Taylor notches Anderson victory

By Ken de la Bastide

ANDERSON –SEPT 18, 2021

Dameron Taylor recorded his first Kenyon Midget feature win in almost two years surviving a heated battle at Anderson Speedway. Taylor's last victory on the high banked quarter-mile oval came during the Tony Elliott Classic night in October, 2019. 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. The fight for the third through fifth positions remained intense through the final third of the race with Macenko claiming the third spot followed by Gladish and a rapidly closing Colin Grissom who took the fifth spot with a pass of Osborne.

Taylor said in the Riley & Son Victory Lane that he wanted to race Macenko clean in the battle for the lead. “The competition is so tough,” he said. “There is a lot of talent in this series and everyone has respect for each other.” Houk and Taylor were the qualifying heat race winners. Houk took the K & K Marketing fast qualifier award with a lap of 12.359-second which was two-tenths of a second faster than Taylor's lap with Gladish qualifying a close third.