By Lance Jennings
ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 1, 2023… Starting fourth, Brody Fuson of Bakersfield, California powered to the lead on the opening lap and sailed to the $2,000 Tel Tac Digital Tachometers sponsored victory at Antioch Speedway. Piloting Rusty Carlile’s #51 Race Pa Motorsports / Van Meter Motorsports Spike, Fuson claimed his fifth USAC Western States Midget triumph of the campaign. Cade Lewis, Caden Sarale, T.J. Smith, and fast qualifier Brandon Wiley rounded out the top five drivers.
Before winning the final round of the “Antioch Challenge Mini Series Presented by Graunstadt Enterprises,” Fuson qualified third overall, ran second to Lewis in his heat race, and placed fourth in the mini-series point chase. The point leader heads to this Saturday’s “Championship Night” finale at The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park with a 38-point advantage.
Santa Maria, California’s Brandon Wiley opened the night by earning his first Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award. Making his first start in Pete Davis’ #00 Hot Head Competition Engine Heaters / Buchannan Automotive Stealth, the former USAC West Coast Sprint Car Rookie of the Year posted a time of 13.963 seconds over the sixteen car roster. Brandon scored third in his heat race, scored fifth in the feature, and finished fourteenth in the Antioch Challenge.
Cade Lewis of Bakersfield, California raced to victory in the 10-lap Jordan Hanni Well Drilling Heat Race. Driving Dean “Kiwi” Alexander’s #5K Wireless 101 / Mobil 1 Spike, Lewis was fifth quick in time trials, ran second to Fuson in the main event, and won the Antioch Challenge Mini Series by three markers over T.J. Smith. Cade heads to KCRP ranked second in points and has a shot at the USAC Western States championship at the “George Snider Classic.”
Lewis’ teammate, Coalinga, California’s Ben Worth topped the 10-lap Hot Head Competition Engine Heaters Heat Race. Piloting Dean “Kiwi” Alexander’s #5V Wireless 101 / Mobil 1 Spike, Worth qualified tenth overall, scored thirteenth in the feature after an early exit, earned the Wilwood Disc Brakes Lucky 13 Award, and finished third in the mini-series. The former rookie of the year sits fifth in the point chase heading to the last point race of the season.
Three “lucky pill draw awards” were available at Antioch that were claimed by Marvin Mitchell, Brody Fuson, and Danika Jo Faccinto. Mitchell earned the Rod End Supply Award, was fifteenth quick in time trials, ran eighth in his heat race, and scored fourteenth after mechanical issues in the feature aboard the #78 TRC Transmission Elite. Fuson won the Saldana Racing Products Award and Faccinto claimed the Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Award, qualified eleventh, ran fifth in her heat race, and scored eleventh in the main event aboard the #13 Roza Motorsports / Sala Racing Spike. Mitchell left Antioch ranked sixteenth in points, Fuson leads the standings, and Faccinto is thirteenth in the point chase.
Starting thirteenth, Ben Covich of Auckland, New Zealand earned the night’s Ebbco Offroad Hard Charger Award after finishing ninth in the main event. The owner/driver of the #65 Dean “Kiwi” Alexander / Matt Streeter Racing was thirteenth fast in time trials and scored sixth in his heat race. With one point race left, Covich is eighth in the point standings and is in a hard fought battle with Samuel May for top rookie honors.
This Saturday, October 7, the USAC Western States Midget Series will return to The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield, California. For more event information, visit kernraceway.com.
The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks BR Motorsports, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Ebbco Offroad, Esslinger Engineering, Extreme Mufflers, FloRacing, Graunstadt Enterprises, High Tech Performance, Hoosier Racing Tires, Hot Head Competition Engine Heaters, Jordan Hanni Well Drilling, JT Engineering, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, Steve Lafond / Tear-Off Heaven Fotos, Tel Tac Digital Tachometers, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Wireless 101, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.
For more information on the USAC Western States Midget Series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC Western States Midget Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 30, 2023 – Antioch Speedway – Antioch, California – “Antioch Challenge #2 Presented by Graunstadt Enterprises” – “Chet Thomson Memorial”
WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Brandon Wiley, 00, Davis-13.963; 2. T.J. Smith, 68, Six8-13.979; 3. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-13.988; 4. Caden Sarale, 14J, Graunstadt-14.059; 5. Cade Lewis, 5K, Alexander-14.070; 6. Michael Faccinto, 14J, Streeter-14.199; 7. Nikko Panella, 32, Sarale-14.277; 8. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-14.486; 9. Samuel May, 55, Lambert-14.566; 10. Ben Worth, 5V, Alexander-14.612; 11. Danika Jo Faccinto, 13, Parker-14.629; 12. Ron Hazelton, 15, Hazelton-15.639; 13. Ben Covich, 65, Covich-15.916; 14. Kevin Gray, 7L, Gray-16.023; 15. Marvin Mitchell, 78, Mitchell-16.809; 16. Keoni Texeira, 50, Texeira-NT.
JORDAN HANNI WELL DRILLING FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Lewis, 2. Fuson, 3. Wiley, 4. May, 5. D.Faccinto, 6. Covich, 7. Panella, 8. Mitchell. NT.
HOT HEAD COMPETITION ENGINE HEATERS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Worth, 2. M.Faccinto, 3. Smith, 4. Sarale, 5. Sarna, 6. Hazelton, 7. Gray. NT.
SAMMY BAHR FEATURE: (30 laps, With Starting Positions) 1. Brody Fuson (4), 2. Cade Lewis (2), 3. Caden Sarale (3), 4. T.J. Smith (5), 5. Brandon Wiley (6), 6. C.J. Sarna (9), 7. Nikko Panella (8), 8. Samuel May (10), 9. Ben Covich (13), 10. Ron Hazelton (12), 11. Danika Jo Faccinto (11), 12. Michael Faccinto (1), 13. Ben Worth (7), 14. Marvin Mitchell (15). NT.
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**Gray did not start feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Fuson.
EBBCO OFFROAD HARD CHARGER: Ben Covich (13th to 9)
ROD END SUPPLY / BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS LUCKY PILL DRAW: Marvin Mitchell
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS / ROD END SUPPLY LUCKY PILL DRAW: Brody Fuson
BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS / SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS LUCKY PILL DRAW: Danika Jo Faccinto
WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13: Ben Worth
NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Brody Fuson-752, 2-Cade Lewis-714, 3-C.J. Sarna-499, 4-Ron Hazelton-486, 5-Ben Worth-479, 6-Caden Sarale-404, 7-Randi Pankratz-403, 8-Ben Covich-368, 9-Samuel May-347, 10-T.J. Smith-279.
FINAL ANTIOCH CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY GRAUNSTADT ENTERPRISES POINTS: 1-Cade Lewis-153, 2-T.J. Smith-150, 3-Ben Worth-116, 4-Brody Fuson-115, –C.J. Sarna-115, 6-Caden Sarale-112, 7-Samuel May-108, 8-Nikko Panella-104, 9-Danika Jo Faccinto-99, 10-Ben Covich-93.
NEW WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY TOP QUALIFIER POINTS: 1-Brody Fuson-54, 2-Cade Lewis-32, 3-Caden Sarale-17, 4-Ben Worth-12, 5-C.J. Sarna-11, –David Gasper-11, –T.J. Smith-11, 8-Jake Andreotti-9, 9-Robby Josett-8, –Brandon Wiley-8.
NEW SAMMY BAHR FEATURE POINTS: 1-Brody Fuson-633, 2-Cade Lewis-616, 3-Ron Hazelton-451, 4-C.J. Sarna-450, 5-Ben Worth-419, 6-Randi Pankratz-362, 7-Caden Sarale-351, 8-Ben Covich-349, 9-Samuel May-304, 10-T.J. Smith-241.
NEW PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Cade Lewis-33, 2-Brody Fuson-31, 3-Ron Hazelton-25, 4-Ben Covich-19, 5-C.J. Sarna-12, 6-Marvin Mitchell-11, 7-David Gasper-10, 8-Samuel May-9, 9-Caden Sarale-8, 10-Steve Paden-7, –Robby Josett-7.
NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: October 7 – The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park – Bakersfield, California – “Championship Night” & “George Snider Classic”