By Dick Jordan
USAC Ford Focus racing occurs in three states this week, beginning with Wednesday’s Midwest Ford Focus and Young Guns events at the Indianapolis (Ind.) Speedrome. Saturday’s events unfold at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway (Focus and Young Guns) and Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway (Eastern Focus).
Point leaders entering this week’s races are Jake Blackhurst of Mapleton, Ill (Midwest Focus), Connor Kassik of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. (Western Focus), Scott Hunter of Concord, N.C. (Eastern Focus) and Jarid Blondel of Orange, Calif. (Western Young Guns).
Chuck Groat of Kearns, Utah passed Michael Daniels on the 10th lap of Saturday night’s 20-lap USAC Western/Utah Ford Focus feature at Rocky Mountain Raceways and led the final 11 laps to win the race. Daniels finished second ahead of defending series champ Kipp Posey, Ron Duncombe and Kassik. Groat was also Saturday’s fastest qualifier. Duncombe led the first six laps and Daniels led the next three before yielding to Groat.
Nick Carlson of Norwalk, Calif. and Blondel earned USAC Ford Focus victories Saturday night at the Ventura Raceway. Carlson passed Andrew Mulhearn on lap 12 and led the final nine laps of the 20-lap Western Ford Focus race, while Blondel led all 20 laps of the accompanying Western Young Guns main event. Carlson was followed by Mulhearn, Zach Stout, Wally Pankratz and Jet Davison. In the Young Guns, Blackhurst was second ahead of Casey Martinez, Tanner Kershaw and Daniel Williams.
USAC MIDWEST FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Jake Blackhurst-228, 2-Joe Liguori-195, 3-Tyler Cottongim-142, 4-Scott Hunter-136, 5-Ronnie Wuerdeman-124, 6-Toby Alfrey-119, 7-Nick Drake-112, 8-Eric Rankine-111, 9-John Heydenreich-111, 10-Chris Lamb-107.
USAC MIDWEST FORD FOCUS DIRT POINT STANDINGS
1-Joe Ligori-136, 2-Jake Blackhurst-120, 3-Toby Alfrey-119, 4-John Heydenreich-111, 5-Eric Rankine-111, 6-Tyler Cottongim-103, 7-Josh Staten-89, 8-Ronnie Wuerdeman-88, 9-Jessica Bean-80, 10-Bill Kriegbaum-75.
USAC UTAH FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Michael Daniels-269, 2-Connor Kassik-219, 3-J.R. Williams-196, 4-Bobby Runyan-188, 5-Eli Schrock-187, 6-Cody Gerhardt-165, 7-Kyle Edwards-156, 8-Austin Farley-144, 9-Chuck Groat-142, 10-Terra Brower-140.
USAC EASTERN FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Scott Hunter-322, 2-Nick Drake-283, 3-Bradley Riethmeyer-257, 4-Justin Hommel-234, 5-Steven Intravaia-230, 6-Chris Lamb-182, 7-Cody Acton-170, 8-Jeremy Frankoski-157, 9-Tyler Corriher-151, 10-Jake Blackhurst-108.
USAC CAROLINA FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Scott Hunter-254, 2-Nick Drake-217, 3-Justin Hommel-192, 4-Bradley Riethmeyer-184, 5-Steven Intravaia-172, 6-Jeremy Frankoski-157, 7-Chris Lamb-132, 8-Cody Acton-122, 9-Tyler Corriher-111, 10-Brad Noffsinger-97.
USAC WESTERN FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Connor Kassik-416, 2-Kyle Edwards-400, 3-Bobby Runyan-363, 4-Cody Gerhardt-348, 5-Michael Daniels-269, 6-J.R. Williams-230, 7-Garrett Peterson-211, 8-Nick Carlson-201, 9-Eli Schrock-187, 10-Andrew Mulhearn-182.
USAC WESTERN FORD FOCUS PAVEMENT POINT STANDINGS
1-Bobby Runyan-363, 2-Cody Gerhardt-348, 3-Connor Kassik-245, 4-Kyle Edwards-235, 5-Garrett Peterson-211, 6-Eli Schrock-187, 7-Keegan Walmer-175, 8-Cody Thompson-174, 9-Jessica Clark-155, 10-Austin Farley-144.
USAC WESTERN FORD FOCUS DIRT POINT STANDINGS
1-Nick Carlson-201, 2-Andrew Mulhearn-182, 3-Kyle Edwards-165, 4-Jet Davison-163, 5-Jake Blackhurst-151, 6-Kalvin Douglas-125, 7-Wally Pankratz-102, 8-Connor Kassik-79, 9-Zach Stout-60, 10-Andrew Murray-53.
USAC NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Garrett Peterson-211, 2-Cody Gerhardt-183, 3-Keegan Walmer-175, 4-Bobby Runyan-175, 5-Cody Thompson-174, 6-Dennis Simunovich-141, 7-Courtney Atkinson-133, 8-Connor Kassik-118, 9-Greg Paul-89, 10-Kyle Edwards-79.
USAC SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS POINT STANDINGS
1-Eli Schrock-121, 2-Bobby Runyan-119, 3-Cody Gerhardt-115, 4-Kyle Edwards-114, 5-Shawn Buckley-102, 6-Connor Kassik-94, 7-A.J. Ault-91, 8-Michael Daniels-85, 9-Austin Farley-77, 10-J.R. Williams-74.
USAC WESTERN YOUNG GUNS POINT STANDINGS
1-Jarid Blondel-285, 2-Brandon White-266, 3-Casey Martinez-188, 4-Alex Jacobsen-180, 5-Tanner Kershaw-156, 6-Keegan Walmer-149, 7-Courtney Atkinson-135, 8-Collin Henry-135, 9-Cody Thompson-133, 10-Austin Farley-130.
USAC WESTERN YOUNG GUNS DIRT POINT STANDINGS
1-Casey Martinez-88, 2-Alex Jacobsen-80, 3-Jarid Blondel-68, 4-Tanner Kershaw-56, 5-Collin Henry-35, 6-Daniel Williams-20, 7-Bradley Morris-93, 8-Al Simpson-87, 9-Logan Williams-81, 10-Winn Frazin-58.
USAC WESTERN YOUNG GUNS PAVEMENT POINT STANDINGS
1-Brandon White-266, 2-Keegan Walmer-149, 3-Courtney Atkinson-135, 4-Cody Thompson-133, 5-Austin Farley-130, 6-Jarid Blondel-117, 7-Winn Frazin-62, 8-Jessica Clark-56, 9-Tanner Long-9.
USAC NORTHERN CALIFORNIA YOUNG GUNS POINT STANDINGS
1-Keegan Walmer-149, 2-Courtney Atkinson-135, 3-Cody Thompson-133; 4-Brandon White-133.
USAC SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA YOUNG GUNS POINT STANDINGS
1-Brandon White-133, 2-Austin Farley-130, 3-Jarid Blondel-117, 4-Winn Frazin-62, 5-Jessica Clark-56, 6-Tanner Long-9.