Tanner Thorson

Brad Loyet

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Granite City, Illinois…Tanner Thorson made a statement on Friday night with a resounding victory in the night’s 25-lap Honda National Midget main event to kick off the “Gold Crown Midget Nationals.” The Minden, Nevada driver was on top of points after heat races and qualifying races, which included finish and passing points, to earn the pole of the feature. From there, he took off and was largely unchallenged on his way to a 3.378-second victory in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Toyota TRD #67 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.

“Meseraull and I have a bit of a rivalry going, so I got him off the start and knew he’d bring some big restarts at us late in the race, so I had to hit one and two as hard as I could. He definitely ran it in hard, and I knew I had to run it in hard and hit the cushion and come off with the wheels up. I searched around a little bit early and through the middle of the race, but we got the momentum going around the top and were really strong as the race went on. It’s good to be sitting well for tomorrow and get ourselves a really good win tonight,” Thorson said.

Thorson saw two different bids for his lead during the race, with the early one being Steve Buckwalter. Buckwalter used the low side to take second in the early laps and move underneath Thorson by lap-four, but the leader dropped low and pulled away from Buckwalter.

On lap 8, contact between Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Darren Hagen while racing for eighth ended with National point leader Thomas, Jr. in the frontstretch wall and out of the race.

Second-running Thomas Meseraull then lined up to take his shot at Thorson, and he held with him for the first few laps after the restart. Behind him, Buckwalter was having a battle with eleventh-starting Tyler Thomas, who had jumped to fourth in the first few laps. Jerry Coons, Jr., Tracy Hines, and Zach Daum were battling hard behind them.

With ten to go, Chris Windom spun from the tenth spot, and this time Meseraull was geared up for the restart. He fired to the inside of Thorson into turn-one but slid up behind him. Buckwalter and Thomas continued to go at it for third, as Daum finally took fifth and Dave Darland started to enter the fray on the very bottom.

A final caution with six laps to go for Andrew Felker, who stopped to relinquish the tenth spot, set up one final chance for Meseraull. He nailed the restart again and slid all the way up in turn-two, nearly making contact with Thorson who was in the throttle and powered through to keep the lead as they exited turn-two. He pulled away in the closing laps to take his second victory of the season.

Tri City Speedway

410 Winged Sprints 9/4/2015
A-Main :
1. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 2. Paul Nienhiser (Chapin, IL), 3. Hunter Schuerenburg (Sikeston, MO), 4. Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Indianapolis, AL), 6. Jake Blackhurst (Farmington, IL), 7. Roger Crockett, 8. Kody Kinser (Bloomington, IN), 9. Jimmy Light (Lizton, IN), 10. Korey Weyant (Springfield, IL), 11. Joey Moughan (Springfield, IL), 12. Jimmy Hurley (Springfield, IL), 13. Chris Urish (Lincoln, IL), 14. Jacob Patton (Bethalto, IL), 15. Steven Russell, 16. Trey Datweiler (Herscher, IL), 17. Brady Bacon (Winchester, IN), 18. Jeremy Standridge (Springfield, IL), 19. Chris (Critter) Malone (Speedway, IN), 20. Cory Bruns (Lincoln, IL),

B-Main:
1. Trey Datweiler (Herscher, IL), 2. Jimmy Hurley (Springfield, IL), 3. Roger Crockett, 4. Steven Russell, 5. Jimmy Bridgeman (Farmington, MO), 6. Jacob Wilson, 7. Logan Faucon (Elkhart, IL),

Dash:
1. Paul Nienhiser (Chapin, IL), 2. Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO), 3. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 4. Hunter Schuerenburg (Sikeston, MO), 5. Jimmy Light (Lizton, IN), 6. Cory Bruns (Lincoln, IL),

Heat 1:
1. Jerrod Hull (Sikeston, MO), 2. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 3. Brady Bacon (Winchester, IN), 4. Kody Kinser (Bloomington, IN), 5. Korey Weyant (Springfield, IL), 6. Trey Datweiler (Herscher, IL), 7. Jimmy Hurley (Springfield, IL), 8. Roger Crockett,

Heat 2:
1. Jimmy Light (Lizton, IN), 2. Cory Bruns (Lincoln, IL), 3. Chris Urish (Lincoln, IL), 4. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Indianapolis, AL), 5. Jacob Patton (Bethalto, IL), 6. Steven Russell, 7. Jimmy Bridgeman (Farmington, MO), 8. Logan Faucon (Elkhart, IL),

Heat 3:
1. Paul Nienhiser (Chapin, IL), 2. Hunter Schuerenburg (Sikeston, MO), 3. Jake Blackhurst (Farmington, IL), 4. Chris (Critter) Malone (Speedway, IN), 5. Joey Moughan (Springfield, IL), 6. Jeremy Standridge (Springfield, IL), 7. Jacob Wilson,

Midgets 9/4/2015
A-Main :
1. Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV), 2. Thomas Messeraull (Waveland, IN), 3. Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 4. Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL), 5. Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK), 6. Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA), 7. Jerry Coons Jr (Tuscon, AZ, IN), 8. Dave Darland (Walton, IN), 9. Tracy Hines (Wilkinson, IN), 10. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 11. Spencer Bayston, 12. Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 13. Payton Pierce (Bridgeport, TX), 14. Justin Peck (Monrovia, IN), 15. Isaac Chapple (Wilkinson, IN), 16. Andy Malpocker (St. Charles, MO), 17. Andrew Felker (Carl Junction, MO), 18. Jacob Patton (Bethalto, IL), 19. Ryan Greth (New Cumberland, PA), 20. Jim Radney, 21. Joey Rinne (Barnhardt, MO), 22. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Indianapolis, AL), 23. Davey Ray (Indianapolis, IN), 24. Johnny Murdock (St. Louis, MO), 25. Robert Bell, 26. Tyler Elliott,

Heat 1:
1. Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK), 2. Jerry Coons Jr (Tuscon, AZ, IN), 3. Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL), 4. Davey Ray (Indianapolis, IN), 5. Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 6. Ryan Greth (New Cumberland, PA), 7. Isaac Chapple (Wilkinson, IN), 8. Andy Malpocker (St. Charles, MO), 9. Payton Pierce (Bridgeport, TX),

Heat 2:
1. Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Indianapolis, AL), 3. Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 4. Thomas Messeraull (Waveland, IN), 5. Andrew Felker (Carl Junction, MO), 6. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 7. Spencer Bayston, 8. Jacob Patton (Bethalto, IL), 9. Robert Bell,

Heat 3:
1. Dave Darland (Walton, IN), 2. Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV), 3. Tracy Hines (Wilkinson, IN), 4. Jim Radney, 5. Justin Peck (Monrovia, IN), 6. Johnny Murdock (St. Louis, MO), 7. Joey Rinne (Barnhardt, MO), 8. Tyler Elliott,

Qualifer 1:
1. Thomas Messeraull (Waveland, IN), 2. Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV), 3. Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA), 4. Spencer Bayston, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (Indianapolis, AL), 6. Jim Radney, 7. Andy Malpocker (St. Charles, MO), 8. Johnny Murdock (St. Louis, MO),

Qualifer 2:
1. Davey Ray (Indianapolis, IN), 2. Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 3. Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 4. Ryan Greth (New Cumberland, PA), 5. Dave Darland (Walton, IN), 6. Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK), 7. Jacob Patton (Bethalto, IL), 8. Joey Rinne (Barnhardt, MO),

Qualifer 3:
1. Andrew Felker (Carl Junction, MO), 2. Tracy Hines (Wilkinson, IN), 3. Brad Loyet (Imperial, MO), 4. Jerry Coons Jr (Tuscon, AZ, IN), 5. Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL), 6. Justin Peck (Monrovia, IN), 7. Payton Pierce (Bridgeport, TX), 8. Isaac Chapple (Wilkinson, IN),