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USAC MIDGETS - TNGP (Irwindale Spdwy) - By Tim Kennedy

Irwindale, Calif., Nov. 23 - Billy Wease added his name to the impressive list of past winners of Midget auto racing's Turkey Night Grand Prix (TNGP) Thursday night in the USAC-sanctioned 66th running of the Thanksgiving 100-lap feature in front of 6,000 spectators at Irwindale Speedway. The half-mile track hosted the event for the eighth consecutive year. The "Granddaddy of all Midget Racing Classics" dates back to 1934 at Gilmore Stadium in Hollywood. His name will be engraved on the perpetual Aggie Trophy named for late race organizer J. C. Agajanian, who revived the TNGP in 1955 after a four-year absence.

The 20-year old Noblesville, Indiana winner, a developmental driver for Roger Penske Racing, won $6,000 from the $33,000 purse posted by Agajanian Enterprises for National and Western Series Midget racing portion of the USAC three series event that attracted 136 race cars (67 Midgets). Wease, a four-time veteran in the TNGP feature, started fifth and in Rick Gerhardt's No. 80 Western Speed Racing Gerhardt Racer/Esslinger Ford. He engaged his teammate Kody Swanson, 18, in a classic two-car duel from lap 24 to the finish. Wease took advantage of two-wide lapped traffic on lap 81, going to the outside and passing race-long leader Swanson, the fastest qualifier and pole starter, in the No. 60 identical car to winner Wease.

Swanson, the 2005 USAC Western 360 Sprint Series rookie of the year/champion, logged several impressive feature finishes in his handful of USAC Western Midget races as a 2006 Midget rookie. He had three fast qualifying times, a first on September 2 at Altamont Raceway in Tracy, plus second, third and fourth place finishes in features. He fought back to regain the lead as the duo continued to lap slower cars. Swanson, from Kingsburg, Calif., fell two lengths short (0.189) at starter Noel Dawson's checkered flag. The runner-up earned $3,200. One of 11 TNGP rookies in the feature, Swanson won the Don Basile Memorial Rookie of the race plaque. Earlier in the 360-sprint car main event, third place Swanson flipped his sprint car trying to pass a lapped car and slid to a halt in turn three without injury.

"I couldn't ask for a better car. I'm going to take this trophy back to North Carolina to the Penske shop. Hopefully the guys will be proud of me," Wease said. He also drove for Western Speed last year and finished tenth. He drove a No. 12 Beast/Ed Pink Chevy owned by his father Bill in his first two TNGP efforts, dropping out on the first lap in 2003 with a flat tire and finishing tenth a year later. Swanson spoke to fans and said, "We hit bottled-up traffic and Billy got the best of me. At least I made him earn every bit of it." Later in the pits, Wease said he hopes to follow other open-wheel drivers to NASCAR. Earlier this year he made his first stock-car start with ARCA at Michigan International Speedway and finished second in the No. 27 Kodak Penske Racing Dodge.

WISE THIRD

Josh Wise, USAC's 2005 National Midget champion and the 2006 National Sprint Car champion for Tony Stewart Racing, started 12th and finished third, 0.854 behind Wease. He collected $2,100 before joining Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 for NASCAR Craftsman Truck and ARCA stock car racing in Toyotas. Dave Steele, a two-time TNGP winner at Irwindale and the track's one-lap record holder at 16.556, finished fourth, 3.484 seconds back in a Steve Lewis Beast/Ed Pink Toyota. He earned $1,500. Kyle Nicholas, who lost an engine of his Nicholas Beast/Mopar during one of two afternoon practice sessions, started 24th in the 34-car field. He finished fifth in a Keith Kunz-entered back-up car that he had not driven prior to his emergency requisition. The teenager from Naples, Florida drove the Beast/Fontana to a $1,200 payday.

Tracy Hines (from 11th in the Wilke Spike/Stanton Mopar), 2005-06 USAC Western Midget champion Jerome Rodela (from 8th in NHRA star Cruz Pedregon's Gerhardt/Toyota), 2006 USAC National Midget champion Jerry Coons, Jr (in a Wilke Beast/Stanton Mopar), Badger Midget champion Brad Kuhn (in Fred James' Stealth/Stanton Mopar) and TNGP rookie Chase Scott, 20, from Concord, N.C. (in a third Western Speed Racing Gerhardt Racer/Ford Esslinger), completed the top ten. Twenty-one of 34 starters finished and only the top ten drivers finished 100 laps. The 39:49.236-timed race had three yellow flags for spins. Kunz won the National Midget car owner championship by 12-points over Wilke Racing.

FOUR NASCAR DRIVERS

Four NASCAR 2006 drivers competed in the Midget feature. Busch Series driver Jason Leffler, a two-time TNGP winner at IS including last year in his own car, qualified second fastest. The other three NASCAR drivers did not qualify among the 14 fastest in the 4:55 to 6:10 p.m qualifying session in which 59 drivers attempted to qualify. The three drivers raced their way into the feature by finishing in the top eight positions in a pair of 21-car qualifying races. All three drivers raced in the second 12-lap qualifier. Bobby East, a past USAC champion and Craftsman Truck rookie, started fourth and won the qualifier. Two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart started third and finished second in one of his own Beast/Mopar cars, the back-up Josh Wise ride. An unannounced driver entrant, 2000 TNGP winner Stewart hot-lapped the car Wednesday night during the 3:00 to 9:00 p.m practice session for more than 130 cars in all three divisions racing at the TNGP. Nextel Cup veteran Casey Mears, from Bakersfield, pre-entered in both the Midget and 360 Sprint Car divisions in cars sponsored by the National Guard, the 2007 sponsor for his No. 25 Rick Hendrick Chevy. Mears started second and finished fourth, 1.592 seconds behind East.

In the 100-lap TNGP 16th starter East was the first retiree on lap 12 and finished 34th. Second starter Leffler was running eighth on lap 39 when a mechanical problem caused him to join the car park in the infield. Mears, competing at Irwindale for the first time in three years, started a Bob Rosen-owned National Guard Beast/Fontana 22nd and finished 16th, down one lap (on lap 83). Stewart participated in the all-driver half-hour autograph session for fans on the front straight prior to the 7:00 start of racing. He also remained with his teams at his two haulers in the pits talking to fans well past midnight. The 100-lap GP concluded at 10:58 p.m. The Indiana native was involved in two of the three yellow flag incidents during the main event. A lap 41 tangle in turn four involved 18th starter Stewart, Chase Barber and seventh fastest qualifier Kevin Swindell, the 2005 TNGP rookie of the race and son of sprint car champion Sammy Swindell. Chase's Beast/Ed Pink Ford and Swindell's Spike/Stanton Mopar later retired. Stewart rejoined the field at the back and raced forward to mid-pack. He passed Mears on lap 58 on the inside entering turn one. He also passed Levi Jones, one of his Stewart team drivers, on lap 67. However, Stewart's run ended on lap 91 when he became involved in a two-car incident next to the wall between the third and fourth turns. Oklahoma-based, 16-year old sprint car driver Brady Bacon, a Chip Ganassi developmental driver, was the other driver sidelined. Stewart's Beast/Mopar left the scene on the business end of a tow truck.

Yellow flags (laps 15-23, 41-50 and 91-95 counted, but USAC rules mandated that the final two laps had to be green flag laps. With 22 cars taking the lap 96 green flag, 13th place rookie Stephanie Mockler, the 18-year old daughter of 1986 TNGP winner Warren Mockler, experienced an engine problem with her Janice East-Clorox Beast/Esslinger and dropped out to the infield car park. The 14th fastest qualifier and final driver to make the feature directly from qualifying ran 94 laps in her TNGP debut. She finished 21st, one position ahead of a driver who pitted and returned from the pits to finish 93 laps.

LAST CHANCE RACES

Bradley Galedrige, 19, won the first Last Chance qualifier, which concluded after 11 laps because Spence Gattrell's car hit the turn one pit entrance protective attenuator and it required repairs. Galedrige started fifth in Davey Hamilton's Gerhardt/Mopar and led the final three laps. He took the lead with an inside second turn pass of Brad Loyet, the third starter and leader of the first eight laps. Loyet finished second, 0.668 behind Galedrige. Aron Oakley, an Indiana Ford Focus Midget graduate, was third. East came from fourth in the Klatt-Clorox Beast/Esslinger to lead the final seven laps of the second 12-lap qualifier. Mears started second and led the first four laps. Stewart took second from Mears on lap nine and Chuck Gurney, Jr, 23-year old son of the 1988-89 TNGP winner at Ascot Park, passed Mears for third on the final lap. Mears took fourth.

With 67 pills drawn for Midget qualifying, teams had two sessions for hot-lapping from 12:50 to 1:20 and 2:30 to 2:50 on a partly sunny/cloudy day with the temperature in the low 70s. During one session a broken oil line fitting on Mike Murgoitio's Beast/Esslinger oiled the track from the starting line to the first turn in the high groove. Three other cars quickly hit the oil and spun into the outside wall. The most serious result was for Mike Marfia, from Rio Rancho, N.M. His No. 38 McGerigle Beast/Chevy backed hard into the wall on the left-rear end. Rescuers found him unconscious in the car reportedly, but he regained consciousness before he left the car. An ambulance transported Marfia to a nearby hospital for precautionary medical evaluation/tests. Ryan Kaplan's Stealth/Fontana spun in the first turn oil as well. Damage sidelined the car bur Kaplan escaped injury. Rip Williams, the 50-year old 2004 USAC/CRA sprint car champion making his first start at IS, also spun tail first into the outer wall after contact with the oil. He was unhurt and the back of his Mitchell Racing Edmunds/Esslinger was repaired, but Williams relinquished the ride to Josh Lakatos who qualified and raced it. The accident and oil clean-up and other oiling by the car of Thomas Messeraull during qualifying delayed scheduled events by almost an hour. Swanson, the 32nd driver to qualify, set fast time of 16.988 (105.957 mph) and ran the only sub-17 second lap. Leffler, the 56th qualifier, ran a 17.12l8 (105.091 mph) for the second fastest time. Mockler's 17.415 was 14th best and the final direct ticket to the feature.

USAC Western 360 Sprints - (TNGP-Irwindale Spdwy) - By Tim Kennedy

Irwindale, Calif., Nov. 23 - Tony Hunt crowned his third USAC Western 360 Sprint Car Championship season with another dominant performance Thursday night during the annual Thanksgiving Night Grand Prix on the graduated banking, asphalt half-mile Irwindale Speedway. The 34-year old 1998 Western Series co-rookie of the year and series champion in 2001 and 2004 earned $2,500 from the $16,305 purse. The son of former sprint car driver Tommy Hunt, USAC Vice President of Western Operations, won seven of the 14 Western Sprint Series features this season and took the series championship by 105-points. With a six-car inversion based upon qualifying times, sixth fastest qualifier Hunt started from the pole position in Alan Kaiser's Eagle/Chevy and led all the way. He also won the series 40-lap all-green flag feature at IS August 26 by almost half a lap (8.167 seconds).

Officials reduced the scheduled "Turkey Night"40-lap race to 30-laps after a spectacular crash on lap 21 caused a 21-minute delay. Fastest qualifier Kody Swanson, 18, had started sixth in his family-owned Eagle/Chevy and was in third position as he tried to follow second place Idaho-driver Mike Murgoitio past the lapped car of Destiney Hays. "She moved over for second place and then moved back up the track
and I ran over her back wheel," Swanson said in the pits. His car flipped near the end of the backstretch, slid along the crash-wall on its cage and stopped overturned in the middle of the third turn. "I was conscious the whole time. I reached up and turned off the fuel while still sliding. They (track emergency crew) wanted to cut my arm restraints. I told them not to do that because I had another race to run tonight and I didn't have any spare restraints," Swanson continued. He walked to the ambulance and road to the pits for medical evaluation. "My blood pressure was 190 and they said they wouldn't release me to race. (As fastest qualifier for the 100-lap Midget Grand Prix he had pole position.) They re-tested me a little later and my blood pressure was 180 so I was cleared to race," the talented driver from Kingsburg, Calif. revealed after his almost victorious second place run in the Midget GP.

Hunt had a 35-yard lead after 20-laps. Following the red flag for Swanson's flip, Hunt again ran away from the field and finished 40-yards (1.274 seconds) ahead of his closest pursuer. Tracy Hines, in Andy Morales' "Tamale Wagon II" J & J/Chevy, took second place from Mike Murgoitio's Davey Hamilton Eagle/Chevy on lap 25. The two drivers and Bradley Galedrige, 19, in a second Eagle/Chevy owned by former IRL Indy 500 driver Hamilton, battled for second position. On the final lap Murgoitio dived to the of Hines' car entering turn three and fought back Hines' effort to re-pass him on the outside in the fourth turn. Murgoitio out-dragged Hines to starter Noel Dawson's checkered flag and nipped Hines by a couple of feet (0.037 officially). Murgoitio collected $1,500 and Hines $1,200.

Galedrige finished fourth, worth $1,000. Jessica Helberg, a 19-year old former Santa Rosa, Calif. driver now racing local stock cars as a developmental driver in North Carolina, flew to California to race in the TNGP sprint car event as she did last season. She drove one of two Eagles owned by her father and her 16-year old brother Joe drove the other car. She was the first of 37drivers to face the timing clock and set the fourth quickest time overall. She started third and finished a competitive fifth, 2.036-seconds behind winner Hunt. Greg Anderson, 2002 series champion Rick Hendrix, second generation driver Nick Green (son of past NARC sprint car champion Tim Green of San Jose), Billy Wease and World of Outlaws winged sprint car veteran Jason Meyers (in his first USAC race since 2003) completed the top ten finishers. Twenty of the 23 starters finished and 19 ran all 30-laps. Actual running time was 19:13.748.

The 14 fastest qualifiers in the 37-car field transferred directly to the feature. A qualifying race for all other drivers transferred the first eight finishers to the back rows of the main. Tim Barber, a Western Sprint and Silver Crown veteran from San Francisco, was the 15th quickest qualifier. He started Ken Pierson's Eagle/Chevy on the pole, led all 12 laps and won by 15-yards. Northern Californians Nick Rescino, Jr and Michael Trimble finished second and third respectively. Brian McClish, Robert Beck, Jeff Gardner, Destiney Hays and Shauna Hogg made the cut for the main in that order as 19-drivers finished. Swanson, the fourth driver to qualify, set quick time of 16.639 (108.180 mph), which fell short of the track record-16.378 (109.296 mph)-that Michael Lewis set on October 4, 2003. Hunt won the series championship over Murgoitio 902 to 797.

USAC Ford Focus Midgets - TNGP (Irwindale Spdwy) - By Tim Kennedy

Irwindale, Calif., Nov. 23 - Second generation driver Michael Faccinto, 16-year old son of veteran sprint car driver Monte Faccinto, won a thrilling victory in a four-car battle in the USAC Ford Focus opening 50-lap main event of the annual Thanksgiving Night Grand Prix (TNGP) at Irwindale Speedway. The protégé of 2005 NHRA funny car champion Gary Scelzi capped his rookie season by winning the final round of a two-race USAC FF National Championship on the third-mile paved track. He charged from fourth to first on lap 44 of the 50-lap event and won the national title by 16-points. The first round of the series pitting FF drivers from every USAC FF regional series took place last Saturday at the Ventura Speedway dirt track.

Faccinto, from Hanford, won five of 11 California FF Paved Track Series features this season and his sixth victory came over a star-studded field of 32 from around the country. He drove the same No.4 Scelzi Motorsports Beast chassis. After starting sixth in a 23-driver feature field, Faccinto chased the lead trio for 43 laps. Pole starter Levi Roberts, from Broomfield, Colo., led the first 43 laps in his Dave Roberts Beast. The lead trio raced three wide, which is the norm on the track's half-mile but not as common on the four-degree banked third-mile oval.

Then Faccinto made his daring dive past the three leaders entering the third turn and pulled away. "I was patient early. I saw them battling so I stuck my nose in there and hoped for the best," Faccinto said. The feature winner and new FF National Champion also set the fastest qualifying time in a 32-car field during European-style group qualifying from 3:45 to 4:00 p.m with four separate groups of seven to nine drivers. His best lap of five green flag laps was 14.258 (84.079 mph), which just missed breaking the series track record of 14.249 set at the TNGP in November 2002.

Ryan Smith, from Pennsylvania, started third and ran second all 50-laps in his No. 55 S & S Beast. He also passed Roberts on lap 44 and trailed Faccinto by two lengths (0.190). Roberts dropped from first to third on lap 44 and trailed the winner by 1.120. Tim Skoglund, an 18-year old FF Midget rookie from Fresno, ran third for most of the race and placed fourth, 1.483 seconds behind Faccinto. The three-time FF feature winner this year, including a 30-lap main at Irwindale on August 26, drove the No. 40 Western Racing Gerhardt chassis. The feature had drivers from nine states, plus Canada and Holland. The 32-car
field was the largest contingent of FF Midget drivers to compete at Irwindale in five years of FF racing.

Canadian driver Alison MacLeod, 17, finished fifth, 2.527-seconds behind Faccinto. Rookie Sacramento-area driver Laura Hayes, the 17-year old FF feature winner at Madera on Labor Day, Nick Wean, from New Jersey, James Robertson, from Indiana, Paul Zimmerly, from Washington, and Mario Clouser, from Illinois, rounded out the top ten. Sixteen of 23 starters finished and all ran 50-laps, the longest race in five years of FF Midget racing at IS. Nic Faas, who won the Ventura FF National Championship round one last Saturday and assumed the point lead, started inside in row five. He spun out on lap 20, restarted and
then dropped out on lap 40. The 17-year old second-year FF Midget driver dropped to fourth in final National Series points. Four caution flags for spins slowed the event to a 31:38.953 clocking.

Buddy Wise, 20-year old brother of 2006 USAC National Sprint Car champion Josh Wise, ran his first race since his quarter-midget days. He started 16th and ran 32-laps for 21st place in his USAC debut. The 14 fastest qualifiers were scheduled to start the main event directly from time trials. Four 10-lap heat races were to be run with eight-cars per heat race. However, USAC officials canceled the heats to save time after several incidents during two sessions of afternoon hot-lapping for all three USAC divisions delayed time trials about 95 minutes. Officials added the 15th and 16th quickest qualifiers to the feature in row eight and ran a 12-lap semi-main with 15 starters. The first six finishers advanced to the back of the main event in the order they finished the semi-main. J. R. Williams, 71, started ninth and was challenging for the final transfer to the main on lap 11 when his left rear wheel came off, causing him to spin out in turn three.

Winning car owner Scelzi drove his No. 4 Beast /FF last year in the $3,920 FF 30-lap TNGP main event and finished 21st in a 26-car field. This year he coached his now age-eligible protégé Faccinto in the same Beast pavement car. Scelzi accompanied the winner to the press box after the youngster won the 50-lap main dramatically in the toughest field of the year. Faccinto looks and sounds like three-time TNGP winner/Indianapolis 500 veteran Billy Boat's 14-year old racing son Chad Boat, who races ASA Speed Trucks on paved short tracks in the West and an ASCA 360 sprint cars on dirt tracks in Arizona.

Final USAC FF National Championship point standings: 1. Faccinto-97; 2. Wean 81; 3. Smith 80; 4. Faas 75; 5. Skoglund 72; 6. Robertson 55; 7. Bobby Michnowicz 52; 7 (tie) Roberts 52; 9. Ginny Quinones 50; 10. Brett Engstrom 43.