|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honda USAC Western Midget Series
- Calistoga Podium. (L-R) Tanner Thorson (2nd), Christopher Bell (1st), and Ronnie Gardner (3rd). Photo by MMRacingPhotos.com.
CHRISTOPHER BELL WINS $10,000 VERMEIL CLASSIC MIDGET FINALE
By Lance Jennings
CALISTOGA, CA – SEPTEMBER 2, 2014... After winning the Saturday USAC/CRA main event, Christopher Bell of Norman, Oklahoma won Sunday’s Midget finale of the “7th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic.” Taking the lead from Tanner Thorson on lap twenty-six, Bell’s $10,000 triumph at Calistoga Speedway was the second Honda USAC Western Midget victory of his career. Thorson, Ronnie Gardner, Cody Swanson, and hard charger Nick Chivello followed Bell to the checkered flags.
Racing the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #71 Toyota-TRD Bullet, Christopher Bell claimed the main event from the fifth starting spot. Qualifying second out of the twenty racers in attendance, Bell ran second to Ronnie Gardner in his heat race. The young driver left Calistoga ranked thirteenth in both the overall and dirt points with one heat race victory, and 26 feature laps led.
Minden, Nevada’s Tanner Thorson took the lead from Trey Marcham on lap fourteen and led twelve circuits before settling into second. Piloting the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #67 Toyota-TRD Bullet, Thorson was third fast in time trials and won the Saldana Racing Products / Pyrotect Racing Cells Heat Race #3. After two starts, Tanner sits fifteenth in overall points and fourteenth in the dirt series with two heat race victories and two top-10 finishes.
Ronnie Gardner of Norco, California fought hard to score third in the “Louie Vermeil Classic.” Driving the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Gardner qualified fifth overall and won the DJ Safety Heat Race #2. The defending series champion has taken over the overall and dirt series lead with two feature wins, three VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Awards, two heat race victories, eight top-10 finishes, and 83 feature laps led.
Norco, California’s Cody Swanson charged to fourth in the Sunday $10,000 finale from eleventh. Racing the family owned #71S Marcie Campbell Realtor / Advanced Racing Suspension Spike, Swanson was eleventh quick in time trials and placed fifth in his heat race. In limited starts, Cody has one heat race victory, and two top-10 finishes in the campaign.
Nick Chivello of Manteca, California earned the night’s “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job honors” with a fifth place run from thirteenth. Piloting the family owned #27 Rodgers Trucking / Vic Hubbard’s Auto Parts Spike, Chivello qualified thirteenth overall and placed third in his heat race. To date, Nick is seventh in the overall series and eleventh in the dirt points with two heat race victories, four top-10 finishes, and 19 feature laps led.
After winning the previous night, Rutherford, California’s Rico Abreu had his bid for a weekend sweep come to an end after a flip ended his night. Uninjured, the tenth place Abreu walked away and claimed the USAC/CRA Sprint Car feature in his second non-winged start. Earlier in the program, the popular driver earned his second VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Award and won the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1. In two starts, Rico is sixteenth in the overall points and fifteenth in the dirt series with one hard charger award, two top-10 finishes, and three feature laps led to his credit.
The Honda USAC Western Midgets will clash with the Bay Cities Racing Association at Dennis Gage’s Silver Dollar Speedway on Thursday, September 4th. Held during the famed “Gold Cup Race of Champions,” the event will also showcase the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. For more information, visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com or call 530.350.7275.
The Honda USAC Western Midget Series thanks Hoosier Tire, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Rugged Radios, Saldana Racing Products, and VanLare Steering Repair for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at [email protected].
For more information on the Honda USAC Western Midget Series, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/usacwsmidgets), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/USAC_WSMIDGET).
--------------------------------------------------------------
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS:
August 31, 2014 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway – “Louie Vermeil Classic”
VANLARE STEERING REPAIR TIME TRIALS:
1. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.320; 2. Christopher Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.405; 3. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-20.416; 4. Shane Golobic, 26, Bock-20.576; 5. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-20.694; 6. Trey Marcham, 73, Ford-20.973; 7. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-21.000; 8. Taylor Simas, 62, Bock-21.077; 9. Alex Schutte, 28, Schutte/McElwee-21.244; 10. Jarid Blondel, 98, Blondel-21.251; 11. Cody Swanson, 71S, Swanson-21.356; 12. Brian Gard, 88, Arata-21.396; 13. Nick Chivello, 27, Chivello-21.525; 14. Scott Kinney, 27C, Blackwell-21.815; 15. Lance Hallmark, 8H, Hallmark-22.730; 16. Michael Pickens, 25, Rodela-NT; 17. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-NT; 18. Chad Nichols, 17, Nichols-NT; 19. Britton Bock, 35X, Pierovich-NT; 20. David Prickett, 27B, Blackwell-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE #1: (8 laps)
1. Abreu, 2. Pierovich, 3. Chivello, 4. Blondel, 5. Golobic. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE #2: (8 laps)
1. Gardner, 2. Bell, 3. Simas, 4. Kinney, 5. Swanson, 6. Prickett, 7. Pankratz. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / PYROTECT RACING CELLS HEAT RACE #3: (8 laps)
1. Thorson, 2. Marcham, 3. Schutte, 4. Gard, 5. Hallmark, 6. Nichols. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps – With Starting Positions)
1. Christopher Bell (5th), 2. Tanner Thorson (4th), 3. Ronnie Gardner (3rd), 4. Cody Swanson (11th), 5. Nick Chivello (13th), 6. Brian Gard (12th), 7. Lance Hallmark (15th), 8. Jarid Blondel (10th), 9. Trey Marcham (2nd), 10. Rico Abreu (6th), 11. Scott Pierovich (1st), 12. Alex Schutte (9th), 13. Taylor Simas (8th), 14. Scott Kinney (14th), 15. Shane Golobic (7th), 16. Randi Pankratz (16th), 17. David Prickett (19th), 18. Britton Bock (18th), 19. Chad Nichols (17th). NT
----------------------------
*Schutte and Abreu flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Marcham, Laps 14-25 Thorson, Laps 26-30 Bell.
HARD CHARGER: Nick Chivello (13th to 5th).
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ronnie Gardner-503, 2. Trey Marcham-463, 3. Scott Pierovich-288, 4. Jarid Blondel-292, 5. Alex Schutte-287, 6. Shannon McQueen-203, 7. Chris Ennis-186, 8. Sean Dodenhoff-167, 9. Chad Nichols-156, 10. Tyler Dolacki-155, 11. Nick Chivello-153, 12. Ricky Shelton-147, 13. Christopher Bell-142, 14. Tanner Thorson-134, 15. Rico Abreu-120, 16. Johnathon Henry-115, 17. Jake Swanson-97, 18. Terry Nichols-94, 19. Barry Pries Jr.-57, 20. Michael Pickens-54.
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ronnie Gardner-503, 2. Trey Marcham-463, 3. Jarid Blondel-455, 4. Chad Nichols-343, 5. Alex Schutte-340, 6. Scott Pierovich-288, 7. Nick Chivello-255, 8. Shannon McQueen-203, 9. Chris Ennis-186, 10. Sean Dodenhoff-167, 11. Tyler Dolacki-155, 12. Ricky Shelton-147, 13. Christopher Bell-142, 14. Jake Swanson-140, 15. Tanner Thorson-134, 16. Rico Abreu-120, 17. Darin Snider-116, 18. Johnathon Henry-115, 19. Terry Nichols-94, 20. Barry Pries Jr.-57.
BCRA MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Chad Nichols-1134, 2. Gary Conterno-1014, -. Floyd Alvis-1014, 4. J.R. Williams-924, 5. Nick Chivello-776, 6. Rick Holbrook-664, 7. Darin Snider-616, 8. Bill Lindsey-603, 9. Sean Dodenhoff-595, 10. Shannon McQueen-532, 11. Taylor Simas-489, 12. Barry Pries Jr.-473, 13. Cody Gerhardt-460, 14. Michael Donaldson-401, 15. Tanner Swanson-378, 16. Scott Kinney-376, 17. Rick Cook II-364, 18. Brian Gard-362, 19. Scott Pierovich-362, 20. Alex Schutte-297.
2014 HONDA USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE - TRACK - LOCATION
September 4: *Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway (Gold Cup Race of Champions)
September 20: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
November 20: #Peoria, AZ - Canyon Speedway Park (Western World Championships)
November 21: #Peoria, AZ - Canyon Speedway Park (Western World Championships)
November 22: #Peoria, AZ - Canyon Speedway Park (Western World Championships)
November 27: #Perris, CA - Perris Auto Speedway (Turkey Night Grand Prix)
-----------------------------------------------
* = Co-Sanctioned Event with BCRA Midgets.
# = Co-Sanctioned Event with USAC National Midgets.
This schedule is subject to change.
2014 HONDA USAC WESTERN PAVEMENT MIDGET SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE - TRACK - LOCATION
September 13: *Madera Speedway – Madera, CA (Harvest Classic)
-----------------------------------------------
* = Co-Sanctioned Event with BCRA Midgets.
This schedule is subject to change.
|
