BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The field of POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League championship contenders continues to grow stronger, with two more entries declaring their commitment to the POWRi title chase.
Bringing a two-car tandem to the table this year, Jim Neuman Racing of New Berlin, Ill., will be represented by longtime driver Jake Neuman and a new combatant in Oklahoma’s Ace McCarthy.
Neuman, a graduate of the POWRi Speedway Motors 600cc Outlaw Micro League, has since moved into midget competition and developed into one of the league’s most-established dark horse threat on a night-to-night basis. The New Berlin, Ill., native will return for the full schedule behind the wheel of the Brandt-backed BOSS/SR-11X No. 3N.
Fresh off a strong 2018 campaign, Neuman finished sixth in POWRi National Midget point standings with a resume that included one victory, 18 top-five finishes and 21 top-10 finishes in 27 feature starts.
The highlight of the year came in July at Valley Speedway, where Neuman fended off a trio of stout Keith Kunz Motorsports drivers to score his second-career POWRi midget victory.
The new man on the block, Ace McCarthy, joins the POWRi National Midget contingent. A native of Tahlequah, Okla., McCarthy has primarily been competing in POWRi West. Now, McCarthy is slated to chase the POWRi National Midget championship for the first time in his career, as he pilots a JNR-owned, Two-Eight Drilling-backed BOSS/SR-11X No. 28.
A two-time winner in the POWRi West ranks, McCarthy picked up his first triumph in September of 2017 at I-30 Speedway in Arkansas and followed that with another victory in April of 2019 at Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway.
Neuman and McCarthy, along with an expected more than 50Â other competitors, will kick off the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League season next week with the sixth annual Turnpike Challenge.
The four-night event will bring racers to Oklahoma with trips to Creek County Speedway (March 21), I-44 Riverside Speedway (March 22-23) and Port City Raceway (March 24).