[SETracing53]

SET RACING COMPLETES THEIR FIRST BATTLE AT THE CENTER
BY ZACH TASKER
The POWRI Lucas Oil National Midget Series entered the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds inside the Southern Illinois Center on Saturday night for the 3rd annual Battle at the Center. A capacity crowd witnessed a stacked field of 67 cars fight for a coveted spot in the 21 car feature. SET Racing had their four car stable on hand ready to do business. In the first 10 lap heat race Sean Murphy started in 2nd position and at the drop of the green flag was pouncing on the outside for the lead. After gaining the lead for a brief moment, Murphy dropped back in the stacked with talent heat and came across the finish line in 5th position. Heat race number two was next on track, and the SET team had two of their hot rods in this one. Mike Gass would start the #52 in 6th place while the #7 of Mike Anderson lined up 7th. The two teammates waged a furious battle the entire ten laps...just like they did throughout most of the IRS season. Also just like all season, things were kept clean and there was no contact. Gass would cross the finish line in 5th spot while Anderson followed close behind in 6th. Heat race #4 was next for the SET team, as the #53 of Aaron Schuck would start on the outside pole. Recurring fueling issues and contact with Mike Larrison would send Schuck back to the 7th finishing position.
This non-points POWRI event utilized a unique passing points format. The top 39 in passing points after the heat races were then seeded into qualifier races while everyone else was put into non-qualifier races. The top three finishers from each non-qualifier race was put into one of the qualifiers. Non-qualifier race number two saw three of the SET cars in the 12 lap affair. Anderson lined up in third sport with Murphy fifth and Schuck thirteenth. The race got off to a rocky start as Anderson had to narrowly miss a spinning car in turn four on the second lap. Murphy and Anderson would duel the remaining laps for the final transfer spot. In the end Murphy would pick up the 3rd and final spot to advance to the qualifier while Anderson would have to settle for 5th. Schuck came across the line in 11th spot.
Mike Gass had already advanced his way into qualifier #2 after finishing in fifth position in his heat race. The top seven cars after twenty laps would make their way into the A main. The Gassman would have his work cut out for him as this qualifier would make for a great A main at many other shows. Names in front of Gass in this race included Tony Stewart and Jon Stanbrough. Right out of the box in turn four on lap one Gass had to take evasive action to avoid a mutli-car calamity. After getting dinged around and spun in standard indoor fashion Gass would finish the race in 14h spot, seven away from the transfer.
Qualifier number three was next up and SET Racing was down to its last bullet to get into the big dance. Sean Murphy would start in 15th and had a lot of cars to pass. The Smurfinator would do just that though as the 5 car carved its way through traffic using the low and high lines on a racy "mini magic-mile". Murphy worked his way up to tenth spot but ran out of laps to gain any more ground. SET Racing was only three spots away from making the A main for the Battle at the Center. It was a bittersweet moment for the team to come so close.
The driver of the #5 Staffords Auto Parts and Salvage/Kiezer Aluminum Racing Wheels/CSI Shocks/Engler Injection/Radical Race Gear/Muffin Tops Cupcakery/SET Racing Engines Twister/Ecotec was upbeat about being so close to the feature "The biggest thing is figuring out where the track is going. They reworked this thing the race before ours and we figured it was going to go dry slick and sure enough it was tacky early on and man we were hauling butt. We must have passed about five or six cars and then the track just started drying out and it started going single groove on the outside and I think I should have tried to take a little more risk and try some more stuff as towards the end I started trying the outside groove and it was doing it." The Illini Racing Series championship runner-up relishes the chance to run some more Powri races "It was a learning lesson. We are getting baby steps, we are getting better. We will get there eventually. I mean I was trying the inside groove and bouncing off the outside cushion. This entire weekend was a big learning experience. I had a lot of fun, the car is in one piece and we almost made the show. We made the qualifier and were three spots away. We are getting close , we will be there someday."
The Gassman, Mike Gass drove smart and hard all night only to come up short in the qualifier. The driver of the #52 Boomba Specialties/Staffords Auto Parts and Salvage/Kiezer Aluminum Racing Wheels/CSI Shocks/Engler Injection/Radical Race Gear/Muffin Tops Cupcakery/SET Racing Engines Stealth/Ecotec started the night off in the heat with a hard battle with his teammate Anderson "Me and Mike were having a good run together. We have been doing that all year. We just get side by side and go. He dosen't give me an inch, I don't give him an inch but we never touched once. The heat race we were going somewhere, if we would have got out I think we would have gave our self another spot to start for the qualifier. Then we got into the qualifier and got turned while running 9th, for no reason. It was a blatant move, but what can you do its indoor midget racing and that's the nature of the beast." The driver from Worth, Illinois will be bringing the #52 midget to the Tulsa Shootout next week in the Ecotec midget division. "We kind of have this dirt thing figured out. Every time we are on dirt, we are fast. Matt (Schuck), Matt (Konter) and my Dad have set me up a great car. I'm really looking forward to running the Tulsa Shootout here next week. We have a chance of winning there." Gass also hopes to be in Tulsa for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals if a ride is found "If someone gives me a Chili Bowl ride Ill run it, I don't care what it is. I feel like if we got to the Chili Bowl with the right equipment we could do pretty well. I know there are some open cars out there and I know somebody can give me a ride. I am not a big money driver and I don't have big money, you could even keep all the money you want. I don't care, all I want to do is win that driller. That is the main thing that I want to win in there and get my name out there a little more."
The Passin Assasin-Mike Anderson completed the Battle at the Center fresh off of winning the 2012 Illini Racing Series rookie of the year. The driver of the #7 Merlins 200,000 Mile Shop/Staffords Auto Parts and Salvage/Kiezer Aluminum Racing Wheels/CSI Shocks/Engler Injection/Radical Race Gear/Muffin Tops Cupcakery/SET Racing Engines Stewart/Ecotec enjoyed the learning experience "The heat race, we came from seventh, dead last to fourth. Then we got into a nice little racing battle with Mikey (Gass) and went back to sixth. If we could have stuck in there in fourth we could have had some good passing points and maybe made the qualifier. We didn't, its unfortunate. You build off of that. Then we went to the non-qualifier. In the non-qualifier we missed it by a spot, so all in all it was a pretty good night. We learned a lot and had a hell of a good time. Roger (Engstrom) might have had a better time than me. He was pretty ecstatic. We are looking forward to coming back here, I wish we had another race here next week, because I would love to come back and try again."
"Hollywood" Aaron Schuck completed his final race as a rookie midget driver in 2012. The driver of the #53 Cals Garage/Oakleys/Shadow Graphix/Earls Indy/Staffords Auto Parts and Salvage/Kiezer Aluminum Racing Wheels/CSI Shocks/Engler Injection/Radical Race Gear/Muffin Tops Cupcakery/Rockstar Energy Drink/SET Racing Engines Stealth/Ecotec was derailed in his heat race after mechanical issues with the car "We started next to Larrison there, he has run the Indy Lights Series and stuff like that so its kind of cool running next to someone that has had that kind of experience and everything of that nature. But we had a lot of problems with the fuel in the car. We have been chasing that the majority of the year. We think we have it figured out but it was just too little too late unfortunately. It was very inconsistent and sometimes the car would be great and sometimes not so much. We were sticking right with the best of them there on that non-qualifier race. We started 14th had her up to 4th before the first caution. I was very impressed with that. The car just felt flat after that. We had that fueling issue so it was really hit or miss. We missed really bad coming off the corners and I would just get run over. I handled great and everything of that nature but we can build off of this for next year. We know we can compete on the smaller tracks with the Powri guys so we might as well do it."
SET Racing would like to thank all of their corporate partners and all of their fans for being so supportive over the weekend. Stay tuned for updates as the Gassman takes on Tulsa!



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