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MOODY WINS SECOND NMRA-TQ MIDGET FEATURE
- By Tim Kennedy
Santa Maria, CA., Aug. 11- Randy Moody won his second NMRA-TQ Midget 25-lap feature of the year and of his career Saturday at the third-mile, banked clay Santa Maria Speedway. The race was round ten of a 14-race season. His first triumph this year on May 5 also came at the Santa Maria track adjacent to Highway 101 and just north of the city. Moody drove the same Dave Lambert-owned No. 55, a 1991-Dennis Hart-built chassis with a 750-cc Honda engine. It was Lambert's fifth NMRA career victory as a car owner. His son Steve formerly drove the car and won the 2003-04 NMRA driving championships in the car. Greg Edenholm used several drivers each year and won with the car owner championships.
Moody, a 36-year old full midget and sprint car veteran from Ventura, is one of four different winners in NMRA this year. He earned the 1993 USAC-TQ Division Midget rookie of the year award in his own Honda-powered TQ. He won two USAC-TQ Midget main events in 1994 at Ventura Raceway in his own No. 9 Honda before he left TQ Midget racing in 1995. Moody raced sprint cars in the late 1990s in the SCRA series, the forerunner to the current USAC-CRA regional series. He received a serious injury at Perris Auto Speedway when he was hit in the face by an object from the track. His recovery took a long time and he did not race during his recuperation.
During his absence from auto racing, Moody raced drag boats for the last three or four years. He recently sold all his drag boats. Lambert offered him his No. 55 TQ Midget ride this year and he was happy to return to TQ competition. The Moody/Lambert team has competed six times in ten races run this year. Moody ranks ninth in driver points among 24 drivers with points. Lambert also ranks ninth in car owner points among 18 car owners with points. Moody has set two fast qualifying times, and has four top fives and five top tens in his six NMRA main events.
Point leader Kenny Wiley finished second in Paul Lopiccolo's car entrant point leading Rick Stewart chassis with Honda power. Chuck West, Bruce Hiroshima and West Evans completed the top five in that order in a 12-car field. The race had four race leaders. Evans led the first six laps. Hiroshima paced laps 7-12. Wiley ran out front from lap 13-24. Moody passed Wiley on the final lap-the money lap 25.
Richard Ortega, Jr, Scott Dobson, Ron Ahrendt, rookie Scott Niven, rookie point-leader Jonathan St. Clair,. Steve Parke and Amanda Thomas were the other finishers. Thomas made her TQ-racing debut aboard a second Hiroshima-owned TQ. Wiley set fastest qualifying time of 15.455, the fastest qualifying lap of four
race dates at SMS this year. It was well off the NMRA track record 14.820 by Jimmy May on April 10, 2004. West and Hiroshima won the pair of eight-lap TQ heats on an open-wheel racing card headlined by USAC-CRA 410 sprint cars. (Mike Spencer won that race in the Ron Chaffin No. 50.)
Summary:
Fast Time: Kenny Wiley, 15.455.
Heat 1: Chuck West, Kenny Wiley, Richard Ortega, Jr., Ron Ahrendt, Steve Parke, Amanda Thomas.
Main: Moody, Wiley, West, Hiroshima, Evans, Ortega, Dobson, Ahrendt, Niven, St. Clair, Parke, Thomas.
POINT STANDINGS as of Aug. 12:
DRIVERS CAR OWNERS
1 Kenny Wiley 595 1 21 Paul Lopiccolo 625
2 Chuck West 551 2 38 West Evans 581
3 West Evans 535 3 36 West Evans 565
4 Bruce Hiroshima 530 4 5 Bruce Hiroshima 560
5 Scott Dobson 497 5 18 Guy Barber 527
6 Richard Ortega, Jr 445 6 15 Jonathan St. Clair 474
7 Ron Ahrendt 444 7 8 Richard Ortega, Jr 472
8 Jonathan St. Clair ® 408 8 87 Ron Ahrendt 435
9 Randy Moody 345 9 55 Dave Lambert 403
10 Jenna Bliffen 248 10 20 Bruce Hiroshima 359
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