By Bryan Gapinski
Beaver Dam, Wis., May 22—Veteran driver Rich Camfield scored a surprise victory, winning Mid-State Equipment Badger Midget Racing Series 20-lap feature Saturday Night at Beaver Dam Raceway.
Action was halted on the second lap when Johnny Murdock flipped, escaping injury. On the restart Brandon Waelti passed Bob Schreffler for the lead, pacing the field for three circuits around the 1/3-mile clay oval. Davey Ray then assumed the lead, while Camfield moved around two cars in the next lap to replace Ray as the races fourth different leader on Lap 6. Camfield quickly increased his lead to over two seconds at the midway point. Camfield’s advantage was erased while working through lapped traffic during the next few laps.
Waelti pulled to within two-car lengths with five laps remaining. Camfield during the final five laps again increased his advantage. Camfield driving the Rich King owned Stealth/Carey-Chevrolet No. 5 finished 1.56 seconds ahead of Waelti, followed by Austin Brown, fast qualifier Davey Ray and Mike Hess. “It’s great to finally get a feature win in Badger, I got the call to drive this car on Thursday” commented the 2001 MARA Midget Series Champion. Hess leads Travis Berryhill by one point heading into the May 29 event at Beaver Dam Raceway.
SUMMARY
20-lap Feature: 1. Rich Camfield; 2. Brandon Waelti; 3. Austin Brown; 4. Davey Ray; 5. Mike Hess; 6. Travis Berryhill; 7. Bob Schreffler; 8. Nick Knepper; 9. Courtney Erfurth; 10. Scott Hatton; 11. Robbie Ray; 12. Kenny Brown; 13. Eric Johnson; 14. Jason Dull; 15. Jason Therkelsen; 16. Johnny Murdock.
8-lap Heat Race Winners: Waelti, D. Ray.
Fast Time: D. Ray, 15.822 seconds.
Car Present: 16 Feature Lap Leaders: Scheffler 1, Waelti 2-4, Ray 5, Camfield 6-20.
*Murdock flipped lap 1 of feature, uninjured.
Current Badger Midget Series points: 1. Mike Hess 217; 2. Travis Berryhill 216; 3. Brandon Waelti 200; 4. Scott Hatton 193; 5. Davey Ray 192; 6. Bob Schreffler 173; 7. Zach Daum 147; 8. Brad Loyet 142; 9. Robby Ray 140; 10. Courtney Erfurth 138.