8/26/2024
Midwest Legends Dirt Series
Lewis Hits Big in Benton
Vinton, IA (August 26th, 2024) - While it may have taken fending off some of the best in the business, Jackson Lewis came out victorious at Benton County Speedway with the Midwest Legends Dirt Series Presented by Legends.Direct. The championship leader snatched $2,500, the biggest payday in MLDS history, to continue his dominance this season.
A strong twenty-five car field made the Sunday trip to the track accurately named “the Bullring”. Regulars such as Jackson Lewis, Jordan Miklas, Hayden Schmuhl, Talyn Neuman, and others made the trip along with some local competitors such as 2024 Track Champion Cohen Henze, Dave Eberle, Jeff Schmidt and others making appearances. New faces such as Danny Lehmkuhl and Tim Fredericks made their first appearance with the series as well.
The night started out with a group hotlap session which was followed by three heat races. Heat one saw Jackson Lewis run away with the win while Robby Morrison and Michael Weber battled it out for the other two podium spots. Kacey Korsmo dominated heat two while Dave Eberle and Adam Meyer shared a great battle for second and third. Heat three was a war of attrition with Jeff Schmidt coming out on top, narrowly beating second place Cohen Henze and third place Eric Blumer.
The top four in each heat race would get a chance to redraw for their feature starting spot. Eric Blumer drew the one and started on the pole. Cole O’Brien was the second luckiest driver, drawing the two and starting on the outside of the front row. Blumer got the jump with Jackson Lewis from third taking over the lead at the end of lap one. O’Brien stayed with Lewis for the lead while Robby Morrison and Adam Meyer battled it out for third behind. O’Brien had some looks at the #7 of Lewis but couldn’t quite get there. Further back, two hard charging cars were on the move. Michael Weber started twelfth and was up to sixth while Jordan Miklas behind was up to seventh from twenty-first. Both drivers appeared mad fast and were making quick work of the cars ahead. The laps ticked off with Lewis still in the lead before the yellow flew for the first time. Lewis led the field back to green with O’Brien and Morrison second and third. This time Morrison got the jump and made his way up to second, with O’Brien, Miklas, and Weber all knocking on the door for second. Miklas put his car on the top shelf and worked into second, with Weber and Jeff Schmidt following suit. Lewis had a second lead over Miklas and Weber at the halfway point, but the pair wasn’t letting him run away easily. Slowly but surely, they closed on Lewis, getting within a quarter of a second to the leader before the yellow flew once again. Lewis once again led the field back to green with Miklas and Weber now third and fourth. Miklas ran into trouble early on the restart after his front right tire “went bad causing me to lose steering and brakes.” Miklas’ night would end early, but up front Weber was stalking the rear end of Lewis for the lead. Weber showed Lewis his nose a few times before a late race yellow made for an exciting green-white-checkered finish. Lewis got the jump on the finale restart, and no one would have enough for him. Jackson Lewis picked up yet another win on the season and a big $2,500. Weber came home second with Morrison third. Fourth went to Kacey Korsmo with fifth going to Cohen Henze.
After winning, Jackson Lewis got 25% off a full suit fit from Rush RaceGear and a buy-one-get-one wheel rim from Aero Race Wheel. Hayden Schmuhl was the hard charger, with twelve spots, and got $100 off any Rush RaceGear purchase and $25 from SunSet Auto. Talyn Neuman won the HMS Motorsport Raceceiver device after finishing in thirteenth.
The Midwest Legends Dirt Series Presented by Legends.Direct takes a two week break for Labor Day and a rest weekend before hitting the final few races of the season in September. First will be a doubleheader weekend in northern Wisconsin on the 13th and 14th at Outagamie Speedway and 141 Raceway. Then a champion will be crowned at Beaver Dam Raceway on the 21st.
For more information or to learn more about the series, find the series on Facebook today!!
Photo Credit - Bill Blumer
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger
