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NMRA-TQ MIDGETS – NEWS UPDATE (FEB. 2016) – By Tim Kennedy
Moorpark, CA. - The National Midget Racing Assn. (NMRA) Three-Quarter Midget Racing Association held its annual championship awards banquet Saturday at The Grinder Restaurant in Moorpark. Thirty persons attended and honored 2015 NMRA driving champion Chuck West, from Clovis. It was his sixth NMRA-TQ driving championship (2002, 06, 08, 11, 12 and 15). Each title came while driving the No. 38 Stealth/Suzuki 750cc owned by his first cousin West Evans, a two-time NMRA driving champion. The 2015 car owner championship went for the seventh time to Evans. His title years were 2006, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15.
The 2015 NMRA-TQ season consisted of 15 races at three dirt speedways—Bakersfield Speedway, Santa Maria Speedway and Ventura Raceway. Four drivers won features. West, 57, scored eight victories,14 top fives and seven heat race wins while averaging 61.33 points per event. Nineteen drivers and 15 car owners earned 2015 NMRA points. West won his driving crown by five points (920-915) over his car owner, three-time 2015 winner Evans, who averaged 61.00 points per event.
The top ten drivers and car owners received trophies and sponsor awards. Retired TQ driver/car owner Ron Ahrendt served in his usual role as master of ceremonies. He named the traditional racing and special awards presented to competitors. They were:
> Rookie of the Year (presented by Racing Optics) – Ace Kale, 59, who bought three TQs and ran all 15 races. He scored 69 points more than his fellow TQ rookie son Kevin, 38, who raced 14 times. TQ newcomer Ted Dann ran the third Kale car eight times and placed ninth in points.
> John Estopellan Memorial Tenacity Award (presented by the Estopellan family) – Rookie driver/car owner Paul Sanders, 56, who raced five times, averaged 40.60 points, and placed 11th in final points with four top tens. He bought the ex-No. 9 Don Kiefer raced Dennis Hart/Honda.
> Randy Faust Memorial Hard Charger Award (presented by Schroeder Torsion Bars) – Bruce Hiroshima, for finishing third in points and winning three main events. His points per event total of 62.31 was the highest of any driver. He finished 110 points in back of the champion, despite missing two events.
> Ron Otto Memorial Sportsmanship Award (from Gay and Tony Otto) – Mike Evans, father of NMRA leader West Evans, for his upkeep on the NMRA electronic transponders and for pushing-off TQs in the pits.
> Most Improved Driver (from VP Fuels) – Dave Lambert for his seventh place finish in driver points after many years as a TQ owner when his son Steve drove his No. 55.
NMRA TQ Board of Directors members for 2016 are: Steve Parke, West Evans and Shawn Buckley, who will race at times in a third Evans Motor-sports car, the No. 37 Stealth/Suzuki. NMRA 2016 officials are: racing director Steve Parke, plus pit stewards Ron Ahrendt and Ken Bailey.
The 2016 NMRA season has 13 race dates scheduled for Saturday nights at two sites—Bakersfield Speedway (seven races) and Santa Maria Speedway (six races). Bakersfield races will be: March 12, April 9, May 14, June 18, July 23, August 20 and September 10. Santa Maria races will be: April 30, June 11 (Ron Otto Memorial), July 9, August 6, September 24 and October 15. The pre-season, non-point exhibition event at Angel Stadium in Anaheim with the annual Monster Truck event was not held in 2016.
NOTES: The 2016 NMRA car count is now 16 TQs. ... Veteran TQ driver Scott Dobson bought the No. 21 Stealth/Kawasaki from Paul Lopiccolo. NMRA 2014 champion Anthony Lopiccolo, 28, raced the car twice for his father in 2015 and won one feature, the March 21 season opener in Ventura. Anthony is now concentrating on sprint car racing with USAC-CRA. ... The Ace Kale team now has five TQs, including the ex-No. 43 Grissom TQ and the No. 96 car he purchased from recently retired owner/driver Kenny Wiley.
ROOKIES: Four rookies will vie for the 2016 NMRA rookie of the year title. Don Mosley, son of TQ owner/2014 NMRA rookie of the year driver Doyle Mosley and nephew of Mike Mosley, the late Indianapolis 500 driver, will drive for his dad. New NMRA board member Shawn Buckley, a USAC Western champion in the Honda HPD (ex-Ford Focus Series), will drive a third West Evans Motor-sports car at times. Hans Huber, 56, from Clovis and a friend of Chuck West, will drive the No. 70 car for Ace Kale. Hans made his debut in the final 2015 race at Santa Maria and scored 33 points. Newcomer Kellie Kale will join her father (No. 77) and older brother (No. 07) and will drive the No. 7 TQ raced by Ted Dann last season.
Oct. 15, 2015 Santa Maria Speedway results (not reported earlier because of NMRA website problem): Ten cars were present. Kenny Wiley, in his final race before retiring, set fastest qualifying time of 16.172 in his own No. 96 Wiley/Honda. Chris Thomas won the first of two 8-lap heat races over West, Wiley, Buckley and Lambert. Hiroshima won the second heat over Evans, Sanders, A. Kale, and Huber. The 20-lap feature went to row two starter Hiroshima over runner-up/2013 rookie driver C. Thomas, who enjoyed his career best finish. P. 3-10 finishers were: West, Wiley, Evans, Sanders, Buckley, Kale, Lambert and Huber.
OBITUARY: Britt Grissom, of Taft, lost his battle with hepatic angiosarcoma (liver) cancer on February 19, 2016, just four days following his 30th birthday. His illness was diagnosed in November 2015. His health declined rapidly. Graveside services were held at 10:00 am Thursday, February 25 at Westside District Cemetery in Taft. A celebration of his life followed at the Petroleum Club in Taft. Survivors include his wife Leonora and young daughter Raccen, whom he called “little hot-rod”. Other survivors include his parents Donald and Michelle Grissom, sisters Kayla and Faynalee, nieces/nephews, grandparents and an extended family.
Britt, a Bakersfield native, loved hunting and racing. He was a two-year (2013-14) NMRA-TQ midget driver/car owner of the light blue No. 43 Rick Stewart chassis with Honda power. It was the 2007 NMRA championship Stewart/Honda that Kenny Wiley drove as No. 21 for Paul Lopiccolo. Grissom won the 2013 NMRA rookie of the year title when he finished sixth in final driver points with four top five main event finishes in his ten races. In 2014 the late driver finished seventh in both driver and owner points after racing in eight of ten events with two top five finishes. He sold the car on November 1, 2014 to Ace Kale, who put No.77 on it and drove to the 2015 NMRA rookie of the year title. Britt planned to race “bigger and faster cars” (modifieds) at the paved track in Bakersfield.
FINAL 2015 POINT STANDINGS:
Drivers Car Owners
1 Chuck West 920 1 No. 36 West Evans 960
2 West Evans 915 2 No. 5 Bruce Hiroshima 849
3 Bruce Hiroshima 810 3 No. 38 West Evans 774
4 Ace Kale ® 701 4 No. 77 Ace Kale ® 746
5 Scott Dobson 684 5 No. 18 Scott Dobson 720
6 Kevin Kale ® 632 6 No. 07 Ace Kale ® 674
7 Dave Lambert 503 7 No. 55 Dave Lambert 536
8 Chris Thomas 389 8 No. 40 Ed Thomas 413
9 Ted Dann ® 311 9 No. 87 Doyle Mosley 285
10 Doyle Mosley 264 10 No. 59 Steve Parke 233
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