SEAVEY’S TRIPLE USAC ELDORA MAIN EVENT SUCCESS

Logan Seavey (Sutter, California) won all three USAC National feature events on Saturday night during the 4-Crown Nationals at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. (Indy Racing Images Photo)

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Rossburg, Ohio (September 23, 2023)………In a  season in which he’s already captured a Chili Bowl victory, a USAC Indiana Midget Week title and even posted two USAC National feature wins in one day, Logan Seavey managed to top himself once more.

The Sutter, California) native scored not one, not two but three USAC National feature wins on Saturday night during the 41st running of the 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway.

Seavey clicked off an avalanche of successive feature victories, first earning a 25-lap USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget main, followed by a wire-to-wire 30-lap USAC AMSOIL Sprintcar National Championship triumph and a dominating 50-lap USAC Silver Crown triumph to cap the night.

In doing so, he joined an exclusive list of three drivers who’ve been able to achieve the monumental task and turn a Saturday night in western Ohio into a fairytale night.

Jack Hewitt swept all three USAC wins during the 1998 4-Crown Nationals and added a UMP Modified win to boot. Kyle Larson followed suit by knocking out three consecutive USAC wins on 4-Crown night in 2011.

On this particular night, Seavey collected $10,000 for each feature victory, totaling $30,000 in all. But to put together one of the greatest nights of racing in the 68-year history of the United States Auto Club, well, that’s priceless.

“This is probably one of the coolest nights of my life,” Seavey basked in the moment. 

“I’m just driving three good racecars and I can do whatever I want, wherever I want with them. It’s just one of those nearly perfect nights. You just have to be driving great racecars and I’ve got three incredible racecars.”

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE

First up was the Midget main event, which saw Seavey starting from the outside of the front row alongside Daison Pursley. By the end of lap one, Bryant Wiedeman had raced his way to the front of the field from the inside of the second row. However, on lap four, Seavey was ready to make his move.

There, Seavey dove to the inside of turn one to overtake Wiedeman for the top spot. Wiedeman fought back to retake the position with a slider entering turn three. However, Seavey quickly countered back underneath off the exit of turn four to beat Wiedeman back to the line by a single car length.

On lap six, major trouble ensued when sixth place running Jade Avedisian clipped the turn one wall, which sent her flipping wildly. Meanwhile, Thomas Meseraull (10th), in an effort to avoid the incident, ramped up the wall and also found himself upside down. Both drivers walked away, but their rides were finished for the evening.

Down the stretch, Wiedeman continuously tried to make up ground toward Seavey on the low line. Wiedeman continuously hugged the bottom while Seavey embraced the high side. Wiedeman was able to draw close time after time, but the low groove was unable to match the top side momentum that pushed Seavey back out front at the exit of turns two and four each and every time.

Under green, Seavey admitted to glancing up at the video board located between turns one and two at the facility to see where Wiedeman was located. Ultimately, Seavey worked himself out of the habit, and instead, refocused his attention away from what Wiedeman was doing and hammered it late to win going away.

In the final tally, Seavey claimed his first career Eldora Midget victory by a 1.215 second margin in his Abacus Racing/Honest Abe Roofing – Indy Custom Stone – Laura Kopetsky Tri-Ax/Spike/Stanton SR-11x. Seavey had previously finished as the runner-up during the Midget feature at the 2021 4-Crown.  This weekend also marked Abacus Racing’s first ever visit to Eldora and snapped CB Industries record four-race Eldora winning streak.

CBI’s Wiedeman (Colby, Kansas) took second for the third time in four career midget starts at Eldora with no finish worse than third. Rico Abreu (St. Helena, California) took third with Gavin Miller (Allentown, Pennsylvania) fourth and Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) rounding out the top-five. Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Arizona) was the night’s hard charger, finishing a career best seventh after starting 15th.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINTCAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE

With the first crown in his pocket, at this point in the night, Seavey felt his confidence brewing going into feature number two.

“After last night, I knew we had some work to do with our Midget and we got that way better,” Seavey explained. “After we won the midget race, I was really, really excited knowing that my sprint car was on the pole. I knew that thing was going to drive good.”

As it turned out, Seavey was right on the mark with that remark as he immediately stepped out in front to command the USAC Sprintcar field. However, the major breaking story at the moment was the tumultuous night for Brady Bacon.

On lap six, Bacon suffered an engine woe that forced him to the pits and a 22nd place finish, dropping him from 15 points out of the championship lead to 66 behind Grant with just three races remaining. With that said, it was just the latest in a nightmarish evening for Bacon, starting with methanol splashing into his eye during a pit mishap, which caused his eye to swell shut. To add insult to injury, during his qualifying run, Bacon tagged the turn four wall and flipped, forcing him into a backup ride.

Back up front, Seavey never relented control as he maintained roughly a one second lead throughout the duration, although Grant was able draw closer than anyone else with 10 laps to go until smacking the outside turn one wall with his right rear tire.

At that point, Seavey worked lapped traffic with ease and coasted to victory lane in his 2B Racing/Honest Abe Roofing – Benic Enterprises – Goodnight Racing/DRC/Claxton Chevy. The nine-year old chassis dubbed “Barney” for its proximity in age to the era of dinosaurs, guided the 2B team with Scott Benic at the helm to their first 4-Crown victory since Levi Jones popularized the term “four-in-the-fluff” in 2005.

Justin Grant (Ione, California) was 1.131 sec. behind Seavey at the finish line in second with Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) third, Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier CJ Leary (Greenfield, Indiana) fourth and Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pennsylvania) fifth. Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Oklahoma) scored hard charger honors with an 18th to 10th run in his first 4-Crown Sprintcar experience.

USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE

It was two down and one to go for Seavey entering the USAC Silver Crown night capper. But after two front row starts, Seavey was slated to start fifth in the Silver Crown finale. However, that was just a temporary hangup in his pursuit to the front.

Silver Crown Rookie Chase Dietz was the first big mover and shaker in the field as he burst through to the opening lap lead from his fourth starting position. After a lap six caution for Matt Mitchell who stalled with a car that jumped out of gear, Seavey began to haul.

On the ensuing lap seven restart, Seavey scooted under pole sitter Justin Grant in turn three to slot into third. Seavey did the same to Matt Westfall in turn two to grab second on lap nine. One lap later, Seavey broadsided past Dietz in turns one and two to corral the race lead for good on the 10th circuit.

Seavey rode the rim the rest of the way aboard his Rice Motorsports-Abacus Racing/STIDA.com – CG CPAs – Indy Custom Stone/DRC/Felker Chevy, controlling the remaining 41 laps with relative ease and precision, crossing the line 2.169 seconds ahead of Westfall to complete the USAC portion sweep of the night.

Rounding out the top-five behind Seavey and Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) were Chase Dietz (York, Pennsylvania) followed by a career-best fourth place run for Carmen Perigo (Stoystown, Pennsylvania) while Kody Swanson (Kingsburg, California) rounded out the top-five.

Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, California) drove from 14th to 7th, earning himself ProSource Passing Master honors for the 4-Crown weekend with 18 total positions advanced throughout the three USAC divisions combined. Furthermore, Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Indiana) subbing for Brady Bacon in Chris Dyson’s No. 9, made a major charge from the 26th starting spot to finish 8th. Russ Gamester (Peru, Indiana) 25th place finisher, equaled Brian Tyler with the most career Silver Crown starts, making his 212th on Saturday night at Eldora.

But the headline story was Seavey who joined Jack Hewitt in a multitude of manners on Saturday night. Another feather in the cap for Seavey was his third straight USAC Silver Crown win at Eldora, a feat that only Hewitt had achieved before with three consecutive in 1994-95-96. It was par for the course for Seavey on a historical night at The Big E.

“I feel so confident when we get in this thing anywhere, especially this dirt car, miles, half-miles, it doesn’t really matter, but especially these half-miles,” Seavey noted. “This thing drives so good and A.J. Felker does such a great job with our engine. This is exactly what you need for the dirt stuff we do.”

Seavey now exits Eldora with a 16-point lead over Kody Swanson in the pursuit of his first Silver Crown championship with one race remaining on October 14 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 23, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track – 41st 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS/ROD END SUPPLY FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chris Windom (#89 CBI), 2. Rico Abreu (#24 Thorson), 3. Jacob Denney (#25 Malloy), 4. Logan Seavey (#57 Abacus), 5. Thomas Meseraull (#7x RMS), 6. Justin Grant (#2 RMS), 7. Daniel Whitley (#58 Abacus), 8. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold/Underwood), 9. Briggs Danner (#98 Schneider). NTT.J. FORGED/CAR IQ SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Ryan Timms (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Jade Avedisian (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Daison Pursley (#19 Reinbold-Underwood), 4. Bryant Wiedeman (#81 CBI), 5. Taylor Reimer (#25K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Mitchel Moles (#19T Reinbold/Underwood), 7. Gavin Miller (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 8. Jake Andreotti (#25m Malloy), 9. Ethan Mitchell (#4 Bundy Built). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (2), 2. Bryant Wiedeman (3), 3. Rico Abreu (4), 4. Gavin Miller (9), 5. Jacob Denney (11), 6. Daison Pursley (1), 7. Hayden Reinbold (15), 8. Ryan Timms (7), 9. Mitchel Moles (12), 10. Chris Windom (6), 11. Jake Andreotti (14), 12. Briggs Danner (17), 13. Daniel Whitley (13), 14. Justin Grant (8), 15. Taylor Reimer (16), 16. Jade Avedisian (5), 17. Thomas Meseraull (10), 18. Ethan Mitchell (18). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Bryant Wiedeman, Laps 4-25 Logan Seavey.

**Jade Avedisian & Thomas Meseraull flipped on lap 6 of the feature.

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-1297, 2-Bryant Wiedeman-1088, 3-Justin Grant-1066, 4-Ryan Timms-1041, 5-Daison Pursley-1037, 6-Jade Avedisian-1031, 7-Jacob Denney-965, 8-Gavin Miller-945, 9-Cannon McIntosh-868, 10-Taylor Reimer-818.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 27-30, 2023 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Track – Driven2SaveLives BC39

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Rico Abreu (16.988)

Simpson Race Products / Rod End Supply First Heat Winner: Chris Windom

T.J. Forged / Car IQ Second Heat Winner: Ryan Timms

Green APU Green Flag Challenge First Lap Leader: Bryant Wiedeman

Hard Charger: Hayden Reinbold (15th to 7th)

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINTCAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 23, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track – 41st 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO

HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-16.390; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.402; 3. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-16.415; 4. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-16.453; 5. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-16.464; 6. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.497; 7. Max Adams, 5x, Adams-16.507; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 23, NIKSTE-16.508; 9. Logan Seavey, 2B, 2B Racing-16.690; 10. Jake Swanson, 21AZ, Team AZ-16.716; 11. Paul Dues, 87, Dues-16.872; 12. Emerson Axsom, 47BC, Clauson Marshall Newman-16.897; 13. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.916; 14. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.927; 15. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-16.938; 16. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-17.030; 17. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-17.063; 18. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-17.152; 19. Daison Pursley, 5p, KO-17.166; 20. Keith Sheffer II, 86, Sheffer-17.305; 21. Chance Crum, 26, Rudeen-17.394; 22. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-17.408; 23. Korbyn Hayslett, 1H, Hayslett-17.435; 24. Ryan Barr, 21B, Barr-17.462; 25. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-17.523; 26. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-17.530; 27. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-17.549; 28. Kevin Thomas Jr., 16TH, Newton-17.637; 29. Braxton Cummings, 71B, Cummings-17.651; 30. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-17.748; 31. Saban Bibent, 98, Wedgewood-17.763; 32. Dallas Hewitt, 6, Miller-17.854; 33. Jack James, 99, James-18.014; 34. Tayte Williamson, 20, Williamson-18.456; 35. Curt Elliott, 28, Elliott-18.803; 36. Jason Cherry, 67c, Cherry-19.256; 37. Sterling Cling, 34, SCR-NT; 38. Evan Mosley, 20T, Thomas-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Chance Crum, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Briggs Danner, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. Braxton Cummings, 9. Jack James. NT

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Carson Garrett, 4. Jake Swanson, 5. Matt Mitchell, 6. Mitchel Moles, 7. Zack Pretorius, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Sterling Cling, 10. Tayte Williamson. NT

T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Korbyn Hayslett, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Paul Dues, 5. Kody Swanson, 6. Nick Bilbee, 7. Saban Bibent, 8. Curt Elliott, 9. Max Adams. NT

CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Emerson Axsom, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Mario Clouser, 6. Dallas Hewitt, 7. Ryan Barr, 8. Jason Cherry, 9. Keith Sheffer II. NT

C-MAIN: (6 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Saban Bibent, 2. Dallas Hewitt, 3. Sterling Cling, 4. Tayte Williamson, 5. Jason Cherry, 6. Jack James, 7. Curt Elliott.

ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Kody Swanson, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Mario Clouser, 5. Brian Ruhlman, 6. Max Adams, 7. Hunter Maddox, 8. Tayte Williamson, 9. Saban Bibent, 10. Braxton Cummings, 11. Sterling Cling, 12. Zack Pretorius, 13. Dallas Hewitt, 14. Jadon Rogers, 15. Keith Sheffer II, 16. Ryan Barr, 17. Nick Bilbee, 18. Matt Mitchell.

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (1), 2. Justin Grant (5), 3. Emerson Axsom (7), 4. C.J. Leary (6), 5. Briggs Danner (11), 6. Robert Ballou (8), 7. Jake Swanson (13), 8. Thomas Meseraull (2), 9. Matt Westfall (3), 10. Daison Pursley (18), 11. Chase Stockon (4), 12. Chance Crum (19), 13. Carson Garrett (20), 14. Mitchel Moles (15), 15. Paul Dues (14), 16. Kody Swanson (16), 17. Korbyn Hayslett (9), 18. Mario Clouser (10), 19. Brian Ruhlman (21), 20. Kevin Thomas Jr. (22), 21. Max Adams (12), 22. Brady Bacon (17). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Logan Seavey.

**Mitchel Moles flipped during qualifying. Brady Bacon flipped during qualifying. Keith Sheffer II flipped during the semi.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINTCAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-2251, 2-Brady Bacon-2185, 3-Emerson Axsom-2107, 4-Jake Swanson-2031, 6-C.J. Leary-1973, 5-Kyle Cummins-1966, 7-Robert Ballou-1903, 8-Chase Stockon-1717, 9-Mitchel Moles-1679, 10-Logan Seavey-1678.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 7, 2023 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track – 16th Fall Nationals

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Dirt Draft Fastest Hot Laps Driver: Brady Bacon (16.269)

Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (16.390)

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Robert Ballou

Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Justin Grant

T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Korbyn Hayslett

Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Emerson Axsom

Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Mitchel Moles

Green APU Green Flag Challenge First Lap Leader: Logan Seavey

Hard Charger: Daison Pursley (18th to 10th)

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USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 22-23, 2023 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 41st 4-Crown Nationals Presented By NKTELCO

HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: (Top-20 locked into the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-17.076; 2. C.J. Leary, 6, Klatt-17.145; 3. Brady Bacon, 9, Dyson-17.264; 4. Jake Swanson, 10, DMW-17.336; 5. Chase Dietz, 86, Lee-17.444; 6. Logan Seavey, 22, Rice/Abacus-17.497; 7. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-17.516; 8. Kody Swanson, 77, Doran/Binks-17.534; 9. Mario Clouser, 92, Kazmark-17.696; 10. Carmen Perigo, 52, Stehman-17.735; 11. Chase Stockon, 69, Pink 69-17.764; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 24, Haggenbottom-17.813; 13. Emerson Axsom, 20, Nolen-17.926; 14. Trey Osborne, 81, BCR-17.943; 15. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-17.974; 16. Mitchel Moles, 97, Lein-18.023; 17. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-18.032; 18. Kaylee Bryson, 26, Pierce-18.043; 19. Matt Mitchell, 5, DMW-18.045; 20. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-18.117; 21. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-18.171; 22. Travis Welpott, 18, Welpott-18.227; 23. Sterling Cling, 07, Tosti-18.240; 24. Jerry Coons Jr., 55, Bateman-18.334; 25. Zach Hampton, 99, Armstrong-18.347; 26. Joss Moffatt, 37, Felker-18.361; 27. Wayne Johnson, 12, Two C-18.434; 28. Kyle Steffens, 08, Steffens-18.558; 29. Chris Fetter, 15, Fetter-18.572; 30. Trey Burke, 11, Hamilton/SRG-18.655; 31. Taylor Ferns, 555, Ferns-18.738; 32. Mark Bitner, 4, Yeska-18.803; 33. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-18.854; 34. Danny Long, 44, Long-18.866; 35. Tim Simmons, 3, Simmons-19.590; 36. Gary Dunkle, 34, Dunkle-20.704.

ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS QUALIFYING RACE: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Kyle Steffens, 3. Zach Hampton, 4. Trey Burke, 5. Russ Gamester, 6. Wayne Johnson, 7. Joss Moffatt, 8. Chris Fetter, 9. Taylor Ferns, 10. Dave Berkheimer, 11. Danny Long, 12. Tim Simmons, 13. Gary Dunkle, 14. Sterling Cling, 15. Mark Bitner. NT

FEATURE: (50 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (5), 2. Matt Westfall (6), 3. Chase Dietz (4), 4. Carmen Perigo (8), 5. Kody Swanson (7), 6. Justin Grant (1), 7. Mitchel Moles (14), 8. Tyler Courtney (#9) (26), 9. C.J. Leary (2), 10. Chase Stockon (9) 11. Jake Swanson (3), 12. Kevin Thomas Jr. (10), 13. Wayne Johnson (23), 14. Emerson Axsom (11), 15. Brian Ruhlman (13), 16. Kaylee Bryson (16), 17. Trey Burke (21), 18. Jerry Coons Jr. (19), 19. Kyle Robbins (15), 20. Taylor Ferns (24-P), 21. Trey Osborne (12), 22. Travis Welpott (27-P), 23. Zach Hampton (20), 24. Dallas Hewitt (18), 25. Russ Gamester (22), 26. Matt Mitchell (17), 27. Kyle Steffens (25), 28. Mario Clouser (28). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Chase Dietz, Laps 10-50 Logan Seavey.

USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-621, 2-Kody Swanson-605, 3-Justin Grant-497, 4-C.J. Leary-404, 5-Mario Clouser-395, 6-Kaylee Bryson-395, 7-Taylor Ferns-389, 8-Matt Westfall-382, 9-Bobby Santos-315, 10-Trey 

NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: October 14, 2023 – Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park – Brownsburg, Indiana – .686-Mile Paved Oval – Howard Companies Championship Saturday

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Dirt Draft Practice Fastest Driver: C.J. Leary (16.498)

Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Justin Grant (17.076)

Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Qualifying Race Winner: Jerry Coons Jr.

Green APU Green Flag Challenge First Lap Leader: Chase Dietz

Hard Charger: Tyler Courtney (26th to 8th)