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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honda USAC Western Midget Series
#68 Ronnie Gardner & Crew in Petaluma Victory Lane. Photo by MMRacingPhotos.com.
RONNIE GARDNER SWEEPS PETALUMA "SOARES CLASSIC"
By Lance Jennings
PETALUMA, CA – AUGUST 11, 2014... Grabbing the lead from Scott Pierovich on lap five, Corona’s Ronnie Gardner led the rest of the way to claim the “3rd Annual Soares Classic” at Petaluma Speedway. Co-sanctioned with the Bay Cities Racing Association, the 50-lap feature win was Gardner’s second Honda USAC Western Midget victory of the campaign. Trey Marcham, Taylor Simas, Sean Dodenhoff, and Pierovich rounded out the top-five drivers.
Piloting the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Ronnie Gardner swept the program by earning his third VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Award, winning the Extreme Mufflers Heat Race #1, and claiming his second consecutive “Soares Classic.” The defending champion scored his eleventh career win, placing him in a tie for fourteenth overall with Josh Wise. Heading to Calistoga’s Vermeil Classic, Gardner is second in both the overall and dirt series points with one heat race victory, six top-10 finishes, and 83 feature laps led.
For the second race in a row, Trey Marcham of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma had to settle for second to Gardner. Driving Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products TCR, Marcham qualified tenth out of the twenty-five racers in the pit area and won the DJ Safety Heat Race #2. Last season’s Rookie of the Year sits atop the dirt and overall standings with two feature wins, two VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Awards, two heat race victories, six top-10 finishes, and 29 feature laps led to his credit.
Making his first start of the season, Orland’s Taylor Simas took third in the 50-lap “Soares Classic.” Racing Doug Bock’s #62 Carson R&D / Astro Titanium Spike, Simas was third fast in time trials and ran second to Nick Chivello in his heat race.
Sean Dodenhoff of Bakersfield scored fourth in the Petaluma Speedway main event. Piloting his #9D Lightning Medical Pro / Torco Oil Spike, Dodenhoff qualified seventeenth overall and ran second to Gardner in his heat race. Despite missing a few races, Sean ranks eighth in the dirt points and tenth in the combined series with three top-10 finishes and 18 feature laps led on the year.
After leading the first four laps, Alamo’s Scott Pierovich scored fifth at the checkered flags. Driving the family owned #35 Mid-Coast Trans / Good Guys Spike, Pierovich was ninth quick in time trials and ran third in his heat race. The veteran driver is currently fourth in the dirt series and sixth in combined points with one VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Award, one heat race victory, and three top-10 finishes in the campaign.
Nick Chivello of Manteca raced to victory in the Saldana Racing Products Heat Race #3. Racing the family owned #27 Vic Hubbard’s Auto Parts / Red Top Electric Spike, Chivello qualified eleventh overall and scored twelfth in the main event. To date, Nick is ranked twelfth in the dirt series and eighth in the overall points with two heat race wins, three top-10 finishes, and two feature laps led to his credit.
Redding’s Alex Schutte won the 8-lap Pyrotect Racing Cells Heat Race #4. Piloting the Schutte/McElwee #28 Aircraft Electrical Components / Ontario West Spike, Schutte was twelfth fast in time trials and placed eighth in the “Soares Classic.” The former champion sits fifth in both the dirt and overall points with four top-10 finishes on the season.
The Honda USAC Western Midgets will battle at the famed Calistoga Speedway on August 30th and 31st for the “7th Annual Louie Vermeil Classic.” Located at the Napa County Fairgrounds, each night will pay $10,000-to-win and will also showcase the Amsoil USAC/CRA Sprint Cars. For more event information, visit www.louievermeilclassic.net, www.calistogaspeedway.org or call (916) 773-7225.
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 series, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/usacwsmidgets), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/USAC_WSMIDGET).
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HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT RACE RESULTS (co-sanctioned by BCRA):
August 9, 2014 - Petaluma, California - Petaluma Speedway – “John Soares Classic”
VANLARE STEERING REPAIR TIME TRIALS:
1. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Six8-14.315, 2. Brian Gard, 88, Arata-14.367, 3. Taylor Simas, 62, Bock-14.371, 4. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-14.441, 5. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-14.566, 6. Cody Swanson, 71, Swanson-14.568, 7. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-14.580, 8. Jarid Blondel, 98, Blondel-14.687, 9. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-14.688, 10. Trey Marcham, 73, Ford-14.760, 11. Nick Chivello, 27, Chivello-14.859, 12. Alex Schutte, 28, Schutte/McElwee-14.919, 13. Barry Pries Jr., 14, Pries-14.939, 14. Rick Cook II, 7R, Cook-14.961, 15. Tyler Dolacki, 99, Hokanson-14.975, 16. Chad Nichols, 17, Nichols-14.990, 17. Sean Dodenhoff, 9D, Dodenhoff-15.005, 18. Britton Bock, 67, Bock-15.063, 19. Gary Conterno, 55, Conterno-15.117, 20. J.R. Williams, 74, Williams-15.315, 21. Floyd Alvis, 11F, Alvis-14.448, 22. Sparky Howard, 3, Howard-15.525, 23. Bill Lindsey, 8, Lindsey-15.547, 24. Michael Donaldson, 9, Donaldson-16.056, 25. Rick Holbrook, 46, Holbrook-16.067.
EXTREME MUFFLERS HEAT RACE #1: (8 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Sean Dodenhoff, 3. Scott Pierovich, 4. Barry Pries Jr., 5. Randi Pankratz, 6. Floyd Alvis, 7. Rick Holbrook. NT
DJ SAFETY HEAT RACE #2: (8 laps)
1. Trey Marcham, 2. Brian Gard, 3. Cody Swanson, 4. Roy Cook II, 5. Britton Bock, 6. Sparky Howard. NT
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS HEAT RACE #3: (8 laps)
1. Nick Chivello, 2. Taylor Simas, 3. Gary Conterno, 4. Tyler Dolacki, 5. Bill Lindsey, 6. Shannon McQueen. NT
PYROTECT RACING CELLS HEAT RACE #4: (8 laps)
1. Alex Schutte, 2. Jarid Blondel, 3. Chad Nichols, 4. Michael Donaldson, 5. J.R. Williams, 6. Chris Ennis. NT
FEATURE: (50 laps)
1. Ronnie Gardner, 2. Trey Marcham, 3. Taylor Simas, 4. Sean Dodenhoff, 5. Scott Pierovich, 6. Cody Swanson, 7. Brian Gard, 8. Alex Schutte, 9. Randi Pankratz, 10. Rick Cook II, 11. Chad Nichols, 12. Nick Chivello, 13. Sparky Howard, 14. Barry Pries Jr., 15. Tyler Dolacki, 16. Bill Lindsey, 17. Floyd Alvis, 18. J.R. Williams, 19. Rick Holbrook, 20. Shannon McQueen, 21. Britton Bock, 22. Chris Ennis, 23. Jarid Blondel, 24. Gary Conterno, 25. Michael Donaldson. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Scott Pierovich, Laps 5-50 Ronnie Gardner.
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS:
1. Trey Marcham-388, 2. Ronnie Gardner-380, 3. Jarid Blondel-212, 4. Scott Pierovich-208, 5. Alex Schutte-204, 6. Shannon McQueen-203, 7. Chris Ennis-186, 8. Sean Dodenhoff-167, 9. Tyler Dolacki-155, 10. Ricky Shelton-147, 11. Chad Nichols-138, 12. Nick Chivello-101, 13. Jake Swanson-97, 14. Terry Nichols-93, 15. Johnathon Henry-90, 16. Barry Pries Jr.-57, 17. Terry Goodwin-53, 18. Troy Rutherford-50, --Steve Davis-50.
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Trey Marcham-388, 2. Ronnie Gardner-380, 3. Jarid Blondel-375, 4. Chad Nichols-325, 5. Alex Schutte-257, 6. Scott Pierovich-247, 7. Shannon McQueen-203, 8. Nick Chivello-201. 9. Chris Ennis-186, 10. Sean Dodenhoff-167, 11. Tyler Dolacki-155, 12. Ricky Shelton-147, 13. Jake Swanson-140, 14. Darin Snider-116, 15. Terry Nichols-94, 16. Johnathon Henry-90, 17. Barry Pries Jr.-57, 18. Terry Goodwin-53, 19. Troy Rutherford-50, --Steve Davis-50.
2014 HONDA USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET SERIES SCHEDULE
DATE - TRACK - LOCATION
August 30: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway (Louie Vermeil Classic / $10,000-to-win)
August 31: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway (Louie Vermeil Classic / $10,000-to-win)
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)
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* = 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)
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* = Co-Sanctioned Event with BCRA Midgets.
This schedule is subject to change.
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