Kuhn Takes Ventura’s “Battle at the Beach”

By Dick Jordan

Ventura, CA……..Brad Kuhn of Avon, Ind. won Saturday night’s 30-lap “Battle at the Beach” USAC Mopar Western Midget race at Ventura Raceway. He passed Austin Smith on lap 12 and never looked back, piloting the Rotondo Weirich/Champion Brands Beast/Fontana to the victory over Bryan Clauson, Brent Camarillo, Smith and Cory Kruseman. Kruseman extended his lead over David Prickett to 43 points going into next Thursday’s Western Midget finale at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Calif. Prickett finished eighth at Ventura.

MOPAR USAC WESTERN MIDGET RACE RESULTS: November 19, 2011 – Ventura, California – Ventura Raceway – “Battle at the Beach”

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnathon Henry (#88 Graunstadt), 2. Chris Ennis (#97 Martens), 3. Josh Lakatos (#4x Lakatos), 4. Jake Swanson (#05 Swanson), 5. Sean Dodenhoff (#9D Dodenhoff), 6. Bryan Deegan (#21x Kruseman), 7. Garrett Gilkey (#72 Wadsworth), 8. Bruce Hiroshima (#5 Hiroshima). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Shannon McQueen (#7 McQueen), 2. Danny Ebberts (#5x VanDyne), 3. Robby Josett (#2 Josett), 4. Brian Camarillo (#22 CamLand), 5. Kyle Smith (#55 Smith), 6. Evan Margeson (#50 Margeson), 7. Richard VanderWeerd (#8x VanderWeerd), 8. Greg Edenholm (#73x Ford). NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cody Swanson (#71 Swanson), 2. Austin Smith (#33 Smith), 3. David Prickett (#15 Neverlift), 4. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 5. Connor Kassik (#15N Neverlift), 6. Kody Swanson (#25 Rodela), 7. Patrick Clark (#17k Kruseman), 8. Steve Stasa (#22s Stasa). NT

FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn (#17B RW), 2. Bryan Clauson (#81 CamLand), 3. Brent Camarillo (#51 CamLand), 4. Cory Kruseman (#21k Kruseman), 5. Bruce Douglas (#31 Douglas), 6. Wink Schweitzer (#60 Schweitzer), 7. Kyle Edwards (#39 Edwards), 8. Jimmy Voitel (#21 Voitel). NT

ALSO AT THE TRACK: Troy Rutherford (#87jr Rutherford).

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Margeson, 22. Kassik, 3. Douglas, 4. K.Swanson, 5. Schweitzer, 6. K/Smith, 7. Dodenhoff, 8. Gilkey, 9. Clark, 10. Voitel, 11. Hiroshima, 12. Edenholm, 13. Edwards, 14. Brian Camarillo, 15. VanderWeerd, 16. Deegan. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Brent Camarillo, 4. Austin Smith, 5. Cory Kruseman, 6. Cody Swanson, 7. Evan Margeson, 8. David Prickett, 9. Brian Camarillo, 10. Kody Swanson, 11. Chris Ennis, 12. Connor Kassik, 13. Randi Pankratz, 14. Johnathon Henry, 15. Robby Josett, 16. Danny Ebberts, 17. Bruce Douglas, 18. Shannon McQueen, 19. Josh Lakatos, 20. Jake Swanson. NT

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**VanderWeerd flipped during the semi. Ennis, Henry and McQueen all flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Smith, Laps 12-30 Kuhn.

NEW MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Kruseman-586; 2-Prickett-543; 3-Henry-518; 4-C.Swanson-479; 5-J.Swanson-421; 6-Scott Pierovich-300; 7-Kassik-292; 8-Ennis-240; 9-R.Pankratz-215; 10-Smith-192.

NEXT MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET RACE: November 24 – Irwindale, CA – Toyota Speedway at Irwindale – 71st “Turkey Night Grand Prix”