From Lance Jennings
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (March 27, 2021) – Taking advantage of a late restart, Chase Johnson (Penngrove, CA) took command of the final three laps to score the $1,200 victory at Bakersfield Speedway. For Johnson, the 30-lap triumph was the second USAC Western States Midget Series win of his career. Driving the Six8 Motorsports #68 Rockwell Security Stewart, the fast qualifier finished ahead of Davey Ray, Austin Liggett, Shannon McQueen, and hard charger Max Adams.
Davey Ray (Davenport, IA) led the first 24 circuits before Liggett caught the veteran driver and powered to the lead. Once out front, Austin began to extend his advantage until young Brody Fuson flipped after tangling with another car. Fuson, a leading rookie contender, walked away from the crash uninjured. On the restart, Liggett quickly faced heavy pressure from Ray and Johnson in the first corners. Once the battle sorted out, Johnson emerged with the top spot and was not to be denied on this night.
Johnson began the night by setting the top mark in Woodland Auto Display Qualifying with a time of 12.803 over the 20-car roster.
Storming from thirteenth to fifth in the feature, Max Adams claimed the night’s Rod End Supply Hard Charger Award / Best Passing Job honors. Fresh from winning Tulare’s USAC/CRA 410 Sprint Car event the night before, the defending Gas City, Indiana Sprint Car champion had a successful weekend.
The 10-lap heat race victories went to Troy Rutherford (Extreme Mufflers First Heat), Fuson (Competition Suspension Incorporated / Rod End Supply Second Heat), and Blake Bower (Ultra Shield Race Products / Rod End Supply Third Heat).
On April 10th, the “mighty midgets” of the USAC Western States will clash with the Bay Cities Racing Association at the “Open Wheel Madness” at Keller Auto Speedway in Hanford, California. The popular USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars will join the action packed card.
The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks AMSOIL, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Rod End Supply, Ultra Shield Race Products, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.
For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC Western States Midget Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.
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USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: March 27, 2021 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, California – co-sanctioned with Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA)
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Johnson, 68, Six8-12.803; 2. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-12.900; 3. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-12.964; 4. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-13.000; 5. Ben Worth, 5K, Alexander-13.215; 6. David Prickett, 1NP, Nichols-13.224; 7. Davey Ray, 71R, Morris-13.238; 8. Brody Fuson, 73X, Ford-13.348; 9. Troy Morris III, 07X, Trinity-13.382; 10. Colby Johnson, 17K, Morris-13.415; 11. Max Adams, 1X, LKK-13.442; 12. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-13.552; 13. Troy Rutherford, 8W, Woodland-13.605; 14. Terry Nichols, 1P, Nichols-13.752; 15. Jarrett Soares, 12, Soares-13.777; 16. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-13.852; 17. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-14.246; 18. Blake Bower, 9C, Walker-17.402; 19. Jake Vermeer, 73B, Vermeer-NT; 20. Kyle Beilman, 31K, Beilman-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rutherford, 2. Ch.Johnson, 3. Co.Johnson, 4. Ray, 5. Cofer, 6. Ito, 7. Vermeer. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED / ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Fuson, 2. Adams, 3. Worth, 4. McQueen, 5. Beilman, 6. Hazelton, 7. Nichols. NT.
ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS / ROD END SUPPLY THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bower, 2. Liggett, 3. Soares, 4. Prickett, 5. Morris, 6. Sarna. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps, with starting positions) 1. Chase Johnson (6), 2. Davey Ray (1), 3. Austin Liggett (4), 4. Shannon McQueen (5), 5. Max Adams (13), 6. David Prickett (2), 7. Troy Rutherford (8), 8. Blake Bower (9), 9. Troy Morris III (11), 10. Ron Hazelton (18), 11. Brody Fuson (7), 12. Dylan Ito (17), 13. Kyle Beilman (20), 14. Ben Worth (3), 15. C.J. Sarna (14), 16. Colby Johnson (12), 17. Terry Nichols (15), 18. Jarrett Soares (16), 19. Jake Vermeer (19), 20. Maria Cofer (10). NT
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**Nichols flipped on lap 4 of the feature. Fuson flipped on lap 27 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-24 Ray, Laps 25-27 Liggett, Laps 28-30 Ch.Johnson
ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: Max Adams (13th to 5th)
NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Chase Johnson-83, 2-Austin liggett-75, 3-Davey Ray-72, 4-Shannon McQueen-71, 5-Max Adams-65, 6-David Prickett-61, 7-Troy Rutherford-60, 8-Blake Bower-57, 9-Troy Morris III-50, 10-Brody Fuson-49.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: April 10 – Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, California – “Open Wheel Madness” – co-sanctioned with Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Midgets