
King’s best finish in the POWRi Midgets was second at 1/5th-mile Belle-Clair on May 13 and it left him more frustrated than pleased. It was the fifth time he’s been one position short of his first win in the Midgets.
“I definitely look forward to getting back to Belle-Clair,” King said. “We always run pretty good there and have strong finishes. I adapt well to smaller tracks. It’s the same at Macon (Ill.) and maybe it’s because of the good, tight racing.
“It would mean a lot to get my first win in the Midgets, not only because I’ve finished second five times. It would be great because of the level of competition in POWRi and with this being a co-sanctioned race with Badger. You can see when we co-sanction with Badger, we get 40-plus cars and 20 are capable of winning the race. The Badger drivers are always up front in the biggest races in the country.”
The FanFest will be the third and fourth events this season POWRi has co-sanctioned with the Stark Automotive Group/Mid-State Equipment Badger Midget Series. New Zealand’s Michael Pickens won the POWRi/Badger features at Fayette County (Ill.) Speedway and Peoria (Ill.) Speedway, but he’s returned home.
King has a victory in the POWRi Micros this season at Wayne County (Ill.) Speedway. The three-time series champion also was second at Du Quoin, Ill., and Belle-Clair this season.
“We’re going to a place were we probably have more Micros wins than anybody,” King said.. “We have six or seven wins at Belle-Clair.”
King stays busy driving in both POWRi series. He drives for family-owned, Subway-sponsored Dirt Kings Racing in MIcros and for car owner Jack Harris, of Vergennes, Ill., in Midgets. In the Micros, sister Kara King and Mike Hudson are teammates. Father Rick King, a long-time, race-winning driver, runs the operation. Hudson, of Herrin, Ill., won the POWRi race at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway on June 16.
“The Micros are what my family has always done,” Dereck King said. “We’ve been around for years. Lincoln was a good win for Mike and coming out with a victory for all of us was a big deal. I’m fortunate enough for Harris Racing to ask me to drive for them.”
Bubba Altig, of Mechanicsburg, Ill., and Brad Kuhn, of Avon., Ind., each have one victory in the Badger series this season. Kuhn was POWRi’s Midget champion in 2006 and 2009.
Saturday’s Midget feature pays $3,000 to win and the Micros pays $1,000. Gates open Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. (CDT), with hot laps at 6 and racing at 7 p.m. The FanFest also has a vintage race car display and will be taped to be broadcast on SPEED Channel’s Lucas Oil on the Edge at an undetermined future date.
Nick Knepper, of Belleville, Ill., leads Brad Loyet, 1,380-1,190, in the POWRi Midget championship. Knepper has seven top-five finishes including two second places, a trio of thirds and a fourth.
Loyet, of Sunset Hills, Mo., has three victories in eight POWRi features this season.
Tim Siner, of Dupo, Ill., is third with 920 points, followed by Chett Gehrke, of Broken Arrow, Okla., with 865 and Brett Anderson, of Belleville, Ill., with 810.
Trent Beckinger, of Evansville, Ind., leads King 1,640-1,320 in the POWRi Micro points.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series top-10 points standings (after eight of 26 events): 1. Nick Knepper 1,380, 2. Brad Loyet 1,190, 3. Tim Siner 920, 4. Chett Gehrke 865, 5. Brett Anderson 810, 6. Dereck King 730, 7. Austin Brown 725, 8. Andrew Felker 710, 9. Tyler Robbins 695, 10 Brad Kuhn 460.
Stark Automotive Group/Mid-State Equipment Badger Midget Series top-10 points standings (after four of 17 events): 1. Bubba Altig 273, 2. Mike Hess 226, 3. Matt Smith 200, 4. Scott Hatton 183, 5. Robbie Ray 171, 6. Brandon Waelti 151, 7. Daniel Robinson 151, 8. Cody Weisensel 139, 9. David Budres 128, 10. Bryan Walters 114.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series 2011 race winners: Du Quoin, Ill.–Tony Roney; Grain Valley, Mo.–Brett Anderson; Wheatland, Mo.–Brad Loyet; Belleville, Ill.–Brad Loyet; Brownstown, Ill.–Michael Pickens; Peoria, Ill.–Michael Pickens; West Plains, Mo.–Tyler Thomas; Springfield, Mo.–Brad Loyet.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series top-10 points standings (after 10 of 24 events: 1. Trent Beckinger 1,640, 2. Dereck King 1,320, 3. Joe B. Miller 1,200, 4. Andrew Felker 1,180, 5. Jacob Patton 1,085, 6. Ryan Guyett 965, 7. J.B. Gilbert 945, 8. Jordan Campbell 900, 9. Paul Nienhiser 745, 10. Kara King 560.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series 2011 race winners: Du Quoin, Ill.–Ryan Langston; Belleville, Ill.–Aaron Andruskevitch; Wayne County, Ill.–Dereck King; Brownstown, Ill.–Trent Beckinger; Peoria, Ill.-Andrew Felker; West Plains, Mo.–Triston Tidmore; Springfield, Mo.–Trent Beckinger; Lincoln, Ill.—Mike Hudson; Marion, Ill.—Jacob Patton; Marion, Ill.—Christopher Bell.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.