July 14, 2022
07/15/2022 By Sheldon Wickwar Twenty-three USAC Midgets, twenty-one non-wing micros, and nine restricted micro race teams, found their way to Beloit, KS last night for the 11th Annual Chad McDaniel Memorial at the Solomon Valley Raceway. The temperatures were high, the cold drinks were ice cold, the fan showed up in waves, and the drivers put on a hell of a show! Fastest qualifier in single car qualifying for the midgets was Jade Avedisian who put down a lap of 12.029 seconds, second was Taylor Reimer who laid down a lap of 12.121 seconds, and third was Trey Gropp who laid down a time of 12.226 seconds. RESTRICTED MICROS: (One eight lap heat race, fifteen lap feature) The restricted micros ran one heat race, which featured a front row of Evan Semerad and Kamden Gossard. Semerad would grab the early lead, meanwhile Wyatt Miller and Gossard were battling for second, quickly Miller would gain control of that position. Caution would come out late for a stopped Kooper Kelly, the field would restart, and Semerad would go on to win the heat race. The feature started with a front row of Wyatt Miller and Evan Semerad, Miller would grab the early lead, Semerad would settle into second, and third was Jude Allgayer early on. The field would string out single file for the remainder, with the top five staying the same. Wyatt Miller won the feature, second was Evan Semerad, third was Jude Allgayer, fourth was Kamden Gossard, and fifth was Kasen Zorn. Hard charger in the event was Kooper Kelly who started ninth and finished sixth. NON-WING MICROS: (Three eight lap heat races, twenty-five lap feature) The first non-wing micro heat started with a front row of Cody Berkenmeier and Jacob Latta. Berkenmeier would hold the early lead but quickly Cale Coons would jump to second and start fighting for the lead. Coons would throw a slider in turn four on lap two and grab the lead. Red flag would come out as Berkenmeier went for a flip in turns one and two, but was able to walk away. Coons would maintain the lead on the restart, Tanner Holwerda would get to second and start battling Coons side by side, but ultimately Coons won the first heat race. The second non-wing micro heat started with a front row of Daniel Williams, and Todd Odle. Jason Friesen would grab the early lead after getting a great start from the third starting spot. Weldon Buford and Friesen would battle side by side for a lap, and Buford pulled a slider to grab the race lead just before halfway. Buford would go on to win the second heat race. The third non-wing micro heat started with a front row of Tyler Odle and Keegan Osantowski. The top four split into two side by side battles, Odle would lead the first lap, but Osantowski led lap two. Meanwhile Chelby Hinton had moved into second place, and started pressuring Osantowski, and Hinton would throw a slider to grab the lead. Hinton would go on to win the third heat race. The feature started with a front row of Keegan Osantoski and Jason Friesen, Friesen would lead early, but quickly Cale Coons got to second, a slight bobble by Friesen gave Chelby Hinton the lead after getting to third. Caution would come out for Blake Spicer going around in turn two. On the restart a four car battle would break out for second place, while Hinton got away from the field in a hurry. Hinton would start lapping the field, while maintaining an impressive lead. Weldon Buford would settle into second place, and Cale Coons would drop to fourth place. Chelby Hinton would go on to win the feature, second was Weldon Buford, third Jaydyn Friesen, fourth Cale Coons and fifth went to Keegan Osantowski. Hard charger in the event was Tyler Odle out of Beloit, he went from starting seventeenth to finishing ninth. MIDGETS: (Three ten lap heat races, thirty lap feature) The first heat race started with a front row of Ryan Timms and Justin Grant. Timms would grab an early lead, and caution would come out early as Hayden Reinbold would slow down to a stop on the fronstretch. Timms would maintain the lead, meanwhile Buddy Kofoid found his way to third place. Caution would come out on lap three as Jade Avedisian slowed to a stop on the frontstretch. Timms would hold a lead, and Justin Grant was pressuring him for the lead. Justin Grant would get the lead with four laps to go, and he would go on to win the first heat race. Second was Ryan Timms, third Buddy Kofoid, fourth Mitchel Moles, and fifth was Chase McDermand. The second heat race started with a front row of Brenham Crouch and Bryant Wiedeman. Wiedeman would grab an early lead, but quickly Cannon McIntosh would make moves to the front and gain the lead. McIntosh would build a big lead, and towards the back Logan Seavey was looking on in fifth, as Taylor Reimer and Bryant Wiedeman were battling for third. McIntosh easily won the second heat race, second was Brenham Crouch, third Bryant Wiedeman, fourth Taylor Reimer, and rounding out the top five was Logan Seavey. The third heat race started with a front row of Zach Daum and Jerry Coons Jr. Coons would grab the early lead, meanwhile Kaylee Bryson, Thomas Meseraull and Mitchel Moles were battling three wide for third. Coons would continue to lead, but Daum was putting pressure on him. Coons would go on to win the third heat race, second was Zach Daum, third was Kaylee Bryson, fourth was Thomas Meseraull, and fifth was Ethan Mitchell. The feature started with a front row of Ethan Mitchell and Cannon McIntosh. It was a heck off a start as during the four wide salute, fireworks blasted off, and a few found their way to the race cars. After the pre-race chaos, the original start would be stopped as Taylor Reimer got sent off track after contact on the start. Reimer would be sent to the back for the restart. McIntosh would grab the early lead, meanwhile the battle for fourth was three wide, with several other multiple car battles for position. After five laps Cannon McIntosh, Buddy Kofoid, Thomas Meseraull, Ethan Mitchell, and Justin Grant were the top five. On lap nine multiple lead changes would ensue, as Kofoid threw a slider on McIntosh, but then Meseraull would throw a slider on Kofoid. Caution would come out on lap ten as Hayden Reinbold was turned around, facing the wrong way down on the frontstretch. Meseraull would bring the field to a restart, and right off the bat Kofoid would start throwing sliders. Caution would come out on lap fourteen as Jacob Denney went around in one and two. Meseraull would bring the field back to a restart, and would hold a slight lead over Kofoid. With ten laps to go the top five was, Meseraull, Kofoid, Timms, McIntosh and Mitchell. Meseraull would continue to lead, and with five laps to go had a 2.1 second lead over Kofoid. Thomas Meseraull would ride off into the sunset and claim the win, second went to Buddy Kofoid, third went to Ryan Timms, fourth was Cannon McIntosh and Ethan Mitchell was fifth. Hard charger on the event was Ryan Timms, who started sixteenth and finished third!
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