Kenyon Midgets head to Salem

By Ken de la Bastide

With Mother Nature impacting the planned return of the Kenyon Midget Series to Owosso Speedway, the series will be making it's fourth visit to Salem Speedway.

The quarter-mile oval at the southern Indiana speed plant is similar to the ovals at the Indianapolis Speedrome and Sportsdrome requiring the Midgets to hug the inside of the oval.

In three previous races at Salem Speedway, Dameron Taylor has recorded two victories and a fourth place finish. “We're hoping to capitalize after our horrible crash we had,” Taylor said of his All Star Midget Series crash at Plymouth Speedway. “We think we will be a contender for the win,” he said.

Point leader Ayrton Houk has scored wins this year at Anderson and Lincoln Park Speedway and has finished all five races on the podium. He has never competed at the Salem Speedway track.

Houk, driving the Binkley's Kitchen and Bar entry has set fast time three times, won three heat races and took home hard charger honors once. “I'm really excited to run there, I've been a few times coaching and working on setups for the other JK Racing cars in the past,” he said. “I'm excited to put that work to use behind the wheel.” Houk said he is hoping to add to his strong point lead of 120 markers over second place running Isaac Johnson.

Johnson posted a second place in the past at Salem Speedway. “I'm looking forward to Salem,” he said. “We had a good package there last year, just had some bad luck in the first feature and we ran second in the second feature. Hopefully we can be one spot better this year.”

Evan Hammond third in the point standings and finished fifth in both Salem races a year ago. “We have changed a few things that we think might have been contributing to our handling issues on the flat tracks,” Hammond said. “We're excited to see what this car does at Salem, it will be a good learning experience.”

Rookie of the year contender Danny O'Gara is coming off a third place finish at Anderson Speedway and the victory in only his second start at the Indianapolis Speedrome. Houk's teammate Hunter Peri continues to have a comfortable lead over Seth Tozer and Brayden Rutter for the Redline Ace Rookie of the Year honors.

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The Kenyon Midget Series will join the 500 Sprint Car Tour at Salem Speedway on Saturday August 15th.