POWRi BCRA midgets return 

to Kern County Raceway Park

KCRP announcer Steve Hughes, left

 interviews feature winner Austin Liggett 

The POWRi Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midget auto racing cars and stars returned for their second 2019 visit to the 1/3-mile dirt track at the Kern County Raceway Park (KCRP) on Friday night May 3, 2018, with eleven cars signed in at the pit gate. The POWRI BCRA midgets were the featured cars in a diverse program that also included the KCRP American Stocks, Pro Stocks, and 305 cubic inch winged sprint cars. 

Austin Liggett started his perfect night by setting quick time during time trials, as he toured the oval in 14.603 seconds in his SR11-powered midget to top Anaheim, California’s Robert Dalby’s Esslinger powered machine with a 14.692 best lap. Dalby narrowly edged out local favorite Shannon McQueen by .002 seconds who was third fastest in her #7 Esslinger powered Bullet chassis.

Fourth fastest qualifier was another local racer Cory Elliott in his family’s #11E midget, with Terry “Panda” Nichols fifth, and Kyle Beilman in his Dave.Com sponsored midget the sixth fastest racer in time trials. Seventh fastest was Ricky Lewis in the #1N, with CJ Sarna eighth, Troy Morris III in the #07 ninth, followed by the ageless Marvin Mitchell in his #78 tenth with the leading Rookie of the Year contender, fourth-generation racer Robert Carson eleventh fastest in the Howard and Karen Segur #99 entry.

Austin Liggett continued his successful night in the first eight-lap heat race as he shot into the lead in turn three of the first lap past early leader Terry Nichols. On lap two, Shannon McQueen spun to a stop in turn three as she battled Lewis for position. Shannon restarted at the tail of the field, and before a lap was completed Lewis spun to a stop himself on the high side of turn three. The field reformed for the lap two restart with Lewis at the tail, but because of a broken steering arm, Ricky’s #1N midget was unable to make it through the first turn and he slapped the outside wall hard, which damaged the car so badly that it ended his racing for the night.

When racing in the first heat race resumed with two laps completed, on lap four McQueen moved up to third place with a nifty move on the low side of turn three to pass Morris, then she moved past Nichols on the inside of turn one on lap six to claim second place. McQueen was unable to close on leader Liggett over the last two circuits and at the drop of the checkered flag, the heat race one finishing order was Liggett, McQueen, Nichols and Morris as Lewis did not finish.

CJ Sarna and Kyle Beilman shared the front row for the start of the second heat race, and the pair battled side-by-side until turn four when Beilman surged ahead into the lead. On lap three Elliott moved up from his third starting position into second place and Dalby got past Sarna to drop CJ into fourth place. Elliott closed the gap on leader Beilman and challenged for the lead on lap five but was unable to get past the Dave.Com machine, and at the finish the order was Beilman, Elliott, Dalby, Sarna, Mitchell and Carson. 

When the POWRi passing points were totaled from the heat race finishing orders, the two heat race winners shared the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature, with local racers McQueen and Elliott sharing the second row. 

At the drop of the green flag, Austin Liggett shot into the lead as Beilman moved to the high side of the track down the backstretch, but his #31 car flipped wildly end-over-end through turn three which brought out the red flag. Kyle crawled out his damaged race car uninjured, and the field restarted less the cars of Beilman and Nichols which moved Elliott up to the front row alongside Liggett for the start.

At the drop of the green, Austin steered his #83 straight to the point with Elliott in hot pursuit followed by Dalby in third and McQueen in fourth place. Liggett stretched his advantage into a 5-car length lead during the early laps, but by lap eleven, Cory closed in using the high line as Austin worked the low side. 

On lap 14, Robert Dalby began to challenge Elliott for second place and got past Cory and settled into second place on lap 20. The yellow caution flag flew on lap 23 as Troy Morris III spun as he battled Sarna and McQueen, but Troy restarted without any loss of position as Marvin Mitchell and Robert Carson were both a lap down to the rest of the field.

When the green flag flew with three laps to go, Dalby quickly closed in on Liggett but could not pass him, but back in the pack Morris passed both Sarna and McQueen to claim fourth place. Austin Liggett led every lap of the 25-lap feature to top Robert Dalby, Cory Elliott, Shannon McQueen, CJ Sarna, Marvin Mitchell and Robert Carson. Among the non-finishers Kyle Beilman was awarded ninth place and Terry Nichols a tenth-place finish. 

Austin made it a clean sweep with fast time, a heat race win and the feature win on an evening when he led every lap of every race in which he competed.  

The POWRi BCRA midget racers return to action on May 11 for a co-sanctioned race with the Washington Midget Racing Association on the paved Shasta Speedway ¼-mile track on Shasta County Fairgrounds in Anderson, California together with the BCRA vintage division. Also scheduled to be in action for a program that starts at 6 PM will be the Shasta late models, limited modifieds, bombers, legend cars, hornets and the pro-4 modified class.    

     

       

 

Alex Schutte dominates Gold Cup midgets

 

 

Twenty midget racers were on hand at the famed Sliver Dollar Speedway in Chico California on Thursday night September 7 for a joint Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA)/United States Auto Club (USAC) Western States midget race. The mighty midgets were part of the second night of racing for the four-night 64th annual “Gold Cup Week” non-winged program together with the USAC/CRA sprint cars.  

Following the three preliminary hot lap sessions, the #3 machine of Sparky Howard and the #35W car of Nate Wait were both withdrawn from further competition due to terminal mechanical problems. Shane Golobic topped the field in single car time trials with a best lap of 14.256 seconds in the Wood #17W, followed closely by Courtney Crone at 14.275 seconds in the Jerome Rodela owned #25 Toyota-powered machine.

 

Chad Boat in the Tucker/Boat #84 was a just tick behind at 14.318 seconds, followed in fourth by Ronnie Gardner the only one competitor signed up for “double duty” with both a sprint car and midget ride in the Ted Finkenbinder #3F at 14.379 seconds with BCRA points leader Maria Cofer fifth fastest at 14.435 seconds.

In the first 8-lap heat race, Alex Schutte who started on the front row by virtue of his sixth-fastest qualifying time out-dragged pole sitter Randi Pankratz into turn one and never looked back as he streaked to victory over Golobic, Pankratz and Robert Dalby. Post-race inspection found that Golobic’s #17W car had lost its muffler during the race and the car was disqualified, which moved Pankratz and Dalby up to second and third place respectively with Gardner and Cody Hodgson rounding out the top five finishers.  

In the second heat race, front row starter Michael Faccinto jumped in the lead ahead of pole sitter Frankie Guerrini and led all eight circuits to finish ahead of Crone, Cofer, the #63 of Guerrini, Cory Elliott’s #11E and Floyd Alvis who celebrated his 83rd birthday on September 1.

Oklahoma’s Michele Decker in Shannon McQueen’s Spike/Esslinger #7D continued the night’s trend of front row domination as she led wire-to-wire in the third heat race from her pole starting position. Behind Michele at the finish were Boat, Mason Daniels, David Prickett, McQueen and JR Williams still on the comeback after his traffic accident following the Stockton dirt track race.

The re-draw for the eighteen-car starting field for the 30-lap BCRA/USAC “Light up the World Beverages” feature race put Alex Schutte on the coveted pole position in his family’s #28 midget with Michael Faccinto alongside, while the second all-female row was comprised of Decker and Pankratz. The third row was all Toyota power with Crone and Boat while the fourth row was shared by young guns Dalby and Cofer. By virtue of his heat race disqualification, Shane Golobic was slotted sixteenth on the grid alongside Shannon McQueen in her trademark pink blue and black Boss chassis #7.

As the field charged into the first turn at the drop of the green flag, chaos erupted back in the field which eliminated the top two drivers in the BCRA points chase. Maria Cofer lost control due to a deflating right rear tire and spun in front of Floyd Alvis; both cars suffered heavy damage and were moved to the infield by the track safety crew, finished for the night. The first ragged restart attempt was called back, but the second attempt was clean as Alex Schutte shot into the lead over Faccinto. On lap two, Decker got around Faccinto to claim second place.

The red flag flew on lap five after a serious crash in between turns one and two that involved fourth-place driver Chad Boat whose car half-spun to a halt and was struck by the machines of Pankratz and Dalby. Boat’s chassis suffered a broken left front shock absorber mount so Chad was done for the night.

 

The cars of Dalby and Pankratz went to the work area and with the concerted volunteer efforts of the members of several crews both cars were able to restart at the tail of the field. When racing resumed within a few laps Dalby’s machine pulled into the infield with a battery problem while Faccinto’s machine retired with an apparent engine failure

On lap eleven the running order remained Schutte, Decker, Crone and Pickett as those front four cars had separated themselves from the pack. By lap 16, Golobic had gained ten positions to run sixth, and two laps later Shane caught a pair of breaks as Courtney Crone brought out the caution flag with power steering problems for the second straight event. Courtney’s retirement moved the #17W to fifth and bunched up the field for the single-file restart.  

On lap 19, Gololbic’s blue #17W machine moved past Mason Daniels’ #33M to claim fourth, then two laps later, Shane made a daring outside pass around Prickett through turns one and two to claim third place. On lap 28, as Schutte continued to lead, Golobic made another turn two outside pass, this time on Decker to claim second, and then Prickett passed the #7D which dropped Decker to fourth place.

At the drop of the checkered flag, Alex Schutte picked up the wire-to-wire Gold Cup win trailed by Shane Golobic, David Prickett and Michele Decker as Mason Daniels rounded out the top five finishers. Sixth through tenth finishers were Frankie Guerrini, Shannon McQueen in seventh up from fifteenth,  USAC Western States points leader Ronnie Gardner eighth with USAC Western States runner-up Cory Elliott ninth and Randi Pankratz who recovered from her lap five accident and finished tenth. The non-finishers in order were Cody Hodgson, Courtney Crone, Robert Dalby, Michael Faccinto, Chad Boat, JR Williams, Maria Cofer and Floyd Alvis.   

The BCRA midgets return to action on Saturday September 16th at Madera Speedway as part of the 45th Annual Harvest Classic presented by Midland Tractor and John Deere.  In addition to the mighty midgets, the Western Winged Super Sprint Series, USAC HPD Midgets, Super Hobby Stock Series, NCMA Sprints, CSS/360 Super Modifieds, Legends of Kearney Bowl, and the California Hard Tops will all be in action, with a special added feature multi supercharged engine pulling tractors.

           

 

 

Faccinto brings his broom

 

to the Stockton dirt track

 

 

 

On Saturday August 26 a field of eleven Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets took part in the Stockton Dirt Track’s Salute to Leroy Van Conett in a program together that also included the Elk Grove Ford Sprint Car Challenge Tour (SCCT) winged 360 cubic inch sprint cars. One BCRA competitor Cory Elliott from Bakersfield took up the challenge of racing with both BCRA and SCCT entries on the same night on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds 4/10-mile clay oval.

Michael Faccinto led the field in time trials with a best lap of 16.519 seconds in his CP-Carillo Rods sponsored midget trailed by Alex Schutte in the family #8 midget with a best of 16.625 seconds with Elliott third at 16.655 seconds. Mason Daniels in his family’s #33M and Australian Danny Carroll in Sean Dodenhoff’s #9C rounded out the top five qualifiers.

Nate Wait and BCRA points leader Maria Cofer paced the field for the start of the first eight-lap heat race, and Maria led the field for the first few circuits as Faccinto carved his way through the field from his sixth starting position to grab the lead on the fourth lap. The final finishing order for the first heat race was Faccinto, Cofer, Elliott, Carroll, and Wait while JR Williams, who was battling an upset stomach, dropped out early. 

At the start of the second heat race Mason Daniels leapt into the lead while Alex Schutte who started from the tail made contact with another car at the start and immediately retired with a bent shock absorber. A few laps into the race, Scott Pierovich in his first dirt track appearance in a couple of seasons, lost the left front wheel as his midget entered turn three but Scott safely made it into the infield.

 

When the race resumed after the caution, Daniels appeared on his way to victory when the torque tube bolts sheared off the rear end and he coasted to a stop and Brett Felkins of nearby Lodi inherited the win over the ageless Floyd Alvis.

While the crews of Pierovich and Schutte were able to affect repairs to their respective machines, unfortunately the #33M midget of Daniels was too damaged for his crew to make repairs and he scratched from the night’s 25-lap feature event.

 

With the re-draw for starting positions, the team cars of Felkins and Wait were side-by-side on the front row, with Pierovich and Carroll in row two. With Daniels a scratch, the machines of Schutte and Elliott shared row three, Cofer and Faccinto comprised row four and Williams and Alvis shared row five.

Felkins led the first lap of the feature before Pierovich surged by, but on lap four the race had its first caution period when Felkins spun to a stop in turn four. Faccinto was already scored in second place trailed by Schutte, Carroll and Elliott. When racing resumed Faccinto snuck past Pierovich on the back stretch of the 4/10 mile oval and established his lead before the field was frozen by a second spin by Felkins on lap seven which ended his night early.

The ‘top five’ running order under the caution flag was Faccinto, Pierovich, Schutte, Cofer and Carroll but when the green flag reappeared Carroll maneuvered past Cofer to capture fourth position. As the laps wound down, Faccinto steadily built up a commanding lead of nearly half a lap over the field. On lap 21, Faccinto put Alvis a lap down as the engine in Floyd’s #1 midget had gone off song.   

With the drop of the checkered flag, Michael Faccinto completed his second “clean sweep” of a BCRA racing program in less than a month, as he set quick time, won his heat race and the feature just as he had at Fernley Speedway at the end of July.   Faccinto was followed across the stripe by Pierovich, Schutte, Cofer, Carroll, Elliott, Nate Wait and Floyd Alvis. Brett Felkins and JR Williams both failed to finish and as previously mentioned Mason Daniels did not start the feature.

In a postscript to the night’s BCRA racing action, JR Williams was involved in a serious accident on his trip home when another driver crossed the highway centerline and struck JR’s truck just behind the driver’s door. JR’s truck and trailer were both demolished, but thankfully JR was unhurt although tragically one of the occupants in the other car lost his life in the accident.

The always smiling resilient JR plans to back in action on Thursday September 7 for the next BCRA race held as part of the  second preliminary night of racing of ‘Gold Cup week’ at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico California. The program co-sanctioned with the United States Auto Club (USAC) Western States ‘Light Up the World’ midgets will also feature the AMSOIL USAC/CRA sprint cars on their fourth race of the six-race California sprint week.        

 

  

A hotly contested 
midget race on a hot night

 

 

 

The mighty midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) made their only appearance of the 2017 season at Marysville Raceway on a steaming hot Saturday night July 22. The track was in excellent condition for single-car qualifying and Bakersfield’s Cory Elliott eclipsed the old track record of 14.312 seconds which he set last year with an even faster lap of 14.176 seconds.

Second fastest qualifier Alex Schutte also wheeled his #28 midget around the Marysville ¼-mile clay oval faster than the old track record as well with a best lap of 14.269 seconds. BCRA points leader Maria Cofer was third-fastest in time trials at 14.588 seconds and Nate Wait debuted a new chassis with a lap of 14.796 seconds.

Mason Daniels’ engine troubles with the #33M midget continued and he surrendered his scheduled pole position starting position in the heat race as pulled into the Marysville infield before the green flag. Daniels’ troubles moved Michael Faccinto in Mike Sala’s #19 midget to the pole position and at the drop of the green flag, Michael shot into the lead and fellow front row starter

Wait held down second place as Schutte and Cofer dueled for third place as Elliott’s car intermittently stopped running which left him in fifth place. Behind Elliott, JR Williams and Floyd Alvis staged a spirited duel over the entire eight lap distance. Faccinto led the field to the checkered flag by ten car lengths over Wait, Cofer, Schutte, Elliott, Williams and Alvis.

The re-draw for starting positions for the 25-lap feature placed Wait and Faccinto on the front row with Cofer and Schutte side-side in row two. At the drop of the green flag, once again Faccinto, the winner of the last race at Petaluma Speedway roared into the lead, as Wait ran over the wheel of another car in traffic in turn two and fell back to fifth place at the end of the first lap behind Faccinto, Cofer, Schutte and Elliott. 

Cofer and Schutte dueled for position for several laps until both Alex and Cory Elliott slipped past Cofer’s red-white and black #57 machine. On lap 4, Mason Daniels pulled his #33M into the infield done for the night, and then entering turn three on lap 6, Schutte’s #28 midget bicycled onto two wheels and veered into the outer retaining wall. The damage to the right front of Alex’s machine was too severe to continue and his battered machine was towed into the infield.

Schutte’s retirement moved Cory Elliott into second place for the restart and a few laps later, Nate Wait moved into third place after he passed Maria Cofer. Unfortunately for Nate, his third place only lasted a few laps before his car suffered mechanical troubles and he was forced to pull into the infield trailed by JR Williams’ #74 midget.   

On lap 16 the Esslinger engine in the #19 Sala midget broke a valve and Michael Faccinto rolled to a stop in the third turn and was done for the night. Faccinto’s retirement left Elliott in the lead trailed by Cofer and Alvis. The green flag came out with night lap to go, and Elliott appeared to have the race well in hand, but on the last lap, Elliott’s engine troubles reappeared and Cofer closed the gap and Maria followed Cory by less than a car length across the finish line.

The finishing order for the 25-lap feature was Elliott, Cofer, and Alvis with the non-finishing cars in order: Faccinto, Wait, Williams, Schutte and Mason Daniels.

The BCRA midgets return to action of Saturday night July 29 at the 3/8-mile dirt Fernley 95A Speedway in Fernley Nevada in a program with the Sprint Car Challenge Tour. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 645 PM followed by racing at 7 PM. Hope to see you there!  

ALEX SCHUTTE

CAPTURES

 PLACERVILLE GOLD

 

Fourteen “mighty midgets” from the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) invaded “Knoxville on the Hill” Placerville Speedway on Saturday July 1 2017 for a dramatic evening of racing in tandem with the track’s 360 cubic inch winged sprint cars.

There were two interesting entries; new BCRA member Ronnie Gardner, the reigning four-time USAC Western States midget champion was behind the wheel of Ted Finkenbinder’s Esslinger powered #3F midget, and Bakersfield’s Cory Elliott was the only driver to pull “double duty” as he debuted his new winged sprint car.

Elliott’s night started off with a problem as his #11E midget refused to fire off for wheel-packing, but the Elliott crew quickly diagnosed and resolved the mechanical gremlins in time for Cory to join the field for the warm-up sessions. Anaheim’s Robert Dalby was the fastest in hot laps with a best lap of 12.069 seconds with a back-up lap of 12.269 seconds.

Alex Schutte toured the Placerville banked ¼-mile oval in 12.325 seconds followed by Michael Faccinto in Mike Sala’s #19W at 12.378 seconds and Elliott rounded out the top four with a best lap of 12.407 seconds. Randi Pankratz’s car failed to fire for warm-ups with assistance from John Cofer and BCRA officials the #8 Edmunds machine’s fuel delivery problem was quickly rectified.  

The BCRA drivers had earlier drawn for starting positions in  the two seven-car 8-lap preliminary heat races. The first heat race featured the ageless Floyd Alvis on the pole with Terry ‘the Panda’ Nichols alongside.

 

As the field raced into turn three on the first lap, the cars of Alvis, Schutte and Frankie Guerrini made contact. Schutte and Guerrini were able to continue but Alvis spun to stop and was hit by defending BCRA champion Bobby Wilson’s #87. With the track blocked, Faccinto’ s #19W midget rolled over once and came to rest on all four wheels.

Michael indicated that he was suffering from neck pain and the Placerville Speedway safety crew did a superb job of removing him from the car on a back board. After he was transported to the local hospital, X-rays proved negative and Michael was released, albeit very sore but otherwise OK. All BCRA officials fans and drivers wish Michael a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in action soon. 

When the race restarted with all the cars except Faccinto’s, Terry Nichols took command and used the groove around the inside of the track trailed by Aussie driver Danny Carroll in the Sean Dodenhoff #9C and Wilson. Frankie Guerrini was the only driver to try and use the high groove in the F& F #63 but did not experience any success. Wilson slipped by Carroll to take second place for a few laps, but at the finish Carroll slipped past to finish second behind Nichols with Guerrini fourth, and Schutte who battled brake problems fifth and Alvis sixth.

In the second heat race, Ronnie Gardner in the #3F grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag as Maria Cofer hung tough in second place and fought off passing attempts first by David Prickett in the #22Q and late in the race from Cory Elliott who moved up from his sixth starting spot. At the drop of the checkered flag the finishing order was Gardner, Cofer, Elliott, Prickett, Pankratz, Dalby and the #74 of JR Williams.

The winner of the first heat race, Terry Nichols drew the ‘10’ pill for the feature re-draw, so Randi Pankratz was scheduled to start on the pole position, but first she and her crew thrashed to change out the birdcage on her Edmunds midget’s rear suspension. Meanwhile, Elliott was doing his ‘double duty’ in the sprint car B main but fell just short of transferring to the feature.

At the drop of the green flag for the 25-lap feature, Randi Pankratz took the race lead and held on as she used the low groove around the inside of the clay oval with Schutte in close pursuit.  Fifth place starter Elliott immediately began to use the top groove and raced up to battle for second place before his car began to experience an apparent fuel delivery problem which got progressively worse. 

The caution flag flew on lap 7 when Wilson hopped over Dalby’s rear wheel as the pair entered turn three which eliminated Wilson for the night, The top five running order under caution was Pankratz, Prickett, Schutte, Cofer and Carroll with Gardner in sixth place. Elliott took his #11E to the work area under the caution, but the Elliott crew was unable to diagnose the problem and he returned at the tail of the field. Meanwhile Guerrini retired with a flat left front tire and JR Williams retired his #74 midget with a fuel leak.

After the restart, Ronnie Gardner used the high groove to move the #3F midget up to battle for third place but he soon retreated back to the sixth. On lap 11, Schutte moved back into second place, and then on lap 21, Alex squeezed underneath Randi as the pair entered turn three side-by-side. The pair bumped and Schutte emerged from the scramble with the lead as Prickett and Carroll took advantage to drop Randi’s #8 midget to fourth place.

The action slowed on lap 23 after Maria Cofer who was battling a rear brake issue collided with Pankratz and both cars came to a stop between turns one and two. Cory Elliott was scored in fourth flag under the caution flag behind Carroll, but when the green flag was displayed, Elliott powered into third place as Carroll also encountered brake problems.

Alex Schutte battled back from problems early in the evening to win the 25-lap feature with David Prickett second while Cory Elliott recovered from his earlier misadventures to finish third in a car that Cory complained was not running right. Terry Nichols finished a strong fourth after he started in tenth place, while Danny Carroll finished fifth ahead of Alvis, Pankratz, Gardner and Cofer, as Williams, Dalby, Guerrini and Wilson failed to finish.

The BCRA midgets return to action on the 1/3-mile Madera Speedway pavement next Saturday July 8 for the 100-lap Gerhardt Classic which will feature the racers taking the green flag in a three-abreast start. It will be an action-packed night of racing with the   BCRA midgets vintage division will also be on the program along with the Western Winged Super Sprint Series, USAC HPD Midgets, NCMA Sprints, CSS/360 Super Modifieds, Legends of Kearney Bowl, Senior Open Vintage Super Modifieds, and the NCPRO 4 Modifieds.

One final note - be sure to get your ticket orders in now for the July 15 Jack London Picnic and BCRA Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Details are available on the BCRA website at http://www.bcraracing.com/

Prickett and Elliott

score wins during

BCRA

back-to-back weekend

 

 

 

David Prickett and Cory Elliott claimed victories as the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) mighty midgets completed a back-to-back weekend of midget racing on June 9th and 10th.  

 

In their only 2017 season appearance at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville California on Friday night June 9,  thirteen BCRA midgets took to the ¼-mile banked dirt oval in groups for time trials, and Michael Faccinto in Mike Sala’s #19W Spike obliterated the old midget track record set by Ron Marshall in 1996 with a best lap of 13.332 seconds.

 

Alex Schutte in his family’s Esslinger-powered Spike chassis was just whisker behind at 13.334 seconds. Shannon McQueen had the misfortune to have a rocker arm break in her Esslinger engine after just ¾ of lap, but she still managed to post the ninth fastest qualifying time.   

Following a scratch by scheduled pole-sitter Terre Rothweiler, Prickett moved to the inside pole starting position and led the first four laps of the first eight-lap heat race before Cory Elliott up from his third starting position powered past into second place. Elliott led the rest of the way to take the heat race win trailed by Prickett, Shannon McQueen (after some fast pit-side engine repair work by Duane McQueen), and Atascadero’s Randi Pankratz.

In the second heat race, pole-sitter Terry Nichols powered into the lead at the drop of the green flag and led wire-to-wire ahead of a furious battle for position behind him. For the first two laps, fellow front row starter Maria Cofer held down second place, but entering turn three on lap 3 Schutte up from his sixth starting spot slide by to claim second place.

 

Cofer hung on to third place despite repeated challenges from Mason Daniel, while Danny Carroll battled an ill-handling Spike chassis to finish fifth. Chad Daniel’s car unfortunately suffered a broken rear end in the heat race and thus was unable to take the green flag for the evening’s feature race.

Terry Nichols started from the pole position for the 25-lap BCRA main event with Prickett alongside and the pair streaked away with Nichols leading Prickett for the first four circuits until Alex Schutte claimed second place on lap six and began to close the gap on the leader. By the end of lap ten, Schutte was pressuring Nichols for the lead, and as the pair exited turn number two side-by-side on the eleventh lap, they tangled.  The incident left Nichols stopped on the back straightaway but Schutte was able to continue, although his #28 machine had sustained some damage.

On the restart, Schutte’s car hesitated which created a traffic jam entering turn one, and David Prickett emerged from the pack with the lead trailed by Elliott and Faccinto as Schutte fell to fourth place. Over the next few laps Prickett, Elliott and Faccinto distanced themselves from the rest of the field comprised of Pankratz, McQueen, Carroll, Cofer, Nichols, Rothweiler, Floyd Alvis, Tom Doherty and JR Williams.

On lap 20, Schutte joined Williams in the Ocean Speedway grass infield as he could not continue due to brake damage the #28 car had suffered in the earlier collision with Nichols. Over the final laps, Elliott tried gamely to pass Prickett, but the wily veteran and 2009 BCRA champion repelled Elliott’s charges to claim the victory. Michael Faccinto finished third, trailed by Randi Pankratz in fourth with Shannon McQueen in fifth place and Danny Carroll finished sixth.  The BCRA teams loaded up and left Watsonville bound for the North Bay and Petaluma Speedway, the site of Saturday night’s scheduled race.  

 

 

 

At a chilly and windy Petaluma Speedway Saturday night, fourteen BCRA midgets took times during the group qualifying sessions with Elliott the speedy youngster from Bakersfield establishing the quick time for one lap of 14.877 seconds. Hanford’s Michael Faccinto was second quickest with his best lap of 14.951 seconds. The two fastest qualifiers were scheduled to start from sixth position in their respective 8-lap heat races. Alex Schutte, who experienced problems with the Esslinger engine in his #28 machine, would start from the tail of the second heat race.

In the night’s first heat race, outside front row starter and the previous night’s feature winner, David Prickett grabbed the lead and withstood several strong challenges from Elliott to claim the win. Elliott actually took the lead for a moment after a low-side move under Prickett in turn three on the seventh lap, but his momentum carried Cory a bit too high and allowed Prickett to cross back underneath Elliott and recapture the lead. The lead pair was trailed to the checkered flag by Randi Pankratz, Terry Nichols, Sparky Howard, defending BCRA champion Bobby Wilson and JR Williams.

At the start of the second heat race, young Maria Cofer made a nifty move to slip past front row starters Floyd Alvis and Tom Doherty to lead the first lap. Danny Carroll ran second until the first caution flag flew for his spin and during the pause in the action, Rick Holbrook took his midget back to the pit area and out of the remainder of the race. Michael Faccinto was moved up to second place for the restart.

 

Cofer, the daughter of 1994 western midget champion John Cofer and Faccinto staged a memorable battle for the lead over the final three laps of the heat race, with both cars running with their right rear tires right against the cushion. Cofer stood her ground and claimed the win over Faccinto as Carroll recovered to finish third, trailed by multi-time champion Floyd Alvis in fourth and Tom Doherty fifth as Holbrook and Schutte failed to finish.

Alex Schutte’s crew led by his father Carl, toiled over the #28 machine before feature time and had their fingers crossed that they had solved the earlier problems when the field of 14 midgets pushed away to start the evening’s 30-lap feature on the Petaluma 3/8th-mile oval. Pole position starter Maria Cofer led away from the green flag at the start and held the lead through the first two caution flag periods for Danny Carroll, the second of which ended the young Australian’s night prematurely. Meanwhile, Elliott who started eighth after the re-draw began to steadily move his way forward through the field.

Cofer kept the Tule Vista Ranches Esslinger-powered Spike chassis on the high side of the race track and in the lead until lap six when both Faccinto and Terry Nichols slid past expertly using the track’s lower groove. On lap 7, Elliott slipped past Cofer to claim third place and as the race continued Schutte had climbed to fifth place from his shotgun starting spot when the caution flag flew on lap eleven.  Terry Nichols had the incredible misfortune to have the heim joint break at the accelerator pedal which brought his powerless #1P machine to a stop on the high side of turn two.  

Nichols’ retirement moved Elliott up to second place with Schutte in third place and Cofer fourth as racing resumed before the action slowed again when Doherty’s car came to a stop in turn three one lap later. Under the caution flag, the machines of Randi Pankratz and Rick Holbrook were pushed into the infield with mechanical failures.

When the green flag flew again, Elliott and Schutte staged an exciting battle for second place behind Faccinto, which was finally settled in Elliott’s favorite as he began to reel in leader Faccinto, who began to slow with a flattening tire on lap 25. Elliott rocketed into the lead past Faccinto’s faltering machine, and “the Young Gun” in his #11E midget claimed the win over Schutte, Cofer, and Prickett as Faccinto’s #19W fell back through the field over the last five laps and limped across the line in fifth place.

 

Sparky Howard claimed sixth place trailed by Alvis, Williams, and Tom Doherty with Bobby Wilson the tenth place finisher. Among the non-finishers, Pankratz was placed in eleventh, followed by Nichols and Carroll.

The BCRA midget series’ next appearance will open the weekend celebration of our nation’s birthday on Saturday night July 1 at “Knoxville on the Hill” Placerville Speedway as part of a program along with the track’s 360-cubic inch sprint cars, limited late models and pure stocks.  The pit gate will open at 2 PM and the grandstands are set to open one hour later in advance of racing kicking off at 6 PM.