UNDEFEATED: McMAHILL GOES 6-FOR-6 TO SCORE 2022 USAC IMRA TITLE

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Wednesday, 21 December 2022

UNDEFEATED: McMAHILL GOES 6-FOR-6 TO SCORE 2022 USAC IMRA TITLE

2022 USAC Engler Illinois Midget Racing Association SpeeD2 Midget champion, Mark McMahill (Peoria, Ill.) Randy Brown Photo

UNDEFEATED: McMAHILL GOES 6-FOR-6 TO SCORE 2022 USAC IMRA TITLE

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 21, 2022)………In the annals of USAC racing, you’d be hard pressed to find an instance in which a driver went undefeated en route to a season-long championship.

Mark McMahill became that individual in 2022 as he raced to six victories in six feature starts in his Ron & Mark McMahill-owned No. 57 to capture his second consecutive USAC Engler Illinois Midget Racing Association SpeeD2 Midget title.

McMahill (Peoria, Ill.) soared to wins in each successive start at a trio of Illinois venues – thrice at Spoon River Speedway, twice at Adams County Speedway and once at Champaign County Speedway.

In achieving his feat, he became the first driver since Patrick Bruns in 2014 to go through an entire USAC Regional series season with a perfect record. Bruns won all four of his starts that season eight years ago but was not credited with a season title.

However, the title was all McMahill’s this year as he captured the crown by 45 points over Shane Morgan to become the first back-to-back USAC IMRA champ since Andy Baugh in 2018-19. McMahill’s USAC IMRA win total now stands at 12, placing him second all-time in the category behind all-time leader Baugh at 29.

To demonstrate his dominance, McMahill also led 97 out of a possible 110 feature laps run during the 2022 season, which is at a clip of more than 88 percent. Furthermore, McMahill ran his streak to seven consecutive victories dating back to his win during the final race of 2021. That’s tied for the third-longest winning streak in USAC history.

Billy Boat reeled off 11-straight Western States Midget victories in 1995. Adam Pierson collected 11 consecutive DMA SpeeD2 triumphs in 2016. A.J. Foyt’s splendid 1964 campaign included seven successive National Championship (Indy Car) wins. Billy Vukovich III was dominant on the USAC Supermodified trail in 1987, garnering seven-in-a-row. Prior to McMahill, Jacob Denney was the latest to reach the mark with seven-straight visits to Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 victory lane in 2021.

The other dominant force on the IMRA trail in 2022 was Mother Nature, who won six times herself to claim victory in the half of the events. However, Shane Morgan (Creve Coeur, Ill.) gave a good chase to finish a distant second in the standings, tying his best points finish of second from 2018. His best runs of the season came via a pair of runner-up results at Adams County and Spoon River.

Jake Sollenberger (Canton, Ill.) put himself inside the top-five of the year-end USAC IMRA standings for the fifth time in the past seven seasons while equaling his career-best series points finish of third in 2019. He posted his best feature finish of the 2022 season in August with a third at Spoon River.

Thomas Harris (Lewistown, Ill.) had his best career IMRA run this past season by finishing fourth in the standings on the strength of a second place result in the season opener at Spoon River.

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2022 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:

POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN

1. 464 Mark McMahill, Peoria, Ill.

2. 419 Shane Morgan, Creve Coeur, Ill.

3. 331 Jake Sollenberger, Canton, Ill.

4. 321 Thomas Harris, Lewistown, Ill.

5. 71 Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio

6. 55 Cody Dye, Covington, Ky.

7. 42 Abby Hohlbein, Cloverdale, Ohio

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2022 USAC IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:

May 29: Spoon River Speedway - Canton, IL