Lonnie Wheatley
, DODGE CITY, Kan. (April 30, 2012) – At least a pair of top contenders are riding a wave of momentum as the USAC Mopar National Midget series takes to the dirt for the first time this year with two nights of action atop the 3/8-mile Dodge City Raceway Park clay oval this Friday and Saturday.
Current USAC Midget points leader Mario Clouser and Rookie of the Year contender Rico Abreu both enter the weekend double coming off landmark triumphs this past weekend.
Clouser, the native of Auburn, IL, who emerged from the opening weekend of USAC National Midget action on asphalt in March atop the point charts in the RW Motorsports No. 27 entry, captured his first career Midget win on dirt this past Friday night in POWRi action at Jacksonville Speedway in Illinois.
Soon after and nearly 2,000 miles to the west in California, 20-year-old Abreu of Rutherford, CA, snared his first Sprint Car feature win by cracking victory lane at Chico’s Silver Dollar Speedway.
Clouser, who drove his own mount to victory lane this past weekend, holds a slim USAC National Midget points lead over Bobby East and Darren Hagen, who split victory honors at Ace Speedway in late March.
Abreu, aboard one of the potent Keith Kunz Motorsports entries for this weekend, made the cut for his first Chili Bowl main event to start the 2012 year and was a podium contender in both nights of Cowtown POWRi action in March before the USAC asphalt opener in North Carolina.
Clouser and Abreu will be among a stout field of entries this weekend vying to knock Bryan Clauson off the top step of the podium after the Noblesville, IN, shoe swept through both nights of USAC Midget action at Dodge City Raceway Park last year.
Clauson was joined on the podium by Bobby East and Brady Bacon on both nights last year, with all three expected for this weekend’s action.
The USAC Mopar National Midgets will be joined on both nights by the IMCA Modifieds and United Wireless IMCA Sport Modifieds. The Poor Boy Kustomz Thunder Cars will round out Friday’s card, with the IMCA Stock Cars filling out Saturday’s action.
Racing action is set to get under way at 7:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Tickets are $20 for adults each night. Seniors and Military receive a $5 discount, with children 11 and under admitted free if accompanied by an adult. Pit passes are $30.
Dodge City Raceway Park is located on the south edge of Dodge City, KS, on US 283, then 0.9 miles west on US 56, then 0.1 miles south. For more information, contact the track at 620-225-3277 or check www.dodgecityraceway.com.