By Steven Blakesley
Marysville, Calif. (August 13, 2022) – 2021 Western Midget Racing presented by Masters Design and Construction champion Blake Bower won his 19th career feature on Saturday night at Marysville, equaling David Prickett for the all-time wins mark in the stock production powered Midgets. The win also wrapped up Bower’s third consecutive WMR weekend sweep and boosted him to 11 wins in the 2022 series.
“It feels great. A lot of work goes into these cars. We just had to hit our marks right all night. (All the restarts) started getting on my nerves. But that’s just a part of it and that’s what makes you better,” Bower said.
Oakley’s Bryant Bell and Santa Cruz’ Logan Mitchell split the eight-lap heat races. Three incidents slowed the attempts at getting the feature underway. Peoria, Ariz.’s Cory Brown flipped in turn one, ending a challenging weekend for the long tow driver of the No. 32 Blud Lubricants machine. On the following try, Bower slid sideways which collected Mitchell. Both were able to continue after the caution fell. Bell slid to a stop in turn one on the third restart, sparking a multi-car melee. Paradise Valley, Ariz.’s Greg Jewett flipped while Lodi’s Nate Wait, Las Vegas’ Kyle Hawse, and Yuba City’s Nick Van Atta suffered race ending crashes as well. 360 Sprint Car winner Casey Schmitz of Chico retired under the red flag with a fuel pump issue.
Concord’s Adam Teves led the first three laps before Bower found the long way around the top of turn one, charging past Teves to lead lap four. Bell spun in turn one for an additional caution which set up a green-white-checkered finish. Bower held off Teves, Bell, and Rancho Cordova’s Craig Holsted for the win. Mitchell was scored fifth.
Western Midget Racing resumes with round 21 of the season on August 27 at Ventura Raceway. The action can be seen live on FloRacing!
For more information on Western Midget Racing, visit them at www.WesternMidgetRacing.com or follow them on Facebook!
Western Midget Racing is presented by: Masters Design and Construction, Rockwell Security, Rams Racing, Hoosier Racing Tire, Extreme Mufflers, FTK, Blud Lubricants, and West Evans Motorsports.
August 13, 2022 – Marysville Raceway (Marysville, Calif.) Results
HEAT 1 (8 laps) – 1. 09 Bryant Bell HEAT 2 (8 laps) – 96x Logan Mitchell
FEATURE (16 laps) – 1. 9 Blake Bower, 2. 35s Adam Teves, 3. 09 Bryant Bell, 4. 42 Craig Holsted, 5. 96x Logan Mitchell, 6. 35 Ron Singh, 7. 20w Nate Wait, 8. 12 Greg Jewett, 9. 20 Kyle Hawse, 10. X Nick Van Atta, 11. 11 Casey Schmitz, 12. 32 Cory Brown