GRAIN VALLEY, MO. (July 13, 2019) – Winning his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature on Saturday night at Valley Speedway, Ace McCarthy of Tahlequah, Okla. was undeniable in the 30-lap main event. Driving around his teammate, Jake Neuman, on the second circuit, McCarthy then fended off several attacks from young Holley Hollan as he held on for an impressive first-career triumph aboard the Jim Neuman Racing, Two-Eight Drilling, BOSS/SR-11 No. 28.
Sharing PAC Racing Springs High Point Men honors, the Jim Neuman Racing duo of Jake Neuman and Ace McCarthy brought the feature field to life as the green flag dropped. Neuman of New Berlin, Ill., who won Friday’s feature, led the opening circuit aboard his Brandt, BOSS/SR-11 No. 3N by a nail-biting 0.008 seconds over McCarthy at the line.
Making his move on Neuman the next time by, McCarthy tossed a slider towards his teammate and received one right back at him in turn three. However, McCarthy was able to cross him up and dive down low to lead the second circuit and gain command of the top spot.
A pair of cautions bunched the field up and put a spotlight on Holley Hollan of Broken Arrow, Okla., as the 17-year old young woman maneuvered her Keith Kunz Motorsports, SIRIUS XM, Bullet/Toyota No. 67 into the second spot from seventh. Restarting with eight laps down, Hollan snuck below McCarthy and made it a side-by-side affair at the stripe, but McCarthy’s momentum up top was too strong and he held on.
Coming by on lap 11, Hollan perfected the bottom side of turns three and four and was able to snag the lead as McCarthy’s No. 28 was reeled in by the cushion. However, her lead was short-lived, as the caution flew for a three-car pileup, reverting us back to the last completed lap and handing McCarthy control.
Going back to green on the final restart with 12 laps to go, McCarthy caught some breathing room as Hank Davis of Sand Springs, Okla. challenged Hollan for second and held her up. The two briefly exchanged positions before Hollan was able to regain command of the runner-up spot and reasserted her attention to tracking down McCarthy.
Switching to the low side of turns one and two, but remaining committed to the cushion on the opposite end, McCarthy was able to build his advantage in the closing stages as an all-out war for third between Davis, Andrew Felker, Zach Daum, Jake Neuman and Daison Pursley took center stage.
In the end, Ace McCarthy’s Jim Neuman Racing, Two-Eight Drilling, BOSS/SR-11 No. 28 was not to be denied, as the Tahlequah, Okla. native broke through to score his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League victory in the “Thunder in the Valley” finale at Valley Speedway.
Holley Hollan followed him to the line with career-best finish, driving the Keith Kunz Motorsports, SIRIUS XM, BOSS/SR-11 No. 67 from ninth-to-second. Andrew Felker of Carl Junction, Mo. rounded out the podium for the second night in a row, this time driving the Chad Shields Racing, MelMark Pipe & Supply, Ripper/Fontana No. 44S from 11th-to-third.
Rounding out the top ten on Saturday at Valley Speedway was Zach Daum in fourth, Hank Davis in fifth, Trey Marcham in sixth, Jake Neuman in seventh, Daison Pursley in eighth, Cannon McIntosh in ninth and Jesse Colwell in tenth.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midgets will pair up again tomorrow Sunday, July 14 to conclude the three-day weekend with a trip to Humboldt Speedway in Humboldt, Kansas. For those unable to make it, you can watch LIVE on www.speedshifttv.com.
For more information on POWRi Racing, you can visit www.powri.com online, follow @POWRi_Racing on Twitter and Instagram, or like POWRi on Facebook.
Auto Meter Heat One (8 Laps):
- 9-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (2); 2. 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (4); 3. 4F-Chad Frewaldt, Kansas City, KS (1); 4. 77W-Joey Wirth, Waterloo, IL (3); 5. 2-AJ Gilbert, Tonganoxie, KS (6); 6. 15L-Merril Lamb, Iola, KS (7); 7. 5H-Casey Hicks, Platte City, MO (5).
KSE Racing Products Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 32-Trey Marcham (3); 2. 3N-Jake Neuman (7); 3. 11-Daniel Robinson, Ewing, IL (2); 4. 2H-Luke Howard, Overland Park, KS (5); 5. 7S-Pat Schudy, Springfield, MO (4); 6. 3H-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (6); 7. 60E-Mark Billings, Columbia, MO (1).
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 67-Holley Hollan, Broken Arrow, OK (2); 2. 08-Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, OK (5); 3. 20G-Noah Gass, Mounds, OK (1); 4. 17-Austin Brown, Millstadt, IL (6); 5. 3-Dustin Gilbert, Tonganoxie, KS (3); 6. 98-Joe Boyles, Greenwood, MO (4); 7. 84-Shaun Shapel, Wichita, KS (7).
Schoenfeld Headers Heat Four (8 Laps):
- 7U-Kyle Jones, Kennedale, TX (4); 2. 28-Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, OK (7); 3. 44S-Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO (5); 4. 7M-Chance Morton, Coweta, OK (6); 5. 7X-Blake Edwards, Claremore, OK (3); 6. 84M-Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (1); 7. 28X-Mark Chisholm, Cheyenne, WY (2).
Racing Electronics Heat Five (8 Laps):
- 42-Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK (4); 2. 71-Jesse Colwell, Red Bluff, CA (2); 3. 9X-Clinton Boyles, Greenwood, MO (7); 4. 19S-Trey Gropp, Lincoln, NE (3); 5. 3B-Shelby Bosie, Sherman, IL (1); 6. 321-Chad Winfrey, Gladstone, MO (6); 7. 7MX-Heath Murry, Tonganoxie, KS (5).
Rod End Supply B-Main (12 Laps):
- 20G-Noah Gass (2); 2. 7X-Blake Edwards (9); 3. 19S-Trey Gropp (4); 4. 77W-Joey Wirth (3); 5. 3B-Shelby Bosie (10); 6. 3H-Wesley Smith (11); 7. 7S-Pat Schudy (6); 8. 7MX-Heath Murry (17); 9. 2-AJ Gilbert (5); 10. 98-Joe Boyles (13); 11. 60E-Mark Billings (19); 12. 3-Dustin Gilbert (8); 13. 15L-Merril Lamb (7); 14. 5H-Casey Hicks (16); 15. 321-Chad Winfrey (12); 16. 28X-Mark Chisholm (18); 17. 84M-Kade Morton (15); 18. 4F-Chad Frewaldt (1); 19. 84-Shaun Shapel (14).
POWRi Lucas Oil National / West Midget League Main Event (30 Laps):
- 28-Ace McCarthy (2); 2. 67-Holley Hollan (9); 3. 44S-Andrew Felker (11); 4. 5D-Zach Daum (10); 5. 42-Hank Davis (4); 6. 32-Trey Marcham (5); 7. 3N-Jake Neuman (1); 8. 9-Daison Pursley (8); 9. 08-Cannon McIntosh (6); 10. 71-Jesse Colwell (12); 11. 7M-Chance Morton (14); 12. 3B-Shelby Bosie (21); 13. 7X-Blake Edwards (18); 14. 19S-Trey Gropp (19); 15. 2H-Luke Howard (16); 16. 17-Austin Brown (13); 17. 2-AJ Gilbert (23); 18. 3H-Wesley Smith (22); 19. 11-Daniel Robinson (15); 20. 77W-Joey Wirth (20); 21. 20G-Noah Gass (17); 22. 9X-Clinton Boyles (7); 23. 7U-Kyle Jones (3).
Lap Leader(s); Neuman 1; McCarthy 2-30.
Hard Charger(s): Bosie +9.
- administrator on Jul 14, 2019
- Article Date: 7/14/2019 by Brian Walker