Speculation about the car count at the upcoming Midget Nationals is a hot topic every year, but this year there seemed to be much more buzz than normal. An off year in general and fewer midgets than expected for Midget Money Week had many people more than a little nervous about the turnout for Belleville.
One look at the infield Thursday was enough to see the count was down, a lot. At first glance, it appeared that there couldn't be much of a race, but when you looked around, you soon saw that most of the teams were top notch and this was, in fact, a very strong field.
People were still talking about Kyle Larson's performance last weekend and most prognosticators had him or Clauson picked to win this year, but no one was ruling out Kuhn either.
Fortunately, we didn't lose many cars to engine problems in hots or heats like happens all too often so a full field took to the track for the feature. It didn't take long for Larson to prove he was for real as he jumped from his pole position into a lead he would never relinquish. A few yellows kept the pack somewhat bunched together, but it was obvious Larson would only be beat by some problem and that problem never happened. Jerry Coons Jr had managed to stay within striking distance for half the race before dropping out with engine problems.
Brad Kuhn finished 2nd with Bryan Clauson 3rd and Brad Loyet 4th.
I've put up a lot of solo shots lately, but with only 25 cars, I might as well put 'em all up.
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| Jeff Stasa |
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| Brad Kuhn |
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| Randy Boyer, first time in a midget! |
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| Don Droud Jr, only here for Friday. |
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| CJ Johnson |
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| Bobby East |
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| Terry Goodwin |
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| NTR holder Mario Clouser |
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| Danny Sheridan |
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| Josh Pelkey |
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| Dave Darland |
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| Zach Daum |
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| Defending champion Bryan Clauson. |
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| Levi Roberts |
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| Garret Hood |
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| Cody Brewer |
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| Patrick Stasa |
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| Dalton Armstrong |
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| Todd Plemons |
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| Darren Hagen |
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| Chett Gehrke |
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| Jerry Coons Jr |
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| 2011 Belleville Midget Nationals champion Kyle Larson |
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| Brad Loyet |
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| Caleb Armstrong |
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| 1993 Belleville Midget Nationals champion Page Jones and his father, 1963 Indy 500 winner Parnelli Jones. |
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| Sheridan, Droud, & Hood |
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| Randy Boyer's first heat. |
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| Stasa, Roberts, & Darland |
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| Clauson & Armstrong |
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| Pelkey & Goodwin |
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| Jon Backlund and his Revhoney banner. |
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| The 4-wide....but Larson's already gone. |
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| Armstrong, Kuhn, & Coons |
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| Daum, Armstrong, & Sheridan |
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| Larson on cruise control. |
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| Roberts & Hagen |
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| Armstrong & Clauson |
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| Jeff Stasa and a slowing Josh Pelkey. |
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| Clauson & Caleb Armstrong had a good battle going here. |
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| Loyet & Clauson |
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| Droud, Pelkey, & Brewer |
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| Brewer & Hood |
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| Larson getting the white flag. At the checkers he dove down too low for this shot! |
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| Friday's winner & car owner Keith Kunz look pretty happy. |
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