By Dick Jordan
Madera (Calif.) Speedway’s “Harvest Classic” concludes this Saturday night as the USAC Western Classic Sprint Cars take to the paved oval with only 15 points separating the series point leaders.
Geoff Ensign leads the standings entering Saturday’s race, while Tony Hunt ranks second. They finished 13th and 14th in last Saturday night’s “Tiner Family Classic” at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif. led the final eight laps of Thursday night’s 28-lap AMSOIL USAC/CRA/Western Classic Sprint race at Chico, part of the track’s 58th “Gold Cup Race of Champions” program. Larson, piloting a BK Motorsports entry, passed Kyle Hirst on lap 21 and led the rest of the way to beat fast qualifier Jac Haudenschild, Matt Mitchell, Hirst and USAC/CRA point leader Mike Spencer.
Mitchell now trails Spencer by 37 points in the new USAC/CRA standings. Shane Golobic, Geoff Ensign, Hirst and Larson all led during the 28-lap contest.
Two of Hunt’s 2011 victories have come at Madera in the only two USAC Western Sprint appearances there this season. Ensign’s two Madera outings have produced a third and an 11th-place finish.
AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINT STANDINGS
1-Mike Spencer-810; 2-Matt Mitchell-773; 3-Nic Faas-754; 4-Austin Williams-570; 5-Greg Bragg-508; 6-Cody Williams-463; 7-Danny Sheridan-412; 8-Rip Williams-387; 9-David Cardey-380; 10-Ronnie Gardner-370.
USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1-Geoff Ensign-745; 2-Tony Hunt-730; 3-Scott Pierovich-629; 4-Shauna Hogg-579; 5-Tim Barber-522; 6-Jerry Kobza-211.