Michigan races setting stage for busy month
Kenyon Midget Series in action at Kalamazoo Speedway. (Aaron Skillman photo)
By Ken de la Bastide
Over the course of the next two weeks the Kenyon Midget Series competitors will be racing four times at three different venues. The busy schedule starts this weekend with a return to Kalamazoo Speedway on Friday and a first ever visit to Owosso Speedway.
Both events are in conjunction with the 500 Sprint Car Tour and will be broadcast on DirtVision.
That is followed by two feature events at Salem Speedway on Aug. 9. The Kenyon Midgets will be on the racing program with the USAC Silver Crown Series and will be broadcast on Flo Racing.
A year ago eventual champion Ryan Huggler broke a long winless streak in dominating fashion at Kalamazoo setting a track record during qualifying and then scoring victories in a heat race and the feature. Clayton Gaines recorded a second place finish with Evan Hammond coming home in third.
Redline Ace rookie of the year competitor Clayton Bohanon finished fourth a year ago followed by Dameron Taylor and Trisdon Brown.
Many of the drivers compared Kalamazoo Speedway to Anderson with its banked and tight corners.
For most of the regular Kenyon Midget competitors the Kalamazoo oval will seem familiar with Jeff Hill, Kyle Sheard, Ryan Shilkuski, Landon Brown and Lee Pierce all competing on the Michigan oval.
The series will be visiting Owosso Speedway for the first time. The Michigan track is described as being .375-of a mile with progressive banking in the corners.
Taylor is the current point leader waging a spirited battle with Isaac Johnson for the top spot which has the two front-runners separated by 21 points with Hammond remaining in striking distance.
The two front runners have swapped the top spot several times this year. Taylor has three wins, two coming at Anderson and the third at the Sportsdrome while Johnson has wins at Indianapolis Speedrome and Paragon.
Rookie point leader Andrew Wall enters the weekend with a 16-point lead over Bohanon for Redline Ace Rookie of the Year honors.