KING OF THE HILL: McMAHILL CLIMBS TO 2021 USAC IMRA TITLE
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (October 25, 2021)………Mark McMahill truly hit his stride during the 2021 USAC Engler IMRA SpeeD2 Midget season.
The Peoria, Ill. native burst into victory lane for the first time with the series in 2019, but a slight regression in 2020 saw McMahill without a single victory while dropping out of the top-five in the standings.
Rebounding, his 2021 campaign exceeded all hurdles as he scored a series-high five victories, three times at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Ill., plus one each at the Champaign County Fairgrounds in Urbana, Ill. and East Moline (Ill.) Speedway. The race at Champaign was the first ever visit by the series.
The 28-year-old McMahill also became the third consecutive driver to win the season finale’s feature en route to the championship following Andy Baugh in 2019 and Bryan Stanfill in 2020.
Will Armitage finished a career-best second in the final standings, 42 points behind McMahill, after finishing third a year ago. The Athens, Ill. driver took three wins in total, twice at Spoon River and once more in the series’ first trip in four seasons to West Burlington, Iowa’s 34 Raceway.
Two-time series titlist Andy Baugh (Mason City, Ill.) added three more victories to up his all-time USAC IMRA feature win total to 29, which is 22 more than his nearest competition, getting the job done twice this season at Spoon River and once at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.
Jake Neuman (New Berlin, Ill.), a regular in USAC National Midget and MOWA Sprint Car competition, went an undefeated two-for-two on the IMRA season, winning both his starts at Spoon River and Lincoln in the car normally piloted by Baugh.
Tyler Roth (Springfield, Ill.) finished third in the standings with his first series victory in over two seasons at Spoon River. Brent Burrows (Lewistown, Ill.) finished fourth in the points, adding one win at Spoon River.
Chett Gehrke’s May Spoon River triumph was the Broken Arrow, Oklahoman’s first with IMRA in three years. Korey Weyant (Springfield, Ill.) returned to victory lane for the first time in two years in August at Spoon River.
Forty-seven drivers started feature events throughout the season, with just two – Will Armitage and Mark McMahill – starting all 17. Armitage also led all drivers with 13 top-five results and tied Tyler Roth with the most top-10 results this year.
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2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 1135 Mark McMahill, Peoria, Ill.
2 1093 Will Armitage, Athens, Ill.
3 1013 Tyler Roth, Springfield, Ill.
4 913 Brent Burrows, Lewistown, Ill.
5 740 Jake Sollenberger, Canton, Ill.
6 498 Kevin Battefeld, Lewistown, Ill.
7 389 Bart Andrews, Fort Madison, Iowa
8 387 Cody Meyer, Canton, Ill.
9 321 Cody Gerdes, Eureka, Ill.
10 320 Charles Kunz, Springfield, Ill.
11 316 Kelli Harter, Mechanicsburg, Ill.
12 255 Abby Hohlbein, Cloverdale, Ohio
13 226 Jake Neuman, New Berlin, Ill.
14 216 Adam Taylor, Dwight, Ill.
15 191 Bryan Stanfill, Bakersfield, Calif.
16 150 Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Okla.
17 101 Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio
18 64 Chris Adrien, Joliet, Ill.
19 52 Kayla Roell, Dillsboro, Ind.
20 45 Jon Watson, Columbus, Ohio
21 41 Aaron Roell, Dillsboro, Ind.
2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:
Apr 24: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Andy Baugh
May 1: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Jake Neuman
May 7: Lincoln Speedway - Lincoln, IL
WINNER: Andy Baugh
May 22: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Mark McMahill
May 30: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Chett Gehrke
Jun 12: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Andy Baugh
Jun 19: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Mark McMahill
Jul 3: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Mark McMahill
Jul 17: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Will Armitage
Jul 24: Champaign County Fairgrounds - Urbana, IL
WINNER: Mark McMahill
Jul 25: Lincoln Speedway - Lincoln, IL
WINNER: Jake Neuman
Aug 14: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Korey Weyant
Aug 28: Macon Speedway - Macon, IL
WINNER: Tyler Roth
Sep 11: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Will Armitage
Sep 18: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL
WINNER: Brent Burrows
Sep 25: 34 Raceway - West Burlington, IA
WINNER: Will Armitage
Sep 26: East Moline Speedway East Moline, IL
WINNER: Mark McMahill
2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS:
5-Mark McMahill
3-Will Armitage & Andy Baugh
2-Jake Neuman
1-Brent Burrows, Chett Gehrke, Tyler Roth & Korey Weyant
2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:
13-Will Armitage
12-Brent Burrows
11-Mark McMahill & Tyler Roth
5-Andy Baugh
3-Cody Gerdes, Jake Neuman, Adam Taylor & Korey Weyant
2-Bart Andrews, Chett Gehrke, Abby Hohlbein, Shane Morgan, Patrick Ryan & Bryan Stanfill
1-Mike Armitage, Kevin Battefeld, Patrick Bruns, Doug Canham, Daltyn England, Devin Feger, Ken Hanson, Cody Meyer & Jake Sollenberger
2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:
15-Will Armitage & Tyler Roth
14-Mark McMahill
12-Brent Burrows
11-Shane Morgan & Jake Sollenberger
8-Kevin Battefeld
6-Bart Andrews
5-Andy Baugh & Cody Gerdes
4-Kelli Harter, Abby Hohlbein, Russell Johnston, Charles Kunz & Patrick Ryan
3-Mike Armitage, John Heitzman, Cody Meyer, Jake Neuman, Bryan Stanfill, Adam Taylor & Korey Weyant
2-Dave Baugh, R.J. Corson, Ian Creager, Daltyn England, Chett Gehrke, Jake Goeglein & Brandon Smith
1-Chris Adrien, Patrick Bruns, Doug Canham, Devin Feger, Ken Hanson, Jordan Mattson, Jonathan Miller, Kayla Roell, Denny Smith & Charlie Spoonmore
2021 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:
17-Will Armitage & Mark McMahill
16-Tyler Roth
14-Brent Burrows & Jake Sollenberger
13-Shane Morgan
9-Kevin Battefeld
8-Cody Meyer & Patrick Ryan
7-Bart Andrews & Kelli Harter
6-Andy Baugh & Charles Kunz
5-Mike Armitage, Cody Gerdes, John Heitzman & Russell Johnston
4-Dave Baugh, Doug Canham, Abby Hohlbein & Korey Weyant
3-Jake Goeglein, Jake Neuman, Brandon Smith, Bryan Stanfill, Adam Taylor & Keith Wilson
2-R.J. Corson, Ian Creager, Daltyn England & Chett Gehrke
1-Chris Adrien, Patrick Bruns, Devin Feger, A.J. Fike, Ken Hanson, Ryan Jamison, Harrison Kleven, Jordan Mattson, Jonathan Miller, Aaron Roell, Kayla Roell, Shay Sassano, Denny Smith, Charlie Spoonmore, John Springer & Jon Watson
ALL-TIME IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS:
29-Andy Baugh
7-Chase McDermand & Adam Taylor
6-Mitchell Davis & Mark McMahill
5-Patrick Bruns, Jeff Mallonee, Dillon Morley & Bryan Stanfill
4-Will Armitage, Chett Gehrke & Korey Weyant
3-Brent Burrows & Shane Morgan
2-Tyson Hart, Jake Neuman, Gedd Ross & Tyler Roth
1-Dave Anderson, Cody Gerdes, Hunter Lane, Robby McQuinn, Sean Murphy & Jeff Sparks
NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENT WINS:
2-Aaron Leffel
1-Andy Baugh, Andy Malpocker & Bryan Stanfill
USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
2016: Jeff Mallonee, Davenport, Iowa
2017: Dillon Morley, Moline, Ill.
2018: Andy Baugh, Mason City, Ill.
2019: Andy Baugh, Mason City, Ill.
2020: Bryan Stanfill, Bakersfield, Calif.
2021: Mark McMahill, Peoria, Ill.