8 POINTS SEPARATE KRUSEMAN & SCHUTTE AS WESTERN MIDGETS HEAD FOR SANTA MARIA SATURDAY

By Dick Jordan

The 2010 USAC Mopar Western Midget Series resumes Saturday night at the Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway and point leaders Cory Kruseman and Alex Schutte are separated by just eight points in the latest standings.

Saturday’s race is the first for the series on the third-mile Santa Maria oval since Nic Faas won there in 2008. In that race, Robby Josett, who currently ranks third in the 2010 standings, finished eighth. Josett is just 17 points behind Kruseman.

The 1-lap track record drivers will aim at Saturday was set back in 1995 by J.R. Lawson at 13,667 seconds.

USAC MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET SERIES POINT STANDINGS

1-Cory Kruseman-225, 2-Alex Schutte-217, 3-Robby Josett-208, 4-Brad Sweet-207, 5-Bobby East-169, 6-Brad Loyet-155, 7-Darren Hagen-155, 8-Tracy Hines-155, 9-Bryan Clauson-149, 10-Dave Darland-148.