From Lance Jennings
HANFORD, Calif. (April 10, 2021) – Taking control from Austin Liggett on the tenth circuit, Mitchel Moles (Fresno, CA) earned his first USAC Western States Midget win at Hanford’s “Open Wheel Madness.” Driving the Matt Wood Racing owned #07W Elk Grove Ford Spike, Moles topped the $1,200 Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) co-sanctioned event at Keller Auto Speedway. Ryan Bernal, point leader Liggett, Blake Bower and Shannon McQueen rounded out the top-five.
Looking for her first win at the Kings County Fairgrounds, Maria Cofer led the first circuit. After a wild flip in the USAC West Coast Sprint Car feature, Liggett dashed those hopes and led the “mighty midgets” until Moles took command. Despite several caution flags, Mitchel shook free from all challengers and added his name to the record books.
Moles began the night by setting the top mark in Woodland Auto Display Qualifying with a time of 15.935 over the 20-car roster.
Starting nineteenth in the main event, Colton Raudman (Redding, CA) scored the night’s Rod End Supply Hard Charger Award / Best Passing Job honors with a twelfth place finish. After his first start of the season, the rookie contender left Hanford ranked twenty-fourth in championship points.
The 8-lap heat race victories went to Bernal (Extreme Mufflers First Heat), Bower (Competition Suspension Incorporated / Rod End Supply Second Heat), and Colby Johnson (Ultra Shield Race Products / Rod End Supply Third Heat).
Next Saturday, April 17th, the USAC Western States Midgets will invade the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California. The third point race will also feature the popular USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars.
The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks AMSOIL, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, FloRacing.com, 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.
FloRacing.com has live, flag-to-flag coverage of the USAC Western States Midget Series. You can catch the action by subscribing to FloRacing on a monthly or yearly basis to view their huge catalog of live and on-demand auto racing and sporting events.
USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 10, 2021 – Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, California – “Open Wheel Madness” – co-sanctioned with Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA)
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Mitchel Moles, 07W, Wood-15.935; 2. Ben Worth, 5K, Alexander-15.964; 3. Colby Johnson, 17K, Morris-16.199; 4. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-16.204; 5. Alex Schutte, 28, Schutte/McElwee-16.233; 6. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-16.243; 7. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-16.247; 8. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-16.328; 9. Tony Gualda, 1X, LKK-16.349; 10. Ryan Bernal, 21, Tarlton-16.390; 11. David Prickett, 22Q, Neverlift-16.524; 12. Brody Fuson, 73X, Ford-16.524; 13. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-16.642; 14. Blake Bower, 9, Walker-16.645; 15. Terry Nichols, 1NP, Nichols-16.683; 16. Kyle Beilman, 31B, Beilman-16.724; 17. Jarrett Soares, 12, Soares- 16.744; 18. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-16.939; 19. Colton Raudman, 2C, Schutte/McElwee-17.235; 20. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-17.321.
EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Liggett, 3. Beilman, 4. Moles, 5. McQueen, 6. Sarna, 7. Raudman. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INCORPORATED / ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bower, 2. Prickett, 3. Andreotti, 4. Worth, 5. Schutte, 6. Soares, 7. Hazelton. NT.
ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS / ROD END SUPPLY THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnson, 2. Cofer, 3. Fuson, 4. Gualda, 5. Nichols, 6. Ito. NT.
FEATURE: (25 laps, with starting positions) 1. Mitchel Moles (6), 2. Ryan Bernal (7), 3. Austin Liggett (2), 4. Blake Bower (8), 5. Shannon McQueen (9), 6. Tony Gualda (11), 7. Alex Schutte (10), 8. David Prickett (12), 9. Ben Worth (5), 10. Maria Cofer (3), 11. Colby Johnson (4), 12. Colton Raudman (19), 13. Dylan Ito (18), 14. Jarrett Soares (17), 15. Terry Nichols (15), 16. Kyle Beilman (16), 17. C.J. Sarna (14), 18. Ron Hazelton (20), 19. Brody Fuson (13). NT
**Beilman flipped on lap 7 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Cofer, Laps 2-9 Liggett, Laps 10-25 Moles.
ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: Colton Raudman (19th to 12th)
NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Austin Liggett-146, 2-Shannon McQueen-136, 3-Blake Bower-126, 4-David Prickett-117, 5-Ben Worth-99, 6-Colby Johnson-90, 7-Chase Johnson-83, 8-Dylan Ito-82, 9-Maria Cofer-81, –Mitchell Moles-81.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: April 17 – Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, California