HIROSHIMA TAKES SANTA MARIA TQ MIDGET MAIN – By Tim Kennedy
Santa Maria, CA., Sept. 24 – Bruce Hiroshima, of Camarillo, drove north on Highway 101 to Santa Maria Speedway and won his first NMRA-TQ Midget main event of the year. It was the tenth NMRA race this season and he became the sixth different feature race winner. Hiroshima drove his own No. 5 Stewart/Clerc Honda and won the 20-lap, nine-car TQ portion of the multi-series race card. His effort moved him to ninth place in 2016 driver points.
Five-time 2016 TQ main event winner Scott Dobson, series point leader West Evans, rookie Taelor Janes, and 2015 NMRA rookie of the year Ace Kale completed the top five. Kale drove one of the three TQ midgets he owns.
Scott Niven, past USAC Ford Focus midget winner Shawn Buckley, Kevin Kale and rookie Wes Cummings followed. All drivers finished with seven drivers on the lead lap. Buckley sub-drove the No. 38 Evans Motor-sports Stealth/Suzuki for absent regular driver Chuck West. Dobson and Evans won the twin-eight lap heat races that started five and four cars respectively. In qualifying, Dobson set the fastest lap at 15.883.
The next NMRA race will be the season finale on Saturday, October 15. The site of race number 11 will be the third-mile banked clay Santa Maria Speedway, located just north of Santa Maria on the west side of the road and visible from Highway 101.
Fast Time: Scott Dobson, 15.883.
Heat 1: Dobson, Bruce Hiroshima, Scott Niven, Ace Kale, Wes Cummings.
Heat 2: West Evans, Taelor Janes, Kevin Kale, Shawn Buckley.
Main: Hiroshima, Dobson, Evans, Janes, A. Kale, Niven, Buckley, K. Kale, Cummings.
POINT STANDINGS (after 10 of 11 races):
Drivers Car Owners
1 West Evans 585 1. No. 36 West Evans 615
2 Scott Dobson 577 2. No. 18 Scott Dobson 604
3 Chuck West 509 3 No. 38 West Evans 587
4 Ace Kale 497 4 No. 77 Ace Kale 527
5 Kevin Kale 393 5 No. 59 Steve Parke 496
6 Wes Cummings ® 317 6 No. 07 Ace Kale 420
7 Scott Niven 306 7 No. 70 Ace Kale 341
8 Dave Lambert 277 8 No. 55 Dave Lambert 295
9 Bruce Hiroshima 265 9 No.5 Bruce Hiroshima 280
10 Paul Sanders 235 10 No. 22 Paul Sanders 250
10 No. 20 Bruce Hiroshima 250
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