Tonight is the 2nd and final night of the Kokomo Grand Prix featuring the USAC/POWRI Midgets, POWRI 600 Midgets, and USAC Ignite Midgets.
Hot Laps 530, race at 7. Pits open at 2pm and Grandstands at 4pm. Times are eastern time. more info visit www.kokomospeedway.net

[reeserx]

45 midgets checked in tonight

[reeserx]

You can not take the smile off my face when midgets are on the track at Kokomo wow!

[reeserx]

Kunz sweeps the podium with Rico winning, tanner thorson 2nd and Chris bell 3rd

[stealth43k]

Some of the best racing I've seen.these midgets can get around the track so fast

[midgetmaniac]

I think Kokomo is a perfect track for midgets.

Sunday, 13 April 2014
RICO ABREU SWEEPS "KOKOMO GRAND PRIX," LEADS KUNZ/CURB-AGAJANIAN SWEEP Featured

Rico Abreu celebrates his "Kokomo Grand Prix" win.Mike Roth Photo



Kokomo, Indiana.……Rico Abreu made a statement on the opening weekend of Honda National Midget racing as he swept the inaugural “Kokomo Grand Prix” with Saturday night’s 40-lap Feature win. The St. Helena, California made it his sixth career win as he led a podium sweep for the potent Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team.

“What a great weekend and great team to be associated with. This is definitely the best midget team in the country, and they deserve it. Midget Week last year was a confidence booster for me, and ever since then, we’ve been up front a lot. It’s not easy to do that in this group. What a great track to win at, and to sweep the weekend.

Michael Pickens and Bryan Clauson led the field to green, but Tyler Courtney shot from row-two to the lead on the opening lap, just before a red flag came out for rookie Spencer Bayston in turn-one.

After another caution two laps later, Kevin Thomas, Jr. clawed past Courtney to take over the point. Just a few laps later, defending National champ Christopher Bell got rolling on the high side and took the lead on lap nine. On lap 14, Bell bounced through turn-three with what turned out to be a broken right-rear stop. Under the yellow, Thomas, Jr. went to the work area with a flat right-rear tire. Both restarted.

Clauson assumed the lead for the restart, but Abreu was wound up on the top and immediately took the lead of turn-two on lap 14. The two pulled away from the field, with Clauson closing back in as they started to put cars a lap down. Just as Clauson seemed ready to pounce, caution returned with 13 laps to go.

With less than ten laps to go, Clauson hopped through turns one and two while running second, leaving third-running Pickens and top-five-running Darren Hagen with no place to go. All three cars were done for the night. Bell was on the move after the restart, climbing to third behind Thorson before a final caution set up a dash to the checkers for the three teammates.

Abreu did not separate much from Thorson, who had a run low off turn-four coming to the white but could not get close enough to pull the trigger, as Abreu won in the Toyota TRD – Curb Records #97 Bullet/Speedway Toyotas.

“I fell back on the start, and the track was so green, I didn’t quite know where to go. I got going and then the top cleaned off, and I got to the lead after Bell’s bad luck. The long green was a challenge, but I had to just pick them off one-by-one, and I saw Bryan flash inside me once. The top in three and four was pretty far around, and I knew he’d be good on the bottom there. I just had to finish strong and be mistake-free. You have to respect this place; I left this place last year in an ambulance and leaving this year with two wins,” Abreu said.

It was Thorson’s best-career National midget finish after starting 13th in the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian – Toyota TRD #67 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

“I fell back even farther than where I started early in the race, but I started picking them off by halfway. I got to Rico and it was like old times. I could hang with him, but I had to get back up to the top where he was in one and two, and he was better there. Running up front with guys like my teammates is huge for my confidence. It’s great to go out knowing I have the best car owners and crew chiefs in the business,” Thorson said.

Bell completed his comeback from the earlier trip to the work area by rounding out the podium in his Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports #71 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

“There’s some nights where you run third and you’re happy with it, and there’s another nights where you’re disappointed. I know we had a car to win the race. It was a bummer, breaking a stop like that. Luckily, we were able to get it fixed and get back out there to salvage. We were looking at taking a big hit in points, but they were ready to fix it, so hat’s off to them,” Bell said.

Tracy Hines finished fourth in the Parker Machinery – Turbines, Inc. #24 Spike/Stanton Toyota, and Tyler Thomas rounded out the top-five with his best career finish in the BT Machine – Triple X Race Company #91T Triple X/Esslinger.

Dave Darland began the night by taking his second ProSource “Fast Time Award” of the weekend, and Shane Hollingsworth earned the Weld Wheels “Move of the Night” after narrowly claiming the final transfer spot in the Semi-Feature and then climbing to tenth in the Feature.

USAC HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET RACE RESULTS: April 12, 2014 – Kokomo, IN – Kokomo Speedway – “Kokomo Grand Prix” (co-sanctioned by POWRi Racing)

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Dave Darland, 17, RW/Curb-Agajanian-13.319; 2. Caleb Armstrong, 4, Klatt-13.359; 3. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.447; 4. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-13.533; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17x, KBR-13.538; 6. Christopher Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.611; 7. Taylor Ferns, 55, Ferns-13.630; 8. Tyler Courtney, 11, Wilke-13.653; 9. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-13.664; 10. Bryan Clauson, 63, Dooling-13.682; 11. Michael Pickens, 3F, RFMS-13.707; 12. Darren Hagen, 56, Hmiel-13.763; 13. Chris Windom, 3, RFMS-13.772; 14. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.786; 15. Austin Brown, 7, KBR-13.840; 16. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.854; 17. Parker Price-Miller, 9P, Ronk-13.869; 18. Alex Bright, 77, Hemler-13.879; 19. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-13.896; 20. Brady Bacon, 99, BBR-13.906; 21. Steve Buckwalter, 25, Buckwalter-13.909; 22. Spencer Bayston, 39, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-13.942; 23. Jake Blackhurst, 25x, Blackhurst-14.012; 24. Colten Cottle, 5c, Cottle-14.021; 25. Shane Hollingsworth, 85, Hollingsworth-14.035; 26. Jerry Coons, Jr., 57K, Ecker-14.080; 27. Davey Ray, 33, RayPro-14.088; 28. Ryan Criswell, 11R, R&C-14.174; 29. Seth Motsinger, 2, KBR-14.176; 30. Shane Cottle, 57x, Ecker-14.207; 31. Kyle Lick, 10, Moore-14.272; 32. Nick Wean, 78, Wean-14.294; 33. Stratton Briggs, 2s, Briggs-14.308; 34. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-14.362; 35. Daniel Robinson, 57D, McCreery-14.491; 36. Chett Gehrke, 11c, Matteson-14.493; 37. Isaac Chapple, 52, Chapple-14.614; 38. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., 83, Buckwalter-14.658; 39. Justin Grosz, 99G, Grosz-14.687; 40. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-14.697; 41. Justin Peck, 5x, Peck-14.737; 42. Derek Holmwood, 17H, Holmwood-14.741; 43. Nick Bailey, 89, Bailey-14.843; 44. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-14.855; 45. Robby Parish, 7K, Irwin-15.019.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. S. Buckwalter, 2. Windom, 3. Darland, 4. Price-Miller, 5. Daum, 6. K. Thomas, 7. Hollingsworth, 8. Chapple, 9. Briggs, 10. Motsinger, 11. Parish, 12. Peck. 2:19.94

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Clauson, 3. Thorson, 4. Bright, 5. Armstrong, 6. S. Cottle, 7. Bell, 8. Coons, 9. Neuman, 10. Holmwood, 11. B. Buckwalter. 2:22.23

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Blackhurst, 2. Pickens, 3. Brown, 4. Abreu, 5. Felker, 6. Ferns, 7. Lick, 8. Ray, 9. Robinson, 10. Grosz, 11. Bailey. 2:18.90

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. C. Cottle, 2. Bacon, 3. Hines, 4. Courtney, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Hagen, 7. Wean, 8. Gehrke, 9. Criswell, 10. Dickerson, 11. Leer. NT

QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Neuman, 2. Gehrke, 3. Peck, 4. Robinson, 5. Grosz, 6. Holmwood, 7. Briggs, 8. Parish, 9. Dickerson, 10. Leer, 11. Chapple, 12. B. Buckwalter. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bell, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Hagen, 4. Armstrong, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Daum, 7. Felker, 8. Hollingsworth, 9. Ray, 10. S. Cottle, 11. Criswell, 12. Gehrke, 13. Motsinger, 14. Lick, 15. Coons, 16. Ferns, 17. Neuman, 18. Wean, 19. Peck, 20. Robinson.

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Tyler Thomas, 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 7. Andrew Felker, 8. Zach Daum, 9. Parker Price-Miller, 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 11. Colten Cottle, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Seth Motsinger, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Chris Windom, 16. Bryan Clauson, 17. Michael Pickens, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Alex Bright, 20. Steve Buckwalter, 21. Jake Blackhurst, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Austin Brown, 24. Caleb Armstrong, 25. Brady Bacon, 26. Spencer Bayston.
--------------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Courtney, Laps 4-8 K.Thomas, Laps 9-13 Bell, Laps 14-40 Abreu.
**Chapple flipped in the Qualifying Race. Peck flipped in the Semi. Bayston flipped on lap 2 of the Feature.

NEW HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-Abreu-139; 2-Bell-125; 3-Hines-114; 4-Thorson/K.Thomas-102; 6-Darland-94; 7-Windom-89; 8-Daum-84; 9-Clauson-80; 10-T.Thomas-75.

NEXT HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET RACE: May 9 – Granite City, Illinois – Tri-City Speedway – “Hut Hundred”

More in this category: « ABREU RIDES THE WALL TO "KOKOMO GRAND PRIX" FRIDAY WIN

[Action Tracker]

Shared this night at Kokomo with my dad and my son. Dad started taking me to see the midgets back in the mid 60's. We don't get to as many as we used to, but I'd have a hard time remembering a better night than this one!

[cwfan08]

The first Grand Prix seemed to be a great success..tonight was one of those nights, especially in the heat races, you either slide or your going to be slid..Rico's heat race was jaw dropping..he was on a mission! Kokomo is one bad a$$ midget track..Def glad they got it in this year..Its cool seeing drivers that you don't normally see in this part of the area from Illinois and other places..I will def go back next year

Tyler

[Andrew S. Quinn]

Keith Kunz Motorsports Sweeps Midget Podium, Peters Picks Up Micro Win at the Kokomo Grand Prix Finale.

Kokomo, IN. - Rico Abreu doubled down and took night two of the co-sanctioned POWRi/USAC midget feature and Andrew Peters drove to victory lane in the Speedway Motors POWRi 600cc Outlaw Micro feature in the final night of the Kokomo Grand Prix at Kokomo Speedway.

The Keith Kunz Motorsports drivers, led by Friday night's winner, Rico Abreu, swept the podium in the final night of the Kokomo Grand Prix. Rico Abreu, Tanner Thorson, and Christopher Bell finished first, second, and third respectively in a battle amongst teammates driving Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports' Toyota-powered Bullets. Bell took the lead early on, after battling with the KBR Performance entry of then-race leader Kevin Thomas, Jr.

A few laps later, a broken torsion stop after hard contact with the Kokomo curb forced Bell to relinquish the lead and enter the pits. He would restart, but tag the tail of the field, handing the lead over to teammate Rico Abreu. Abreu would then lead the remainder of the event, holding off challenges from 2014 Chili Bowl Nationals winner Bryan Clauson and teammate Tanner Thorson. "What a historical weekend for Keith Kunz," said a very happy Abreu. "That's very special for him and I'm very fortunate to be with such a great team. I can't thank my family, Keith Kunz and Pete Willoughby enough for all that they do for me."

Christopher Bell would charge from the rear of the field after his visit to the pits to the third position, putting pressure on teammate Tanner Thorson for second. "I've got some of the best guys," explained a proud Keith Kunz, co-owner of Keith Kunz Motorsports. "These guys are amazing. They work well together and are pumped racing each other. That's their main goal, to beat each other and that's really neat."

Andrew Peters of Converse, Indiana started on the outside front row of the micro feature in his Metric Cycles-powered Sawyer Chassis and used lap traffic to his advantage to take home his first Speedway Motors POWRi 600cc Outlaw Micro Series feature win of 2014 and the third of his career. "Last night we struggled with engine problems," explained Peters. "So we went and tuned this morning at a different track and were able to land in the circle after 20 laps. It was good."

Ever-consistent Jeremy Camp of Blue Mound, IL., would take the runner-up spot after his charge from the 9th place starting position, rounding out his weekend with a pair of second place finishes. Night one's feature winner, Nathan Benson of Concordia, MO., would round out your top three in the third position. "Not a bad night, but wish we would have caught the track a little bit better," explained Benson. "We got better towards the end; it's just the first couple of laps sitting on top of the track hurt us a little bit."

POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature results (40 laps): 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Christopher Bell, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Tyler Thomas, 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 7. Andrew Felker, 8. Zach Daum, 9. Parker Price-Miller, 10. Shane Hollingsworth, 11. Colten Cottle, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Seth Motsinger, 14. Davey Ray, 15. Chris Windom, 16. Bryan Clauson, 17. Michael Pickens, 18. Darren Hagen, 19. Alex Bright, 20. Steve Buckwalter, 21. Jake Blackhurst, 22. Dave Darland, 23. Austin Brown, 24. Caleb Armstrong, 25. Brady Bacon, 26. Spencer Bayston.

POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series results (20 Laps): 1. Andrew Peters, 2. Jeremy Camp, 3. Nathan Benson, 4. Aaron Andruskevitch, 5. Trent Wilson, 6. Nick Bailey, 7. Nathan Lauderbaugh, 8. Matt Johnson, 9. Tyler Nelson, 10. Jeremy Zumwalt, 11. Todd Kirkman, 12. Jake Neuman, 13. Jason Harms, 14. Jessee Holt, 15. Zac Taylor, 16. Brook Cooper, 17. Kyle Schuett, 18. Matt Ostler, 19. Steve Finn, 20. Rob Johnson, 21. Bobby Fulkerson, 22. Nic Harris.

For more information, visit www.powri.com
Contact:
Derek Schuett
POWRi Media
Derek.schuett@gmail.com
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