By Lance Jennings
SANTA MARIA, CA – NOVEMBER 12, 2013… After a break in the schedule, the Honda USAC Western Midget Series is set to invade Kevin Montgomery’s Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Arizona. Starting this Thursday, November 14th, the popular 1/3-mile clay oval will host the “46th Annual Sands Chevrolet Western World Championships presented by the Racers Advantage Store.” The three-day co-sanctioned event with the Honda USAC National Midgets will also feature the USAC SouthWest and USAC West Coast Sprint Cars. The Front Gates will open at 4:00pm with Racing scheduled to begin at 7:00pm.
In addition to the $7,500-to-win Midget purse on Saturday, Montgomery has secured a special bonus for the “Western World Championships.” If the winning Midget driver can also win the Sprint Car feature ($7,500-to-win), a $5,000 bonus from E&K Construction will raise the impressive payday to $20,000. As this writing goes to press, about 30 “mighty midgets” have pre-entered the historic race and the entry list is posted at the end of this release.
The USAC Midget entries will race each night and the Thursday and Friday preliminaries will follow a standard format with time trials, heat races, and features. Points will be kept and the top eight will be locked into the $7,500-to-win finale. Those eight drivers will have a “Revenge Draw” to determine a Passing Masters Dash where the finish will set the first four rows of the main event. The remaining cars will lineup according to points for the balance of the feature event and the semi-main.
Thursday’s event will mark the 4th appearance of the Honda USAC Western Midgets at Canyon Speedway Park. Kyle Larson won last November’s “Desert Classic” and Bryan Clauson swept both nights of the “Copper on Dirt” in early March. With valuable championship points up for grabs and a talented roster on hand, you will not want to miss the “Western World Championships.”
Racing the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Ronnie Gardner of Norco has a 256-point advantage over the competition. The point leader earned his ninth series victory on October 5th at Petaluma Speedway by claiming the 101-lap “John Soares Classic.” To date, Gardner has six fast time awards, two heat race victories, sixteen top-10 finishes, and 186 feature laps led on the season. Ronnie will be looking to add the Western World to his win list as he marches to both the overall and dirt series championships.
Anaheim’s Jake Swanson ranks second in the championship standings. It has been a tough season for the May 11th Santa Maria winner as he did not compete in the “Soares Classic.” Piloting three different cars (Swanson #05 Stealth, Van Dyne #05 Edmunds, and Kruseman #89K Spike), last season’s USAC/CRA Rookie of the Year has earned one fast time award, five heat race victories, thirteen top-10 finishes, and 43 feature laps led. At press time, Swanson is entered in the Western World as he looks to finish his season on a high note.
David Prickett of Fresno sits third in the Western Midget point chase. Driving the Neverlift Motorsports’ #15 Crysalli Water / Mt. Rose Cocktail Mixes Spike, Prickett scored seventeenth at Petaluma Speedway. Currently, last year’s Western Dirt Series Champion has yet to win a USAC feature in 2013, but has one fast time award, six heat race victories, one semi-main win, nine top-10 finishes, and 23 feature laps led. David has announced that due to impending medical costs for his unborn daughter’s needed heart surgery, he will park his operation and sell the team’s inventory after the Turkey Night Grand Prix. Everyone with the USAC Western office sends their best wishes, thoughts, and prayers to the Prickett family.
Alamo’s Scott Pierovich is currently fourth in the overall point chase and seventh in the dirt series. The pilot of the family owned #35 Mid Coast Trans / Good Guys Spike jumped into an unfamiliar car and claimed seventeenth in the “John Soares Classic.” As this writing goes to press, the veteran driver has yet to win a USAC main event in 2013, but has one fast time award, three heat race victories, ten top-10 finishes, and 28 feature laps led in the campaign. At Canyon, Scott will have his sights on his fourth career USAC Western Midget victory and earning the $7,500 payday.
Shannon McQueen of Tehachapi is fifth in the overall points and ranks fourth in the dirt championship. Driving the McQueen Racing #7 Lucas Oil / Simpson Race Products Spike, Shannon placed fourth in the 101-lap Petaluma feature. Last year’s champion has yet to claim a USAC main event win in 2013, but has one fast time award, one heat race victory, three hard charger awards, and eight top-10 finishes on the season. McQueen will be looking to claim the “Western World” victory and score one of the biggest triumphs of her career.
Norman, Oklahoma’s Christopher Bell sits atop the National points and is tied for nineteenth in the Western Dirt Midget Series. Bryan Clauson, Tracy Hines, Darren Hagen, Jerry Coons Jr., Rico Abreu, Zach Daum, Andrew Felker, Brad Kuhn, and Tanner Thorson round out the top-10 in the National point chase.
Canyon Speedway Park is located at 9777 West Carefree Highway in Peoria, Arizona. To get to the track, take Lake Pleasant Parkway, then 1.3 miles west on Carefree Highway. Single Day Adult Tickets are $20 for Thursday and Friday and $25 on Saturday. Three Day Adult Tickets are $65, Three Day VIP Suite Tickets are $95 and All Access Passes are $110. Advance tickets are on sale now and for more event information, visit www.canyonspeedwaypark.com or call (602) 258-7223 (RACE).
The Honda USAC Western Midget Series would like to thank Amsoil, Hoosier Tire, Rugged Radios, and Western Performance Parts for their support. For more information on the series, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/
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HONDA USAC MIDGET ENTRIES:
0 Johnny Murdock (Kaufman, TX), 3 Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA), 3 Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 4 Bobby East (Brownsburg, IN), 5D Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL), 7 Shannon McQueen (Bakersfield, CA), 7A Dalton Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 7C Caleb Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 9P Parker Price-Miller (Kokomo, IN), 10 Brad Kuhn (Avon, IN), 11A Andrew Felker (Carl Junction, MO), 12 Josh Pelkey (Peoria, AZ), 15 David Prickett (Fresno, CA), 24 Tracy Hines (Wilkinson, IN), 35 Scott Pierovich (Alamo, CA), 37 Trey Marcham (Oklahoma City, OK), 39 Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, IN), 39 Kyle Edwards (Fountain Valley, CA), 51 R.J. Johnson (Phoenix, AZ), 55 Tony Everhart (El Cajon, CA), 55 Taylor Ferns (Shelby Twp, MI), 67 Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV), 67X Rico Abreu (Rutherford, CA), 68 Ronnie Gardner (Norco, CA), 71 Christopher Bell (Norman, OK), 73 Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN), 91T Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, OK), 99 Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK), Mike Spencer (Temecula, CA), Stevie Sussex (Phoenix, AZ), Jake Swanson (Anaheim, CA), Richard Vander Weerd (Visalia, CA)
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Ronnie Gardner-1094, 2-Jake Swanson-838, 3-David Prickett-733, 4-Scott Pierovich-693, 5-Shannon McQueen-533, 6-Randi Pankratz-498, 7-Cody Swanson-458, 8-Nick Chivello-450, 9-Terry Nichols-357, 10-Trey Marcham-348, 11-Frankie Guerrini-330, 12-Chad Nichols-321, 13-Jonathan Henry-301, 14-Kyle Edwards-295, 15-Dan Gundo-279, 16-Rico Abreu-270, 17-Alex Schutte-254, 18-Tanner Swanson-242
19-Kody Swanson-212, 20-Bryan Clauson-204.
HONDA USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Ronnie Gardner-1094, 2-Jake Swanson-838, 3-David Prickett-733, 4-Shannon McQueen-533, 5-Randi Pankratz-498, 6-Cody Swanson-458, 7-Scott Pierovich-400, 8-Terry Nichols-357, 9-Trey Marcham-348, 10-Johnathon Henry-301, 11-Kyle Edwards-295, 12-Rico Abreu-270, 13-Alex Schutte-254, 14-Frankie Guerrini-222, 15-Bryan Clauson-204, 16-Tanner Thorson-144, 17-Kody Swanson-140, —Nick Chivello-140, 19-Ryan Bernal-125, —Christopher Bell-125.
HONDA USAC NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1-Christopher Bell-899, 2-Bryan Clauson-793, 3-Tracy Hines-749, 4-Darren Hagen-718, 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-706, 6-Rico Abreu-653, 7-Zach Daum-644, 8-Andrew Felker-604, 9-Brad Kuhn-515, 10-Tanner Thorson-506, 11-Caleb Armstrong-480, 12-Alex Bright-346, 13-Bobby East-299, 14-Austin Brown-246, 15-Dalton Armstrong-220, 16-Levi Jones-132, 17-Davey Ray-122, 18-Dillon Welch-98, 19-Taylor Ferns-92, 20-Johnny Murdock-38.