KOKOMO, Ind. — Brady Bacon became the second driver in as many weeks to complete an undefeated weekend by capturing both nights of the Kokomo Grand Prix at Kokomo Speedway.
One week after Chris Windom claimed victories in consecutive nights at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car and Silver Crown action, respectively, it was Bacon’s turn to do a little spring cleaning of his own as he cleared out space in his cabinet to bring home a pair of trophies this weekend from USAC National Midget competition.
Bacon took the lead from Tanner Thorson just shy of the midway point of the 30-lap affair, after starting from the outside of the fifth row, then promptly dominated the second-half to grab his fifth-career USAC National Midget feature win and third at Kokomo.
Polesitter Chad Boat would control the pace early on, as he slid up to the top to grab the lead in turn one on the opening lap. Outside second-row starter Tanner Thorson would instantly pose a threat, as he took a peek to the inside of Boat off turn two on laps three and four.
On the sixth circuit, Thorson made his charge on the bottom, but Boat was able to hold onto his advantage by the skin of his teeth, or more accurately the circumference of a single front wheel. One lap later, Thorson duplicated the same move, but this time was able to get enough of a run off turn four to propel him to the lead by a single wheel over Boat.
Boat wouldn’t accept this fate without a fight and, instead, worked his way back around the topside to retake the lead from Thorson on the eighth lap. However, the move was negated due to a yellow for the turned-around car of ProSource Fast Qualifier Justin Grant, which reverted the running order back to the last completed lap.
Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows was third-running Bacon who had already overtaken seven positions in the first seven laps. After the green flag dropped for the restart, Thorson led the way on the bottom as Boat stayed true to the top. Bacon followed Thorson’s lead and used the low line to motor past Boat for second.
The chase was on as Thorson led a train on the bottom with Bacon in tow as he aimed to escape the rapid pursuit of the previous night’s winner. On the 13th lap, with little room for error and Bacon ready to pounce, Thorson left the door cracked open at the exit of turn four, which was just enough daylight for Bacon to squeeze through to snare the race lead away.
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