By Dick Jordan
Christopher Bell continues to lead the Honda USAC National Dirt Midget Series which resumes October 3-4-5 in the “Gold Crown Nationals” at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Calif.
Bell has a 74-point lead in the new standings over Bryan Clauson, who suffered mechanical problems in last Saturday night’s “4-Crown Nationals” feature at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, a race in which Bell finished second.
Rico Abreu of Rutherford, Calif. led a 1-2 finish for the Kunz Motorsports/Curb Agajanian team at Eldora, becoming the 100th different USAC race winner in Eldora’s storied history. He took over the lead after Clauson’s misfortune on lap seven and led the rest of the 25-lap distance despite constant pressure from Bell. Tracy Hines finished third, ahead of Bobby East and Dave Darland.
Hines’ finish enabled him to climb to within just two points of Clauson and he trails Bell by just 76 entering the point-rich Pontoon Beach weekend.
2013 HONDA USAC NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET STANDINGS: 1-Christopher Bell-737, 2-Bryan Clauson-663, 3-Tracy Hines-661, 4-Jerry Coons Jr.-612, 5-Darren Hagen-589, 6-Rico Abreu-536, 7-Andrew Felker-531, 8-Zach Daum-491, 9-Tanner Thorson-469, 10-Brad Kuhn-416.