JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Tanner Carrick led all 30 laps in winning Saturday’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at Jacksonville Speedway.
Carrick beat one of his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammates to the finish line, with Rico Abreu placing second, while three-time POWRi champion Zach Daum was third.
The win is Carrick’s first in POWRi this season and his second overall, after previously winning at Sweet Springs (Mo.) Motorsports Complex in USAC competition.
After winning his heat race from fifth, Carrick started the A-main from the pole position with Daum on the outside of the front row. The KKM driver went straight to the lead on the green flag, with Daum, Abreu, Logan Seavey and Tucker Klaasmeyer falling in behind him.
Carrick began to pull away from the field early, while Seavey began to slide back on lap two and Colwell quickly moved up to fourth. By lap eight, Carrick had stretched out almost a full straightaway lead, as Abreu went low to pass Daum for second.
By the midway point, Carrick extended his lead out to more than two seconds over Abreu, who had pulled away from Daum. As the top three held down their positions, the most heated contest turned out to be for fourth between teammates Colwell and Klaasmeyer, who assumed the fourth spot on lap 17.
As the laps began to wind down, the duo traded the position four times between laps 23 and 26 before Colwell secured the spot.
With five laps remaining, Abreu began to close on Seavey. By lap 28, he was on Carrick’s tail and making a run at the 17-year-old, but it would prove to be too little, too late for the two-time Chili Bowl champion.
Carrick ultimately held him off coming to the checkers for the victory.
Abreu finished second, Daum was third, Colwell brought his car home in fourth and reigning series champion Klaasmeyer placed fifth in the caution-free race.
With the runner-up showing, Abreu has now finished in the top two at all four of his POWRi events this season.
Also scoring top-10 finishes were Holley Hollan in sixth, followed by Cannon McIntosh in seventh. Seavey placed eighth, Daison Pursley was ninth and Andrew Layser was tenth.
Daum continues to chip away at Colwell’s POWRi point lead, cutting it to 140 points with five races remaining.
The finish:
Tanner Carrick, Rico Abreu, Zach Daum, Jesse Colwell, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Holley Hollan, Cannon McIntosh, Logan Seavey, Daison Pursley, Andrew Layser, Jake Neuman, Austin O’Dell, Jesse Love, Chase Jones, Ace McCarthy, Daniel Adler, Korey Weyant, Luke Howard, Ray Seach, Broc Hunnell, Jeff Sparks, Mitchell Davis.