From Whitney Thomas
TULARE (Mar. 19, 2017) – Ryan Bernal battled with Jace Vander Weerd for 30 laps at Thunderbowl Raceway to bring home his 30th career USAC win.
Bernal setting quick time in group qualifying would jump start the night in the right direction. With a 4th place start and 2nd place finish Bernal would line up in the 4th position for the feature. He had moved into the second position on the first lap and take the early lead on lap 6. He fended of Vander Weerd for 24 laps before taking the checkered flag.
“We had a really good track to race on tonight,” said Bernal. “I have to thank JFM (Josh Ford Motorsports) for letting me run this weekend and I’m glad I could get them another win. We ran third last night after leading for most of the race so I’m excited to get the win tonight.”
Friday night resulted in a third-place podium finish after losing the lead in lapped traffic. Bernal lead several laps in Friday night’s feature event with the USAC West Coast 360 series before Jake Swanson took over the top spot.
Bernal is headed to the Midwest Saturday, March 25th, to pilot the Michael Dutcher Motorsports No.17gp at the “No Way Out 40” in Brownstown, Indiana.
“I’m excited to get back to Indiana and race for Dutch (Michael Dutcher),” said Bernal. “He always has top-notch equipment so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do together. I might get to run a few more races with him if I can find some sponsorship, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Bernal is slated to be back on the West Coast in April for winged, non-wing, and midget action.
Ryan Bernal would like to thank the following sponsors: 4 Alarm Promotions, Smith Precision, DMI, FK Rod Ends, Wilwood Breaks, STIDA.com, Keizer Wheels, and Bell Helmets