PIEROVICH SHAKES OFF BAD LUCK TO WIN
MADERA HARVEST CLASSIC
SACRAMENTO,
CALIFORNIA (September 18, 2011) – Alamo’s Scott Pierovich continued his resurgence in the
USAC Western Classic Racing Series by winning Saturday night’s “Harvest
Classic” at Madera Speedway. The win
marks redemption for Pierovich after mechanical failures forced him out of the
April “Gerhardt Classic” at Madera while running second.
Pierovich
was an early favorite for the championship this season before bad luck took its
toll. Saturday’s win is Pierovich’s
second on the season to go along with the May 14 “Burton Classic” at All
American Speedway.
“We’re too
far out of the points so we’re really just racing for wins,” Pierovich
said. “I owe this all to Ken Pierson who
pays the bills and does the setups on the car.”
Pierovich
opened up the night by taking quick time with a 13.640 second lap around the
one-third mile asphalt oval in the Ken Pierson #14 mount. Points leader Geoff Ensign of Sebastopol
qualified fifth while second in points Tony Hunt took the Mike Phulps #56 to
second.
Heat races
were split by Ensign and Hunt. The 50
lap feature started 12 cars with Finkenbinder Motorsports teammates Tim Barber
and Ensign on the front row.
Ensign led
from outside pole while Pierovich, from sixth, drove to second by lap
four. Pierovich began to put the
pressure on Ensign and took over the top spot on lap six.
Jockeying
throughout the field ensued as Audra Sasselli and Hunt went side-by-side for
fourth behind Barber. Sasselli swept
past Hunt and then Barber on lap 11 to take over third. Hunt won a nice duel with Barber on lap 14 to
take fourth.
Ensign,
Sasselli, and Hunt raced hard for the second position while 17 year-old Cody
Gerhardt of Fresno passed San Carlos’ Chad Nichols for fifth on lap 20.
The first
caution came out on lap 22 for Barber coming to a stop on the front stretch
with heavy smoke. He was done for the
night.
Sasselli got
past Ensign in a thrilling move on the inside in turn one for the restart and
one lap later the yellow lights were on again as Gordon Rodgers spun backwards
down the front stretch.
On the
restart, Sasselli tried to chase down Pierovich for the lead while Ensign and
Hunt raced side-by-side for third. Hunt
took over the spot on lap 24.
The final
half of the race saw the order stay unchanged except for Gerhardt briefly
battling back-and-forth with Nichols.
Pierovich went on to win the “Harvest Classic” by one second over Sasselli,
Hunt, Ensign, and Gerhardt.
Kaeding
Performance awards worth $50 went to Nichols and Sasselli. In the USAC Western Classic Racing Series
standings, Hunt cut Ensign’s lead down to nine points while Hunt’s lead over
Sasselli in the USAC Western Sprint Car Series is just five markers. The series moves on to ShastaRacewayPark for the “Jimmy Sills Classic” on
Saturday night October 8.
More
information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook
at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”. The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com
www.stevenblakesley.com
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