Nick Hamilton brings home Rumble title

By Ken de la Bastide

FORT WAYNE – Nick Hamilton scored the Midget feature win at the Rumble this past weekend at the Allen County Coliseum. Hamilton, the 2009 Kenyon Midget Series rookie of the year, qualified 25th on Saturday, but advanced to the feature with a win in the third heat. Hamilton won the Rumble in 2017 and it was the second victory for the Don and Mel Kenyon team. He took the lead on lap 25 after early leader Joe Liguori got involved in a three-car tangle. Hamilton had to survive a four-lap shootout at the finish over Cap Henry and Charlie Schultz.

Kyle Hamilton, a former Lucas Oil Little 500 winner, returned to racing action after a brief hiatus to attend to a growing family, advanced to the A main on Saturday with a second place finish in a B Main. Unfortunately Kyle Hamilton's night ended on lap 12 of the A feature.

There was a strong field of Midgets at the Rumble with only 14 making the A Main.

It was a rough night for Kenyon Midget Series runner-up Jack Macenko who crashed in his heat race as a result of a brake failure. The team got the car repaired but Macenko finished fourth in a B-feature. Macenko on Friday advanced to the A-Main by finishing second in a B Main and finished tenth in the feature.

Thomas Schrage, who scored two wins during the Kenyon Midget Series season, finished fifth in his Saturday heat race and third in the B-Main. Schrage advanced on Friday night to the A-Main by finishing second in his heat race. He finished second in the main event.

Nick Hamilton and Kyle Hamilton both won B-features on Friday. Nick came home in fourth and Kyle drove to a fifth place finish.

Trey Osborne, the 2015 rookie of the year with the Kenyon Midget Series, failed to make the A-Main on either night despite a couple strong runs in the B-features. The Ohio driver finished fifth on Friday and scored a third place showing on Saturday.