[Sandy Lowe]

With rain showers scattered throughout the area the Midwest TQ Racing League presented by Jenmarco.com persevered and completed the annual Fourth of July three-quarter midget race at the Rush County Fairgrounds, in Rushville, Ind.

With rain falling in the afternoon thirty-one cars showed up at the fairgrounds hoping to race for just the second time of the season with the MTQRL. After an extended track prep session, which included wheel packing by the cars, the extremely muddy track conditions were able to be made into racing shape.

Muncie’s Nick Speidel led all twenty-five laps of the feature to take his second MTQRL win of the year. Four-time and defending champion Tate Martz pressured Speidel for the lead over the last half of the race but the closest he would come to overtaking him was on lap seventeen. As the leaders encountered lapped traffic going down the frontstretch Speidel went low and Martz high sandwiching a lapped car in the middle. As they entered turn one three-wide the caution flew for Will Nedderman who had spun in and was sitting crossways in the track.

On the restart Speidel held off repeated challenges from Martz to score his tenth career feature win. Finishing behind Speidel and Martz were Brett Hankins, Dustin Wheeldon and Rick Robinson. Brayton Leisure, Logan Arnold, Nedderman, Robbie Roland and Dalton Miller rounded out the top ten.

By improving ten positions after winning the semi feature and starting at the rear of the feature Arnold was named the Indy Race Parts Hard Charger and Miller, who had the best finish of five rookie drivers, was the Tony Stewart Racing Rookie of the Race. Speidel was the Elwood Sanitarium Polesitter and Perfect North Slopes heat winners were Speidel, Leisure, Wheeldon and Martz.

Devin Fairchild, who turned over at the start of his heat race then hit the wall racing for the last transfer position in the semi feature, was the Duane & Sonja Alexander Hard Luck Driver. Cody Kiewitt won the $50 American Racer gift certificate and Mike Kline & Jay Souviner won the $50 Jackson Oil & Solvents gift certificate.

The next event on the MTQRL schedule will be “Tony Stewart Night at the Bartholomew County Fair” on Tuesday July 9th at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds in Columbus, Ind. Columbus is Stewart’s hometown and three-time NASCAR champion will be returning to his roots by competing in a three-quarter midget for the first time in several years. In addition to Stewart and the rest of the MTQRL drivers 2013 USAC Midget Week Champion Christopher Bell of Norman, Okla. is also expected to compete.

The grandstand gates will open at 5:00 pm, with practice at 6:00 pm, qualifications at 6:30 pm, and racing is set to begin at 7:30 pm. Adult general admission is $12, children 4-12 are $4, and 3 and under are free. There will be a $5 fee charged to park at the fairgrounds.

For more information on the Midwest TQ Racing League please visit our website www.mtqrl.com or Like Us on Facebook at “Midwest TQ Racing League.”



MIDWEST TQ RACING LEAGUE presented by Jenmarco.com
July 4, 2013 – Rushville, Indiana – Rush County Fairgrounds

PERFECT NORTH SLOPES HEAT 1 – 1. 21 Nick Speidel, 2. 25 Jason Willis, 3. 33 Matt Hedrick, 4. Rick Robinson, 5. 4E Steve Leisure, 6. 4 Rex Griffin, 7. 08 Tristan Maggart, 8. 3 Steve Arnold.

PERFECT NORTH SLOPES HEAT 2 – 1. 6 Brayton Leisure, 2. 60 Cody Kiewitt, 3. 14 Brett Hankins, 4. 69 Joshua Shaw, 5. 74 Devin Fairchild, 6. 2 Dakota Megel, 7. 10X Leslie Souviner, DNS 76A Matt Arrington.

PERFECT NORTH SLOPES HEAT 3 – 1. 35 Dustin Wheeldon, 2. 8 Bobby Walton, 3. 50 Ronnie Combs, 4. 24 Chris Mann, 5. 43 Logan Arnold, 6. 39 Kyle May, 7. 29 Will Nedderman, 8. 7 Jon Steed.

PERFECT NORTH SLOPES HEAT 4 – 1. 1 Tate Martz, 2. 48 Aaron Percell, 3. 76 Dalton Miller, 4. 65 Will Wilson, 5. 78 Robbie Roland, 6. 91 John Doyle, DNS 5L Tim Lynch.

SEMI FEATURE – 1. 43 Logan Arnold, 2. 29 Will Nedderman, 3. 78 Robbie Roland, 4. 4E Steve Leisure, 5. 74 Devin Fairchild, 6. 7 Jon Steed, 7. 76A Matt Arrington, 8. 3 Steve Arnold, 9. 91 John Doyle, 10. 4 Rex Griffin, DNS 2 Dakota Megel, DNS 39 Kyle May, DNS 08 Tristan Maggart, DNS 10X Leslie Souviner, DNS 5L Tim Lynch.

FEATURE – 1. 21 Nick Speidel, 2. 1 Tate Martz, 3. 14 Brett Hankins, 4. 35 Dustin Wheeldon, 5. 12 Rick Robinson, 6. 6 Brayton Leisure, 7. 43 Logan Arnold, 8. 29 Will Nedderman, 9. 78 Robbie Roland, 10. 76 Dalton Miller, 11. 48 Aaron Percell, 12. 65 Will Wilson, 13. 69 Joshua Shaw, 14. 60 Cody Kiewitt, 15. 50 Ronnie Combs, 16. 25 Jason Willis, 17. 4E Steve Leisure, 18. 24 Chris Mann, 19. 33 Matt Hedrick, 20. 8 Bobby Walton.

Lap Leaders – 1-25 Nick Speidel

Indy Race Parts Hard Charger – Logan Arnold (+10)

Duane & Sonja Alexander Hard Luck Driver – Devin Fairchild

Tony Stewart Racing Rookie of the Race – Dalton Miller

Perfect North Slopes Heat Winners – Nick Speidel, Brayton Leisure, Dustin Wheeldon, Tate Martz

Elwood Sanitarium Haunted Attraction Polesitter Award – Nick Speidel

Jackson Oil & Solvents Gift Certificate – Mike Kline & Jay Souviner

American Racer Gift Certificate – Cody Kiewitt

POINT STANDINGS – 1. Nick Speidel-280; 2. Tate Martz-230; 3. Brett Hankins-225; 4. Rick Robinson-200; 5. Cody Kiewitt-154; 6. Logan Arnold-150; 7. Bobby Walton-145; 8. Dalton Miller-135; 9. Jason Willis-129; 10. Devin Fairchild-125; 10. Aaron Percell-125.

Next Race – July 9 – Columbus, Indiana – Bartholomew County Fairgrounds “Tony Stewart Night at the Bartholomew County Fair”



www.mtqrl.com

Like us on Facebook
"Midwest TQ Racing League"