Chase Elliott
2/5/21
Bubba Raceway Park
Ocala, FL
USAC National Midgets
33 cars
Kevin Thomas Jr. (16th car out to time) set quick time on the 3/8-mile oval at 14.037 seconds. Jason McDougal (31st car out) was second quick, followed by Tanner Thorson (13th), Chris Windom (4th), Thomas Meseraull (32nd), Justin Grant (20th), Emerson Axsom (1st), Logan Seavey (14th), Buddy Kofoid (5th) and Daison Pursley (22nd). Trey Gropp did not get a time in after issues in hot laps.
Heat one (started): 1. Sam Johnson 72 (1) 2. Bryant Weideman 01 (2) 3. Kofoid 67 (4) 4. Meseraull 7x (5) / 5. Thomas Jr. 5 (6) 6. Tanner Carrick 98K (3) 7. Andrew Felker 57A (7) 8. Daniel Robinson 57K (8) DNS – Trey Gropp 21KS
8-lap heats were inverted six, and took the top four to the A. Johnson led the distance, trailed by Weideman. Kofoid and Meseraull traded the third spot in a good battle.
Heat two (started): 1. Pursley 71K (4) 2. Chase Randall 19A (2) 3. Jake Neuman 3N (3) 4. Grant 2J (5) / 5. McDougal 4 (6) 6. Noah Gass 20G (1) 7. Michael Magic 4M (8) 8. Hayden Reinbold 19AZ (7)
Pursley led wire to wire ahead of Randall. Gass worked by Neuman for third on lap three, and then stumbled on lap six, handing the final transfer to Grant. The heavy track was not kind to fast timers Thomas Jr. and McDougal in the first two heats.
Heat three (started): 1. Max McLaughlin z8 (1) 2. Thorson 88 (6) 3. Cannon McIntosh 08 (2) 4. Steve Buckwalter 25B (3) / 5. Axsom 15 (5) 6. Brenham Crouch 97 (4) 7. Taylor Reimer 25K (7) 8. Oliver Akard 41 (8)
McLaughlin led flag to flag. McIntosh held down second before Thorson stormed by from outside row three at the halfway point. Thorson had stormed from fifth to third on the second lap.
Heat four (started): 1. Windom 89 (6) 2. Kade Morton 8M (1) 3. Ethan Mitchell 19M (2) 4. Kaylee Bryson 71 (4) / 5. Seavey 25 (5) 6. Chase Elliott 84 (3) 7. Austin Barnhill 17B (8) 8. Emilio Hoover 21K (7)
Morton led early over Mitchell and Bryson. Windom moved forward to third by lap three, and took second from Mitchell on lap five. He made his winning pass late. Seavey pressured Bryson for the final transfer doggedly, but fell just one-hundredth of a second short.
An hour rain delay interjected at this point before the B ran on a slick surface…
B main (started): 1. McDougal (2) 2. Axsom (3) 3. Seavey (4) 4. Carrick (6) 5. Elliott (7) 6. Crouch (5) / 7. Felker (9) 8. Reinbold (8) 9. Gropp (14) 10. Reimer (11) 11. Hoover (10) 12. Barnhill (12) 13. Robinson (13) 14. Akard (15) 15. Thomas Jr. (1) 16. Magic (12) DNS – Gass
The 12-lapper took the top six to the A main. Thomas led early over Axsom, McDougal and Seavey. The track was slick and mostly one-lane on the bottom. Lap seven lapped traffic brought chaos. Thomas slowed to a stop, as things got hairy. Magic also stopped. McDougal emerged from third with the lead on the restart, ahead of Axsom, Seavey, Carrick, Elliott and Crouch. That’s the way they would finish.
A main
Drizzle began to fall before staging. What was run of the race (13 of 30 laps) was sketchy and slick. Kofoid led early over Pursley, Meseraull and Thorson. Meseraull muscled under Pursley for second on lap two. McIntosh smacked the wall and flattened his right rear, bringing a lap four caution. Kofoid led Meseraull, Pursley, Thorson and Windom back to green. Morton spun high in turn one before a lap could be completed. McDougal drove from sixth to fourth on the restart as others got up in the slick stuff, which was getting worse. Randall stopped with a flat right rear six laps in. Meseraull slipped up in turn three on that restart, and Pursley and Thorson moved into second and third. Windom got by Meseraull for fourth on lap 11 for fourth. Two laps later, McLaughlin spun collecting Johnson. The drizzle continued and the race was suspended until Saturday at 3 p.m.
Running car order after 13 laps (started): 1. Kofoid (2) 2. Pursley (1) 3. Thorson (6) 4. Windom (5) 5. Meseraull (4) 6. Grant (3) 7. Axsom (10) 8. Neuman (15) 9. Seavey (11) 10. McDougal (9) 11. Carrick (14) 12. Bryson (13) 13. Buckwalter (16) 14. Crouch (12) 15. McIntosh (20) 16. Wiedeman (18) 17. Mitchell (21) 18. Elliott (17) 19. McLaughlin (8) 20. Johnson (7) DNF – 21. Morton (22) 22. Randall (19)