[admin]

10/26/21 7:43 PM GEHRKE TAKES THE JOURNEY TO 2ND STRAIGHT USAC MW REGIONAL MIDGET TITLE

More...



GEHRKE TAKES THE JOURNEY TO 2ND STRAIGHT USAC MW REGIONAL MIDGET TITLE

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (October 26, 2021)………Five different drivers busted their way into victory lane throughout the 2021 USAC Midwest Regional Midget season, three of whom were first time series winners.

However, it was the driver who made consistency the overarching theme of his journey from beginning to end of the nine-race slate en route to a second consecutive championship – Chett Gehrke.

Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) went sans a feature win throughout the season for the second-straight year, but still successfully punctuated his defense of the title aboard the Don Moore Music Publications/Stealth/Mopar as the only driver to finish inside the top-10 in all nine events, highlighted by a pair of runner-up finishes in June at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway and in August at Circus City Speedway in Peru, Ind.

For Gehrke, it’s his third career USAC title following previous crowns in 2007 with the Indiana Ford Focus Midgets and in 2020 with the Midwest Regional Midgets.

His nine top-ten results were three more than his next closest competitor, while his five top-fives were tops among all drivers, along with Bryan Stanfill.

Stanfill (Bakersfield, Calif.) finished as the runner-up in series points, picking up his first USAC Regional Midget wins since the year 2000 at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway with the Western States series.* Stanfill tabbed a pair of scores in Indiana during the 2021 season at both Bloomington and Circus City.

Third in the standings was Chance Crum (Snohomish, Wash.) who led all drivers with three victories this season, notching a trio of triumphs at Indiana’s Gas City, Circle City and Kokomo Speedways.* His total of 41 laps led was also tops among all contestants.

Shane Cottle’s last USAC Regional Midget victory prior to 2021 came all the way back in 2000 at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.* The Kansas, Illinois driver doubled-up in his latest campaign with a pair of victories at both rounds held at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.

Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) added a victory in May at Gas City while Abby Hohlbein (Cloverdale, Ohio) became the first woman to race to a USAC Regional Midget feature victory since Taylor Ferns in 2011 during the season finale, the Kokomo Klash at Kokomo Speedway.

Kayla Roell (Dillsboro, Ind.) impressed with a fourth-place result in the final standings while Christchurch, New Zealand native and current Warsaw, Ind. resident Glenn Waterland took fifth.

Three non-points special events were held throughout the year for the series with USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship regulars Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) and Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) taking each night of the Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Hometown Challenge at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. back during the first weekend of April.

Daniel Robinson (Ewing, Ill.), likewise, captured victory indoors during the non-points special event at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin on Labor Day weekend.

*

==========================

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:

POS.***** PTS.*** ***DRIVER, HOMETOWN

1************ 606******* Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Okla.

2************ 538******* Bryan Stanfill, Bakersfield, Calif.

3************ 408******* Chance Crum, Snohomish, Wash.

4************ 343******* Kayla Roell, Dillsboro, Ind.

5************ 332******* Glenn Waterland, Christchurch, N.Z.

6************ 310******* Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kan.

7************ 257******* Abby Hohlbein, Cloverdale, Ohio

8************ 228******* Shane Cottle, Kansas, Ill.

9************ 190******* Jeff Beasley, Mahomet, Ill.

10********** 176******* Jeff Schindler, Evansville, Ind.

11********** 162******* Ben Varner, Harbor Springs, Mich.

12********** 146******* Hayden Reinbold, Gilbert, Ariz.

13********** 101******* Blake Brannon, Morgan Hill, Calif.

14********** 96********** Adam Taylor, Dwight, Ill.

15********** 85********** Jim Jones, Indianapolis, Ind.

16********** 75********** Chase McDermand, Springfield, Ill.

17********** 75********** Emerson Axsom, Franklin, Ind.

18********** 74********** Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, Calif.

19********** 69********** Cory Guingrich, Celina, Ohio

20********** 68********** Ryan Thomas, Indianapolis, Ind.

21********** 51********** Justin Davis, Spencer, Ind.

22********** 50********** Stratton Briggs, Anna, Ohio

23********** 49********** Gray Leadbetter, Morganton, N.C.

24********** 48********** Jacob Denney, Galloway, Ohio

25********** 43********** Mark Nieft Jr., Brownsburg, Ind.

26********** 41********** Bryce Massingill, Troy, Ohio

27********** 37********** Wes Pinkerton, Reynolds, Ind.

28********** 30********** Kyle Dager, Fort Wayne, Ind.

29********** 25********** Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio

30********** 16********** Kyle Beilman, Los Angeles, Calif.

31********** 13********** Hayden Williams, Auckland, N.Z.

32********** 13********** Steven Gresham, Seymour, Ind.

33********** 10********** Bryce Dues, Minster, Ohio

34********** 10********** Carl Peterson, Waterford, Mich.

35********** 10********** Kyle Kriegbaum, Marion, Ind.

36********** 10********** Zack Gingerich, Celina, Ohio

37********** 10********** Jon Watson, Columbus, Ohio

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:

Apr 2: (SE) Riverside International Speedway - West Memphis, AR

WINNER: Daison Pursley

Apr 3: (SE) Riverside International Speedway - West Memphis, AR

WINNER: Cannon McIntosh

Apr 24: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, IN

************** WINNER: Shane Cottle

May 7: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN

************** WINNER: Thomas Meseraull

Jun 25: Bloomington Speedway* - Bloomington, IN

************** WINNER: Bryan Stanfill

Jul 3: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, IN

************** WINNER: Shane Cottle

Jul 9: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN

************** WINNER: Chance Crum

Jul 22: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, IN

************** WINNER: Chance Crum

Aug 14: Circus City Speedway - Peru, IN

************** WINNER: Bryan Stanfill

Aug 28: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN

************** WINNER: Chance Crum

Sep 1: (SE) Southern Illinois Center - Du Quoin, IL

************** WINNER: Daniel Robinson

Oct 16: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN

************** WINNER: Abby Hohlbein

(SE) represents a non-point, special event

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS)

3-Chance Crum

2-Shane Cottle & Bryan Stanfill

1-Abby Hohlbein & Thomas Meseraull

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)

1-Cannon McIntosh, Daison Pursley & Daniel Robinson

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:

41-Chance Crum

40-Shane Cottle

35-Bryan Stanfill

17-Chett Gehrke

14-Emerson Axsom & Adam Taylor

13-Chase McDermand

9-Tyler Nelson

7-Russ Gamester

6-Thomas Meseraull

5-Abby Hohlbein

4-Jack Routson

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:

5-Chett Gehrke & Bryan Stanfill

4-Chance Crum

3-Shane Cottle & Abby Hohlbein

2-Russ Gamester, Billy Lawless, Tyler Nelson, Hayden Reinbold, Jack Routson & Jeff Schindler

1-Max Adams, Jarett Andretti, Emerson Axsom, Travis Berryhill, Blake Brannon, Mitchell Davis, Ronnie Gardner, Brayton Lynch, Chase McDermand, Thomas Meseraull, Greg Mitchell, Scott Orr & Kayla Roell

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:

9-Chett Gehrke

6-Chance Crum, Billy Lawless, Kayla Roell & Bryan Stanfill

5-Tyler Nelson

4-Glenn Waterland

3-Shane Cottle, Abby Hohlbein, Greg Mitchell & Ben Varner

2-Jeff Beasley, Jordan Calendine, Justin Dickerson, Russ Gamester, Ronnie Gardner, Garrett Mitchell, Hayden Reinbold, Jack Routson & Jeff Schindler

1-Max Adams, Jarett Andretti, Emerson Axsom, Travis Berryhill, Blake Brannon, Stratton Briggs, Justin Davis, Mitchell Davis, Kameron Gladish, Cory Guingrich, Gray Leadbetter, Brayton Lynch, Chase McDermand, Thomas Meseraull, Alex Nalon, Scott Orr & Adam Taylor

*

2021 USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:

9-Chett Gehrke & Bryan Stanfill

7-Billy Lawless & Glenn Waterland

6-Chance Crum & Kayla Roell

5-Justin Dickerson & Tyler Nelson

4-Jeff Beasley, Abby Hohlbein & Greg Mitchell

3-Shane Cottle, Ronnie Gardner, Garrett Mitchell, Jeff Schindler & Ben Varner

2-Blake Brannon, Jordan Calendine, Russ Gamester, Jim Jones, Hayden Reinbold, Jack Routson & Adam Taylor

1-Max Adams, Jarett Andretti, Emerson Axsom, Travis Berryhill, Kevin Blue, Stratton Briggs, Michael Clark, Kyle Dager, Justin Davis, Mitchell Davis, Jacob Denney, Rich Drangmeister, Don Epley, Dave Fetsch, Kameron Gladish, Cory Guingrich, Gray Leadbetter, Brayton Lynch, Bryce Massingill, Chase McDermand, Thomas Meseraull, Jonathan Miller, Alex Nalon, Mark Nieft Jr., Scott Orr, Keith Ousley, Wes Pinkerton, Kyle Simon, John Sluss & Ryan Thomas

*

ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)

10-James Robertson

9-Kyle Hamilton

6-Bryan Clauson & Brian Olson

5-Travis Young

4-Jim Anderson, Dalton Armstrong, Mario Clouser, Tracy Hines & Alison MacLeod

3-Dakoda Armstrong, Shane Cottle, Chance Crum, Bradley Galedrige, Mario Marietta, Kyle O'Gara, Robby Parish & Dillon Welch

2-Caleb Armstrong, Emerson Axsom, Daniel Bedford, Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, David Gough, Shane Hollingsworth, Tate Martz, Thomas Meseraull, Stephanie Mockler, Bryan Nuckles, Alex Pruett, Davey Ray, Levi Roberts, Zach Schiff, Bryan Stanfill & Chris Windom

1-Bubba Altig, Aaron Andruskevitch, Teddy Beach, Brent Beauchamp, Sterling Cling, Jerry Coons Jr., Tyler Cottongim, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Bobby East, Ricky Ehrgott, A.J. Felker, Taylor Ferns, Russ Gamester, Brian Gerster, Darren Hagen, Abby Hohlbein, Billy Hulbert, Sam Johnson, Chase Jones, Adam Kramer, Brad Kuhn, Joe Liguori, Chase McDermand, Tyler Nelson, Kyle Nicholas, Adam Nuetzel, Michael Pickens, Austin Prock, Daison Pursley, Kody Swanson, Adam Taylor, Scott Thoman, Tanner Thorson, Brandon Wagner & Jeremy Warren

*

ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)

1-Cannon McIntosh, Daison Pursley, Levi Roberts & Daniel Robinson

*

USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:

2000: Michael Lang

2001: John Wolfe

2006: Scott Thoman

2007: James Robertson

2008: Travis Young

2009: Kyle Hamilton

2010: Dalton Armstrong

2011: Taylor Ferns

2012: Jim Anderson

2014: Kyle O'Gara

2016: Carson Macedo

2020: Chett Gehrke

2021: Chett Gehrke

*