By Dick Jordan
The USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars are preparing for an October 2 appearance at the Tulare (Calif.) Thunderbowl Raceway after crowning yet another first-time USAC feature winner Saturday night at Santa Maria (Calif.) Speedway.
Wes Gutierrez of San Martin, Calif. is the latest first-time USAC feature winner, leading the final 26 laps of Saturday night’s 30-lapper at Santa Maria in his WG Motorsports/California Graphics DRC/Borello. Richard VanderWeerd was second ahead of T.J. Smith, Justyne Hamblin and series point leader Craig Stidham. Chris Ennis led the first four laps.
Stidham’s point lead stands at 26 over Davey Pombo heading into the upcoming Tulare race.
USAC WEST COAST 360 SPRINT SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Craig Stidham-1,096, 2-Davey Pombo-1,070, 3-T.J. Smith-1,019, 4-Justyne Hamblin-908, 5-Danny Faria Jr.-801, 6-Peter Murphy-784, 7-Richard VanderWeerd-758, 8-Rusty Carlile-724, 9-Jace VanderWeerd-675, 10-Wes Gutierrez-575.