TELLSTROM TELLS ‘EM: HE’S USAC’S RADICAL FOCUS MIDGET CHAMP

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Speedway, Indiana (December 27, 2022)………Kyle Tellstrom has excelled as a champion in west coast modified racing and, this year, he’s now risen to the top in the open wheel discipline as the king of USAC Radical Focus Midget racing for 2022.

In six feature starts during his championship season, the Boise, Idaho native won twice in back-to-back fashion in his home state at Meridian Speedway during September’s Chaz Groat Memorial at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway.

Along the way, Tellstrom collected five top-fives and six top-tens on the journey to a first career USAC title, defeating his competition by a healthy 75-point margin.

River Merrill (Salt Lake City, Utah) finished as the runner-up in the final point tally with 2022 USAC Eastern Focus Midget champ Hunter Wise (Allentown, Pa.) third, Cheyenne Merrill (Salt Lake City, Utah) fourth and Chris Lamb (Colfax, N.C.) fifth.

Lamb added two victories to his Radical total this season with a complete sweep during the final weekend of the trail at Arizona’s Havasu 95 Speedway in November.  By season’s end, Lamb upped his total to 65 career USAC Focus Midget victories across all platforms, most all-time.

Brady Allum (Gold Hill, N.C.) and Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, Ind.) became first-time Radical feature victors when the series ventured east at the end of July for two shows at Indiana’s Anderson Speedway.  Allum scored a breakthrough triumph by reigning victorious as did Armstrong who led all series drivers with 79 laps led.

For Armstrong, a frequent competitor in NASCAR’s Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series as well as a 2004 USAC Kenyon Midget titlist, it was his first USAC-sanctioned feature win in 14 years, with the last one also occurring at Anderson in 2008 when he topped the field to win a 400-lap midget main event.

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2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET STAT LEADERS:

Driver Champion: Kyle Tellstrom

Most Feature Wins: 2-Chris Lamb & Kyle Tellstrom

Feature Laps Led: 79-Dakoda Armstrong

Top-Fives: 5-Kyle Tellstrom

Top-Tens: 6-River Merrill & Kyle Tellstrom

Fast Qualifying Times: 4-Casey Tillman

Heat Race Wins: 2-Duane Swanson

Feature Starts: 6-Cheyenne Merrill, River Merrill & Kyle Tellstrom

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:

POS.      PTS.       DRIVER, HOMETOWN

1.            410        Kyle Tellstrom, Boise, Idaho

2.            335        River Merrill, Salt Lake City, Utah

3.            277        Hunter Wise, Allentown, Pa.

4.            263        Cheyenne Merrill, Salt Lake City, Utah

5.            206        Chris Lamb, Colfax, N.C.

6.            197        Casey Tillman, Boise, Idaho

7.            120        Brady Allum, Gold Hill, N.C.

8.            114        Logan Sulyi, Raleigh, N.C.

9.            113        Nathan Byrd, Goodyear, Ariz.

10.         99           Dillon Thomas, Clover, S.C.

11.         37           Chad Allum, Taylorsville, N.C.

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:

Jul 29: Anderson Speedway - Anderson, IN

WINNER: Dakoda Armstrong (Radical Racing #5)

Jul 30: Anderson Speedway - Anderson, IN

WINNER: Brady Allum (Chad Allum #87A)

Sep 23: Meridian Speedway - Meridian, ID

WINNER: Kyle Tellstrom (Mike Creevan #89)

Sep 24: Meridian Speedway - Meridian, ID

WINNER: Kyle Tellstrom (Mike Creevan #89)

Nov 11: Havasu 95 Speedway - Lake Havasu, AZ

WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #5)

Nov 12: Havasu 95 Speedway - Lake Havasu, AZ

WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #5)

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS:

2-Chris Lamb (Nov 11 at Havasu 95 Speedway & Nov 12 at Havasu 95 Speedway)

2-Kyle Tellstrom (Sep 23 at Meridian Speedway & Sep 24 at Meridian Speedway)

1-Brady Allum (Jul 30 at Anderson Speedway)

1-Dakoda Armstrong (Jul 29 at Anderson Speedway)

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:

79-Dakoda Armstrong

60-Chris Lamb

58-Kyle Tellstrom

52-Brady Allum

9-Matt Elliott

2-A.J. Luttmer

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:

5-Kyle Tellstrom

4-A.J. Luttmer & Hunter Wise

2-Toby Alfrey, Dakoda Armstrong, Chris Lamb & Ashlyn Powell

1-Brady Allum, Nathan Byrd, River Merrill, Anthony Quintana, Logan Sulyi, Duane Swanson, Dillon Thomas, Casey Tillman & Devin Westover

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:

6-River Merrill & Kyle Tellstrom

4-Matt Elliott, A.J. Luttmer & Hunter Wise

3-Dakoda Armstrong, Chris Lamb, Cheyenne Merrill, Anthony Quintana & Devin Westover

2-Toby Alfrey, Brady Allum, Jessica Bean, Nathan Byrd, Ashlyn Powell, Duane Swanson, Casey Tillman & Tyler West

1-Monty Bergener, Avery Stoehr, Logan Sulyi, Dillon Thomas & George Tuttle Jr.

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:

6-Cheyenne Merrill, River Merrill & Kyle Tellstrom

4-Dakoda Armstrong, Matt Elliott, A.J. Luttmer, Anthony Quintana, Casey Tillman, Devin Westover & Hunter Wise

3-Chris Lamb

2-Toby Alfrey, Brady Allum, Jessica Bean, Monty Bergener, Nathan Byrd, Drew Crenshaw, Brian Hayes, Ashlyn Powell, Randy Schaaf, Avery Stoehr, Logan Sulyi, Duane Swanson, Dillon Thomas & Tyler West

1-Chad Allum, Mike Anderson, Michael Smith & George Tuttle Jr.

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:

4-Casey Tillman

1-Logan Sulyi & Hunter Wise

2022 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET HEAT RACE WINS:

2-Duane Swanson

1-A.J. Luttmer, Anthony Quintana, Randy Schaaf & Casey Tillman

ALL-TIME USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)

7-Jessica Bean

3-Chris Lamb & Kyle Tellstrom

2-Joseph Holiday

1-Brady Allum, Dakoda Armstrong, Randy Schaaf, Casey Tillman & Hunter Wise

ALL-TIME USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)

1-Jessica Bean & Bradley Swift

USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:

2020: Joseph Holiday, Madera, Calif.

2021: Jessica Bean, Farmland, Ind.

2022: Kyle Tellstrom, Boise, Idaho