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CHUCK WEST WINS SANTA MARIA NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAIN – By Tim Kennedy
Santa Maria, CA., May 3 – Chuck West, a five-time NMRA-TQ (three-quarter) Midget Series driving champion (2002, 06, 08, 11 and 12), won his first 2014 NMRA-TQ Midget 20-lap main Saturday in event three of a 12-race schedule. It was the first visit this season by NMRA teams to the third-mile, banked clay Santa Maria Speedway. The 56-year old former USAC Midget and TQ driver from Clovis and father of three teenage daughters, became the third different NMRA winner of 2014. The machine shop owner won three USAC Western States Midget Series main events (at Selland Arena in Fresno and two at Ventura Raceway) in the mid-1980s in his own full midget.
West started sixth in the West Evans Motorsports No. 38 Stealth/Bob Wirth-built 750cc Suzuki. His victory moved him to second position in driver points, only 12 digits in back of point leader Anthony Lopiccolo, from Brea. Lopiccolo, 27, started eighth and placed second in the Stealth/Kawasaki owned by his father Paul. Bruce Hiroshima, of Camarillo, started seventh and finished third, with pole starter West Evans, of Moorpark, fourth. Don Kiefer started and finished fifth in the nine-car field. All starters completed the full 20 lap distance. Kenny Wiley, Scott Niven, Chris Thomas and Britt Grissom completed the field.
NMRA-TQ racing began racing in 1957 and operated continuously 26 years through the 1982 season. Only USAC sanctioned TQ racing on the West Coast from 1983-2001 and then replaced TQs with the new Ford Focus Midget Series. West Evans, a USAC TQ midget owner/driver, restarted NMRA-TQ racing in 2002 and has headed the organization since then. The NMRA series is now in its 13th consecutive season during its second incarnation. NMRA has sanctioned 140 races since resuming operations in 2002. West, a first cousin of Evans who drives a second Evans TQ, has won an astounding 31 of those 140 TQ features (22%) en-route to his five driving championships. He has not been present for some events. Three rain-outs took place in Santa Maria (2002, 04 and 05).
West's first feature victory came in 2002 at Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia. His next triumph came in 2004 at Santa Maria. He won two in 2005 (at OSS and Ventura), two in 2006 (SMS and Hanford), five in 2007 (four at Bakersfield and one at SMS), four in 2008 (one each at Bakersfield and OSS plus two at SMS), two in 2009 (Perris and Ventura), two in 2010 (SMS and Bakersfield), four in 2011 (three in Bakersfield and one at SMS), five in 2012 at Bakersfield, two in 2013 at Bakersfield, and his first of 2013 at SMS. To date 16 of his 31 triumphs have come at Bakersfield Speedway and eight at Santa Maria Speedway.
NMRA has raced at ten race tracks since 2002. They include: Visalia, Pahrump, NV., Santa Maria, Victorville, Ventura, Perris, Bakersfield, (OSS)-San Bernardino, Tulare, and Hanford. All tracks are clay except for the paved OSS quarter-mile. Bakersfield Speedway is NMRA's current home track. NMRA ran eight races in 2002 at three tracks. From 2003-13 NMRA counts were: 11 races at five tracks, 12 at three tracks, 11 at five speedways, nine at five tracks, 13 at four ovals, 11 at four, 17 races in 2009 at five tracks, 14 at three speedways, 10 at two, nine at two and 12 at four tracks last year.
Hiroshima (from fourth) and Wiley (from outside row one) won the pair of SMS 8-lap heat races. Niven set the fastest qualifying time of 16.768 on his second of two qualifying laps. All drivers ran their quickest lap on their second lap. The track record of 14.820 was established on April 10, 2004 by current Keith Ford Racing sprint car/midget crew chief Jimmy May.
Round four of NMRA's 2004 season will take place Saturday, May 17 at Bakersfield Speedway, the site of the first two rounds this year. Round five in Santa Maria on Saturday, June 7 will be the ninth annual Ron Otto Memorial Race in honor of the long-time NMRA president who succumbed to a heart attack after retiring to the Santa Maria area. The June 7 event will have NMRA-TQs as part of another multi-division racing program.
SUMMARY: (May 3):
Fastest Qualifier – Scott Niven, 16.768.
Heat 1 – 8 laps – Bruce Hiroshima, West Evans, Don Kiefer, Britt Grissom, Scott Niven.
Heat 2 – 8 laps - Kenny Wiley, Anthony Lopiccolo, Chuck West, Chris Thomas.
Main – 20 laps – West, Lopiccolo, Hiroshima, Evans, Kiefer, Wiley, Niven, Thomas, Grissom.
POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers Owners
1 Anthony Lopiccolo 193 1 No. 21 Paul Lopiccolo 202
2 Chuck West 181 2 No. 38 West Evans 190
3 Bruce Hiroshima 180 3 No. 5 Bruce Hiroshima 189
4 Kenny Wiley 167 4 No. 96 Kenny Wiley 176
5 Chuck West 154 5 No. 36 West Evans 163
6 Don Kiefer 135 6 No 9 Don Kiefer 144
7 Britt Grissom 130 7 No. 43 Britt Grissom 139
8 Scott Niven 114 8 No. 66 Scott Niven 120
9 Chris Thomas 108 9 No. 55 Dave Lambert 83
10 Dave Lambert 77 10 No. 22 Paul Lopiccolo 79
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