HAGEN HOLDS OFF BELL TO WIN “BELLEVILLE BASH” OPENING NIGHT DUEL

Belleville, Illinois.…..Defending Honda National Midget champion Darren Hagen of Riverside, California picked up his first National Dirt Midget win of the season after coming out on top of a spirited showdown with current National point leader Chris Bell. The 30-lapper kicked off “Belleville Bash” weekend at Belle-Clair Speedway, with both programs co-sanctioned by both POWRi and BMARA series.

Polesitter Bubba Altig led the opening lap before a caution flew, and Hagen jumped to the lead on the restart. It was a lead Hagen would never officially lose.

ProSource “Fast Qualifier” Bell started sixth, but was quickly on the move, taking third before a lap-six yellow. Just after that restart, he moved to the runner-up spot and the battle commenced.

Bell’s first move for the lead came on lap thirteen, but Hagen was quick to cross-over to retake the lead. He opened up his advantage and was not challenged again until the final restart of the night, which came after a lap-24 caution for Altig, who was running in the top-five when he jumped the turn-one cushion and stopped, collecting Colten Cottle.

Hagen again had Bell throwing everything at him after the restart. On lap 26, Bell appeared to clear Hagen for the top spot, but a bobble in turn-four gave Hagen a narrow advantage at the start-finish line. The pair continued to slide and cross each other over for the final few laps. After losing ground at the white flag, Bell threw a desperation attempt at Hagen that nearly spun himself out, with Hagen winning by 1.217 seconds in the RFMS Racing – McGladrey #3 DRC/Esslinger.

“That race for the lead got wild. Christopher Bell is one of the best kids coming up right now, and he and Keith are really fast right now. We threw a lot of sliders back and forth, and obviously made a lot of mistakes on the cushion, too. We had to diamond off a few times to get the lead back and throw some fake sliders too to hold him back there. The cushion was big and fluffy, so I was trying to keep the wheels spinning into it, but it got crazy up there. I was trying to get away, but he just kept coming back,” Hagen said.

Bell held on for the second spot, as he gathered up his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Toyota TRD #71 Bullet/Speedway Toyota and dove to the bottom of the straightaway.

“It was a pretty good race. The cushion was really tough to run. It was kind of a matter of who made less mistakes. He made a couple and let me run up to him, and we started sliding each other. We ran out of real estate there once and he got away a little bit, but it was a fun race. We were driving as hard as we could, but that cushion would bite every couple laps,” Bell said.

Brad Kuhn was the late mover, finally clearing a large pack racing for third through tenth to take home the final podium position in the Mason Cook – Willits Towing & Recovery #10 Beast/Fontana.

“It was a mean cushion. Luckily it sat back down every time I hit it wrong. They were definitely better than us up front, but I think them racing each other brought them back to us a little. The only way we had much for them is if they crashed. Christopher was trying really hard early and banged the fence off four, and I had to check up a couple times, so that cost us some ground, but we got going a lot better towards the end,” Kuhn said.

Ryan Criswell used the bottom to claw his way to fourth in the Criswell Auto Brokers – Jones Engineering #11R Spike/Hawk Chevy, and hometown driver Nick Knepper rounded out the top-five with a big run on the cushion in the Toenjes Brick Contracting – Illinois Roof Finishing #155 Spike/Esslinger.

HONDA USAC NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET RACE RESULTS: July 5, 2013 – Belleville, Illinois – Belle-Clair Speedway – “Belleville Bash” (co-sanctioned by POWRi & BMARA)

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Chris Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.390; 2. Brad Kuhn, 10, Cook-11.393; 3. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-11.407; 4. Colten Cottle, 5c, Cottle-11.415; 5. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-11.421; 6. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-11.427; 7. Ryan Criswell, 11R, R&C-11.441; 8. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-11.470; 9. Nick Knepper, 155, Knepper-11.481; 10. Jake Blackhurst, 25, Blackhurst-11.492; 11. Darren Hagen, 3, RFMS-11.503; 12. Bubba Altig, 37, Felker-11.509; 13. Jerry Coons, Jr., 63, Dooling-11.512; 14. Parker Price-Miller, 9P, Ronk-11.523; 15. Terry Babb, 88, Babb-11.529; 16. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.535; 17. Bryan Clauson, 39, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-11.606; 18. Justin Grant, 56, Hmiel-11.608; 19. Shane Cockrum, 14c, Cockrum-11.632; 20. Tyler Robbins, 35, Robbins-11.644; 21. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-11.647; 22. Danny Stratton, 2x, Lein-11.695; 23. Caleb Armstrong, 7c, C&A-11.723; 24. Aaron Andruskevitch, 37x, Felker-11.727; 25. Rich Camfield, 87, Mathias-11.742; 26. Austin Brown, 7, KBR-11.753; 27. Seth Motsinger, 2M, KBR-11.765; 28. Derrick Myers, 25M, Myers-11.795; 29. Garrett Aitken, 32, Aitken-11.803; 30. Davey Camfield, 86c, Camfield-11.816; 31. Darren Kingston, 94, Kingston-11.826; 32. Taylor Ferns, 55, Ferns-11.872; 33. Tony Roney, 1T, Roney-11.885; 34. Daniel Adler, 50, Adler-11.892; 35. Tim Siner, 15, Siner-11.940; 36. Ross Rankine, 39x, Rankine-11.941; 37. Matt Ponder, 5H, Hoppe-11.942; 38. Cameron King, 55K, King-11.951; 39. Dalton Camfield, 10c, Camfield-11.963; 40. Dalton Armstrong, 7A, C&A-12.002; 41. Jeff Flesher, 6, Camfield-12.018; 42. Daniel Robinson, 57, Ecker-12.091; 43. Alex Bright, 27, RW/Curb-Agajanian-12.096; 44. Chett Gehrke, 11c, Gehrke-12.104; 45. Danny Frye, 5, Frye-12.130; 46. John Campbell, 19, Campbell-12.241; 47. Payton Pierce, 2P, Murdock-12.331; 48. Nick Bailey, 07, Bailey-12.391; 49. Jake Palmisano, 401K, Kirkpatrick-12.418; 50. Brian Rieck, 57x, McCreery-12.439; 51. Dave Camfield III, 16, Camfield-12.474; 52. Bobby Brewer, 1, Brewer-12.807.

FIRST QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps) 1. Siner, 2. Roney, 3. Frye, 4. Ponder, 5. Dalton Camfield, 6. Pierce, 7. Palmisano, 8. Flesher, 9. Bright, 10. Dave Camfield III. NT

SECOND QUALIFYING RACE: (8 laps) 1. Adler, 2. Rankine, 3. King, 4. Robinson, 5. Campbell, 6. Gehrke, 7. Brewer, 8. Rieck, 9. D. Armstrong. NT

FIRST HEAT : (10 laps) 1. Clauson, 2. Bell, 3. Felker, 4. Coons, 5. Knepper, 6. Siner, 7. R. Camfield, 8. Aitken, 9. Neuman. NT

SECOND HEAT : (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Price-Miller, 3. Brown, 4. Kuhn, 5. Blackhurst, 6. Stratton, 7. Roney, 8. Camfield, Jr., 9. Thomas. NT

THIRD HEAT : (10 laps) 1. C. Armstrong, 2. Hagen, 3. Cockrum, 4. Babb, 5. Adler, 6. Criswell, 7. Daum, 8. Motsinger. NT

FOURTH HEAT : (10 laps) 1. Altig, 2. Andruskevitch, 3. Thorson, 4. Hines, 5. Robbins, 6. Cottle, 7. Rankine, 8. Ferns, 9. Myers. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Daum, 2. Criswell, 3. Cottle, 4. Knepper, 5. Stratton, 6. Robbins, 7. Aitken, 8. Motsinger, 9. Siner, 10. Camfield, Jr., 11. Roney, 12. Adler, 13. Neuman, 14. Rankine, 15. Ferns, 16. R. Camfield, 17. Blackhurst. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Chris Bell, 3. Brad Kuhn, 4. Ryan Criswell, 5. Nick Knepper, 6. Andrew Felker, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Bryan Clauson, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Danny Stratton, 11. Zach Daum, 12. Shane Cockrum, 13. Tyler Robbins, 14. Parker Price-Miller, 15. Garrett Aitken, 16. Caleb Armstrong, 17. Aaron Andruskevitch, 18. Tanner Thorson, 19. Austin Brown, 20. Bubba Altig, 21. Colten Cottle, 22. Justin Grant, 23. Terry Babb. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Altig, Laps 2-30 Hagen.

NEW HONDA NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET POINTS: 1-Bell-393; 2-Clauson-356; 3-Hagen-352; 4-Felker-333; 5-Coons-312; 6-Hines-298; 7-Kuhn-272; 8-Daum-269; 9-C.Armstrong-258; 10-Rico Abreu-250.

NEXT HONDA NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET RACE: July 6 – Belleville, Illinois – Belle-Clair Speedway – “Belleville Bash” (co-sanctioned by POWRi & BMARA)

What a fantastic night of racing! Belle-Clair Speedway and midgets are a match that was made in heaven!

Hagen holds off Bell to win in POWRi/USAC/Badger Midgets, Miller takes 8th career victory in POWRi Micros

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (July 5, 2013)-Darren Hagen held off a strong challenge by Chris Bell in the closing laps to win the feature in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series, Honda USAC National Dirt Midgets and Badger Midgets tri-sanctioned event and Joe B. Miller drove to his eighth career victory in the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series on Friday at Belle-Clair Speedway.



Hagen of Riverside, Calif., led the final 29 of 30 laps in his Liberty Village Esslinger-powered DRC, but was locked in a spirited battle with Bell's Toyota-powered Bullet after a restart with seven laps remaining on the one-fifth mile track.



Bell of Norman, Okla., began sliding under Hagen in turns one and two and nearly held the lead on the back straight on several attempts. But the veteran Hagen was able to get back to the throttle sooner than Bell and stay in front.



Bell's best shot to overtake Hagen came on the 28th lap. They went side-by-side, Hagen on the inside, into turn three and he emerged ahead on the front straight. Instead of waiting for Bell to attack again, Hagen slid through turns one and two, bottom to top, and came out directly in front of Bell, who had gone to the top to try to pass. Bell was forced to lift and Hagen finished one car length in front of him.

"I knew if Bell did a big slide on me, I could have been in trouble," Hagen said. "I did a big slide by myself to break his momentum. It's something I learned from Dave Darland one year at the Four Crown Nationals."



Hagen's slide job in turns one and two on the 29th lap, Bell said, "Killed my momentum."



Bell started sixth and climbed to second for an 11th-lap restart. Hagen was faster in the middle stint and wasn't seriously threatened until after the final restart.



"I had to run him down," Bell said. "When I started sliding him, he ran me out of real estate (entering the back straight)."



Hagen's victory was his sixth in POWRi National Midgets and 20th in USAC National Midgets. It counted as a belated celebration for his 27th birthday on Tuesday (July 2) and a present for his father, Jim McMinn, who had flown from his home in Riverside, Calif., to see him race for the first time since last November.



"There were two things that were special about tonight," Hagen said. "I haven't lost on my birthday and the team said since this was closest to my birthday, it counted. And you've always got to get up on the wheel when your dad is there."



Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind., finished third, Ryan Criswell of Mount Vernon, Ill., was fourth and Nick Knepper of Belleville, Ill., fifth. There were 52 Midget entries.



Miller, the 2012 POWRi Micro champion who is running a partial season in the series this year, led all 20 laps, but had to fend off Trey Datweiler of Herscher, Ill., on the final lap.



"I had to go to the bottom and block him," Miller, who had run the high line the entire race to that point, said.



Datweiler's runner-up finish was the best of his POWRi career.



"I didn't want to take Joe B. out," Datweiler said. "I was happy with where I was.'



Jake Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., finished third.



There were 52 entries in the Micros.



The second half of the Belleville Bash concludes tonight with the POWRi/USAC/Badger Midgets and the POWRi Micros.



POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series feature results (30 laps): 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Chris Bell, 3. Brad Kuhn, 4. Ryan Criswell, 5. Nick Knepper, 6. Andrew Felker, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Bryan Clauson, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Danny Stratton, 11. Zach Daum, 12. Shane Cockrum, 13. Tyler Robbins, 14. Parker Price-Miller, 15. Garrett Aitken, 16. Caleb Armstrong, 17. Aaron Andruskevitch, 18. Tanner Thorson, 19. Austin Brown, 20. Bubba Altig, 21. Colten Cottle, 22. Justin Grant, 23. Terry Babb.



POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro Series feature results (20 laps): 1. Joe B. Miller, 2. Trey Datweiler, 3. Jake Neuman, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5 Cale Thomas, 6. Dereck King, 7. Brad McDaniel, 8 Derek Schuett, 9. Jason Harms, 10. Jimmy Wells, 11. Kyle Schuett, 12. Nathan Benson, 13. Nic Harris, 14. Chad Winfrey, 15. Aaron Andruskevitch, 16. Carlee Gress, 17. Matt Ponder, 18. Kurt Westerfield, 19. Chris Openshaw, 20. Jeremy Zumwalt, 21. Luke Verardi, 22. Devin Feger.



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