From Lance Jennings
Phoenix, AZ – (November 19, 2014) – After a break in the schedule, the Honda USAC Western Midget Series will invade Kevin Montgomery’s Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria. Starting this Thursday, November 20th, the popular 1/3-mile clay oval will host the “47th Annual Sands Chevrolet Western World Championships.” 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. For more event information, visit www.canyonspeedwaypark.com.
Thursday’s event will mark the eighth appearance of the Honda USAC Western Midgets at Canyon Speedway Park. Kyle Larson won the series debut on November 10, 2012 and Bryan Clauson leads all drivers with three victories. Last year, Clauson earned $20,000 for winning both the Sprint Car and Midget finales of the Western World. Christopher Bell, Darren Hagen, and R.J. Johnson have also celebrated Canyon feature wins and with $7,500 up for grabs on Saturday, a talented roster of drivers will be on hand. A pre-entry list for the “Western World Championships” is posted at the end of this release and more drivers are expected.
Heading to Canyon, Ronnie Gardner of Norco, California leads both the Western dirt and overall point standings. Racing the Six8 Motorsports’ #68 Baldozier Racing / Esslinger Engineering Stewart, Gardner finished second to Trey Marcham at Bakersfield on September 20th. To date, the defending champion has two feature wins, four VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Awards, four heat race victories, ten top-10 finishes, and 83 feature laps led. Ronnie will be looking to earn the $7,500 payday and add the Western World Championships to his resume.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma’s Trey Marcham is second in the dirt and combined point standings. Piloting Keith Ford’s #73 Berry Pack / King Racing Products TCR, Marcham claimed his third win of the year at Bakersfield. At press time, last season’s Rookie of the Year has two VanLare Steering Repair Fast Time Awards, two heat race victories, nine top-10 finishes, and 77 feature laps led to his credit. Trey will have his sights on regaining the point lead by winning the Western World Championships.
Alex Schutte of Redding, California ranks third in the dirt points and fourth in the overall series. Driving the Schutte/McElwee owned #28 Proficio / Aircraft Electrical Components Spike, Schutte placed fifth in the Bakersfield main event. Currently, the 2010 Champion has two heat race victories, six top-10 finishes, and 9 feature laps led on the year. As this writing goes to press, Alex has not entered the Western World Championship and could miss the three day event.
Orange, California’s Jarid Blondel ranks fourth in the dirt series and third in the combined dirt/pavement points. Racing his #98 G&J Aircraft / Dealer Service Edmunds, Blondel has one hard charger award and eight top-10 finishes to his credit. The leading rookie contender will be looking for a breakthrough win at Canyon Speedway Park.
After finishing eighth at Bakersfield, Shannon McQueen of Bakersfield, California has climbed to fifth in the dirt chase and eighth in the overall series. Piloting the McQueen Racing #7 Lucas Oil / Simpson Race Products Spike, Shannon has four top-10 finishes in the campaign. The 2012 Champion will have her sights on claiming the $7,500 “Western World” victory at Canyon.
In addition to entries from Arizona and California, drivers from the USAC National Sprint and Midget series are entered in this prestigious race. Defending champion Bryan Clauson heads a strong Midwest contingent with “The People’s Champion” Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, Brady Bacon, Zach Daum, Darren Hagen, Tanner Thorson, Christopher Bell, Tyler Thomas, Isaac Chapple and more.
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. Advance three-day, single-day, and VIP Suite 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 thanks Hoosier Tire, Competition Suspension Inc., DJ Safety, Extreme Mufflers, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Rugged Radios, Saldana Racing Products, and VanLare Steering Repair for their support. If you or your company would like to become part of the series, email PR Director Lance Jennings at lwjennings@earthlink.net.
For more information on the Honda USAC Western Midget Series, visit www.usacracing.com or follow the series on Facebook (www.facebook.com/usacwsmidgets), or Twitter (www.twitter.com/USAC_WSMIDGET).
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WESTERN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MIDGET WINNERS:
2013-Bryan Clauson.
CANYON HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET 1-LAP TRACK RECORD:
Tracy Hines – 13.874 (11/14/13)
2014 HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET WINS:
3-Trey Marcham, 2-Ronnie Gardner, 1-Rico Abreu, 1-Christopher Bell, 1-Brian Gard, 1-Cody Gerhardt, 1-R.J. Johnson, 1-Chad Nichols, 1-Darrin Snider, 1-Michael Snider, 1-Richard Vander Weerd.
2014 WESTERN WORLD MIDGET PRE-ENTRY LIST: (Provided by Lonnie Wheatley & Canyon Speedway Park)
0 Jack Hawley (Menifee, CA), 1p Terry Nichols (Delano, CA), 5d Zach Daum (Pocahontas, IL), 7 Shannon McQueen (Tehachapi, CA), 17 Shane Golobic (Fremont, CA), 17n Johnathon Henry (Stockton, CA), 24 Tracy Hines (New Castle, IN), 32 Casey Shuman (Phoenix, AZ), 51 Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, OK), 51 R.J. Johnson (Phoenix, AZ), 52c Isaac Chapple (Wilkinson, IN), 55 Tony Everhart (El Cajon, CA), 56 Darren Hagen (Riverside, CA), 57 Mike Spencer (Temecula, CA), 63 Bryan Clauson (Noblesville, IN), 67 Tanner Thorson (Minden, NV), 68 Ronnie Gardner (Norco, CA), 71 Christopher Bell (Norman, OK), 73 Trey Marcham (Newcastle, OK), 73x Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN), 91T Tyler Thomas (Tulsa, OK), 97 Rico Abreu (Rutherford, CA), 98 Jarid Blondel (Orange, CA)
HONDA USAC WESTERN MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ronnie Gardner-629, 2. Trey Marcham-593, 3. Jarid Blondel-563, 4. Alex Schutte-443, 5. Chad Nichols-433, 6. Scott Pierovich-327, 7. Nick Chivello-322, 8. Shannon McQueen-296, 9. Sean Dodenhoff-283, 10. Chris Ennis-216, 11. Tyler Dolacki-194, 12. Ricky Shelton-175, 13. Johnathon Henry-173, 14. Christopher Bell-142, 15. Jake Swanson-140, 16. Tanner Thorson-135, 17. Barry Pries Jr.-121, 18. Rico Abreu-120, 19. Terry Nichols-117, 20. Darin Snider-116.
HONDA USAC WESTERN DIRT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Ronnie Gardner-629, 2. Trey Marcham-593, 3. Alex Schutte-390, 4. Jarid Blondel-342, 5. Shannon McQueen-296, 6. Scott Pierovich-288, 7. Sean Dodenhoff-283, 8. Chris Ennis-216, 9. Tyler Dolacki-194, 10. Ricky Shelton-175, 11. Johnathon Henry-173, 12. Chad Nichols-172, 13. Nick Chivello-153, 14. Christopher Bell-142, 15. Tanner Thorson-135, 16. Barry Pries Jr.-121, 17. Rico Abreu-120, 18. Terry Nichols-117, 19. Jake Swanson-97, 20. Michael Pickens-54.
HONDA USAC NATIONAL DIRT MIDGET POINT STANDINGS:
1. Rico Abreu-867, 2. Christopher Bell-788, 3. Tracy Hines-786, 4. Bryan Clauson-744, 5. Zach Daum-663, 6. Chris Windom-594, 7. Tanner Thorson-569, 8. Michael Pickens-499, 9. Dave Darland-419, 10. Andrew Felker-378, 11. Kevin Thomas Jr.-317, 12. Parker Price-Miller-299, 13. Tyler Thomas-279, 14. Jerry Coons Jr.-236, 15. Isaac Chapple-201, 16. Darren Hagen-193, 17. Austin Brown-167, 18. Seth Motsinger-143, 19. Spencer Bayston-141, 20. Steve Buckwalter-118.