MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Jan. 16, 2020) – Karsyn Elledge made the A-Main on Wednesday night at the 34th annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, but ended up 22nd at the finish of the 30-lap event.
The night began for the 19-year-old daughter of Kelley Earnhardt Miller in her heat race. Starting fourth in her No. 08K Dave Mac Motorsports Spike, she ended the event in fifth place after 10 laps. The qualifier was next, and Elledge finished eighth in that event to set her starting spot for the second of two B-Mains.
During the break, Elledge and her crew made changes to the car in an effort to fix a loose condition. They immediately paid dividends, Elledge said.
Starting eighth, Elledge used the adjustments to blast all the way to third at the finish of the 15-lap event. That run up the order earned her a spot in the prelim feature for the first time (the top four advanced), and the passing points helped as well. Tyler Thomas won the B-Main ahead of Parker Price Miller and Elledge.
Starting 22nd in the 24-car A-Main, Elledge finished there at the end of 30 laps, directly behind NASCAR star—and former USAC National Midget Series rookie of the year--Ryan Newman. Former JRM driver Brad Sweet led the first 14 circuits of the 30-lap main before losing the top spot to eventual winner Rico Abreu. Sweet would finish 19th.
“We had a great night,” Elledge reported. “We got off to a slow start with fifth in the heat race and not moving up much in the qualifier, but Cody (Cordell) made some shock changes before the B-Main that gave me an absolute rocket ship. The changes tightened me up so I could run the top and we went from eighth to third and transferred to my first prelim feature.”
Given the results, Elledge is eager to tackle the preliminary program on Saturday. “I’m having a blast with these guys and now I’m even more excited for Saturday,” she said.
JRM driver Justin Allgaier, who was scheduled to race in tonight’s preliminary program, will now do so on Friday night after a scheduling conflict for one of his Team Ripper teammates.