Granite City Night #1 USAC Sprints and Midgets Results and Stories

Midget 4-wide in Granite City Friday 5/18/19

Tri-City Speedway
Granite City, IL

Rivertown Showdown Night #1

27 USAC National Sprint Cars
26 USAC National Midgets

Sprints

Tyler Courtney (18th car out to time) set quick time on the 3/8-mile at 14.607 seconds.  Chris Windom (7th car out) was second quick, followed by Kevin Thomas Jr. (14th), Justin Grant (3rd), Chase Stockon (1st), Chad Boespflug (16th), Brady Bacon (20th), Carson Short (17th), CJ Leary (2nd) and Robert Ballou (15th).  Robert Bell failed to get a time in.

Heat one (started): 1. Ballou 12 (4) 2. Courtney 7BC (6) 3. Jason McDougal 71P (2) 4. Grant 4 (3) 5. Bacon (5) / 6. Dustin Smith 77s (1) 7. James Lyerla 11 (8) 8. Justin Standridge 8D (7) 9. Eric Perrott 45 (9)

8 laps heats took five to the feature.  McDougal took the early lead over Smith and Ballou.  Ballou got by Smith and then Courtney and Grant also slammed by him.  Bacon made a good pass into fifth at the halfway point.  Perrott spun with four laps down.  McDougal led Ballou, Courtney, Grant and Bacon back to green.  Ballou worked over McDougal and got by for the point coming for the white flag.  Courtney took second on the last lap.

Heat two (started): 1. Windom 5G (6) 2. Zach Daum 5D (1) 3. Stockon 32 (5) 4. Mitch Wissmiller 1 (2) 5. TJ Artz 57 (3) / 6. Logan Faucon 52F (7) 7. Steve Thomas 20 (8) 8. Short 21 (4) 9. Robert Bell 71 (9)

Bell exited right away.  Short got into the wall before a lap could be completed and was done.  Daum led Artz, Windom, Wissmiller and Stockon early.  Windom worked by Artz for second on lap two.  Stockon took fourth from Wissmiller a lap later.  Stockon continued his charge, taking third on lap five.  Wissmiller claimed fourth on lap seven.  The action was up front, however,  Windom was all over Daum before passing him in the last corner and winning by .014 of a second.

Heat three (started): 1. Leary 19AZ (4) 2. Thomas Jr. 19 (6) 3. Isaac Chapple 52 (2) 4. Boespflug 98E (5) 5. Korey Weyant 99 (9) / 6. Brandon Mattox 28 (7) 7. Mario Clouser 6 (3) 8. Mitchell Davis 56 (1) 9. Patrick Budde 90 (8)

Chapple led Leary and Thomas Jr. early on.  Leary worked to the point on lap two, and Thomas Jr. followed him into second a lap later.  Boespflug moved into fourth.  Weyant made a nice run from the tail and went from seventh to fifth to take the final transfer by the halfway point.

B main (started): 1. Clouser (2) 2. Short (1) 3. Smith (3) 4. Mattox (7) 5. David (4) 6. Standridge (5) 7. Faucon (6) / 8. Lyerla (7) 9. S. Thomas (9) 10. Perrott (11) 11. Budde (9) DNS – Bell

The 10-lapper took the top seven to the feature.  Short led early, but Clouser took over the point on lap two.  David and Smith battled for third early before a lap six spin by Budde.  Clouser led Short, Smith, Davis, Mattox, Faucon and Standridge back to green.  Mattox shot to fourth on the restart, while Standridge used the low side to garner sixth.  Faucton would hold off Lyerla for the final transfer.

Chris Windom (Highlight Video from Wheelzshort) A main (started): 1. Windom (5) 2. Short (8) 3. Thomas Jr. (4) 4. Leary (9) 5. Chapple (15) 6. Ballou (10) 7. Clouser (12) 8. Stockon (2) 9. Bacon (7) 10. Boespflug (1) 11. Artz (11) 12. Mattox (21) 13. Davis (18) 14. Courtney (6) 15. Weyant (22) 16. Standridge (19) 17. McDougal (13) 18. Daum (17) 19. Grant (3) 20. Wissmiller (14) 21. Smith (16) 22. Faucon (20)

Stockon led Boespflug and Thomas Jr. early in the 30-lapper.  Grant spun a lap in collecting Wissmiller.  Both were done. Stockon led Boespflug, Thomas Jr., Courtney and Short back to green.  Thomas Jr. shot into second, trailed by Courtney, Short and Bacon, as Boespflug had a tough restart.  Short slid under Courtney on lap four to take over third.  On lap six, Thomas Jr. took the lead from Stockon.  Two laps later, Short took the runner-up spot and set his sights on Thomas Jr.  Windom had moved into the top three by then and pressured Short, taking second on lap nine.  Ten laps in, McDougal stopped in turn three, bringing another caution.  Now Thomas Jr. led Windom, Short, Bacon and Courtney.  Short sized up the leaders and passed both to lead lap 12.  Windom took over second and the lead pair exchanged the point, before Windom took it on lap 16.  That was negated, however, when Bacon got into the turn four wall and turned over.  Crews were able to make repairs and he returned.  Short was back in front at the green, ahead of Windom, Thomas Jr., Courtney and Leary.  Ballou put himself in the top five, sliding in front of Leary with a little contact.  Leary returned the favor the next time around.  A caution on lap 18 saw Bacon spin and collect Standridge, who retired.  Three laps later, Windom made his way around Short for the lead after some persistence.  A caution came out for Weyant who came to a stop in turn four with 21 laps in.  With seven laps to go, Courtney would tag the wall hard and helicopter.  No one was hurt, but he was done.  Windom held on for the win, while Chapple was the late charger on the bottom, and the hard-charger of the event, going from 15th to fifth.

Tyler Courtney (Highlight Video from Wheelzshort) Midgets

Tyler Courtney (22nd car out to time) set quick time over the field with a lap of 15.189 seconds.  Logan Seavey (21st car out) was second quick, followed by Brady Bacon (12th), Chad Boat (4th), CJ Leary (10th), Justin Grant (2nd), Kevin Thomas Jr. (20th), Zeb Wise (23rd), Tucker Klaasmeyer (16th) and Tanner Carrick (26th).

Heat one (started): 1. Jake Neuman 3N (2) 2. Chris Windom 17BC (1) 3. Courtney 7BC (6) 4. Thomas Jr. 5 (4) 5. Carrick 71K (4) / 6. Boat 84 (5) 7. Cannon McIntosh 08 (7) 8. Zane Hendricks 27z (9) 9. Karsyn Elledge 1 (8)

8 laps was the distance for the heats with the top five transferring on.  Neuman led wire to wire in this one.  The best battle was for the final transfer.  Boat took it from Carrick on lap six in great racing. But Tanner snagged it back coming for the white flag.

Heat two (started): 1. Jesse Colwell 71 (2) 2. Tyler Thomas 91T (3) 3. Wise 39BC (4) 4. Seavey 67 (6) 5. Leary 76M (5) / 6. Zach Daum 5D (7) 7. Holley Hollan 67K (8) 8. Johnny Murdock 0 (9) 9. Andrew Layser 47BC (1)

Layser led Colwell and T. Thomas early.  Colwell took the lead on lap three.  Two laps later, Layser crashed hard into the turn one wall.  He would return for B main action.  The restart saw Colwell ahead of T. Thomas, Leary, Daum and Wise.  T. Thomas took the lead on the restart, with Wise going from fifth to third.  Seavey had been in trouble and out of a transfer before the red, but rebounded on the restart and got into the top five.  Colwell made one last bid for the lead coming for the checkers and got the win by .011 of a second!

Heat three (started): 1. Jason McDougal 21KS (2) 2. Jerry Coons Jr. 25 (3) 3. Klaasmeyer 27 (4) 4. Bacon 76 (6) 5. Grant 4A (5) / 6. Presley Truedson 5T (1) 7. Cole Bodine 15 (7) 8. Sterling Cling 35 (8)

McDougal led the distance.  Bacon moved up to fifth and then took fourth from Truedson on lap four.  With two to go, Grant nabbed the final transfer.

B main (started): 1. McIntosh (4) 2. Boat (1) 3. Daum (5) 4. Truedson (3) 5. Bodine (6) 6. Elledge (7) 7. Hollan (8) / 8. Layser (2) 9. Cling (9) 10. Hendricks (10) 11. Murdock (11)

The 10-lapper took the top 7 to the feature.  Boat took the early lead over McIntosh and Truedson.  Daum had moved into fourth by lap two.  McIntosh took the point after a good duel with Boat.  Daum passed teammate Truedson for third on lap five.  A caution came out for a stopped Cling on lap six.  The restart saw Elledge and Hollan move by Layser for the last two transfer spots.  Boat made a late bid for the win, passing McIntosh with one to go, but Cannon came back in the last corner to win it.

A main (started): 1. Courtney (6) 2. Seavey (5) 3. Grant (2) 4. Wise (8) 5. Boat (7) 6. Coons (12) 7. McIntosh (18) 8. Leary (3) 9. Daum (17) 10. Thomas Jr. (1) 11. Klaasmeyer (9) 12. Windom (16) 13. Carrick (10) 14. Colwell (14) 15. T. Thomas (11) 16. Bacon (4) 17. McDougal (13) 18. Hollan (22) 19. Truedson (15) 20. Layser (21, prov.) 21. Cling (24, prov.) 22. Bodine (20) 23. Elledge (19) 24. Neuman (23)


Neuman had issues, started at the tail and retired.  The 30-lapper was led early by Thomas Jr., ahead of Grant, and Bacon.  Bacon quickly took second on the second lap before Colwell stopped with a left rear flat with three down.  Thomas Jr. led Bacon, Grant, Seavey and Courtney back to green.  Bacon used the low side to take the lead and pull away, while Seavey shot around Grant and Thomas Jr. for second on lap five.  Elledge flipped in turn one with seven down.  She was o.k.  Bacon now led Seavey, Thomas Jr., Grant and Courtney.  Bacon’s dominance would end when he cut a left front tire with nine down.  Seavey assumed the lead, while Wise had moved up from back in the pack to the top five.  On lap 11, Grant passed Thomas Jr. for second, and Courtney followed him into third a circuit later.  At the halfway point, Seavey had built a lead over Grant, Courtney, a charging Boat and Leary.  On lap 19, Courtney won second from Grant.  Courtney was now on a roll on the high side and slid in front of Seavey to lead lap 22.  He would pull away to win by a full straightaway.  McIntosh was the hard-charger.