By Dick Jordan
USAC Honda Western Midgets are idle until a dirt race July 5 at Santa Maria, Calif. Jarid Blondel, Trey Marcham and Chad Nichols all stand at the head of the class in Western points after last Saturday’s pavement race at Madera (Calif.) Speedway, a race co-sanctioned by BRCA.
Cody Gerhardt of Madera, Calif. won Saturday’s 30-lap “Pombo/Sargent Classic” at Madera. Gerhardt led the first two laps and the last two after passing Nichols on lap 29. David Goodwill took second ahead of Blondel, Nichols and Lauren Snider. Nick Chivello led 19 laps and Nichols seven. Darrin Snider was the fastest qualifier.
Nichols emerged with a 17-point pavement lead over Snider, while Trey Marcham’s overall Western point lead is 29 points over defending champion Ronnie Gardner.
Blondel enters the Santa Maria race with a 15-point dirt lead over Alex Schutte.
2014 Honda USAC Western Midget Pavement Standings: 1-Chad Nichols-133, 2-Darrin Snider-116, 3-Jarid Blondel-109, 4-Nick Chivello-102, 5-Alex Schutte-53, 6-Jake Swanson-43, 7-Scott Pierovich-39.
2014 Honda USAC Western Midget Dirt Standings: 1-Trey Marcham-203, 2-Ronnie Gardner-174, 3-Alex Schutte-157, 4-Jarid Blondel-116, 5-Sean Dodenhoff-109, 6-Jake Swanson-97, 7-Chris Ennis-92, 8-Shannon McQueen-88, 9-Tyler Dolacki-80, 10-Scott Pierovich-72.
2014 Honda USAC Western Midget Standings: 1-Jarid Blondel-225, 2-Alex Schutte-210, 3-Trey Marcham-203, 4-Chad Nichols-202, 5-Ronnie Gardner-174, 6-Nick Chivello-164, 7-Jake Swanson-140, 8-Darrin Snider-116, 9-Scott Pierovich-111, 10-Sean Dodenhoff-109.