By Steven Blakesley
GLENDALE, ARIZ. (February 4, 2023) – The Southwest Region for Western Midget Racing kicked off on Saturday night at Adobe Mountain Speedway in Glendale, Ariz., with Dustin Cormany of Peoria, Ariz. topping a strong 21-car turnout for his first-career WMR feature win.
Cormany, 2022 Ventura Raceway WMR champion AJ Hernandez of Phoenix, and Drake Edwards of Surprise, Ariz. split the three heat races on the one-fifth mile dirt track north of Phoenix. A 12-lap B-Main was required to narrow the field to 16 starters, with Tyler High claiming the win.
Cormany and Hernandez shared the front row for the feature. Cormany drove ahead with the early advantage while Edwards drove past Hernandez to take second.
Edwards reeled in Cormany and jumped inside of him for the lead in turn one on lap 12 but was unable to complete the pass. He continued to run on the rear bumper of Cormany as they approached slower traffic.
A large fire underneath the No. 01 Boss Chassis of Buckeye, Ariz.’s Nathan High required a red flag on lap 15. High was able to escape the vehicle uninjured.
The restart placed Cormany, Edwards, and Hernandez in close quarters for a five-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Hernandez snookered Edwards for second on the restart while Cormany drove ahead with a five-car length advantage. Dustin Cormany earned his first-career Western Midget Racing feature win followed by Hernandez, Edwards, Gary DeWitt of Mesa, Ariz., and Dale Eliason, Jr. of Phoenix, Ariz.
Edwards was later disqualified post-race for being light at the scales, boosting Las Vegas’ Racin Silva into the top-five. Tyler High charged from 14th to finish sixth as well.
Western Midget Racing stages round two of the Southwest Region on March 4 at Adobe Mountain Speedway.
For more information on Western Midget Racing, visit them at www.WesternMidgetRacing.com or follow them on Facebook!
February 4, 2023 – Southwest Region Season Opener at Adobe Mountain Speedway (Glendale, Ariz.) Results
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14C Dustin Cormany; Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11 AJ Hernandez; Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3E Drake Edwards
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 33AZ Tyler High
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 14C-Dustin Cormany[1]; 2. 11-AJ Hernandez[2]; 3. 48-Gary DeWitt[5]; 4. 43-Dale Eliason Jr[4]; 5. 5S-Racin Silva[6]; 6. 33AZ-Tyler High[14]; 7. 31-todd hawse[7]; 8. 22-Lonnie Oliver[8]; 9. 20-Kyle Hawse[10]; 10. 20AZ-Chase Farris[9]; 11. 28-JR Wood[15]; 12. 32-Tyler Brown[11]; 13. 3AZ-Chloe High[13]; 14. 50S-Rocky Silva[16]; 15. (DNF) 01-Nathan High[12]; 16. (DQ) 3E-Drake Edwards[3]