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Tanner Thorson (25) races past Kale Drake at Bakersfield Speedway. (Tom Macht photo)

Thorson Dominates Bakersfield Midget Run

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Tanner Thorson led all 30 laps in dominant fashion to win Wednesday’s USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature at Bakersfield Speedway.  

Ryan Timms placed second and Cannon McIntosh was third as Toyota-powered drivers swept the top-three podium on the night.

 

Thorson becomes the 18th different Toyota driver to win a national midget feature this season. Overall, Toyota-powered drivers have captured 48 national midget feature victories this season.

Starting from the pole, Thorson went straight to the lead with Timms moving into second and Buddy Kofoid climbing up to third ahead of Carson Macedo and McIntosh.

As Thorson paced the race, behind him Kofoid was battling with Timms for second before getting caught up in lapped traffic, making contact causing him to flip and end his night.

Championship contender McIntosh gained the third position behind his Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Timms, but neither had anything for Thorson, the 2016 USAC champion, who would pull away from the field on the way to a 3.082-second triumph.

KKM driver Gavin Miller placed fourth, with Zach Daum finishing fifth.

Championship leader Daison Pursley finished 12th, as his lead dropped to 30 points ahead of McIntosh with one race remaining.

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Tanner Thorson in victory lane at Bakersfield Speedway. (A.J. Johnson photo)

USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, Bakersfield Speedway, Bakersfield, Calif., Nov. 27, 2024

HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Carson Macedo, 99AU, Dyson-12.380; 2. Gavin Miller, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.436; 3. Buddy Kofoid, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.472; 4. Ryan Timms, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.579; 5. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-12.596; 6. Drake Edwards, 3p, Petty-12.633; 7. Chase McDermand, 8w, Ford-12.635; 8. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.704; 9. Tanner Thorson, 25m, Malloy-12.774; 10. Zach Daum, 31B, Beilman-12.777; 11. Corey Day, 4, Kahne-12.779; 12. Kale Drake, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.783; 13. Jacob Denney, 25, Malloy-12.785; 14. Daison Pursley, 86, CBI-12.803; 15. Emerson Axsom, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.828; 16. Kyle Larson, 1K, Silva-12.862; 17. Karter Sarff, 31, Beilman-12.869; 18. Kyle Busch, 51B, Busch-12.921; 19. Zach Wigal, 89, CBI-12.967; 20. Brandt Twitty, 4B, Twitty-12.996; 21. Justin Grant, 2, RMS-13.001; 22. Austin Torgerson, 88A, Mounce/Stout-13.006; 23. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-13.041; 24. Cade Lewis, 101, Alexander-13.088; 25. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-13.115; 26. Broedy Graham, 66, Graham-13.181; 27. Alex Karpowicz, 19, Mounce/Stout-13.260; 28. Abby Hohlbein, 55, Lambert-13.456; 29. Troy DeGaton, 39T, DeGaton-13.460; 30. Todd Hawse, 18, Hawse-13.460; 31. Kaylee Bryson, 58, Abacus-13.558; 32. T.J. Smith, 32, Sarale-14.021; 33. Kyle Hawse, 20x, Hawse-14.499; 34. Terry Nichols, 1p, Nichols/Peckfelder-15.562; 35. Tyler Courtney, 23c, Silva-NT; 36. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Jacob Denney, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Brody Fuson, 5. Carson Macedo, 6. Kyle Hawse, 7. Troy DeGaton, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 9. Karter Sarff. NT

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Daum, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Gavin Miller, 4. Austin Torgerson, 5. Broedy Graham, 6. Todd Hawse, 7. Terry Nichols, 8. Kyle Busch, 9. Drake Edwards. NT

T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Corey Day, 3. Zach Wigal, 4. Emerson Axsom, 5. Buddy Kofoid, 6. Alex Karpowicz, 7. Kaylee Bryson, 8. Chase McDermand. 2:11.097

CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Cade Lewis, 2. Ryan Timms, 3. Cannon McIntosh, 4. Kale Drake, 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Brandt Twitty, 7. T.J. Smith, 8. Abby Hohlbein. 2:09.421

ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase McDermand, 2. Drake Edwards, 3. Brandt Twitty, 4. Alex Karpowicz, 5. Kyle Busch, 6. Kaylee Bryson, 7. T.J. Smith, 8. Abby Hohlbein, 9. Todd Hawse, 10. Kyle Hawse, 11. Terry Nichols, 12. Cale Coons. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (1), 2. Ryan Timms (3), 3. Cannon McIntosh (2), 4. Gavin Miller (5), 5. Zach Daum (7), 6. Justin Grant (8), 7. Jacob Denney (14), 8. Cade Lewis (10), 9. Logan Seavey (9), 10. Kale Drake (13), 11. Zach Wigal (18), 12. Daison Pursley (15), 13. Emerson Axsom (16), 14. Chase McDermand (12), 15. Brody Fuson (21), 16. Drake Edwards (11), 17. Austin Torgerson (20), 18. Alex Karpowicz (23), 19. Broedy Graham (24), 20. Brandt Twitty (19), 21. Buddy Kofoid (4), 22. Carson Macedo (6), 23. Kyle Larson (17), 24. Corey Day (24).