By Dick Jordan
The 2014 USAC HPD Western Midget calendar reflects 32 dates (19 on pavement and 13 on dirt), beginning with this Saturday’s opener at Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway at Blythe, Calif.
Jarid Blondel and Bryant Dawson earned 2013 USAC Championships. Blondel won the 2013 Western title and Dawson was the 2013 Western Pavement king. Saturday’s race will be the first for USAC’s HPD Midgets since Jake Swanson’s victory in 2011.
Blondel scored 2013 victories at Madera, Calif. and Las Vegas, Nev., while Dawson notched five wins at Las Vegas.
Previous Blythe USAC HPD Midget winners, in addition to Swanson, include Nic Faas, Michael Faccinto, Cody Gerhardt, Justin Hommel, Connor Kassik, Ian Miille and Matt Triplett,
Saturday’s race opens a pavement campaign which includes races at Havasu 95 Speedway in Lake Havasu, Ariz., Madera (Calif.) Speedway and the Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway Bullring. The 2014 Western HPD Midget slate has 13 races at five California venues, including Ocean Speedway Chowchilla, Plaza Park Raceway in Visalia, Lemoore Raceway, Santa Maria Speedway and Bakersfield Speedway.
The 2014 USAC HPD Western Midget Calendar:
February 8 – Blythe, CA/Lucas Oil I-10 Speedway (P)
March 9 – Chowchilla, CA/Ocean Speedway Chowchilla (D)
March 15 – Lake Havasu City, AZ/Havasu 95 Speedway (P)
March 29 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
April 5 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
April 12 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
April 26 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
May 3 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
May 17 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
June 7 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
June 20 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
June 27 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
June 28 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
July 11 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
July 12 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
August 2 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
August 3 – Lemoore, CA/Lemoore Raceway (D)
August 9 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
August 22 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
August 30 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
August 31 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
September 6 – Santa Maria, CA/Santa Maria Speedway (D)
September 13 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
September 20 – Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield Speedway (D)
September 21 – Chowchilla, CA/Ocean Speedway Chowchilla (D)
October 4 – Lemoore, CA/Lemoore Raceway (D)
October 18 – Madera, CA/Madera Speedway (P)
October 24 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
October 25 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)
November 14 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
November 15 – Visalia, CA/Plaza Park Raceway (D)
November 22 – Las Vegas, NV/LVMS Bullring (P)