By Lance Jennings
VENTURA, CA – OCTOBER 16, 2021… Starting second, Jake Andreotti (Castro Valley, CA) led 27 laps to earn his first career USAC Western States Midget triumph at Ventura Raceway. Racing the Pete Davis owned #00 Hot Head Competition Heaters / Buchannan Automotive Stealth, the rookie contender finished ahead of fast qualifier Logan Seavey, Chase Johnson, Robby Josett, and hard charger Dylan Ito.
Pole-sitter Mike Leach Jr. led the opening three circuits at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Searching for traction, the young driver bobbled and Andreotti sliced his way to the top spot. Once out front, Jake began to build a lead as Seavey took over second with Johnson close by in third. Seavey applied pressure to Andreotti for the lead, however, the young driver continued to hit his marks and sailed to the checkered flag.
Before winning the 30-lap main event, Andreotti qualified seventh overall out of the eighteen car roster and ran second to C.J. Sarna in his heat race. Racing a limited schedule, Jake heads to Hanford’s final point race on October 29th ranked fourteenth in the point standings.
Making his first USAC Western start of the year, Logan Seavey (Brownsburg, IN) earned fast time honors in Woodland Auto Display Qualifying with a time of 11.889. Driving Tom Malloy’s #25 Trench Shoring / Rodela Fabrication King, Seavey claimed third in his heat race and finished second in the feature. Preparing for November’s “80th Running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Ventura, Logan sits thirty-first in points.
C.J. Sarna (Brea, CA) raced to victory in the night’s Extreme Mufflers / Walker Performance Filtration First Heat Race. Piloting his #20 ZMAX / Final Final Lifestyle Spike, Sarna was ninth quick in time trials and scored seventh in the main event. At press time, the second generation driver is third in championship points.
Robby Josett (Santa Clarita, CA) won the night’s Competition Suspension Inc. / Ultra Shield Race Products / Superior Bearing & Supply Second Heat Race. Racing Keith Ford’s #73B Sun Valley AG Transport / Pacific Coast Maintenance Service TCR, Josett qualified tenth overall and scored fourth in the main event after starting eighth. The veteran driver left the seaside oval ranked eighteenth in the point chase.
Dylan Ito (Ventura, CA) earned the night’s Rod End Supply / Finish Line Promotions by Stephanie Odom Hard Charger Award with a fifth place run from fourteenth. Driving Keith Ford’s #73 Naturipe / Sun Valley AG Transport Triple X, Ito was fourteenth fast in qualifying and seventh in his heat race. Dylan left Ventura Raceway placed eleventh in the chase for the championship.
By virtue of his thirteenth place finish, Caden Sarale (Stockton, CA) claimed the night’s Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award.” Piloting his #32 Tel-Tac / Sarale Trucking CS9, Sarale qualified sixth overall and placed fifth in his heat race. In limited action, the second generation driver is twenty-sixth in USAC Western points.
Officials with the USAC Western States Midget Series want to give special thanks to Walker Performance Filtration, Superior Bearing and Supply, Western Flyer Xpress, Wireless 101, and Finish Line Promotions by Stephanie Odom for their additional sponsorship at Ventura.
The USAC Western States Midgets will return to action on Friday, October 29th, for their final point race / “Anthony Simone Classic” at Keller Auto Speedway (Hanford, CA).
The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks AMSOIL, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, FloRacing.com, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, 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: October 16, 2021 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, California
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATONS: 1. Logan Seavey, 25, Malloy-11.889; 2. Chase Johnson, 7NZ, Buckley-11.947; 3. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-12.152; 4. Ben Worth, 5K, Alexander-12.194; 5. Blake Bower, 9, Boscacci-12.281; 6. Caden Sarale, 32, Sarale-12.307; 7. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-12.424; 8. Mike Leach Jr., 33P, Leach-12.457; 9. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-12.515; 10. Robby Josett, 73B, Ford-12.576; 11. Tony Gomes, 1X, LKK-12.590; 12. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-12.600; 13. Troy Rutherford, 8W, Woodland-12.714; 14. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-12.998; 15. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-13.222; 16. Joey Bishop, 45, Bishop-13.409; 17. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-NT; 18. Jarrett Soares, 12, Soares-NT.
EXTREME MUFFLERS / WALKER PERFORMANCE FILTRATION FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Sarna, 2. Andreotti, 3. Seavey, 4. McQueen, 5. Bower, 6. Rutherford, 7. Hazelton. NT.
COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS / SUPERIOR BEARING & SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Josett, 2. Johnson, 3. Leach, 4. Worth, 5. Sarale, 6. Fuson, 7. Ito, 8. Bishop. NT.
FEATURE: (30 laps, With Starting Positions) 1. Jake Andreotti (2), 2. Logan Seavey (6), 3. Chase Johnson (5), 4. Robby Josett (8), 5. Dylan Ito (14), 6. Blake Bower (9), 7. C.J. Sarna (7), 8. Ron Hazelton (15), 9. Ben Worth (3), 10. Troy Rutherford (13), 11. Joey Bishop (16), 12. Mike Leach Jr. (1), 13. Caden Sarale (10), 14. Shannon McQueen (4), 15. Brody Fuson (12), 16. Randi Pankratz (17). NT.
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**Fuson flipped on lap 1 of the feature. Gomes did not start feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Leach, Laps 4-30 Andreotti
ROD END SUPPLY / FINISH LINE PROMOTIONS BY STEPHANIE ODOM HARD CHARGER: Dylan Ito (14th to 5th)
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Caden Sarale
NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Blake Bower-788, 2-Brody Fuson-732, 3-C.J. Sarna-648, 4-Austin Liggett-549, 5-Chase Johnson-460, 6-Shannon McQueen-418, 7-Ben Worth-405, 8-Jarrett Soares-392, 9-Ron Hazelton-346, 10-David Prickett-334.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: October 29 – Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, California – “Anthony Simone Classic”