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WESTERN SPRINTS AT ALTAMONT SATURDAY; HMIEL GRABS SERIES OPENER AT ALL AMERICAN SPEEDWAY
APRIL 14, 2008 --- Shane Hmiel of Pleasant Garden, N.C. is off to a sensational start to the 2008 racing season and takes the USAC Western Sprint Car point lead into this Saturday’s “”USAC Pacific Coast Spring Nationals” at Altamont Motorsports Park in Tracy, Calif.
Hmiel, whose career includes racing in NASCAR’s Nextel Cup, Craftsman Truck and Nationwide Series, also won the 2001 NASCAR Goody’s Dash Rookie of the Year honors and in 2004 won a Craftsman Truck race at Las Vegas, Nev. This year he also has two non-USAC-sanctioned Midget wins in California.
Taking the lead from Eric Humphries on lap 37, he led the final 14 laps to win Saturday night’s 50-lap Western Sprint feature at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif. Trailing his K & N Filters/Platinum Powder Coating Hornet/Losorwith were Humphries, Porter Smith, Tanner Swanson and Nick Rescino Jr. Hmiel was also Saturday’s fastest qualifier. Humphries led 28 of the 50 laps and Smith led the other eight.
Three-time USAC Western Sprint Car Champion Tony Hunt, who finished a disappointing 12th at Roseville, is looking forward to Saturday’s race at Tracy, where he finished second three times in four starts last year.
Saturday’s Altamont “tripleheader” also features the USAC Western States Midgets and the California Paved Ford Focuses.
USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1 Shane Hmiel 73
2 Eric Humphries 62
3 Porter Smith 61
4 Tanner Swanson 60
5 Nick Rescino Jr. 56
6 Tim Skoglund 49
7 Greg Andeson 45
8 Tim Barber 42
9 Laura Hayes 39
10 JoJo Helberg 39
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