Dameron Taylor recorded his first Kenyon Midget feature win in almost two years surviving a heated battle on Saturday Night Racing presented by Byrider, Mentor Insurance and Peterman Brothers.
Through the first 20 of the 30 lap feature there were spirited battled for three positions among the top six drivers. Jack Macenko took the lead at the start chased by Kameron Gladish and Taylor. It only took Taylor a lap to move into the second spot. For the next 18 laps Macenko was able to counter every move that Taylor attempted to get the top spot. Behind the front runners Gladish was challenged by fast qualifier Ayrton Houk for third and Sam Hines, Trey Osborne tussled for the fifth spot.
The second caution flag waved when Issac Johnson spun in turn two. Macenko didn’t get a good restart which allowed Taylor and Houk to claim the top two positions. Taylor opened up a comfortable lead but Houk was making a late race charge finished two-tens of a second behind the race winner. Macenko, Gladish and Colin Grissom rounded out the top five. Taylor said in the Riley & Sons Victory Lane that he wanted to race Macenko clean in the battle for the lead.
Jason Atkinson took the lead in the Byrider 75 feature by passing Dalton Conner on lap 21 and bringing fast qualifier Josh Poore with him. Conner took the lead at the start chased by Anderson’s Dawson Phillips and Poore with Atkinson running fourth. Atkinson and Poore worked their way to front of the field and Poore was able to stay in close contact with the leader. There was a final restart with three laps remaining for a debris caution and Atkinson was able to maintain the point followed by Poore and Conner, making only his second street stock start. Phillips, the leading rookie of the year contender, was passed by Andrew Teepe on the final lap for the fourth position. Teepe brought out the caution flag on the first lap and has to restart on the tail of the field. Atkinson recorded two wins and a second at Anderson Speedway in CRA competition this year.
After not winning at Anderson Speedway until this year Fort Wayne’s Billy Hutson scored his second win of the year. Earlier this year Hutson won the PGG 100 and scored his first CRA win in the Byrider 75. Tony Dager led the first three circuits before being passed by Casten Everridge with Hutson, the fast qualifier running third followed by track champion Jeff Marcum. The race’s only caution flag waved on lap 18 for a spin by Kent Carson and on the restart Hutson took the lead with Marcum moving into the second spot five laps later. Marcum’s night ended on lap 38 with an oil leak, a rare mechanical woe for the team. Hutson went on to win over Everidge, Dylan Stoval Caleb Reschar and Kyle Worley.
