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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Honda USAC Western Midget Series
-Turkey Night Grand Prix Podium. (L-R) Caleb Armstrong (3rd), Dave Darland (1st), Brad Sweet (2nd). Photo by Scott Sheldon / SprintCarScotty.com.
DAVE DARLAND WINS 73RD TURKEY NIGHT GRAND PRIX AT PERRIS
By Lance Jennings
PERRIS, CA – DECEMBER 1, 2013... After winning his third Oval Nationals, Lincoln, Indiana’s Dave Darland returned to Perris Auto Speedway and claimed the 73rd Turkey Night Grand Prix victory. The veteran driver benefited from Damion Gardner’s misfortune on lap 94 and sailed to his second “Thanksgiving Classic” triumph. Following Darland to the checkered flags were Brad Sweet, Caleb Armstrong, Zach Daum, and newly crowned Honda USAC Western Midget Champion Ronnie Gardner.
Racing Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products Spike, “The People’s Champion” Dave Darland started sixth in the 98-lap feature. Taking the lead from Andrew Felker on lap 50, Darland led until lap 84 when “The Demon” Damion Gardner took command. The 2013 USAC/CRA Sprint Car Champion looked to have the race under control until a part failure lost his left rear wheel. From there, “The People’s Champion” made history by joining Mel Kenyon and Stan Fox as TNGP winning drivers on both pavement and dirt. In addition, Dave scored his tenth career USAC Western Midget win, tying Johnny Cofer, Jerry Coons Jr., “The Kruser” Cory Kruseman, and “The Flying Shoe” Ron Shuman.
Brad Sweet of Grass Valley, California ran second in the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Piloting Willie Kahne’s #67Z Factory Kahne / Esslinger Engineering Breka, Sweet battled hard to stay up front all race. Qualifying third out of the 48 cars in attendance, Brad was one of three drivers under Darren Hagen’s 1-year-old track record. The Kings Royal winner joined the list of 14 drivers that earned direct transfers to the main event.
After scoring twelfth in last year’s TNGP, New Castle, Indiana’s Caleb Armstrong scored third at the checkered flags. Driving the C&A Motorsports’ #7C Syngenta Seed / Ever-Fi Spike, Armstrong timed in fifth quick in time trials and left Perris tenth in the final USAC National point chase.
Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Illinois took fourth at Perris Auto Speedway after starting fifteenth. Racing the family owned #5D Daum Corp. Insurance / Weld Wheels Eagle, Daum qualified seventeenth and won the night’s first 12-lap qualifying race. Zach finished his 2013 campaign seventh in the Honda USAC National standings.
Norco, California’s Ronnie Gardner raced from thirteenth to claim fifth in the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Driving the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Ronnie timed in thirteenth fast in qualifications before being recognized as the newly crowned champion. Winning both the Western and Dirt Midget titles, Gardner recently added another accolade by being named Western Midget Driver of the Year.
After taking a provisional, Brad Kuhn of Avon, Indiana earned the night’s “Hard Charger / Best Passing Job” with a thirteenth place run from thirty-first. Piloting Mason Cook’s #10 Willits Towing & Recovery / Speedy Signs Beast, Kuhn qualified thirty-third and scored thirteenth after flipping in his qualifier during a multi-car tangle.
Carl Junction, Missouri’s Andrew Felker became the first midget driver to qualify in the 16-second bracket at Perris, but it was Kokomo, Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller that set the new track record. Racing Kami Ronk’s #9P Magneti Marrelli / PPM Titanium Products Spike, Price-Miller earned the Jason Leffler Memorial Fast Time Award and took home a special polished 1930s racecar trophy for his efforts. Making his first start on the Perris clay oval, the 15-year-old driver scored eighteenth in the main event.
Rico Abreu of Rutherford, California drove to victory in the program’s second qualifying race after turning laps under Price-Miller’s track record. Racing the Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #67K Toyota TRD Bullet, Abreu claimed eighth in the Turkey Night Grand Prix after starting sixteenth.
The Honda USAC Western Midget Series would like to thank Amsoil, Hoosier Tire, Rugged Radios, and Western Performance Parts for their support. For more information on the series, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/usacwsmidgets).
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USAC HONDA NATIONAL/WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS:
November 28, 2013 - Perris, California - Perris Auto Speedway - "73rd Turkey Night Grand Prix"
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Parker Price-Miller, 9P, Ronk-16.889; 2. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-16.958; 3. Brad Sweet, 67Z, Kahne-17.014; 4. Taylor Ferns, 55, Ferns-17.037; 5. Caleb Armstrong, 7C, C&A-17.051; 6. Dave Darland, 73, Ford-17.119; 7. Chris Windom, 3, RFMS-17.140; 8. Darren Hagen, 56A, Hmiel-17.155; 9. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-17.169; 10. Nick Drake, 55X, Cline-17.228; 11. Christopher Bell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.230; 12. Dalton Armstrong, 7A, C&A-17.245; 13. Ronnie Gardner, 68, Johnson-17.265; 14. Damion Gardner, 4, Klatt-17.304; 15. Bryan Clauson, 39, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-17.306; 16. Nic Faas, 25, Rodela-17.324; 17. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-17.357; 18. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.361; 19. Jarid Blondel, 98, Blondel-17.378; 20. Rico Abreu, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-17.402; 21. Mike Spencer, 51S, Fly-17.424; 22. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-17.441; 23. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-17.445; 24. Jake Swanson, 05, VanDyne/Swanson-17.447; 25. Danny Stratton, 56P, Hmiel-17.454; 26. Ricky Shelton, 15, Neverlift-17.470; 27. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-17.473; 28. R.J. Johnson, 51, Martin-17.476; 29. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 72, Ford-17.487; 30. Taylor Simas, 62, Bock-17.539; 31. Shane Golobic, 26, Bock-17.588; 32. Kevin Swindell, 71X, Ronk-17.627; 33. Brad Kuhn, 10, Cook-17.643; 34. Thomas Meseraull, 0, Lamott-17.659; 35. Kyle Edwards, 39K, Edwards-17.659; 36. Nick Chivello, 27, Chivello-17.670; 37. Trey Marcham, 37, McQueen-17.679; 38. Jac Haudenschild, 73X, Ford-17.749; 39. Cody Swanson, 71S, Swanson-17.755; 40. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-17.897; 41. Rick Hendrix, 12, Hendrix-18.116; 42. Joey Fabozzi, 84, Fabozzi-18.158; 43. Terry Nichols, 45, Neverlift-18.202; 44. Kyle Smith, 55K, Smith-18.320; 45. Terry Goodwin, 2G, Goodwin-18.440; 46. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-18.503; 47. Tony Everhart, 55T, Everhart-18.866; 48. Danny Ebberts, 2, Boyd-NT (time of 18.326 disallowed).
QUALIFYING RACE #1: (12 laps)
1. Daum, 2. Pierovich, 3. T. Thomas, 4. Stratton, 5. Spencer, 6. Clauson, 7. C. Swanson, 8. K. Thomas, 9. Marcham, 10. Golobic, 11. Edwards, 12. Goodwin, 13. Kuhn, 14. Blondel, 15. Hendrix, 16. Nichols, 17. Everhart.
QUALIFYING RACE #2: (12 laps)
1. Abreu, 2. McQueen, 3. Thorson, 4. Faas, 5. J. Swanson, 6. Swindell, 7. Haudenschild, 8. Meseraull, 9. Simas, 10. Johnson, 11. Chivello, 12. Ennis, 13. Fabozzi, 14. Ebberts, 15. Smith, 16. Pankratz, 17. Shelton.
FEATURE: (98 laps)
1. Dave Darland (6th), 2. Brad Sweet (3rd), 3. Caleb Armstrong (5th), 4. Zach Daum (15th), 5. Ronnie Gardner (13th), 6. Nic Faas (22nd), 7. Jake Swanson (24th), 8. Rico Abreu (16th), 9. Mike Spencer (23rd), 10. Tanner Thorson (20th), 11. Tracy Hines (9th), 12. Damion Gardner (14th), 13. Brad Kuhn (31st), 14. Tyler Thomas (19th), 15. Kevin Thomas Jr. (29th), 16. Nick Drake (10th), 17. Danny Stratton (21st), 18. Parker Price-Miller (1st), 19. Dalton Armstrong (12th), 20. Trey Marcham (32nd), 21. Christopher Bell (11th), 22. Andrew Felker (2nd), 23. Taylor Ferns (4th), 24. Darren Hagen (8th), 25. Shannon McQueen (18th), 26. Cody Swanson (27th), 27. Kevin Swindell (26th), 28. Jac Haudenschild (28th), 29. Chris Windom (7th), 30. Scott Pierovich (17th), 31. Bryan Clauson (25th), 32. Thomas Meseraull (30th), 33. Randi Pankratz (33rd).
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**Brad Kuhn flipped during the first qualifier.
**Ricky Shelton flipped during the second qualifier.
**Cody Swanson flipped on lap 78 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-49 Andrew Felker, Laps 50-84 Dave Darland, Laps 85-94 Damion Gardner. Laps 95-98 Dave Darland.
FINAL HONDA WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-R.Gardner-1,233, 2-J.Swanson-907, 3-David Prickett-733, 4-McQueen-608, 5-Pankratz-511, 6-C.Swanson-471, 7-Abreu-436, 8-Pierovich-413, 9-Marcham-413, 10-Clauson-395.
FINAL HONDA WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS:
1-R.Gardner-1,233, 2-J.Swanson-907, 3-David Prickett-733, 4-Pierovich-706, 5-McQueen-608, 6-Pankratz-511, 7-C.Swanson-471, 8-Chivello-451, 9-Abreu-436, 10-Marcham-413.
FINAL HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS:
1-Bell-1,101; 2-Clauson-984; 3-Hagen-921; 4-Hines-920; 5-Abreu-873; 6-Jerry Coons, Jr.-770; 7-Daum-758; 8-Felker-709; 9-Kuhn-667; 10-C.Armstrong-650.
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