By Robert Haugh
After fighting off a few early race cautions, Visalia’s Greg Bragg cruised to the 30-lap Bay Cities Racing Association Midget feature in dominating fashion, wheeling Dave LaMott’s #0 HotHead Engine Heaters Stealth/Bob Wirth Honda at the 1/4-mile Marysville Raceway Park on Saturday, April 17.
After moving from his seventh-starting spot to second on Lap 1, Bragg moved pass Tom Doherty on Lap 2 and never looked back, leading the final 29 laps en route to a decisive two-second victory over the stellar Midget field.
Following Bragg to the checkers two seconds back was 11th starting Scott Nail of Visalia aboard his #16 Stealth/Riolo Chevy, with Ryan Kaplan aboard his #20 Spike/Mopar, 2008 BCRA Midget champion and current BCRA Midget points leader “Young Lion” Nick Foster, Jr. of San Jose in Jim Fowler’s Zero-Zero Motorsports’ #1 “Blue Bayoo” Windows Unlimited Beast/Esslinger and Pleasanton’s Pete Davis aboard his #00 HotHead Engine Heaters Stealth/Esslinger rounding out the top five, all fighting an intense battle for the Top five positions, dicing it up as though they were under a blanket. Kaplan and Foster passed Davis on Lap 29 for third and fourth.
Reigning BCRA champion “Mr. Excitement” David Prickett of Fresno claimed sixth, after starting in fourteenth aboard the #15 Neverlift Motorsports TCR/Van Dyne. Prickett battled a myriad of issues all evening, including losing a fuel pump, bending a front axel and getting mud in his oil tank when being pushed into the pond on the infield in his Heat race.
1999 BCRA Midget champion Matt Streeter of Lodi claimed seventh in his #14jr T&T Trucking-Delta Demolition Spike/Fontana Rhino after nipping Former Silver Dollar Speedway 410 Sprint Car track champion and multiple time Sprint Car and Midget feature winner Rick Haugh, Jr. on the final lap. Haugh claimed eighth aboard father Rich’s #5h Maxim/Gaerte after losing power steering very early in the race.
Angwin’s Britton Bock claimed ninth, one lap down aboard his #67 TCR/Esslinger.
Lonny Alton flipped Lana Alton’s #5a Stealth/SCREAM SuperFocus on Lap 10.
National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Jimmy Sills flipped Dave Thurston’s #17 Spike/Esslinger on Lap 5.
This was the first BCRA Midget feature win for car owner Dave LaMott and Bragg’s second BCRA Midget triumph – his other came in 2005 at Watsonville Speedway in a similar Honda power plant.
Chico’s Dillon Silverman pulled the RAM Motorsports #12 Spike/RRE Chevy EcoTec in while running in the top five, five laps into the feature when Silverman’s rear brake locked up and caught fire while his teammate BCRA President and longtime Lite racer Rick Holbrook of Vacaville exited the feature early aboard Rick Young’s #14 Stealth/RRE Chevy EcoTec. Holbrook was racing sans power steering, as his p/s pump was swapped out into Silverman’s #14 earlier in the evening.
7-time BCRA Midget champion “Ageless Wonder” Floyd Alvis of San Carlos battled mechanical gremlins all evening aboard his #18a Champion Automotive Stealth/Wesmar Gaerte, failing to complete a lap.
Sills claimed Heat 1 over Davis, Foster, Haugh, Bock, Bill Lindsey of San Carlos in Stu Donaldson’s #8x Farajian Farms-Rite Way Wheels Stealth/Pontiac, Alton, Holbrook ad Streeter.
Kaplan claimed Heat 2 over Silverman, Bragg, Mike Donaldson aboard Stu Donaldson’s newly-acquired #5b Ellis/Pontiac (ex-Cliff Servetti mount), Tom Doherty in the Chris Walker-Bay Muffler #10 Stealth/Esslinger, Carson City, Nevada’s J.R. Williams aboard his #74 Stealth/RRE Chevy EcoTec, Nail and Prickett. Prior to the conclusion of Heat 2, Nail, who was leading, had an electrical issue that sent Bragg and Prickett into a collision, with Prickett getting sent into the infield pond.
Foster maintains the 2010 BCRA Midget points lead over Nail, Silverman, Lindsey, Davis, Alton and Alvis.
The BCRA Midgets continue their 67th season of racing next in two weeks, when they make their second appearance at the 1/3-mile Chowchilla Speedway on Saturday, May 1.
The race was the fourth of 21 total races and first of two BCRA Midget appearances at Marysville in 2010 (May 29). The race was the third of 13 Dirt races on the 2010 BCRA Midget schedule.
Visit www.bcraracing.com for information on the BCRA Midgets and www.marysvilleracewaypark.com for additional information on Marysville Raceway Park. Please visit www.racingwest.com for racing results from throughout the West Coast.
Summary:
Feature (start): 1. Bragg (7), 2. Nail (11), 3. Kaplan (12), 4. Foster (6), 5. Davis (9), 6. Prickett (14), 7. Streeter (13), 8. Haugh (5), 9. Bock (2), 10. Holbrook (16), 11. Doherty (3), 12. Alton (5), 13. Silverman (8), 14. Sills (10), 15. Williams (17), 16. Lindsey (1), 17. Donaldson (4), 18. Alvis-DNS
Lap Leaders: 1 Doherty, 2-30 Bragg
Heat 2: 1. Kaplan, 2. Silverman, 3. Bragg, 4, Donaldson, 5. Doherty, 6. Williams, 7. Nail, 8. Prickett, 9. Alvis-DNS
Heat 1: 1. Sills, 2. Davis, 3. Foster, 4. Haugh, 5. Bock, 6. Lindsey, 7. Alton, 8. Holbrook, 9. Streeter