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Story by Brian Walker – Walker Racing Promotions
Sun Prairie, WI | July 7, 2014 – It was a familiar sight on the podium as the second and final night of the 33rd annual Pepsi Nationals from Angell Park Speedway commenced. Coming off of a dominating performance that saw Christopher Bell and KKM teammates sweep the podium on Saturday night, all the momentum stayed put in KKM camp.
Bell would in fact back up his Saturday night victory by setting the Pro Source Fast Time award. The young Norman, Oklahoma native powered his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorosports #71 Bullet-Toyota to a lightning fast 14.611. A whole tenth back in second place was the RFMS Racing driver and Canton, Illinois native of Chris Windom with a 14.780.
Tanner Thorson timed in with a 14.821 to earn third, Rico Abreu qualified fourth with a 14.880, and Tracy Hines rounded out the top five with a 14.891. Spencer Bayston grabbed sixth, Michael Pickens claimed seventh, Garrett Aitken eighth, Zach Daum ninth, and Tyler Courtney tenth.
Bell would continually back up each impressive run with another as he claimed victory in heat one. Bill Balog, Tyler Courtney, and Michael Pickens followed the BMARA point leader to the line. Bryan Clauson easily scored a heat two victory in his #63 Esslinger powered Spike over Brady Bacon, Garrett Aitken, and Tracy Hines. Tanner Thorson grabbed the final heat race win as Andrew Felker, Jake Blackhurst, and Zach Daum fell behind the Nevada native.
After taking a tumble in his heat race, Rico Abreu would bounce back with a win in the B-Main and claim a transfer to the feature. As the 30-lap Pepsi Nationals finale was set to get underway, it would be Pocahontas, Illinois native Zach Daum driving his #5D Eagle-Toyota and Garrett Aitken from Paris, Illinois in his Spike-Fontana #32 leading us to the green.
Aitken would immediately use the outside pole position to his advantage as he would lead lap one. Michael Pickens soon roared his RFMS Racing Mopar-DRC #3F entry past Aitken and would take the lead on lap two from the third spot. As the New Zealand native continually hauled away, Aitken had his hands full while trying to fight off the charging duo of Bell and Thorson.
As both Bell and Thorson stormed past Aitken, Pickens’ RFMS teammate of Chris Windom climbed into fourth. Lap by lap the wicked fast KKM duo narrowed the gap and a yellow after the halfway mark for a slowing Spencer Bayston was exactly what Bell needed.
Working the low side of the 1/3rd mile Wisconsin track would see Bell move his #71 machine past Pickens and into the race lead on lap 19. The final restart would see Thorson move into second behind his teammate as Windom also slid onto the podium in third. With just a few laps remaining Abreu, who started eighth after winning the B-Main would power past Windom and complete the KKM podium.
Bell would once again hold off his teammates and the entire field as the Norman, Oklahoma driver claimed the 33rd annual Pepsi Nationals at Angell Park Speedway! The victory was Bell’s 16th feature win of the season, ninth POWRi triumph, fourth USAC victory, and fourth BMARA claim. The so called “Norman Ninja” is currently leading all three national Midget series in the win column.
“Confidence is everything, and mine is back up after it was down a little during Midget Week when we flipped at Putnamville. When we first got going, Daum was really good on the bottom. That kinda showed me where the bottom was good enough to keep up and be faster than a guy on the top. I was able to work that under him enough until I could get the lead,” Bell said.
Tanner Thorson would hold on to claim second and Rico Abreu claimed third to complete the second back to back Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports podium sweep at the Prairie! Chris Windom would come home as the first non-KKM driver with a strong fourth place finish and POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series point leader Zach Daum rounded out the top five.
“I was trying my hardest to beat Christopher to the front. Before that last restart, I felt like I was catching him and could maybe throw a slider on him. I was just hanging in there when Windom was throwing sliders on us for third, but when Bell got the lead it kind of showed the way to get to second,” Thorson said.
Brady Bacon would mount an impressive charge from 14th to sixth, Tracy Hines would end up with a seventh place finish, Michael Pickens dropped back to eighth, Jake Blackhurst landed ninth, and Bill Balog closes out the top ten from 16th. Jerry Coons Jr. would once again claim hard charger honors with an impressive 20th to 11th run.
“Eventful night, that’s for sure. You’re gonna have nights like this, and luckily we made the best of it. I biked in the heat and almost saved it, but that made us run the B Main. I jumped the cushion a couple times early and lost a lot of ground.” Said third place finisher, Abreu. “Every spot counts, so I was trying to get as many as I could late in the race. We took what looked like it might be a tenth-place run and ended up third.”
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Badger Midget Auto Racing Association will return to action this weekend as they head to Lincoln Speedway on Friday, July 11th and Fairbury Speedway on Saturday, July 12th for a co-sanctioned event. The USAC Honda National Midget Series returns on July 29th at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kansas.
Qualifying (2 laps): 1. Christopher Bell (14.611); 2. Chris Windom (14.780); 3. Tanner Thorson (14.821); 4. Rico Abreu (14.880); 5. Tracy Hines (14.891); 6. Spencer Bayston (14.910); 7. Michael Pickens (14.910); 8. Garrett Aitken (14.911); 9. Zach Daum (14.921); 10. Tyler Courtney (14.945); 11. Austin Brown (14.983); 12. Jake Blackhurst (15.000); 13. Parker Price-Miller (15.058); 14. Brady Bacon (15.068); 15. Andrew Felker (15.122); 16. Bill Balog (15.125); 17. Bryan Clauson (15.180); 18. Darren Hagen (15.193); 19. Seth Motsinger (15.329); 20. Tyler Thomas (15.348); 21. Jerry Coons Jr. (15.359); 22. Isaac Chapple (15.373); 23. Kevin Olson (15.455); 24. Terry Babb (15.477); 25. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15.546).
Heat One (10 laps): 1. Christopher Bell (6), 2. Bill Balog (1), 3. Tyler Courtney (3), 4. Michael Pickens (4), 5. Parker Price-Miller (2), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 7. Seth Motsinger (7), 8. Rico Abreu (5), 9. Issac Chapple (8).
Heat Two (10 laps): 1. Bryan Clauson (1), 2. Brady Bacon (2), 3. Garrett Aitken (4), 4. Tracy Hines (5), 5. Austin Brown (3), 6. Chris Windom (6), 7. Tyler Thomas (7), 8. Kevin Olson (8).
Heat Three (10 laps): 1. Tanner Thorson (6), 2. Andrew Felker (2), 3. Jake Blackhurst (3), 4. Zach Daum (4), 5. Jerry Coons Jr. (7), 6. Darren Hagen (1), 7. Spencer Bayston (5), 8. Terry Babb (8).
B-Main (12 laps): 1. Rico Abreu (2), 2. Chris Windom (1), 3. Seth Motsinger (4), 4. Terry Babb (8), 5. Spencer Bayston (3), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 7. Tyler Thomas (5), 8. Kevin Olson (7), 9. Isaac Chapple (8).
A-Main (30 laps): 1. Christopher Bell (6), 2. Tanner Thorson (5), 3. Rico Abreu (8), 4. Chris Windom (7), 5. Zach Daum (1), 6. Brady Bacon (14), 7. Tracy Hines (4), 8. Michael Pickens (3), 9. Jake Blackhurst (12), 10. Bill Balog (16), 11. Jerry Coons Jr. (20), 12. Tyler Courtney (10), 13. Bryan Clauson (17), 14. Tyler Thomas (19), 15. Andrew Felker (15), 16. Austin Brown (11), 17. Garrett Aitken (2), 18. Parker Price-Miller (13), 19. Seth Motsinger (18), 20. Terry Babb (21), 21. Kevin Thomas Jr. (22), 22. Spencer Bayston (9).
Lap Leader(s): Garett Aitken 1; Michael Pickens 2-18; Christopher Bell 19-30.
Hard Charger(s): Jerry Coons Jr. +9
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