By Lonnie Wheatley (Meeker, OK) -- Daison Pursley had been painfully close to USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series victory lane on several occasions previously, only to see it slip away.
The Locust Grove, OK, teen sensed an opportunity at Red Dirt Raceway’s “Tuesday Night Thunder” event that kicked off “Mid-America Midget Week” and made the most of it.
PHOTO CREDIT: John Lee of High-Fly'n Photos - http://www.highfly-nphotos.com
Sitting third after a caution with ten laps remaining in the 30-lapper, Pursley ripped around the top side of the track and overtook Zach Daum and then race-leader Kevin Thomas, Jr., on the 23rd circuit.
“I knew Daum wasn’t going to get off the bottom, and KTJ had been there the whole race so it would have been hard for him to jump up there and try something new like that,” Pursley explained. “When you’re running third-place you have to go wherever they don’t go and it worked out.”
Once out front, Pursley scurried away from the pack in the closing laps to take the $4,000 victory aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Toyota-powered IWX No. 71k machine. It made for a sweep of the night after also winning the NOW 600 Non-Wing Micro Sprint feature.
“I feel like this has been a long time coming,” Pursley commented. “Everyone at Keith Kunz Motorports deserves a win and unfortunately it hasn’t been me. Finally we get to check that box off and get that first USAC National Midget win. It’s cool to do it in front of all these fans and do it on my homestate.”
While Pursley ultimately won the race from the fifth starting position, it was another pair of Sooner State drivers leading the way to the green flag in the main event with Broken Arrow’s Jonathan Beason on the pole and Muskogee’s Kaylee Bryson to his outside.
The duo battled side-by-side in the early stages with Beason working low and Bryson on the cushion. Bryson made the cushion work to her advantage to slip ahead as Kevin Thomas, Jr., made his way past Beason to claim second.
With Thomas, Jr., working the low side of the track meticulously, Bryson continued to flirt with a treacherous cushion and the slightest of bobbles opened the door for Thomas, Jr., to take command on the 11th round with Daum working into contention as well on the low-side from seventh.
After the race’s previous only stoppage when fast qualifier Bryant Wiedeman went for a wild ride in turn one on the opening lap, the only other caution flew after 20 laps when Kaylee Bryson got tangled up in lapped traffic to hand second to Daum and move Pursley into third.
Pursley wasted no time blasting past both rim-riders on the restart and paced the final eight laps to secure that coveted first career USAC National Midget win.
After starting 13th, Justin Grant made a late surge through the field to capture runner-up honors with Daum settling for the show position.
“I buried us in the ‘B’ and had to come from 13th, these RMS guys gave me an awesome car and the curb was tall and gnarly,” Grant explained afterward. “They had me really stable and I had a good time.”
Daum’s first outing with the Bundy Built team was a considerable success after winning his heat race as did teammate Ethan Mitchell. “It’s cool for me because I haven’t really run a Midget all year,” Daum explained. “Obviously the car runs really good, we can just fine-tune it a little for myself and we should be a contender tomorrow hopefully.”
Thomas, Jr., slipped to fourth in the closing rounds with reigning series champion Chris Windom climbing from 12th to round out the top five. Current series points leader Buddy Kofoid raced from 15th to sixth with Jerry Coons, Jr., Beason, Logan Seavey and Chase Randall completing the top ten.
Leading Rookie of the Year contender Wiedeman established the night’s quickest time 13.160-second over a Red Dirt Raceway “Tuesday Night Thunder” field of 38 entries with Mitchell, Brenham Crouch, Daum and Cannon McIntosh winning heat races before Randall topped the “B” Main
The USAC National Midget series “Mid-America Midget Week” resumes with Wednesday night’s Tenth Chad McDaniel Memorial at Beloit, Kansas’ Solomon Valley Raceway before wrapping up with the Midwest Midget Championship at Fairbury, Nebraska’s Jefferson County Speedway that includes a Thursday night practice and then two full cards of racing on Friday and Saturday that culminates with a $10,000-to-win finale.
Red Dirt Raceway – Meeker, Okla.
USAC NOS Energy Drinks “Tuesday Night Thunder” Results – July 13, 2021
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Bryant Wiedeman, 01, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.160; 2. Daison Pursley, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.176; 3. Emerson Axsom, 15, Petry-13.254; 4. Chase Randall, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-13.314; 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5, Petry-13.321; 6. Logan Seavey, 25, Malloy-13.323; 7. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.325; 8. Jonathan Beason, 8J, Hard Eight-13.335; 9. Chris Windom, 89, CBI-13.371; 10. Justin Grant, 2J, RMS-13.375; 11. Trey Gropp, 00, Mounce/Stout-13.450; 12. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.458; 13. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-13.472; 14. Tanner Thorson, 19T, Reinbold/Underwood-13.493; 15. Zach Daum, 9m, Bundy Built-13.496; 16. Jerry Coons Jr., 85, Central-13.503; 17. Brenham Crouch, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.510; 18. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.510; 19. Hayden Reinbold, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.517; 20. Hayden Williams, 1NZ, BSL-13.545; 21. Jason McDougal, 4, Klatt-13.583; 22. Tanner Berryhill, 17, Berryhill-13.631; 23. Kyle Jones, 7u, Tri-Fecta-13.653; 24. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-13.655; 25. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-13.669; 26. Ryan Timms, 85T, CBI-13.683; 27. Trey Marcham, 32T, Marcham-13.689; 28. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.719; 29. Andrew Deal, 15D, Deal-13.749; 30. Sam Johnson, 72J, Johnson-13.824; 31. Travis Buckley, 7NZ, BLS-13.986; 32. Noah Harris, 20H, Harris-13.987; 33. Ryan Padgett, 98, Crow-14.238; 34. Cade Cowles, 70, Gariss-14.322; 35. Brett Becker, 2B, Becker-14.483; 36. Chase Elliott, 9, May-NT; 37. Brendon Wiseley, 7w, Horn-NT; 38. Mason Daugherty, 97m, Berryhill-NT (Time of 14.511 disallowed-underweight).
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Ethan Mitchell, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Jason McDougal, 7. Andrew Deal, 8. Shannon McQueen, 9. Mason Daugherty, 10. Ryan Padgett. 1:52.32
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brenham Crouch, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Tanner Berryhill, 4. Daison Pursley, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Justin Grant, 7. Ryan Timms, 8. Sam Johnson, 9. Cade Cowles. 1:50.32
INDY METAL FINISHING THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Daum, 2. Kyle Jones, 3. Emerson Axsom, 4. Kaylee Bryson, 5. Trey Marcham, 6. Trey Gropp, 7. Brett Becker, 8. Hayden Reinbold, 9. Travis Buckley. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cannon McIntosh, 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 3. Buddy Kofoid, 4. Jonathan Beason, 5. Hayden Williams, 6. Chase Randall, 7. Tyler Thomas, 8. Noah Harris, 9. Chase Elliott. 1:49.120 (New Track Record)
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Randall, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Hayden Williams, 6. Tyler Thomas, 7. Jason McDougal, 8. Ryan Timms, 9. Trey Gropp, 10. Sam Johnson, 11. Trey Marcham, 12. Andrew Deal, 13. Noah Harris, 14. Hayden Reinbold, 15. Travis Buckley, 16. Shannon McQueen, 17. Chase Elliott, 18. Cade Cowles, 19. Brett Becker, 20. Mason Daugherty. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Daison Pursley (5), 2. Justin Grant (13), 3. Zach Daum (7), 4. Kevin Thomas Jr. (3), 5. Chris Windom (12), 6. Buddy Kofoid (15), 7. Jerry Coons Jr. (18), 8. Jonathan Beason (1), 9. Logan Seavey (11), 10. Chase Randall (10), 11. Tanner Thorson (17), 12. Thomas Meseraull (16), 13. Emerson Axsom (4), 14. Cannon McIntosh (14), 15. Brenham Crouch (9), 16. Ethan Mitchell (8), 17. Hayden Williams (19), 18. Kaylee Bryson (2), 19. Tyler Thomas (22), 20. Tanner Berryhill (20), 21. Trey Gropp (23-P), 22. Kyle Jones (21), 23. Bryant Wiedeman (6). NT
P represents a provisional starter.
**Bryant Wiedeman flipped on lap 1 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Kaylee Bryson, Lap 2 Jonathan Beason, Laps 3-10 Kaylee Bryson, Laps 11-22 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 23-30 Daison Pursley.
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PURSLEY EARNS LUCAS OIL NOW600 SERIES NON-WING WIN AT RED DIRT RACEWAY
By Inside Line Promotions (Meeker, OK) -- Daison Pursley used a late-race pass to capture his fourth career Lucas Oil National Open Wheel 600 Series presented by Hi-Plains Building Division Stock Non-Wing triumph at Red Dirt Raceway on Tuesday during the opening night of Mid-America Micro Week.
The win was Pursley's second of the season at the track and propelled him into the top spot on the NOW600 Series all-time division wins list at Red Dirt Raceway. It also marked his fifth career NOW600 Series victory in the division, which is tied for the third most.
Pursley started seventh and outdueled eighth-starting John Kilmer late in the 25-lap feature, riding the high groove through turns one and two to rocket down the backstretch. The race-winning move came with four laps remaining as Pursley powered around the outside of Kilmer, who was locked to the bottom lane around the bullring, off turn two and beat him to the low groove entering turn three. Kilmer stayed close, but Pursley held on to the win by a car length.
Blayne Buntin advanced from ninth to third place with Brock Cottrell finishing fourth and Matt Moore fifth.
Kenton Brewer, Pursley, Colby Sokol and Shawn Mahaffey were the heat race winners. Tanner Holwerda won the B Main.
Mid-America Micro Week continues on Wednesday at Solomon Valley Speedway in Beloit, Kan., for the 10th annual Chad McDaniel Memorial. The NOW600 Series Stock Non-Wing and Restricted 'A' Class divisions will be competing during the series debut at the track.
LUCAS OIL NOW600 NATIONAL MICRO SERIES PRESENTED BY HI-PLAINS BUILDING DIVISION RESULTS AT RED DIRT RACEWAY (July 13, 2021) -
NOW600 Stock Non-Wing
A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 71-Daison Pursley (7); 2. 3W-John Kilmer (8); 3. 75-Blayne Buntin (9); 4. 5B-Brock Cottrell (4); 5. 66-Matt Moore (3); 6. 37-Jack Hall (5); 7. 9T-Tanner Holwerda (15); 8. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (17); 9. 7K-Kenton Brewer (10); 10. 28-Chelby Hinton (13); 11. 29-Trevor Cohn (18); 12. 24S-Colby Sokol (2); 13. 29B-David Jacobs (14); 14. 23P-Trevor Peden (16); 15. 3-Cale Coons (20); 16. 8-Gunner Bowden (12); 17. 25S-Justis Sokol (6); 18. 7S-Kaden Smith (11); 19. 11K-Shawn Mahaffey (1); 20. 95X-Jeff Cox (19).
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 9T-Tanner Holwerda (1); 2. 23P-Trevor Peden (3); 3. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (6); 4. 29-Trevor Cohn (4); 5. 95X-Jeff Cox (2); 6. 3-Cale Coons (9); 7. 12H-Cole Hocker (5); 8. 222-Corbin Snyder (13); 9. 15H-Logan Hill (16); 10. 4S-Blake Spicer (10); 11. 32-Cody Daggett (15); 12. 93X-Reno Madore (8); 13. 5E-Daphne Harvey (14); 14. 6D-Daryl Gates (17); 15. 17-Steve Hart (12); 16. 7W-Brendon Wisley (7); 17. 59-Brody Mclaughlin (11).
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7K-Kenton Brewer (1); 2. 3W-John Kilmer (4); 3. 37-Jack Hall (7); 4. 9T-Tanner Holwerda (5); 5. 12H-Cole Hocker (3); 6. 7W-Brendon Wisley (6); 7. 222-Corbin Snyder (2); 8. 59-Brody Mclaughlin (8).
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Daison Pursley (2); 2. 75-Blayne Buntin (4); 3. 28-Chelby Hinton (3); 4. 8-Gunner Bowden (6); 5. 95X-Jeff Cox (7); 6. 93X-Reno Madore (8); 7. 32-Cody Daggett (1); 8. 6D-Daryl Gates (5).
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24S-Colby Sokol (3); 2. 66-Matt Moore (5); 3. 25S-Justis Sokol (7); 4. 23P-Trevor Peden (4); 5. 51K-Kaimron Schoonover (2); 6. 3-Cale Coons (6); 7. 15H-Logan Hill (1); 8. 17-Steve Hart (8).
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 11K-Shawn Mahaffey (4); 2. 5B-Brock Cottrell (5); 3. 29B-David Jacobs (3); 4. 7S-Kaden Smith (7); 5. 29-Trevor Cohn (6); 6. 4S-Blake Spicer (1); 7. 5E-Daphne Harvey (2).
2021 LUCAS OIL NOW600 NATIONAL MICRO SERIES FEATURE WINNERS -
STOCK NON-WING:
Gavin Miller - 3 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9 and Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10 and June 13); Daison Pursley - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6 and July 13); Johnny Boland - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); Gavan Boschele - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 8); Kris Carroll - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on June 12); Frank Flud - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7); Chelby Hinton - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11); Garrett Hulsey - 1 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30); and Colby Sokol - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6)
WINGED 'A' CLASS:
Frank Flud - 3 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7; Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30; and Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 8); Johnny Boland - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11 and Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 13); Garrett Benson - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6); Kris Carroll - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on June 12); Noah Key - 1 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10); Jeffrey Newell - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6); Laydon Pearson - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); and Corbin Rueschenberg - 1 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9)
RESTRICTED 'A' CLASS :
Garrett Benson - 3 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 6, May 8 and June 12); Jett Nunley - 3 (Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on June 10 and June 13, and Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on June 11); Corbin Rueschenberg - 2 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 7 and Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla., on April 30); Kaley Mahaffey - 1 (Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Okla., on May 7); Justis Sokol - 1 (Caney Valley Speedway in Caney, Kan., on June 9); and Jaxton Wiggs - 1 (Red Dirt Raceway in Meeker, Okla., on March 6)