By Mark Hann
Ellington, CT: Mike Chaffee, driving his 18C, had a night most racers could only dream about when he scored two wins during racing at Bear Ridge Speedway with the USAC Dirt Midget Association
The first heat race of the night had the 1R of Jeff Horn on pole with the 46 driven by Kenny Johnson starting outside of row one. When the green flag waived it was Horn in the 1R taking the point for the first two laps with the 4 of Kevin Chaffee applying pressure. On lap four Chaffee in his 4 was able to pass Horn in the 1R on the backstretch which put Chaffee in the lead. With Chaffee now in a commanding lead, the battle was on for positions two – four. Jeff Horn in the 1R, Adam Whitney in the 12, Dean Christensen driving the 69 and the 47 of Scott Holcomb put on a show that had the fans standing and cheering for the last five laps. Under the checkered flag it was the 4 of Kevin Chaffee from East Orange, VT scoring the win followed by the 69 of Dean Christensen for second and rounding out the top three was Jeff Horn in the 1R.
On to heat race two with the 18C of Mike Chaffee taking the pole followed by the 15 of Jeff Champagne starting second. In this race and starting for the first time with the series was drivers Rich Wood Jr in the 10 along with Robert Tucker driving the 17. Tucker is no stranger to Bear Ridge Speedway as he also pilots a dirt modified on a weekly basis. Under the green flag the field went five wide with the 18C of Chaffee holding the lead but the caution would fly on lap two for the spinning 64 of Andy Barrows. Back to green with Chaffee in his 18C still leading followed by Champagne in the 15 who was right on the rear bumper of Chaffee for several laps. Positions from third back ran in a tight pack with many position changes taking place each lap. With two laps to go, the 15 of Champagne was finally able to get around Chaffee in the 18C. This was the last pass for the lead of the race as Jeff Champagne from Westfield, MA held on to the lead and scored the win with the 18C of Chaffee coming home second. Following Chaffee for third was the 1W of Ray Miller. This would be the only race of the night that Mike Chaffee in his 18C did not win.
The Midget Dash race started with the 18C of Mike Chaffee on pole and the 1R of Jeff Horn starting second. The dash race was quick and only slowed once for a caution on lap two. Chaffee in his 18C would not be denied the win holding the lead for all four laps, flag to flag. In the end Mike Chaffee from Cornith, VT scored the win followed in second by Ray Miller in the 1W then the 69 of Dean Christensen taking third.
The twenty five lap feature race had the 18C of Mike Chaffee on pole with the 11 of Alex Rose in second. The 15 of Jeff Champagne and the 5 of Derek Graham had mechanical issues and could not start the feature race. This was also the first race back for the 33 of Tim Gallant after being injured in a racing accident during the series last visit to Bear Ridge Speedway. The race got underway with the 18C of Chaffee taking the lead with the 33 of Gallant now holding second as the top four leaders went four wide for the first few laps. Caution came out on lap four due to the spinning 96 of Rob Williams who quickly got heading back in the right direction. Once again back to green with the 18C of Chaffee still on point and the 33 of Gallant putting pressure on Chaffee. Noticeable during the race was Adam Pierson in the 76M who was running the outside cushion and looking to gain positions. Action in the mid pack was tight with drivers going three wide for several laps and no one wanted to give up a position. On lap fifteen the 4 of Kevin Chaffee would spin trying to get around Ray Miller in the 1W but no caution flag was needed as Chaffee kept the car heading in the right direction but lost many positions. On lap sixteen the 1W of Miller was able to take over second from the 33 of Gallant. Millers pass for second also gave the 69 of Dean Christensen the opening he needed to take third as Gallant in the 33 started to drop off the pace. The 18C with Chaffee was now be hunted down by Miller in the 1W as Miller was right on the bumper of Chaffee and applying pressure for the lead. On the last lap Miller in the 1W looked low but could not get around the 18C of Chaffee giving the win to Cornith, VT Mike Chaffee followed by Ray Miller in the 1W and rounding out the top three was Miller’s teammate Dean Christensen in the 69. This was Mike Chaffee’s second win of the night.
The series will be back in action on August 22nd at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vermont for the Dick Berggren’s Speedway Illustrated Night. The series has finalized the race schedule for the Andy Fusco-John McCarthy Memorial race at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on August 28th. More to follow on this event.
To learn more about the USAC Dirt Midget Association, please visit the series website at www.usacdma.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DirtMidgetAssociation. For additional information regarding this press release please contact Mark J. Hann, USAC DMA Public Relations & Marketing, at (860) 256-5574 or usacdma@usacdma.com
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Heats Race Results from 8/8/15
Heat Race 1:
1st- Kevin Chaffee
2nd- Dean Christensen
3rd- Jeff Horn
4th- Adam Whitney
5th-Scott Holcomb
6th- Adam Pierson
7th- Kenny Johnson
8th – Josh Sunn
9th – Derek Graham
Heat Race 2:
1st- Jeff Champagne
2nd- Mike Chaffee
3rd- Ray Miller
4th- Robert Tucker
5th- Tim Gallant
6th- Rich Wood Jr
7th- Alex Rose
8th –Barry Kittredge
9th – Andy Barrows
Dash Race:
1st – Mike Chaffee
2nd – Ray Miller
3rd – Dean Christensen
4th – Kevin Chaffee
5th – Jeff Horn
6th – Adam Whitney
7th – Robert Tucker
8th – Jeff Champagne
Feature Race Results from 8/8/15:
1st- Mike Chaffee
(18C)
(18C)2nd- Ray Miller (1W)
3rd- Dean Christensen (69)
4th- Robert Tucker (17)
5th- Josh Sunn (67)
6th- Adam Pierson (76M)
7th- Jeff Horn (1R)
8th- Scott Holcomb (47)
9th- Adam Whitney (12)
10th- Kenny Johnson (46)
11th- Andy Barrows (64)
12th- Alex Rose (11)
13th- Barry Kittredge (21)
14th- Kevin Chaffee (4)
15th- Rob Williams (96)
16th- Tim Gallant (33)
17th – Rich Wood Jr (10)
DNS – Jeff Champagne (15)
DNS – Derek Graham (5)