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WILEY WINS NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN AT SANTA MARIA
– By Tim Kennedy
Santa Maria, CA,.Sept. 20 – Kenny Wiley started sixth and led the final 12 laps in a 25-lap NMRA-TQ Midget Series feature at the banked, third-mile Santa Maria Speedway Saturday night in a companion event to the Bandit 360 sprint cars, IMCA Modifieds and Factory Stocks. The race was round 10 of 11 for NMRA TQ teams and the fifth this year for NMRA on the Santa Maria Speedway clay. Wiley's fourth main event victory this season in the Paul Lopiccolo Stewart/Honda was his third this year at Santa Maria. It was the 47-year old Wiley's sixth career NMRA-TQ feature victory and all came in Lopiccolo's No. 21. .
Wiley, NMRA's 2002 rookie of the year and 2007 driving champion, scored 70 points and jumped from third to second in point standings. He cut point leader Chuck West's advantage over second place from 59 to 51 points. Wiley entered the race Saturday 83 points behind West after nine races. With 11 NMRA cars present, Randy Moody's car was done before time trials. Then point leader West's Stealth/Kawasaki was unable to start the ten-car feature. Wiley set up a championship contest with West at the season finale--Saturday, October 11 at the quarter-mile, paved Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino.
West Evans started second, led the first 13 laps in his Stealth/Suzuki and finished second. Rookie Jimmy Dodson started from pole position and finished third. Fellow rookie Anthony Lopiccolo, son of the winning car owner. started third and finished fourth. Eighth starter Scott Niven took fifth. Bruce Hiroshima, Ron Ahrendt, Mike Elliot and Scott Dobson completed the field and all ran the full 25 lap distance.
A pair of eight-lap heat races went to front row starters Dodson and Lopiccolo, the two leading rookies this season. Entering the final race in two weeks, the rookie of the year battle is tight. Dodson ranks sixth with three top fives, seven top tens, one heat win and 446 points in his ten races. Lopiccolo ranks eighth with six top fives, nine top tens, two heat wins and 440 points in his nine races. Wiley set the fastest qualifying time of 15.480 on his second of two qualifying laps. Second fastest driver West ran the only other sub-16 second lap at 15.724 on his first of two laps. The Santa Maria Speedway NMRA-TQ Midget one-lap track record is14.820 by Jimmy May on 4/10/04.
The top three finishers in the Bandits 360 sprint car feature were: Richard VanderWeerd, Jason May and Peter Murphy, who won the Bandits 2008 driving championship. The top three finishers in the IMCA Modifieds main were: Jake Jones, Ron Wiley and Doug Thornton. The Factory Stocks main top three finishers were: Matt Marchiando, Randy Obert and Glen Sparks.
NMRA Summary:
Heat 1 – Jimmy Dodson, West Evans, Kenny Wiley, Scott Dobson, Bruce Hiroshima.
Heat 2 – Anthony Lopiccolo, Ron Ahrendt, Scott Niven, Mike Elliott, Chuck West.
Main – Wiley, Evans, Dodson, Lopiccolo, Niven, Hiroshima, Ahrendt, Elliott, Dobson, West.
POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers Car Owners
1 Chuck West 603 1 21 Paul Lopiccolo 638
2 Kenny Wiley 552 2 38 West Evans 633
3 Scott Dobson 547 3 18 Guy Barber 574
4 Bruce Hiroshima 516 4 5 Bruce Hiroshima 546
5 West Evans 486 5 36 West Evans 516
6 Jimmy Dodson 446 6 87 Ron Ahrendt 473
7 Ron Ahrendt 443 7 6 Jimmy Dodson 437
8 Anthony Lopiccolo 440 8 20 Bruce Hiroshima 415
9 Scott Niven 434 9 66 Scott Niven 412
10 Richard Ortega,Jr347 10 8 Richard Ortega,Jr.368
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