By Steven Blakesley
MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA (August 12, 2023) – Drake Edwards of Surprise, Ariz. earned his fourth points-paying Western Midget Racing win of 2023 when he captured Saturday’s action at Marysville Raceway after a 20-lap feature. Edwards became the third different WMR winner in the series’ three appearances at the speedway.
Santa Cruz’ Logan Mitchell and points leader Bryant Bell of Oakley split the eight-lap heat races. A five car inversion placed Livermore’s Greg Dennett and Edwards onto the front row. 13 Midgets charged into turn one for the main event but trouble struck the field immediately. Lodi’s Nate Wait tagged Mitchell, sending him into a hard flip to end his race in the first corner. Bell struggled to refire during the stoppage as well, with the top-two in the championship both retiring from the race.
Edwards and Dennett then collided on the restart in turn one, relegating both cars to the rear of the field.
Jerry Kobza assumed the lead while Edwards charged through the pack. Edwards was up into second by lap three then drove to the outside of Kobza for the lead. Wait crashed in turn one for a caution and Edwards was credited with leading lap four by just .029 seconds.
Edwards led the field into lapped traffic on lap 10. The final caution of the race fell when Kobza spun from second trying to navigate the traffic.
Drake Edwards crossed the line first followed by San Jose’s Anthony Bruno in a career-best second with Adrianna DeMartini of Brentwood earning another podium finish during her rookie campaign. Dennett and Santa Clarita’s Adam Weisberg rounded out the top-five.
Western Midget Racing makes its debut appearance at Bakersfield Speedway up next on September 2!
For more information visit www.WesternMidgetRacing.com
RESULTS: Marysville Raceway August 12, 2023
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 4R Drake Edwards 2. 54 Anthony Bruno 3. 19 Adrianna DeMartini 4. 7 Greg Dennett 5. 15 Adam Weisberg 6. 3 Jerry Kobza 7. 66 Darin Horton 8. 35 Blaine Craft 9. 68x Gene Sigal 10. 68 Marvin Mitchell 11. 35W Nate Wait 12. 09 Bryant Bell 13. 11 Logan Mitchell
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11 Logan Mitchell; Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 09 Bryant Bell