6/8/2026
Badger Midget Auto Racing Association
Will Gerrits Takes Another For McDermand In AFS Badger Midget Action At Angell Park
Another stellar crowd greeted the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association as they shared the stage with the World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Angell Park Speedway on Sunday for the Ted Johnson Memorial.
Twenty-four drivers from five states signed into the Badger pits with several coming north after racing Friday at Lincoln Speedway in Illinois with Badger’s sister organization Midget Auto Racing Association (MARA) .
PRELIMINARY ACTION
For the second race in a row Badger ran group qualifying with a reduced number of cars in each flight, going with four or five over the usual six or seven. Rod End Supply Fast Time went to Brandon Waelti over Luke Wackerlin and Jake Neuman.
A couple BMARA cars don’t have a regular driver assigned. The Sober Racing entry is one of those. This week, MARA regular Tyler Roth was behind the wheel of the No. 31 in Auto Meter Heat-One. Starting second, Roth took to the lead over Cody Weisensel at the drop of the green. Miles Doherty was in the picture. It didn’t take long for Roth to string out the field, followed by Doherty.
Knowing the top-five in a heat earn points and a better spot in the feature, there was a battle behind the leaders. Coming off the last turn Jake Neuman found some grip and passed Weisensel at the line for third. Roth took the easy win.
In Hoosier Racing Tire Heat-Two Dave Collins Jr. bolted from his pole starting spot with Harrison Kleven on his tail. By lap-three Collins had a five car advantage. As the laps wound down it looked like the popular driver might take a rare heat win despite the charging Wackerlin from the eighth starting spot. With three laps left the yellow flew. Wackerlin was too strong on the restart, got by Collins and went on to the win. Trey Weishoff ran second and Matt Rechek third.
At the line where he finished fourth, the Collins car let out a loud “pop” and the Doyle’s Dogs entry coasted toward the pits. It came to a stop short of “pit in” and a plume of smoke emitted from the engine. It seemed apparent the day was done for Collins.
Veteran Brian Peterson jumped to an early lead in Behling Racing Equipment Heat-Three from this second starting spot. At the mid-way point of the eight lap race Eric Blumer got by Peterson. With battles ensuing behind him, Blumer was able to take his first heat win at his hometown track. From the back of the pack RJ Corson and Waelti rounded out the top-three.
LYCO MANUFACTURING A-MAIN
Waelti’s Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw put him in the seventh starting spot. Will Gerrits was on the pole in the McDermand Plumbing No. 40 which had won both Badger races it was entered in thus far in 2026, with two different drivers. To his outside was last week’s AFS Badger Midget Series Lyco Manufacturing A-Main winner at the Plymouth Dirt Track, Zach Boden.
Gerrits, a former Badger Micro Series champion, has had just a handful of races in a midget and he has primarily been a sprint car driver of late. Between his ability and the quality of his car and crew, it was apparent at the drop of the green that everyone else would be running for second.
The race got off to a rocky start. Cars were high and low on the track as they negotiated the third turn on the second lap. RJ Corson who started fourth, got sideways in the middle of the corner while running low. He collected Waelti who then collected Blumer. Corson and Waelti were able to restart but Blumer’s day was done with frontal damage.
They only got one more lap in after the restart before Weisensel in the Jones-Spray No. 5X came to a rest on the track. When racing restarted the order was Gerrits, Boden, Neuman and Doherty.
Gerrits took off while Doherty and Boden battled along with Neuman and Wackerlin. Within a few laps Gerrits was up by half a straightaway. Ten laps in Neuman and Wackerlin were looking at podium spots. The pair traded slide jobs and just when it looked like Wackerlin got the advantage and would set his sights on Gerrits, Neuman in the Ecker No. 57 battled back.
Gerrits had amassed an entire straightaway on the next car as they crossed the line on lap 15 of the 25 lap race. With lapped traffic taking up the two primary grooves Neuman started to catch the leader and cut the lead in half. Gerrits, who had no way to know his lead was still comfortable, saw a spot and narrowly split two lappers with five laps left. Within two laps he was back to a straightaway over Neuman and the Waupun, WI, driver went on to the win.
In Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane he thanked his team and said, “I can’t believe this.” Gerrits explained that along with his first AFS Badger Midget Series win, the night prior at Plymouth Dirt Track he raced his way into the World of Outlaws Sprint Car feature among a field of 33 cars.
NOTES
Kentucky’s Chet Gehrke was the Bob Tattersall Spankins Motorsports Hard Charger gaining 14 spots to finish fourth. .
The CRSM Hard Luck Award and Last Place Bonus in Loving Memory of Addison Dahlke both went to Mark Chisholm.
Nobody qualified for the Spankins Motorsports Rookie of the Race.
The AFS Badger Midget Series would like to thank High Performance Lubricants and 1855 Saloon & Grill in Cottage Grove for their support.
Badger would also like to thank S&K Snowplowing Landscaping and Automotive for their beautiful stone work on the new Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane. Likewise they thank Fanaktive and The Dump Bar and Grill for their support of the Victory Lane effort.
Gerrits joins Gunnar Pio and Drake Edwards as AFS Badger Midget Series winners in the Chase McDermand Racing entry this season. Waelti and Boden are the other drivers with Lyco Manufacturing feature wins in 2026. Both are the owners of their mounts.
The issue for Collins was not night-ending and he did make the bell for the A-Main where he finished sixteenth.
UP NEXT
The AFS Badger Midget Series will be back at the Plymouth Dirt Track next Saturday, June 13.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Lyco Manufacturing A - Feature (25 Laps): 1. 40-Will Gerrits[1]; 2. 57R-Jake Neuman[5]; 3. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[6]; 4. 21-Chet Gehrke[18]; 5. 8D-Miles Doherty[3]; 6. 51-Zach Boden[2]; 7. 7-Brian Peterson[12]; 8. 57-Matt Rechek[9]; 9. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 10. 49P-Carl Peterson IV[16]; 11. 15C-RJ Corson[4]; 12. 31-Tyler Roth[13]; 13. 8-Jake Goeglein[21]; 14. 29-Harrison Kleven[14]; 15. 17-Nick Kilian[22]; 16. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[15]; 17. 59-Kyle Koch[23]; 18. 45-Trey Weishoff[11]; 19. 68-Eric Blumer[8]; 20. 2-Jake Dohner[17]; 21. 3A-Chris Adrien[19]; 22. 5X-Cody Weisensel[10]; 23. 56X-Mark Chisholm[20]
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Tyler Roth[2]; 2. 8D-Miles Doherty[6]; 3. 57R-Jake Neuman[7]; 4. 5X-Cody Weisensel[4]; 5. 40-Will Gerrits[5]; 6. 21-Chet Gehrke[3]; 7. 8-Jake Goeglein[1]; 8. 59-Kyle Koch[8]
Hoosier Tire Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[8]; 2. 45-Trey Weishoff[4]; 3. 57-Matt Rechek[5]; 4. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[1]; 5. 29-Harrison Kleven[2]; 6. 2-Jake Dohner[6]; 7. 56X-Mark Chisholm[7]; 8. 17-Nick Kilian[3]
Behling Racing Equipment Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 68-Eric Blumer[4]; 2. 15C-RJ Corson[6]; 3. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 4. 51-Zach Boden[5]; 5. 7-Brian Peterson[2]; 6. 49P-Carl Peterson IV[3]; 7. 3A-Chris Adrien[1]
Rod End Supply Fast Time Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 14.875[7]; 2. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 14.940[20]; 3. 57R-Jake Neuman, 14.994[22]; 4. 15C-RJ Corson, 15.081[10]; 5. 56X-Mark Chisholm, 15.127[2]; 6. 8D-Miles Doherty, 15.161[21]; 7. 51-Zach Boden, 15.177[16]; 8. 2-Jake Dohner, 15.225[11]; 9. 40-Will Gerrits, 15.250[17]; 10. 68-Eric Blumer, 15.261[19]; 11. 57-Matt Rechek, 15.300[15]; 12. 5X-Cody Weisensel, 15.309[5]; 13. 49P-Carl Peterson IV, 15.560[1]; 14. 45-Trey Weishoff, 15.618[8]; 15. 21-Chet Gehrke, 15.623[18]; 16. 7-Brian Peterson, 15.644[14]; 17. 17-Nick Kilian, 15.657[13]; 18. 31-Tyler Roth, 15.687[23]; 19. 29K-Mike Stroik, 15.765[9]; 20. 29-Harrison Kleven, 15.771[3]; 21. 8-Jake Goeglein, 15.945[4]; 22. 3A-Chris Adrien, 16.179[6]; 23. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 16.227[24]; 24. (DNS) 59-Kyle Koch
Roy Ophime Photography BoSP Victory Lane photo left to right: Jake Neuman, Will Gerrits and Luke Wackerlin.
Article by Bill Blumer Jr.
Submitted By: William Blumer