By Dick Jordan
The USAC Mopar Western Midgets return to the dirt this Saturday at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway after closing out their 2012 pavement activity last Saturday at Madera (Calif.) Speedway.
Chad Nichols of Colma, Calif. emerged as the 2012 USAC Western Midget Pavement Champion as a result of his feature victories, which included Saturday night’s 30-lap “Harvest Classic” triumph at Madera, a race co-sanctioned with BCRA. He and Nick Chivello ended tied in the standings, with Nichols holding the tiebreaker.
Chivello finished second in Saturday’s race which Nichols led wire-to-wire. Scott Pierovich was third ahead of Western Midget point leader Shannon McQueen and Frankie Guerrini.
McQueen continues her pursuit of the 2012 overall Western Midget title at Bakersfield, while David Prickett tries to protect his Western Midget dirt lead in Saturday’s event.
2012 USAC MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS
1-Shannon McQueen-648, 2-David Prickett-498, 3-Nick Chivello-498, 4-Scott Pierovich-469, 5-Cole Carter-411, 6-Alex Schutte-390, 7-Frankie Guerrini-356, 8-Jake Swanson-344, 9-Connor Kassik-332, 10-Randi Pankratz-312.
2012 USAC MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET PAVEMENT POINT STANDINGS
1-Chad Nichols-256, 2-Nick Chivello-256, 3-Scott Pierovich-224, 4-Shannon McQueen-211, 5-Frankie Guerrini-187, 6-Dan Gundo-141, 7-Cole Carter-128, 8-Jake Swanson-84, 9-Alex Schutte-52, 10-David Prickett-31.
2012 USAC MOPAR WESTERN MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS
1-David Prickett-467, 2-Shannon McQueen-437, 3-Alex Schutte-338, 4-Connor Kassik-332, 5-Randi Pankratz-312, 6-Cole Carter-283, 7-Cody Swanson-266, 8-Jake Swanson-260, 9-Scott Pierovich-245, 10-Nick Chivello-242.