By Richie Murray
Ventura, California (October 25, 2025)………Dane Culver fended off repeated challenges from Brody Fuson down the stretch to score the victory in Saturday night’s Avanti USAC Western States Midget season finale at California’s Ventura Raceway.
Culver (Riverside, California) took over the lead on the seventh lap when racelong leader Preston Norbury performed a half-spin in turn two and kept on going, with Culver capitalizing his way into the lead.
On the eighth lap, Connor Speir flipped in between turns three and four in what was the only major incident throughout the 30-lap feature. Speir walked away and also tallied enough points to earn series Rookie of the Year honors for 2025.
During the final 10 laps, Fuson slid past Culver no less than three different times with Culver crossing over each attack to remain as the leader, including once on the final restart with four circuits to go.
When Fuson stumbled atop the turn two cushion on the final lap, Culver was able to break away in his Knuckles Up Racing machine to win his second series feature of the season and the second of his career after previously winning at California’s Santa Maria Speedway in August.
Fuson, who was also the fastest qualifier, finished second while series champion Caden Sarale took third with T.J. Smith fourth as Norbury rounded out the top-five after leading the initial six laps.
Heat races were won by Sarale and Norbury.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE RESULTS: October 11, 2025 – Antioch Speedway – Antioch, California – Co-Sanctioned by BCRA
QUALIFYING: 1. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-12.269; 2. T.J. Smith, 68, Six8-12.305; 3. Caden Sarale, 32, Sarale-12.332; 4. Preston Norbury, 77AZ, Norbury-12.610; 5. Dane Culver, 50, Knuckles Up-12.651; 6. Connor Speir, 14JR, Graunstadt-12.671; 7. Jett Barnes, 73, Barnes-12.716; 8. Broedy Graham, 66, BGR-12.776; 9. Todd Hawse, 18, Hawse-12.944; 10. Grant Schaadt, 15, Schaadt-13.102; 11. Kevin Mahoney, 11K, Kruseman-13.554; 12. Hailey Lambert, 55, Lambert-13.578; 13. Ron Hazelton, 15H, Hazelton-13.715; 14. Chris Rahe, 5, Rahe-13.884; 15. Billy Rayburn, 9K, Rayburn-14.149; 16. Kyle Hawse, 20, Hawse-NT; 17. Joey Bishop, 45, Bishop-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Caden Sarale (5), 2. Brody Fuson (6), 3. Todd Hawse (2), 4. Jett Barnes (3), 5. Dane Culver (4), 6. Joey Bishop (8), 7. Billy Rayburn (7), 8. Kevin Mahoney (1). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Preston Norbury (5), 2. T.J. Smith (6), 3. Broedy Graham (3), 4. Connor Speir (4), 5. Grant Schaadt (2), 6. Chris Rahe (7), 7. Hailey Lambert (1), 8. Kyle Hawse (8), 9. Ron Hazelton (9). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dane Culver (2), 2. Brody Fuson (6), 3. Caden Sarale (4), 4. T.J. Smith (5), 5. Preston Norbury (3), 6. Jett Barnes (7), 7. Broedy Graham (8), 8. Todd Hawse (9), 9. Grant Schaadt (10), 10. Hailey Lambert (12), 11. Ron Hazelton (13), 12. Chris Rahe (14), 13. Kyle Hawse (16), 14. Joey Bishop (17), 15. Billy Rayburn (15), 16. Connor Speir (1), 17. Kevin Mahoney (11). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1-6 Preston Norbury, Laps 7-30 Dane Culver.
**Connor Speir flipped on lap 8 of the feature.
USAC AVANTI WINDOWS & DOORS WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-Caden Sarale-770, 2-Dane Culver-657, 3-T.J. Smith-634, 4-Connor Speir-456, 5-Todd Hawse-446, 6-Broedy Graham-388, 7-Jett Yantis-376, 8-Kyle Hawse-376, 9-Hailey Lambert-347, 10-Preston Norbury-309.