By Steven Blakesley
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (July 12, 2023) – Western Midget Racing is gearing up to compete in both nights of the 13th annual Howard Kaeding Classic at Ocean Speedway on Friday and Saturday night with a strong purse awaiting the drivers in Watsonville. Ocean Sprints presented by Taco Bravo 360 Sprint Cars highlight Friday’s program while the NARC 410 Sprint Cars race on Saturday night for $6900 to win.
Western Midget Racing will offer an increased purse of $500 to win Friday’s competition while Saturday’s 25-lap feature will pay $1000 to win, $750 for second, $500 for third, and $350 for fourth.
Drivers from Friday’s feature will also lock in for Saturday’s feature. If WMR stages two heat races on Friday, the top eight drivers from the A-Feature will transfer automatically into a fast heat race on Saturday. If there are enough entries for three heat races on Friday, just the top-six in the feature will make the fast heat on Saturday. An invert will be drawn by Friday’s winner to set the invert for Saturday’s fast heat.
The results of Saturday’s fast heat will set the starting lineup for Saturday’s $1000 to win feature, with the remaining field set by the other heat race finishes.
Blake Bower of Brentwood has won both 2023 Ocean Speedway WMR features and will have a target on his back with 11 total Watsonville triumphs. Santa Cruz’s Logan Mitchell leads the championship after six rounds and looks to keep the lead at his home race track. Bryant Bell of Oakley leads the series with three victories this year. Bower has two wins and Drake Edwards of Surprise, Ariz. won the $1,000 Wagsdash feature at Ventura Raceway on June 17.
Mitchell leads Bell by just six points in the standings with Bower in third. Las Vegas’ Kyle Hawse ranks fourth followed by Moorpark’s Todd Hawse in fifth. Rookie Darin Horton runs sixth in the championship. Nate Wait of Lodi, Greg Dennett of Livermore, Gene Sigal of Malibu, and Petaluma Speedway promoter Rick Faeth round out the top-ten in the standings.
For more information on Western Midget Racing, visit them at www.WesternMidgetRacing.com or follow them on Facebook!