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Seidelman earns first dirt victory in Salem
Andrew Kunas
SALEM, Ore. – When Tony Seidelman told his fellow WMRA racers he would take his pavement midget and race it on dirt in Salem, Oregon he received a little skepticism.
Seidelman, however, got the last laugh on Friday night. In just his third start on dirt, the Spanaway, Washington driver won the 25-lap NOMA midget main event under the cover of the Livestock Pavilion at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. The win came almost a month after Seidelman led another race in Salem, only to spin out.
Starting on the front row alongside his brother Nick, Seidelman ran second until passing Nick for the lead on lap six, making the move on the inside coming out of turn two of the roughly 1/5-mile dirt oval. Seidelman pulled away and established a comfortable lead.
Doug Kammerzell of Seattle passed Nick Seidelman on the inside in turn four to take second place on lap 12, but could not gain any ground on Tony Seidelman. Seidelman, however, slipped up with a very shaky 18th circuit, allowing Kammerzell to close in.
Kammerzell got as close as a car length to Seidelman, but could not find a way to pass him. Seidelman stabilized his car and again pulled away to win it.
Kammerzell and Nick Seidelman finished second and third, respectively, and longtime racer and promoter Mike McCann of Creswell, Ore. finished fourth. Albany, Ore.'s Dave Pugsley, who won last month's event in Salem, dropped out of Friday's event with what appeared to be mechanical problems aboard his midget.
Seidelman's victory was the second by a pavement racer in four races at the Oregon State Fairgrounds since midgets first raced there in January. Tony Berry, primarily a pavement racer, won the first race in January.
A winner at Salem in January, Scott Carneau of Portland returned to victory lane Friday after an eventful dwarf car main event. Carneau took advantage of not one but two slip-ups by drivers in front of him.
Gold Hill, Ore.'s Kelly Gutches, winner of November's race, passed early leader Henry Corbin III on a lap 15 restart, only to lose it on lap 20 when he got loose in turn two, allowing Corbin back into lead. On that same lap Corbin himself got loose in turn four, and Gutches and Carneau both passed him.
Gutches and Carneau made contact on the front stretch, which sent Gutches out of shape through turns one and two. Carneau established himself as the leader and would win it, while Gutches fell back to fourth, being passed by both Corbin III and Henry Corbin II.
Dylan Westrick of Longview, Wash. won the winged 600cc restricted micro-sprint event. Mitch Hoffses of Beaverton, Ore. won the winged 600cc stock micro-sprint event as well. Brendan Boyce, a sprint car driver from Cottage Grove, backed up his cage cart win in November with another win in the cage carts on Friday.
Winning heat races in the NOMA midget division were Pugsley and Kammerzell. Gutches won both dwarf car heat races, and Logan Forler pulled off the same feat in the stock micro-sprints. Brandon Benson won the first heat race for the restricted micro-sprints, and Sammy Wright won the second heat race.
Dash victories went to Nick Seidelman in the NOMA midgets, Corbin III in the dwarf cars, and Westrick in the restricted micro-sprints and Kyle Mehner in the stock micro-sprints.
Racing continues at the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday. The next event on the Salem Indoor night schedule is Saturday, January 6.
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