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CHUCK WEST WINS FIFTH 2007 NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN
- By Tim Kennedy
Santa Maria, CA., Jul. 14 - Chuck West is batting .625 in baseball terminology. The Clovis resident won his fifth NMRA-TQ Midget main event in eight events this year when three-quarter midget teams made their third appearance Saturday at the banked, third-mile clay Santa Maria Speedway. A packed grandstand crowd witnessed the multi-division open-wheel show at 43-year old SMS on the central California coast. Driving the No. 38 West Evans Stealth/Kawasaki, the winner passed his car owner/cousin Evans to advance from fourth to third in 2007 driver points.
West started fifth in a 12-car field. The 25-lap race had one caution flag on lap 11 when one car spun in turn two. The clay track surface had taken rubber during earlier events. It turned slick and had wet spots for the TQ main event. The co-sanctioned USAC/BCRA Midget feature went to Garrett Hansen, of Manhattan Beach. (USAC Western 360 sprints and USAC Ford Focus Midgets raced the same evening at Altamont Raceway in northern California and teenagers Tanner Swanson, of Kingsburg, and Beau DeBard, from Reno, won the sprint and FF Midget features respectively.)
West, the 2002 and 2006 NMRA-TQ driving champion in cars provided by his cousin Evans, won his earlier TQ features this season at Ventura Raceway (1) and Bakersfield Speedway (3). It was his 11th TQ-feature victory in 59 races since NMRA resumed racing in 2002. He also raced in the USAC Western States Midget Series earlier in his racing career and won three USAC W/S Midget main events. He was tied for 46th through 2005 in all-time in USAC W/S Midget feature winner driver rankings.
Current NMRA point leader Kenny Wiley, the 2002 rookie of the year and a two-time main event winner this year, started eighth and finished second in Paul Lopiccolo's Rick Stewart chassis with Honda power. Lopiccolos's No. 21 is the leading TQ in entrant points. Randy Moody, the other 2007 NMRA feature winner, came from seventh on the grid to finish third in Dave Lambert's Hart/Honda. He climbed to tenth in driver points despite entering only four of the eight events.
Bruce Hiroshima, second in driver points, rookie Jonathan St. Clair, West Evans, 2006 NMRA rookie of the year Scott Dobson, 2005 NMRA rookie of the year Richard Ortega, Jr, Jenna Bliffen and Ahrendt completed the top ten. Rookies Mike Elliott and Scott Niven followed. Hiroshima, the 2004 NMRA rookie of the year, and Evans won the pair of eight-lap heat races. Wiley's 15.497 was the fastest qualifying time with Moody's 15.717 second fastest. Seven of the 12 drivers qualified in the 15-second bracket. Four drivers qualified in the 16-second bracket. NMRA leader Evans gave thanks to Tom Manning of the BCRA Midget organization for all his help in the pits and for his help pushing NMRA-TQs to
staging.
Round nine of the current 12-race NMRA schedule will take place Wednesday night, August 1 at the fifth-mile clay Ventura Raceway. The traditional mid-week race is the opening motor-sport event during the annual Ventura County Fair. Admission price to the fair admits fairgoers to all races. A USAC Ford Focus Midget event will take place Thursday night along with local series races. Demolition derbies conclude each night and the grandstand is packed each year for races both nights. NMRA TQ racers will return this season to Santa Maria Speedway for races on Saturday nights, August 1 and September 22.
Race Summary:
Fast Time: Kenny Wiley, 15.497.
Heat 1: Bruce Hiroshima, Jonathan St. Clair, Ron Ahrendt, Wiley, Jenna Bliffen, Mike Elliott.
Heat 2: West Evans, Chuck West, Randy Moody, Scott Dobson, Richard Ortega, Jr, Scott Niven.
Main: West, Wiley, Moody, Hiroshima, St. Clair, Evans, Dobson, Ortega, Bliffen, Ahrendt, Elliott, Niven.
POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers Car Owners
1 Kenny Wiley 467 1 21 Paul Lopiccolo 491
2 Bruce Hiroshima 445 2 5 Bruce Hiroshima 469
3 Chuck West 444 3 38 West Evans 468
4 West Evans 431 4 36 West Evans 455
5 Scott Dobson 403 5 18 Guy Barber 427
6 Ron Ahrendt 366 6 15 Jonathan St. Clair 391
7 Jonatlhan St. Clair ® 331 7 87 Ron Ahrendt 390
8 Richard Ortega, Jr 327 8 8 Richard Ortega, Jr 348
9 Jenna Bliffen 248 9 20 Bruce Hiroshima 324
10 Randy Moody 236 10 55 Dave Lambert 288
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