By Steven Blakesley
Watsonville, Calif. (August 12, 2022) – Western Midget Racing presented by Masters Design and Construction points leader Blake Bower scored his tenth win of the 2022 season and his 18th career triumph, topping Fresno’s TJ Smith in a thrilling race at Ocean Speedway on Friday night.
Smith made his series debut in the No. 11 Triple-X chassis, winning his heat race and leading the feature from the pole. Concord’s Adam Teves won the second heat race of the night to start on the outside pole position for the 19th round of the season.
Bower and his teammate Bryant Bell of Oakley battled side-by-side for third for several laps behind Smith and Teves. Logan Mitchell of Santa Cruz stopped on the front stretch with a torsion stop issue on the right rear for a caution on lap 11. On the restart, Nate Wait of Lodi and Peoria, Ariz.’s Cory Brown tangled in turn one which ended both of their races early.
Bower seized the lead on lap 15 but Smith was undeterred. Smith tried multiple times to cross over Bower in turns one and two, but Bower held on to win in the close battle. Bell finished third followed by multi-time Delta Speedway Micro Sprint champion Caden Sarale of Stockton, and Teves.
Western Midget Racing races again on Saturday night at Marysville Raceway Park alongside 360 Sprint Cars and Hobby Stocks. Action can be streamed live on NorCalSpeed.TV part of the SPEED SPORT TV network.
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 12, 2022 – Ocean Speedway (Watsonville, Calif.) Results
HEAT 1 (8 laps) – 1. 11 TJ Smith HEAT 2 (8 laps) – 35 Adam Teves
FEATURE (20 laps) – 1. 9-Blake Bower[6]; 2. 11-TJ Smith[1]; 3. 09-Bryant Bell[3]; 4. 35X-Caden Sarale[8]; 5. 35S-Adam Teves[2]; 6. X-Caleb Debem[7]; 7. 20-Kyle Hawse[11]; 8. 12-Greg Jewett[10]; 9. 20W-Nate Wait[5]; 10. 32-Cory Brown[4]; 11. 96X-Logan Mitchell[9]; 12. 42-Sparky Howard[12]