OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Backing up a dominant performance from the previous night, Logan Seavey doubled down and took a second consecutive Turnpike Challenge victory Saturday at I-44 Riverside Speedway.
Seavey started the POWRi Lucas Oil National & West Midget League race from inside the second row and fell in behind Jerry Coons Jr., who controlled the race until he collided with the spinning car of Ace McCarthy.
Seavey took command of the top position and never looked back. Shortly after midway, a strong Tyler Thomas moved into the second position with Christopher Bell in tow.
A much different night than last night for Thomas, switching to a backup machine paid dividends to the Oklahoman, as he was able to not only place on the podium, but also fend off Bell’s advances.
Bell was forced to settle for third, as Thomas took second behind Seavey, while Tucker Klaasmeyer improved one position from the previous night to take fourth. Jake Neuman finished fifth.
“Being that tonight was a lot smoother than last night, I didn’t have to work so hard to get up front in the feature,” Seavey said. “Once we got up front, this thing was just so good. Another really physical race track, you’re out of breath bouncing through the holes. It makes it really fun, gives it a lot of character. I can’t thank the KKM team for the opportunity and Toyota and Mobil 1 for backing me. It’s always fun when you can race your teammates close like that. I knew I just couldn’t make mistakes.”
“It feels really good,” stated Thomas. “After last night, we didn’t feel like we were as strong as we could be. It’s uncharacteristic for us run in the back like that so we decided to make a change with the car and pull the backup down and it was obviously the right decision. My dad did a really good job setting it up tonight and this Toyota power plant was really good. Spike Chassis, Advanced Racing Suspensions, Engler Machine and Tool, all these guys help us run up front.”
“It was tough,” said Bell. “Obviously the beginning of the night didn’t go as planned. The track was really tough. It got pretty rough getting into turn one. It made it interesting. Thank you to the fans for coming out and hopefully we put a good show on tomorrow.”
The finish:
Logan Seavey, Tyler Thomas, Christopher Bell, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Jake Neuman, Alex Bright, Daison Pursley, Jesse Colwell, Tanner Carrick, Andrew Felker, Jerry Coons Jr., Zach Daum, Cole Bodine, Holley Hollan, Blake Hahn, Sterling Cling, Cannon McIntosh, Matt Sherrell, Jody Rosenboom, Zeb Wise, Brady Bacon, Kaylee Bryson, Ace McCarthy.