SANTOS SOARS TO THURSDAY NIGHT MIDGET WIN AT LOR
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Brownsburg, Indiana (June 17, 2021)………Bobby Santos had a night to remember during Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming at Lucas Oil Raceway.
Santos (Franklin, Mass.) had won the sprint car feature earlier in the night at the paved .686-mile paved oval, then finished the evening by scoring a win in the nightcap’s 40-lap Brown’s Oil Champion midget feature.
The event was a non-points, special event for USAC Midgets.
May’s Carb Night Classic winner and Thursday’s fastest qualifier Kody Swanson started on the pole but dropped back to fourth in the opening laps as outside front row starter Josh Wise slotted into the lead.
Santos, meanwhile, charged from fourth to the lead, making his way to the front with a turn one pass on lap three to secure his position at the front of the field.
Swanson worked his way back from fourth to second on the 12th lap and continued his racelong pursuit of Santos to no avail as Santos captured his third career midget triumph at LOR – 11th overall – by a 0.704-second margin over Kody Swanson, Tanner Swanson, Josh Wise and Thomas Meseraull inside the top-five.
Santos became the second driver to sweep both ends of an open wheel event at LOR this year. Kody Swanson won both ends of the Carb Night Classic on May 29 in the midget and Silver Crown car.
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USAC MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: June 17, 2021 – Lucas Oil Raceway – Brownsburg, Indiana – .686-Mile Paved Track – Thursday Night Thunder Homecoming
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 25, Rodela-21.223; 2. Josh Wise, 55, Bowman-21.270; 3. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-21.314; 4. Bobby Santos, 29, Seymour/West-21.377; 5. Tanner Swanson, 7K, Irwin/Petry-21.439; 6. Dalton Armstrong, 7A, C & A-21.459; 7. Jake Trainor, 8, Trainor-21.564; 8. Kyle O'Gara, 1BR, SFHR-21.785; 9. Taylor Ferns, 55F, Ferns-21.789; 10. Cole Carter, 7, Bertrand-21.811; 11. Tyler Roahrig, 4, Klatt-21.859; 12. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Western Speed-21.859; 13. Nick Hamilton, 7KR, Irwin/Petry-21.955; 14. Toni Breidinger, 80, Breidinger-22.445; 15. Nathan Byrd, 33, RayPro-22.493; 16. Kevin Studley, 57K, Studley-22.761; 17. John Sluss, 14AJ, RayPro-22.793; 18. Michael Klein, 75, Shilkuski-NT; 19. Todd Bertrand, 47, Bertrand-NT.
FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Bobby Santos, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Tanner Swanson, 4. Josh Wise, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Cole Carter, 7. Nick Hamilton, 8. Jake Trainor, 9. Cody Gerhardt, 10. Tyler Roahrig, 11. Nathan Byrd, 12. Kevin Studley, 13. Toni Breidinger, 14. John Sluss, 15. Dalton Armstrong, 16. Kyle O'Gara, 17. Taylor Ferns. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Josh Wise, Laps 3-40 Bobby Santos.
NEXT USAC MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT: July 3, 2021 – Lucas Oil Raceway – Brownsburg, Indiana – .686-Mile Paved Track – Independence Showdown