McCarthy Fends Off Challengers To Claim Victory

by POWRi (Grain Valley, MO) and Valley News staff
     In what was an eventful POWRi Lucas Oil National and West Midget League feature event at Valley Speedway, Ace McCarthy had to fend off several challenges as he wired the field for his second career POWRi victory. McCarthy's Valley Speedway victory was his first driving for Dave Mac Motorsports.
Taking the early lead from polesitter Zach Daum after going three-wide into turn three, McCarthy took control of the 30-lap feature event coming out of turn four to lead lap one. Enduring several cautions early, McCarthy consistently pulled away from the field on the restarts as the field jockeyed for position on back.
The biggest threat to McCarthy's momentum occurred with nine laps in, as Ethan Mitchell spun a 360 in turn four while running third, Amber Balcean flipped wildly through turn four bringing out the open red. Returning to racing, McCarthy switched from running the ledge all the way around to rolling the bottom in one and two, while continuing to rip the lip in three and four.
All the while as McCarthy remained out front, the top three jockeyed for position with Michael Buddy Kofoid eventually working the third position away from Zach Daum. Coming down to the final turn, second running Daison Pursley threw everything he had with a slider into three, but McCarthy powered on to victory. Pursley tied his career-best finish of second with Kofoid completing the podium. Cannon McIntosh and Andrew Felker rounded out the top five.
"Towards the end we started getting pretty tight in three and four and I was just trying not to mess that up," commented Ace McCarthy. "There's a little rut up there and I was just trying to stay in it and get that drive off. I knew if I kept it down in one and two, Daison wouldn't get around me. He was definitely putting some pressure on me. That's where I won here last year. On the bottom in one and two and the top in three and four. You just had to be patient and get in easy in three. Cody Cordell, Robby, and Matt gave me a great car tonight. I can't thank Dave Mac enough for giving me a car to drive."
 
Results (Midgets):
Lucas Oil A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 28-Ace McCarthy[2]; 2. 9-Daison Pursley[5]; 3. 67-Michael Kofoid[9]; 4. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[4]; 5. 44S-Andrew Felker[10]; 6. 15-Emerson Axsom[8]; 7. 3N-Jake Neuman[20]; 8. 5D-Zach Daum[1]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton[12]; 10. 97-Jesse Love[6]; 11. 21K-Emilio Hoover[11]; 12. 7U-Kyle Jones[18]; 13. 00-Trey Gropp[13]; 14. 2H-Luke Howard[17]; 15. 72-Sam Johnson[22]; 16. 08-Noah Gass[23]; 17. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[3]; 18. 84M-Kade Morton[19]; 19. 71-Kaylee Bryson[14]; 20. 26-Tristin Thomas[15]; 21. 3B-Shelby Bosie[7]; 22. 10-Amber Balcaen[21]; 23. 49-Joe B Miller[16]
Rod End Supply B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 2H-Luke Howard[3]; 2. 84M-Kade Morton[1]; 3. 10-Amber Balcaen[7]; 4. 07-Kyle Wilson[11]; 5. 97K-Brenham Crouch[2]; 6. 70-Cade Cowles[8]; 7. 2-Trevor Casey[6]; 8. 9X-Aaron Mcdonald[10]; 9. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[4]; 10. 7MX-Heath Murry[5]; 11. 08-Noah Gass[9]
AFCO B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7U-Kyle Jones[5]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 3. 72-Sam Johnson[1]; 4. 7D-Michelle Decker[10]; 5. 321-Chad Winfrey[6]; 6. 74-Xavier Doney[7]; 7. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[9]; 8. 3-Mark Chisholm[4]; 9. 4C-Branigan Roark[2]; 10. 5H-Casey Hicks[8]
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Emerson Axsom[1]; 2. 21K-Emilio Hoover[2]; 3. 71-Kaylee Bryson[4]; 4. 67-Michael Kofoid[8]; 5. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]; 6. 7U-Kyle Jones[7]; 7. 4F-Chad Frewaldt[3]; 8. 7D-Michelle Decker[6]
KSE Racing Products Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Ace McCarthy[3]; 2. 7M-Chance Morton[2]; 3. 26-Tristin Thomas[4]; 4. 44S-Andrew Felker[7]; 5. 67K-Jonathan Shafer[5]; 6. 321-Chad Winfrey[6]; 7. 74-Xavier Doney[8]; 8. 07-Kyle Wilson[1]
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 19M-Ethan Mitchell[3]; 2. 5D-Zach Daum[7]; 3. 72-Sam Johnson[1]; 4. 49-Joe B Miller[5]; 5. 7MX-Heath Murry[4]; 6. 70-Cade Cowles[2]; 7. 5H-Casey Hicks[6]
Schoenfeld Headers Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 71K-Cannon McIntosh[3]; 2. 00-Trey Gropp[1]; 3. 9-Daison Pursley[7]; 4. 2H-Luke Howard[2]; 5. 3-Mark Chisholm[5]; 6. 10-Amber Balcaen[6]; 7. 08-Noah Gass[4]
Racing Electronics Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Jesse Love[2]; 2. 3B-Shelby Bosie[4]; 3. 97K-Brenham Crouch[1]; 4. 84M-Kade Morton[5]; 5. 4C-Branigan Roark[6]; 6. 2-Trevor Casey[7]; 7. 9X-Aaron Mcdonald[3]
Auto Meter Heat 1 Winner: 15 - EMERSON AXSOM
KSE Racing Products Heat 2 Winner: 28 - ACE MCCARTHY
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 3 Winner: 19M - ETHAN MITCHELL
Schoenfeld Headers Heat 4 Winner: 71K - CANNON MCINTOSH
Racing Electronics Heat 5 Winner: 97 - JESSE LOVE
PAC Schroeder Torsion Bars High Point: 5D - ZACH DAUM
Rod End Supply Semi-Feature 1: 2H - LUKE HOWARD
AFCO Semi-Feature 2: 7U - KYLE JONES
TRD Hard Charger: 3N - JAKE NEUMAN
Lucas Oil Feature Winner: 28 - ACE MCCARTHY
 
     Next up at Valley Speedway is the Monsters in the Valley Monster Truck Show on July 24-25. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.valleyspeedway.com.