Marion, IL – Harley Hollan of Tulsa, Oklahoma broke through at Southern Illinois Raceway to claim his first POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro League victory. Hollan’s win came over a stout field of 52 POWRi micro drivers from across the nation.
By virtue of passing points, Hollan started on the pole for the 25-lap feature event. Fending off multiple challenges in the early laps from Craig Ronk, Hollan only lost the lead on lap 10, taking it back immediately the following lap. Hollan had his work cut out for him as teammate Frank Flud worked his way into the top three on lap 11 and then into second on lap 12.
However, Hollan was able to buy himself some time as Joe B. Miller worked into third on lap 17 after starting 11th. Pressuring Flud, Miller’s antics allowed Hollan to place some distance between himself and the battling duo as he worked through lap traffic in the closing laps. Brian Jones ended up taking fourth place, with Kurt Westerfield rounding out the top five.
“Felt like a sitting duck there on the front,” commented Harley Hollan. “I didn’t know what the midgets were going to do to the track. We were setup a little too tight to commit to run the all the way to the top, but it felt good. I was trying to shut down Frank’s slide, because I saw him poke his nose in there a couple of times.”
“I definitely needed to stay in traffic,” said Frank Flud. “We made a decision before the race to tighten the cars up a little bit because the cushion was so good. I kept it free-er, because I knew I was going to have to come through traffic, starting eighth. We got to lap traffic and I could drive off the cushion and maneuver and stuff like that. If he got into the moisture real hard, he’d push. We kind of flipped a coin; he went one way and I went another. It kind of worked out for him in the long run with the late race yellow.”
“It was a good run,” stated Joe B. Miller. “Me and Flud went back and forth quite a few times there. Starting 11th with this caliber of field, we were hoping for a top three out of it. Fighting for the lead the last couple of laps there, is always a good night.”
Micros
Speedway Motors Heat Race Winners: Heat 1: 51B - JOE B MILLER, Heat 2: 50J - BRIAN JONES, Heat 3: 14 - KURT WESTERFIELD, Heat 4: 12 - FRANK GALUSHA, Heat 5: 2 - JAXON BISHOP, Heat 6: 65E - CHAD ELLIOTT, Heat 7: 92 - JORDAN HERRMAN
Toyota Semi Feature Winners:
88 - BJ GATEWOOD, 28R - GUNNER RAMEY
Mesilla Valley Transportation Feature Winner:
14H - HARLEY HOLLAN
POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro League Feature Results
(25 laps): 1. 14H - HARLEY HOLLAN 2. 81 - FRANK FLUD 3. 51B - JOE B MILLER 4. 50J - BRIAN JONES 5. 14 - KURT WESTERFIELD 6. 2B - NATHAN BENSON 7. 65E - CHAD ELLIOTT 8. 5R - CRAIG RONK 9. 33M - RYAN MUELLER 10. 38 - JACKSON FRISBIE 11. 19W - SARA ELROD 12. 28R - GUNNER RAMEY 13. 41 - BRITT PEMBERTON 14. 2 - JAXON BISHOP 15. 88 - BJ GATEWOOD 16. 99 - ALEC LONG 17. 8 - LUKE VERARDI 18. 17 - MOLLY DAY 19. 74 - COLLIN WECE 20. 92 - JORDAN HERRMAN 21. 12 - FRANK GALUSHA 22. 10 - TYLER RUST 23. 42 - ANDY BISHOP
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- administrator on Sep 17, 2017
- Article Date: 9/17/2017