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TWO DRIVERS WIN PAIR OF NMRA-TQ MIDGET MAINS – By Tim Kennedy
Bakersfield, CA.-- NMRA-TQ Midget main events eight and nine of 2014 took place at the third-mile, banked clay Bakersfield Speedway on August 23 and September 13. Both events had seven car fields and ran an eight-lap, seven car heat race and a 15-lap feature in support of the track's other divisions. Two first-time 2014 main event winners gave the series six feature winners in nine events this season at speedways in Bakersfield and Santa Maria.
The point lead changed hands September 13 between two drivers seeking their first TQ driving championship. Four-time 2014 main event winner Bruce Hiroshima finished sixth and fourth in the two most recent events. Anthony Lopiccolo finished second and first in the August and September races and now has a slim one-point lead (536-535) over Hiroshima. Two races remain in the 11 event schedule. Lopiccolo has a 59.56 points per event average, while Hiroshima has averaged 59.44 points. Santa Maria Speedway will host the final two TQ rounds on September 27 and October 18 as part of multi-division programs.
West Evans, from Moorpark, won both the heat race and main event on August 23 in his No. 36 Spike/Bob Wirth Suzuki. He started second and led all 15 laps. Lopiccolo, from Brea, started third and finished second. Chuck West, Kenny Wiley, Don Kiefer, Hiroshima and Britt Grissom followed and all completed 15 laps.
The most recent NMRA event on September 13 was a clean sweep for Lopiccolo, who duplicated Evans' sweep three weeks earlier. He started fifth in the No. 21 Stealth/Kawasaki owned by his father Paul and won the eight lap heat. Then he started fourth and led all 15 laps of the feature. Evans started and finished second. His teammate West started and finished third in the No. 38 Evans Motorsports team car.
Hiroshima came from fifth to place fourth. Wiley started sixth and finished fifth. Pole starter Kiefer slipped to sixth but also ran all 15 laps. Doyle Mosley, brother of the late Indianapolis 500 driver Mike Mosley, started seventh and became the only dropout on lap 7. He drove the former No. 87 Ron Ahrendt TQ that he purchased last year.
POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers Car Owners
1 Anthony Lopiccolo 536 1 No. 21 Paul Lopiccolo 563
2 Bruce Hiroshima 535 2 No. 5 Bruce Hiroshima 559
3 West Evans 520 3 No. 36 West Evans 547
4 Kenny Wiley 495 4 No. 38 West Evans 545
5 Chuck West 465 5 No. 96 Kenny Wiley 522
6 Don Kiefer 382 6 No. 9 Don Kiefer 406
7 Britt Grissom 315 7 No. 43 Britt Grissom 336
8 Chris Thomas 210 8 No. 55 Dave Lambert 216
9 Dave Lambert 201 9 No. 87 Doyle Mosley 213
10 Doyle Mosley 198 10 No. 40 Ed Thomas 180
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