PEVELY, Mo. — Chase McDermand notched his first POWRi National Midget win by topping Saturday night’s 20-lap feature atop the Federated Auto Parts I-55 Raceway clay oval.
After earning the front row outside starting position for the main event, the Springfield, IL, racer outdueled pole starter Tanner Berryhill on the opening and led throughout to post the win aboard the Mounce/Stout Motorsports No. 40 entry.
“I can’t hardly believe this,” McDermand said. “This has been a dream of mine for so long to be able to run national midgets and get a win.”
On a treacherous surface, McDermand ripped the high side throughout to keep his chasers at bay. McDermand weathered one final caution after the white flag flew to command the final lap to victory lane ahead of Joe B. Miller and Berryhill.
“I didn’t want to see that caution, but I kept the same line I was running and hoped it would work out,” McDermand summed up.
Miller claimed runner-up honors after starting third with Berryhill in third as tenth-starter Sam Johnson and reigning POWRi Midget champion Bryant Wiedeman rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 40-Chase McDermand[2]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 3. 17-Tanner Berryhill[1]; 4. 72-Sam Johnson[10]; 5. 01-Bryant Wiedeman[6]; 6. 97-Brenham Crouch[12]; 7. 25K-Taylor Reimer[5]; 8. 08-Cannon McIntosh[23]; 9. 26-Chance Crum[13]; 10. 67-Ryan Timms[11]; 11. 83-Dominic Gorden[15]; 12. 50-Daniel Adler[20]; 13. 97K-Kaidon Brown[7]; 14. 17B-Austin Barnhill[4]; 15. 19AZ-Hayden Reinbold[17]; 16. 77W-Joey Wirth[16]; 17. 31B-Kyle Beilman[22]; 18. 75-Bryan Stanfill[19]; 19. 21K-Karter Sarff[9]; 20. 17C-Devin Camfield[21]; 21. 9M-Zach Daum[18]; 22. 8J-AJ Johnson[8]; 23. 7D-Michelle Decker[14]