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Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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USAC W/S Midgets |
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Irwindale, CA, Oct. 4 - Dave Steele started fifth in Dino Tomassi's
Beast/Mopar and became the third and final leader of the USAC
Western States Midget Series 30-lap main event Saturday on the
half-mile Irwindale Speedway. The race entertained 4,859 spectators
with four lead changes. Michael Lewis started sixth as the fastest qualifier and traded the lead twice with Steele before he settled for second position, 1.148 seconds (about 15-yards) behind the winner. Lewis, from Noblesville, IN and now racing out of Madera, drove the No. 40 Western Speed Equipment Beast/Esslinger. Lewis and Steele won the last two USAC Thanksgiving Night Midget Grand Prix 100-lap races at Irwindale and also have won several other USAC Midget mains at the track. Jerome Rodela started and finished third, four seconds in back of the winner, aboard his Beast/Ed Pink Ford. He traded third place five times with Johnny Rodriguez during the race. Rodriguez settled for fourth after Rodela re-passed him on the final lap and moved into second place in current points. Rookie Garrett Hansen finished fifth. Eight of the ten-car starting field finished, with all drivers on the lead lap. The 18-minute race had three cautions. The shortest Midget field in Irwindale history was attributed by USAC officials to a new harder and longer-lasting tire compound that some owners did not want to buy for one race. USAC headquarters mandated the harder tire [as a test, for this race only, in an effort to cut expenses for car owners. The usual softer tire compound will be used when USAC returns to Irwindale for the Thanksgiving Midget Grand Prix. Wally Pankratz, 58, started on the pole and led the first six laps before a brief caution for a third turn spinout by Hansen. Lewis charged under Pankratz and took the lead on the restart and Steele took second two laps later.Steele then passed Lewis on the outside from the fourth turn to the starting line on lap 13 and led through lap 16, when a yellow flag appeared for debris. Lewis charged under Steele in turn four when racing resumed on lap 17. The two drivers waged a fan-pleasing duel for the next five laps until Steele made an inside pass in turn four during lap 22. He then opened a steady 15-yard advantage by lap 25 and held it to Tony Roberts checkered flag. Sixth place Josh Wise, who entered the race second to point leader Steve Paden in W/S points, dropped out on lap 29 with sparks trailing from his Beast. Pankratz, running fifth on the final lap, had his engine ventilate a rod and erupt in flames at the end of the backstretch. He pulled to the fourth turn grass and baled out quickly without burns. Winner Steele told the crowd, "My hat is off to Michael Lewis. It's fun racing like that. He moved up and took our line after the caution (lap 17) and we had to find a different line." Lewis' fastest qualifying time of 17.062 was 0.188 seconds off the one-lap Midget track record set by Tracy Hines on July 3, 1999. The Summary: (pickup agate) Fast Time - Michael Lewis, 17.062. Main - Dave Steele, Lewis, Jerome Rodela, Johnny Rodriguez, Garrett hansen, Steve Paden, Van Knill, Stuart Burkenbine, Wally Pankratz, Josh Wise. 18:20.736. |
