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TYLER BARAN RULES STARS FIELD AT GRUNDY

By: Rich Murray

Morris, IL (September 20, 2014)—Patience is a key for any younger sibling. They have to watch their older brother or sister reach all the milestone ages first before they do. In Saturday night’s D’Arcy GMC STARS National Midget feature at Grundy County Speedway, it was time for the little brother to finally make his own mark.

Just seven weeks after older brother Nick captured his first career D’Arcy GMC STARS National Midget feature victory, Plainfield, Illinois’ Tyler Baran added his name to the record book as the latest first-time winner in the series following his triumph during Saturday night’s “70s and 80s Night” event.

Coming into the night’s event, Danville, Indiana’s Kyle Hamilton had won three consecutive STARS races at the 1/3-mile paved oval. From the very start of the night, Hamilton proved once again he was the man to beat. His 14.474 second lap during qualifying earned him his seventh fast qualifying time of the year and the 11th in his career in only 16 starts! “The Professor,” Hamilton then easily picked his way through the field to win the heat. A draw of three would mean that he would have a very favorable position for the 30-lap feature from the inside of the second row.

Tyler Baran and Kyle O’Gara led the field down to the green flag in the penultimate race of the STARS season. At the start, Baran was able to get the jump on O’Gara to lead the first lap. Baran set a torrid pace early on, setting the quickest lap of the race on lap six. Remarkably, his quick lap of 14.552 in the feature was quicker than his qualifying run!

Nobody was able to give Baran a serious challenge for the win as he led all 30 laps and cruised to a comfortable victory over O’Gara, Jim Anderson, series point leader Austin Prock, and Hamilton. It was Tyler’s 19th career STARS feature start, just one more start than Nick had when he earned his initial feature win in August. In that race, Nick was driving Tyler’s familiar yellow BBOYZ #11 because his #87 was out of commission due to engine problems. Tyler didn’t put any added pressure on himself to win after Nick finally broke through for a win. Instead, it made him feel more confident that he was going to pull into victory lane soon.

“I knew that it would only be a matter of time,” Tyler said. “However, it did give me the confidence knowing that my car has the ability of taking home a win whenever it is on the track.”

Throughout the feature, Tyler’s mind was focused on hitting his marks and not worrying about the cars around him. With the advantage of starting up front, he planned to run his own race, pull away from the field, and never look back. Indeed, that’s what he did and the feeling of victory was something that he couldn’t put into words.

“It is really indescribable,” Tyler exclaimed. “It feels great to finally get that monkey off of my back. I came really close the race before, but gave up the lead with only a few (laps) to go. The only thing going through my head for the last five laps was not to make a mistake like I did in that race.”

Coming up on Saturday night, September 27th, the season finale for the STARS National Midgets will take place with the 7th Annual “Alex Pruett Memorial ‘Til the Wheels Fall Off" presented by 3 Wide Life. The event honors the life and racing career of versatile midget, sprint car, and PRA Big Car Series competitor, Alex Pruett, who passed away in 2007 at the age of 20.

The night also features the season finales for the STARS Classic Modifieds, INEX Legends, CSR Super Cups, and Legacy Midwest Series. Kids are encouraged to come on out to the track to compete in the "The World Famous" Big Wheel Races. Furthermore, throughout the night, there will be plenty of giveaways, raffles, and maybe a surprise or two.

Fans are encouraged to stay at the track after races are over. Fans will be able to partake in the season ending pit party featuring Babe's Hot Dogs and a DJ.

As part of a special deal to thank the fans for their commitment and devotion to the sport of auto racing and the Short Track Auto Racing Series, adult tickets are just $5! Kids age 5-12 get in for $2. Children age 4 and under are free! Pit gates open at 2 p.m. Grandstands open up at 5 p.m. Racing starts at 6:30 p.m. Grundy County Speedway is located one mile north of I-80 on Route 47 in Morris, Illinois.

GRUNDY COUNTY SPEEDWAY
D'ARCY GMC STARS NATIONAL MIDGET RESULTS
SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Hamilton-14.474; 2. Kyle O'Gara, 99, Guess-14.585; 3. Tyler Baran, 11, BBOYZ-14.586; 4. Billy Hulbert, 88, Hulbert-14.612; 5. Austin Prock, 41, Prock-14.631; 6. Jim Anderson, 36, Guess-14.632; 7. Ryan Probst, 99p, Probst-14.691; 8. Travis Young, 11y, Young-14.729; 9. Tyler Trainor, 25, Trainor-14.736; 10. Nick Baran, 87, 14.836; 11. Adam Wilsdon, 9, Wilsdon, 14.882; 12. Nick Wagner, 32, Wagner-15.073

FIRST HEAT: (8 Laps)
1. Hamilton, 2. Probst, 3. Trainor, 4. Prock, 5. T. Baran, 6. Wilsdon

SECOND HEAT: (8 Laps)
1. Anderson, 2. Hulbert, 3. O'Gara, 4. N. Baran, 5. Young, 6. Wagner

FEATURE (30 Laps):
1. Tyler Baran, 2. Kyle O'Gara, 3. Jim Anderson, 4. Austin Prock, 5. Kyle Hamilton, 6. Ryan Probst, 7. Nick Baran, 8. Billy Hulbert, 9. Travis Young, 10. Tyler Trainor, 11. Nick Wagner, 12. Adam Wilsdon

FEATURE LAP LEADERS:
Laps 1-30 T. Baran