MACON, Ill. (Aug. 19, 2011)—Dave Darland drove to victory in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Trent Beckinger won in the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micros Series in the eighth annual Dana Godfrey Memorial races Friday at Macon Speedway.
It was Darland’s first triumph in POWRi Midgets of his distinguished career.
“We’ve been wanting to win this race for a long time,” Darland said. “Ebby Bergfield (Darland’s car owner) and I have been good friends with John Godfrey for a long time and it’s quite an honor and accomplishment to win it.”
Darland drove a Essingler-powered Spike, the chassis company founded and owned by John Godfrey. The event was a tribute to his late wife.
The 44-year-old from Lincoln, Ind., started on the outside of the second row and was up to second behind pole sitter Tim Siner of Dupo, Ill., by the end of the first lap. Darland made several serious attempts to pass Siner with slide jobs before taking the lead exiting
Turn Four on the 1/5-mile track on the 13th of 30 laps.
“It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth slider I was able to stay ahead,” Darland said. “After that, I tried to run smooth on the top and keep the lead. We didn’t’ have any cautions late in the race and that was good.”
The feature was green for the final 21 laps.
Siner finished second, 10 car lengths behind, for his best result of the season.
“He’d (Darland) made a couple of attempts to slide me and when we went into (Turn) Three, I saw him get underneath me,” Siner said. “I banged the cushion and it upset the car. I had to gather it back up and couldn’t get back to the throttle like I had before.
“I’m happy with it (second). I got beat by one of the best open-wheel drivers in the country. I’m disappointed not to win–it’s been a while since my last win–but second isn’t bad.”
Davey Camfield Jr. of nearby Decatur, Ill., finished third, his best of the season. He started on the outside of the front row and ran third the entire distance.
“I started second and stood on the gas and tried to stay up front,” Camfield said. “It was fun racing up front and we needed a good finish. I started last (eighth) in my heat and ran up to second and that got me into position to start up front, which was nice.”
Beckinger’s win was his third of the season. The 20-year-old from Evansville, Ind., also has five second places this season, four of them since his last victory on June 11 at Springfield (Mo) Raceway.
“We’d had four second places since our last win and that gets tiring,” Beckinger said. “It’s definitely nice to get another ‘W’.”
Beckinger started on pole. Outside front row starter Jacob Patton of Bethalto, Ill., took the lead on the first lap. Beckinger squeezed inside Patton exiting Turn Four to take the lead on the fifth lap and held it for the reminder of the 20 laps to the checkered flag.
“We didn’t hit the setup perfect for the start,” Beckinger said. “I was able to dial it in under the first caution (lap two). I hit every (adjustment) nob. I knew I needed to be patient and I was able to get by him.”
Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo., climbed from the inside of the third row to finish second by five car lengths.
“At the beginning, I was able to dial the car in and finally found the top groove,” Felker said. “I needed more lapped traffic and more laps.”
Jeremy Camp of nearby Blue Mound, Ill., finished third. He started on the inside of the second row.
“We had a great night,” Camp said. “As soon as we went to the top, the car went like a rocket, but it got tight. I’m really happy. I only live six miles from here and it’s my favorite track. Trent is fast everywhere and when he starts at the front, it’s tough to beat him.”
The POWRi Midgets and Micros race tonight (Aug. 20) at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.
POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series results (30 laps): 1. Dave Darland, 2. Tim Siner, 3. Davey Camfield Jr., 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Dereck King, 6. Derrick Myers, 7. Brad Kuhn, 8. Shane Hollingsworth, 9. Jake Blackhurst, 10. Gavin Galbraith, 11. Andrew Felker, 12. Travis Berryhill, 13. Chett Gehrke, 14. Danny Frye, 15. Eric Johnson, 16. Austin Burke, 17. Bryan Clauson, 18. Austin Brown, 19. Tyler Robbins, 20. Rich Camfield, 21. Derek Rossio, 22. Darren Kingston.
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series results (20 laps): 1. Trent Beckinger, 2. Andrew Felker, 3. Jeremy Camp, 4. Clayton Duff, 5. Joe B. Miller, 6. J.B. Gilbert, 7. Alex Harris, 8. Paul Nienhiser, 9. Jordan Campbell, 10. Trey Datweiler, 11. Spencer Montgomery, 12. Ryan Leek, 13. Ryan Guyett, 14. Natasha Cox, 15. Aaron Andruskevitch, 16. Devin Feger, 17. Josh Ponder, 18. Derek LeMaster, 19. Kyle Schuett, 20. Keith Garner, 21. John Parker, 22. Jacob Patton.
For more information on POWRi Racing, go to www.POWRi.com.