By Steven Blakesley
WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA (October 18, 2023) – An unprecedented moment in Midget racing on the West Coast will come to its exciting conclusion on Saturday night at Ventura Raceway, when Oakley’s Bryant Bell and Santa Cruz’ Logan Mitchell settle the score in their tied championship battle for the 2023 Western Midget Racing crown.
The 17-year-old Bell has enjoyed four feature wins this year in the No. 09 Spike for Boscacci Racing and Toyota Walnut Creek. Mitchell has steered the No. 96x Boss Chassis for Mayer Iron & Design to five podium finishes including a key runner-up performance at Mohave Valley on September 30 to set the championship into a heads-up tie entering the finale. With WMR only awarding points for feature finishes, the challenge is simple: whichever driver finishes higher in the main event will be crowned champion.
The 2021 season also came down to a close duel as well with Fresno’s David Prickett entering the finale in a must-win situation. Prickett ultimately finished third, allowing Brentwood’s Blake Bower to win the first of his two series titles by just a scant four points.
Lindley, New York’s Darin Horton will wrap up his Rookie of the Year season from third in the championship standings. Horton earned a career-best third place finish at Mohave Valley. Bower is fourth in the standings followed by Lodi’s Nate Wait. Wait is a veteran of 29 WMR starts and is still driving towards his first-career win, with three third place finishes and one runner-up finish during the 2023 campaign.
Six-time points paying winner Drake Edwards of Surprise, Ariz. has advanced up to sixth in the standings with just eight starts. Livermore’s Greg Dennett, rookie Anthony Bruno of San Jose, Kyle Hawse of Las Vegas, and Todd Hawse of Moorpark round out the top-ten heading into round 15 of the series.
VRA Dwarf Cars, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sport Mods, NMRA TQ Midgets, and Junior Classes will also be competing at Ventura Raceway. Grandstand gates open at 3pm with racing at 5:30pm Adults are $18, Seniors 60 and older and Military are $15. Students with ID are also just $15 while children 12 and under are admitted for free! For more information and pre-sale tickets, visit www.VenturaRaceway.com
For more information on Western Midget Racing visit www.WesternMidgetRacing.com