From Dick Jordan
The Honda USAC Western Midgets are idle until May 2 when they return to competition at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. Defending series champion Ronnie Gardner will lead the series to the 3/8-mile dirt oval as the 2015 leader after his series-opening victory last Saturday at Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway.
Gardner, of Norco, Calif., led the final five laps of Saturday’s Bakersfield feature in his Baldozier Racing/Esslinger Engineering Stewart/Esslinger to beat Trey Marcham, Scott Pierovich, David Prickett and Randi Pankratz.
Marcham, the 2014 series runner-up, led the first 15 laps of the Bakersfield feature. Marcham grabbed the checkered flag to win last year’s Western Midget race at Tulare.
2015 Honda USAC Western Midget Standings: 1-Ronnie Gardner-73, 2-Trey Marcham-64, 3-Randi Pankratz-57, 4-David Prickett-57, 5-Scott Pierovich-55, 6-Terry Nichols-50, 7-Steve Davis-49, 8-Shannon McQueen-47, 9-Sean Dodenhoff-45, 10-Jimmy Voitel-42.