Spectacular Finish to Indiana Midget Week

Kuhn, Hines win Indiana Midget Week

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider
Photos By: Dave Merritt (http://www.davespitpassphotos.com/)

KOKOMO SPEEDWAY (KOKOMO, IN.)- Avon racer Brad Kuhn (#17B Pictured Left) won a hard fought 30 lap feature in the final night of Indiana Midget Week action.  By winning the 30 lapper, Kuhn claimed a share of the 2010 IMW title with New Case, IN. native Tracy Hines (#24 Lower Right), who finished fifth.

Early on, Shane Cottle flipped coming out of four. He bounced back to race  #10E sprint car later that night in sprint car feature. Other than that it was a pretty caution free, but hard fought race.

It was a three way battle for the win. Grassland Valley, CA. native Brad Sweet and "The Bullet" Bryan Clauson were both gaining on Kuhn.  In the late stages of the race, Sweet motored past Kuhn, but the yellow flag flew, and the field was inverted back to a lap earlier, giving the lead back to Kuhn. Sweet finish right behind Kuhn in second, while Clauson came home in third.

After the hard fought win, Kuhn said, "It feels really go to win the race, and take a share of the Indiana Midget Week Championship.  It was a little scary holding em' off at the end because our motor was deading."

After his solid second place finish, Sweet said, "It was a good battle with Kuhn. A couple of yellows didn't go our way, but we are happy to finish 2nd."

Following a strong third place showing, Clauson said, "It was good to finish 3rd. It was a good points night. We just didn't have enough for the front two."

Fourth place went to Darren Hagen, while Tracy Hines came home fifth. With his fifth place finish, Hines claimed a share of the title with Kuhn.  Brad Loyet took the checkers in sixth, while seventh belonged to Jerry Coons Jr. Chad Boat came home with another top ten finish in eighth. Thomas Meseraull ended his night in nineth. "The Fastest Man Alive" Shane Hmiel rounded out the top ten finishers on Sunday.

On a quick side note, Hmiel is often called "The Fastest Man Alive" because he ran the fastest lap ever recorded in a midget at 149 MPH at Iowa Speedway.

Finishers outside the top ten include; the Australian Matt Smith in 11th; "The Dauminador" Zach Daum in 12th; TSR racer Levi Jones in 13th; Chase Barber in 14th; and Mario Clouser in 15th. Finishing 16th was Henry Clarke "W. Griswald", while Brownsburg, IN. racer Bobby East in 17th. Steve Buckwalter ended his night in 18th. Kent Schmidt finished behind Buckwalter in 19th. The 20th finishing spot belonged to "The People's Champ" Lincoln, IN. native Dave Darland.  Caleb Armstrong came home in 21st, while 22nd went to Shane "The Throttle" Cottle.

Now the Mopar National Midget series sets it's eyes on Burlington, IA. and the 34 Raceway for their next race on Saturday, June 26th.

On a side note, "The Bullet" Bryan Clauson will be racing in the always exciting Miami County Fair Race at the Miami County Speedway on Thursday, June 24th. Come out and watch Clauson and many other up and coming racers in the fair race! I'll be there, will you?