Macenko sweeps US 24, Taylor crowned champion
Jackson Macenko takes the feature win at US24. (Aaron Skillman photo)
By Ken de la Bastide
LOGANSPORT – Entering the final race of the season the two contenders for the Kenyon Midget Series title knew what they had to accomplish.
Dameron Taylor locks up his 3rd Kenyon Midget Series Championship. (Aaron Skillman photo)
Jack Macenko entered the US 24 Speedway 67 points behind Dameron Taylor. Macenko put together a clean sweep earning the K&K Marketing Fast Qualifier award, winning his KRJ Race Products heat race, winning the feature, leading a lap and the Advanced Racing Suspensions Hard Charger Award.
But Taylor was equal to the challenge keeping Macenko in his sight the entire night. Qualified second quick, won his KRJ Race Products heat and finished second in the feature. Taylor won his third Kenyon Midget championship by 53 markers.
For the first time in his Kenyon Midget Series career Marcel Berndt started from the pole position for the feature race and took the lead at the start chased by Ryan Huggler.
Logan Prickett moved into the second spot before the first caution flag waved on lap five for a spin by Logan Huggler. Two laps later Berndt brought out the caution flag from the point with a spin in turn four. That put Prickett on the point chased by Ryan Huggler, Taylor, Macenko and Tanner Tecco.
The running order remained mostly unchanged when Ashton Thompson spun in turn four while running seventh and collected the car of Clayton Gaines, ending the night for both competitors.
After a final caution with nine laps remaining for the slow car of Dezi Pedregon, Macenko took the lead from Prickett on lap 19 with an inside pass on the back straight.
At the finish it was Macenko, Taylor, Ryan Huggler, Prickett and rookie of the year Kyle Ford.
Macenko said he did all he could to win the championship. “We were a bit more comfortable on the bottom,” he said. “But people in the beginning of the race were struggling to decided which groove to run.”
The Ohio driver thought the low groove was the place to be until Logan Prickett started gaining positions on the outside. “I went to the top but went back to the bottom, which is ultimately where I ran to the finish,” Macenko said. “It was a good day overall. “There was a rough three weeks,” he said of the consecutive DNF's. “I did what I needed to do today and Dameron (Taylor) did what he needed to do all year long.”
Taylor said he had to be consistent at US 24 Speedway and take the laps one at a time. “Throw out the one bad race at Anderson and the dirt tracks and all my finishes were in the top five,” he said of the title.
Taylor said a second place finish was good and the track requires maintaining momentum. “It was good battling back and forth with Jack (Macenko) like we did all year,” he said. “We've always raced each other clean.” Taylor said the US 24 Speedway bull ring changed when Berndt spun and put some water on the track.
“This is my favorite track that we come to,” Huggler said. “I would like to have come back here a few more times this year.” Huggler said in the heat race there wasn't much of a racing line on the top, so in the feature decided to run the bottom. “When I saw (Logan) Prickett go past on the outside, decided I had to go up top and see what it is,” Huggler. “Once I got up there I had a good run, but just couldn't get to the front.”