6/21/2026
Badger Midget Auto Racing Association
Pio Is Two For Two In AFS Badger Midget Series This Time At Sycamore Speedway
In one of the most beautiful paddock areas in all of racing, twenty cars were on hand for the Midget Auto Racing Association and Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association co-sanctioned event at Sycamore Speedway on Saturday, June 20. Teams from four states were stationed among the leafy trees that inhabit the pits at this Illinois staple. Racing to a packed house, the midgets led the car-count that included three of Sycamore’s weekly classes. Pennsylvania’s Gunnar Pio swept the night for the midgets.
In the driver’s meeting BMARA/MARA President Quinn McCabe asked the competitors if they would like to do two heats of ten cars and ten laps or six to seven cars per heat and eight laps. The drivers voted on the latter.
Within the headcount at the meeting it was notable to see Jack Routson and not Matt Rechek racing Bill Ecker’s No. 57, Pio in the McDermand No. 40 and Jace Sparks in the No. 31 Sober Racing entry. Two big absences were MARA point leader Zach Boden (also fifth in Badger points) and Daltyn England who was third in the MARA standings. The rest of Badger’s top-ten were in the field. Tyler Roth (second), Mark Chisholm (fifth) and Miles Doherty (tenth) were among the top-ten in the lineup representing MARA going into the night.
PRELIMINARY ACTION
Pio started his sweep with Rod End Supply Fast Time finishing about .1 second faster than Badger point leader Brandon Waelti. The pair were the only cars in the 14 second bracket.
Nick Kilian had a career night that started in Auto Meter Heat-One where he drove to an easy win over fellow Sun Prairie, Wisconsin driver Eric Blumer and Illinois pilot Chris Adrien. They were the only three cars that finished the race with local favorite Luke Wackerlin’s car going up in smoke. Mike Unger and Harrison Kleven also went out with issues. It was Kilian’s first heat win of the season.
All seven cars answered the bell for Hoosier Racing Tire Heat-Two. Cody Weisensel from the pole and Miles Doherty who started behind him swapped the top spot a couple of times on the opening lap with Weisensel nipping the Iowa driver at the line to complete lap-one. Within a couple of laps Doherty was under attack from Sparks and then Waelti got by him too. A short time later Waelti spun in front of Doherty and Doherty tagged Waelti leaving both cars stalled in in turn-two. Each car restarted. After the restart Weisensel sailed to the win ahead of Sparks and Jake Dohner.
Pio went from sixth to first on the opening lap as he passed pole sitter Dave Collins Jr. at the line in Behling Racing Equipment Heat-Three. The pesky Collins was undaunted and a lap later he was even with Pio coming out of turn-four. Perhaps understanding his need for points, as he came into the night just outside the top-ten in the Badger chase, Collins let the superior car go as he settled in for a solid second place run to Pio’s straightaway win.
PIO MAKES IT TWO FOR TWO
Gunnar Pio burst onto the AFS Badger Midget Series scene when he hopped into former Badger champ Chase McDermand’s car at Wilmot Raceway earlier this year. It was his first time ever in a midget and running second to Todd Kluever in qualifying was the only thing that kept him from sweeping the night. Tonight he completed the task.
There was a driver change as they lined up for the Lyco Manufacturing A-Main with Routson stepping out of the No. 57 so Wackerlin could race in front of the hometown crowd and maintain his standing in the Badger point race. The engine in the family car he started with expired. While Wackerlin did have a back up car on hand the team failed to properly enter it and that mount could not be used. Wackerlin would have to start last in the field after originally qualifying third.
Unger and Doherty led the field of 18 to the green. As they took off Unger and Doherty had higher lines while Kilian and Blumer starting third and fifth respectively went low. Kilian led the first lap ahead of Blumer.
Doherty then found the low line going into turn-two and with Unger high they split Blumer making it three-wide. When it shook out Blumer was still in second followed by Doherty. Meanwhile Kilian had a half straightaway on the field.
More two and nearly three-wide racing involving Doherty, Sparks and Pio allowed the top-two to pull away. As things were sorting out on lap-five the yellow flew for a stalled car. The restart saw Kilian over Blumer, Sparks, Pio and Weisensel. Weisensel in the Jones-Spray No. 5 had raced his way from row-seven.
Kilian and Blumer took off at the green putting some distance on the field. As they went into turn-three disaster nearly struck as Blumer’s right front jumped Kilian’s left rear. Blumer’s car hopped, Kilian didn’t seem to miss a beat.
On the next lap Pio dispatched Blumer and then Kilian for the lead. Within a couple of laps Pio was up by a straightaway. That advantage was erased as Wackerlin spun in turn-two ending his night likely with a mechanical issue. Announcer Eric Huenefeld noted Wackerlin, a former Badger feature winner, had never finished better than seventeenth at Sycamore. On this day he would fail to better that run.
It was Pio, Kilian, Blumer, Weisensel and Waelti as they came to the green on lap-eight of twenty-five. Pio’s slow start didn’t fool Kilian much as they exited turn-four. Likewise Blumer was on Kilian’s tail. It was at this point it became apparent there was a tricky spot near the apex of turns one and two. Those who caught, what was later described as a “wet spot,” were sure to lose a lot of momentum allowing anyone close to challenge for the position at hand.
On the next lap with Pio rolling on and Kilian about ten car lengths behind him, Blumer caught that spot to which Waelti got under him as Blumer slid up a bit and then Weisensel dove under both of them to occupy the last podium spot.
As Pio stretched his lead over Kilian, it was Weisensel now having problems identifying the trouble spot in two. This allowed Waelti to take third.
With twelve laps left it was going to be a race for second. With nine left Pio was in his own area code while Waelti was now dogging Kilian for second. A yellow for a spun car bunched the field once again.
They didn’t get a lap in before Sparks tagged another car and spun. It ended up being an eventful yellow. RJ Corson, a previous winner at Sycamore, had a sour sounding car as it was. Perhaps due to contact in the Sparks deal, Corson left the track with either the engine issue, a flat right rear or both. Jake Dohner also went to the infield after likely being involved with Sparks.
The biggest thing on this caution period had nothing to do with a race car. The tow truck heading to the Sparks scene tagged the big tire in turn-four. Once touching the sparse grass of the infield, said tire was flipped perfectly one half a revolution landing flat as it had been, but now further onto the track by some three feet. While several onlookers and Badger TV caught it, apparently no officials did. To this point drivers had almost made a sport of seeing how close they could get to this tire without upsetting their mount.
Pio, Kilian, Waelti, Weisensel and Blumer led the field to another green. When the flag flew it was Weisensel who tagged the altered tire, sending the front of his car high into the air, he was lucky not to get tagged by the cars behind him and be sent over. It ended a bid for a solid finish and a chance for Spankins Motorsports Hard Charger honors were gone. Weisensel later explained he didn’t notice the tire had been moved and he was just trying to hit his marks as he had been all race.
Doherty replaced Weisensel in the top-five as they went green with eight laps left. Kilian had nothing for Pio and Waelti was on his tail. In another lap it was a different Hard Charger candidate who caused a yellow as Mark Chisholm tagged Doherty going into turn-three. Doherty kept on while Chisholm spun.
With five to go Pio was ahead by a straight once again. As the laps clicked down Kilian was perfect. He ran his line and stayed out of the greasy spot in turn-two while Waelti tried everything he could while tailing his younger Sun Prairie counterpart. Pio won by half a track. Kilian took second by less than a car length, his best finish ever in Badger.
NOTES
The McDermand team is three for four in Badger competition this season.
Pio also earned the rights to the Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw.
Wackerlin was the CASM Hard Luck Award and Last Place Bonus in Loving Memory of Addison Dahlke recipient.
Roth gained nine spots to earn the Bob Tattersall Spankins Motorsports Hard Charger Award. Doherty in fifth and Roth in sixth were the best MARA regulars in the field.
There were no rookies on hand 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.
UP NEXT
MARA is back in action Friday, June 26, at Jacksonville Speedway while the AFS Badger Midget Series is at their home track Angell Park Speedway on Sunday, June 28.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Lyco Manufacturing A - Feature (25 Laps): 1. 40-Gunnar Pio[9]; 2. 17-Nick Kilian[3]; 3. 3W-Brandon Waelti[8]; 4. 68-Eric Blumer[5]; 5. 8D-Miles Doherty[2]; 6. 18-Tyler Roth[15]; 7. 7-Brian Peterson[10]; 8. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[12]; 9. 31-Jace Sparks[4]; 10. 56X-Mark Chisholm[14]; 11. 67U-Mike Unger[1]; 12. 29-Harrison Kleven[17]; 13. 3A-Chris Adrien[11]; 14. 5X-Cody Weisensel[13]; 15. 2-Jake Dohner[6]; 16. 15C-RJ Corson[7]; 17. 1W-Robby Wirth[16]; 18. 57-Luke Wackerlin[18]; 19. (DNS) 73W-Jack Routson; 20. (DNS) 29K-Mike Stroik
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Nick Kilian[4]; 2. 68-Eric Blumer[5]; 3. 3A-Chris Adrien[2]; 4. (DNF) 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 5. (DNF) 67U-Mike Unger[3]; 6. (DNF) 57-Luke Wackerlin[6]
Hoosier Tire Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5X-Cody Weisensel[1]; 2. 31-Jace Sparks[4]; 3. 2-Jake Dohner[5]; 4. 3W-Brandon Waelti[6]; 5. 8D-Miles Doherty[3]; 6. 29K-Mike Stroik[2]; 7. 1W-Robby Wirth[7]
Behling Racing Equipment Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 40-Gunnar Pio[6]; 2. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[1]; 3. 15C-RJ Corson[5]; 4. 7-Brian Peterson[2]; 5. 56X-Mark Chisholm[7]; 6. 73W-Jack Routson[4]; 7. 18-Tyler Roth[3]
Rod End Supply Fast Time Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 40-Gunnar Pio, 14.834[12]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 14.929[4]; 3. 57-Luke Wackerlin, 15.054[20]; 4. 15C-RJ Corson, 15.144[10]; 5. 2-Jake Dohner, 15.197[2]; 6. 68-Eric Blumer, 15.276[13]; 7. 73W-Jack Routson, 15.334[19]; 8. 31-Jace Sparks, 15.353[17]; 9. 17-Nick Kilian, 15.370[5]; 10. 18-Tyler Roth, 15.399[7]; 11. 8D-Miles Doherty, 15.509[15]; 12. 67U-Mike Unger, 15.577[14]; 13. 7-Brian Peterson, 15.593[11]; 14. 29K-Mike Stroik, 15.714[6]; 15. 3A-Chris Adrien, 15.797[8]; 16. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 15.968[18]; 17. 5X-Cody Weisensel, 15.987[16]; 18. 29-Harrison Kleven, 16.197[1]; 19. (DNS) 56X-Mark Chisholm, 20.000; 20. (DNS) 1W-Robby Wirth, 20.001
Photo by Kenzie Dunn
Article by Bill Blumer Jr.
Submitted By: William Blumer