Lynch Outlasts Mueller in Dixieland Delight Thriller
(Sun Prairie, WI) The Midwest Truck Series returned to action on a special Tuesday night at the Wisconsin International Raceway for the Belgard Paves The Way Dixieland Delight 35. A strong field of 23 trucks were on hand with Chris Blawat taking fast time honors with a lap of 20.640 setting a new track record in the Midwest Truck Series.
The 35 lap feature presented by Belgard was brought to green by Kody Hubred and Brad Mueller. Mueller jumped out to the lead only to see the caution fly on lap two when contact between Jerry Brickner and Brad Gajewski which saw Gajewski ride the wall down the backstretch and tear the backstretch fence down. Thankfully Gajewski walked away uninjured. After a lengthy cleanup Mueller grabbed the lead back on the restart and brough Rookie of the Year contender James Lynch with him from his fourth starting position, followed by Danielle Behn, Hubred and Bryce Miller. For the next 17 laps Lynch pursued Mueller and the two battled for the top spot, Mueller would have the advantage in 1 and 2, only to find Lynch back to his door in 3 and 4. The side by side racing allowed Danielle Behn and Kody Hubred to close. Further back in the field Bryce Miller and James Swan would run side by side for 25 laps with Miller occupying the outside lane and Swan able to stick with him on the inside. Lap 31 the caution flew for Tristan Swanson spinning in turn 4 after the right rear went down. Swanson, who is the current points leader, quickly made it to his pit and the team scrambled to change the flat tire. Officials needed the aid of computerized scoring and video replay to determine that Lynch was the leader on lap 31 as the two raced door to door giving Lynch the control of the restart. Per the Midwest Truck Series procedure book, all restarts inside 5 laps in any race revert to a single lane restart. This set up a four lap shootout which saw Lynch pull away from the field and pick up his first career Midwest Truck Series Victory, Mueller just barely holding off Behn for second with a .009 margin, Hubred fourth and James Swan rounding out the top 5 in the Belgard Paves the Way Dixieland Delight 35.
The troubles for Swanson brough the top 4 all right back together in the points battle. Swanson now holds a slim 24 point advantage over Bryce Miller who jumped from 4th to second, 29 points over James Swan, and 30 over Chester Ace rounding out the top 4. Kody Hubred sits in 5th 125 points back.
Current Point Standings: https://www.midwesttruckseries.com/standings
Up next the Midwest Truck Series returns to Wisconsin’s fastest half mile Madison International Speedway on Friday August 27th for the Howie Lettow Memorial presented by Sassy Cow Creamery. For more information visit MidwestTruckSeries.com or check us out on Facebook at Midwest Truck Series.
Alexander Gilhart (Midwest Truck Media)
