JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Logan Seavey made it eight victories in 14 starts with the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midgets this season on Friday night at Jacksonville Speedway.
Storming from seventh to first, Seavey did so while outlasting a stout field and dangerously dancing on the edge of the cushion aboard his Keith Kunz-Curb Agajanian Motorsports, Mobil 1, Bullet/Toyota No. 67.
Extending his mark to 16 career victories, Seavey inched closer to the record of most POWRi National Midget victories in one season, which is currently owned by Christopher Bell’s 11-win campaign in 2014. Now, with 10 races remaining, the 22-year old Toyota Racing Development star has a chance to break and potentially shatter Bell’s benchmark.
Before he put the stamp on yet another unrelentless run to victory, Seavey had to take the green flag from the inside of the fourth row.
Pacing the field out front, 17-year old Ethan Mitchell had control of the start in his Bundy Built Motorsports No. 19m. However, it was the outside polesitter who controlled P1 when the opening circuit was recorded, as Jesse Colwell shot out of a cannon and put his IWX Motor Freight No. 71 to the point.
Driving away with ease, Colwell was dominant in the early stages while his KKM teammate, Jesse Love, maneuvered by Mitchell and took his JBL Audio No. 97k into the second slot. Early trouble for eighth-running Michael Pickens and fourth-running Robert Dalby hampered what were once two promising performances and bunched the field up.
While the battle for second turned red hot between Mitchell, Love and Seavey, the craziest moment of the night lurked around the corner. Going red on the tenth circuit, chaos ensued when third-running Ethan Mitchell caught the outside wall in turn two, sending his No. 19m into a frenzy of flips before landing on all four.
However, that was only the beginning. Climbing out of the car with a stuck throttle as the car leaned against the wall, Mitchell escaped the wreckage but his Honda powerplant continued to scream and light up the tires in a harrowing moment for fans and workers. After a few brief seconds of shock, a track worker stepped into the fray and reached into the cockpit, flipping the kill switch, and ending the madness.
Going back to green, Seavey instantly went on the attack, diamonding off turns one and two before rocketing by Colwell down the backstretch and clearing him for the lead with a turn three slider on lap 11. The final stoppage of the race came moments later when Jake Neuman slapped the cushion and went barrel-rolling in turn two on lap 13. He was okay and the race would restart for the final time.
Immediately gapping the field, Seavey pulled away while Tanner Carrick hustled by Colwell to make it a 12th-to-second run. Throughout the final half, Carrick did all he could in attempting to track down a blistering-fast Seavey, but fell just short in his quest.
Leading the final 20 laps, Seavey set the Keith Kunz-Curb Agajanian Motorsports, Mobil 1, Bullet/Toyota No. 67 on cruise control in his dominant performance.
Chasing Seavey to the line and completing a Keith Kunz-Curb Agajanian Motorsports sweep of the podium was Tanner Carrick in the Walker Filters No. 71k and Jesse Colwell aboard the IWX Motor Freight No. 71.
Behind them and filling out the top five was Tyler Thomas with a 14th-to-fourth bid and Tucker Klaasmeyer in fifth.
Paul Nienhiser won the MOWA sprint car feature.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 67-Logan Seavey (7); 2. 71K-Tanner Carrick (12); 3. 71-Jesse Colwell (2); 4. 91T-Tyler Thomas (14); 5. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (5); 6. 08-Cannon McIntosh (8); 7. 97K-Jesse Love (4); 8. 28-Ace McCarthy (3); 9. 9-Daison Pursley (16); 10. 72-Sam Johnson (9); 11. 47BC-Andrew Layser (18); 12. 50-Daniel Adler (15); 13. 67K-Holley Hollan (19); 14. 57D-Daniel Robinson (21); 15. 5D-Zach Daum (13); 16. 86C-Dave Camfield Jr. (11); 17. 3N-Jake Neuman (22); 18. 3B-Shelby Bosie (17); 19. 1NZ-Michael Pickens (10); 20. 9X-Clinton Boyles (20); 21. 19M-Ethan Mitchell (1); 22. 4D-Robert Dalby (6).