Guerrini III sweeps Lakeport (and Ukiah)  back to back 

The POWRi Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets and the vintage division continued the celebration of the club's 80^th year of existence with a visit on July 5^th to the familiar confines of the ¼-mile Lakeport Speedway on the grounds of the Lake County fairgrounds.  

Mark Maliepaard winner earlier this season at Stockton 99 Speedway was unable to diagnosis and apparent ignition problem with the Esslinger engine in his Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special and withdrew before time trials. 

David Goodwill in his #3 DDS Racing machine edged out Frankie Guerrini in the Bob Rosen #4 midget by only .001 seconds as he posted the quick time of 12.253 seconds on his second timed lap around the Lakeport oval. 

Nine-time POWRi BCRA champion Floyd Alvis was the third fastest qualifier at 12.575 seconds, with JR Williams fourth at 13.725 seconds and current POWRi BCRA points leader and Rookie-of-the-Year contender Robert Carson fifth at 14.240 seconds.

Time trials proved to be the last time anyone topped Guerrini and the potent #4 Mr. Espresso wrenched by Frankie’s dad, Frank. Frankie captured the trophy dash as he executed a nifty outside pass in turn three of leader Alvis on lap two, and streaked to victory over Goodwill, Alvis and Williams.

The heat race featured a fully inverted start, and the drop of the green flag, front row starter JR Williams surged into the lead for the first lap until Guerrini and Goodwill got past JR in turn four on the second of ten laps. Frankie won the race by five car lengths over Goodwill trailed by Williams, Alvis and Carson. 

The starting field for the 30-lap feature was set as an invert of the heat race finish. The near capacity crowd watched as  Floyd Alvis charged into the lead on lap one as Guerrini and Goodwill maneuvered through the field. The speedy pair charged past the green #18 in turn four on the second lap, with Guerrini on the outside and Goodwill on the inside.

Frankie quickly built a five-car lead until he reached lapped traffic, and after he and Goodwill emerged free of the traffic, Guerrini held a ten-car length advantage. Goodwill steadily reeled in the leader over the last half of the race and closed to a five-car length deficit at the checkered flag.

Floyd Alvis finished strong in third place, as Guerrini only lapped the #18 on the race’s final circuit. Robert Carson is the Segur #99 finished fourth two laps behind the leader with JR Williams’ #74 fifth, only two car lengths behind Robert at the finish.

The POWRi BCRA midgets will be in action on July 13^th for Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway in a program that will be taped to air at a later date on the MAV television network. The racing program will also include a 100-lap race for the California Challenge Cup stock cars, Focus Midgets, NCMA Sprint cars, Legends of Kearney Bowl, and the CVMS Mini Stock Invasion.   

Author’s note: thanks to the efforts of Bob Roza, we also can share the results of the POWRi BCRA races at Ukiah Speedway on July 6. David Goodwill again topped Guerrini in qualifying, but Frankie once again swept the racing program as he won the trophy dash, the heat race and the feature. The Ukiah feature finish order was Guerrini, Goodwill, Floyd Alvis, JR Williams and Robert Carson.   

Alex Schutte goes wire-to-wire

in POWRi BCRA midgets at Petaluma

 

On a warm Saturday night June 8, the POWRi BCRA (Bay Cities Racing Association) midgets paid their first visit of the 2019 season to Rick Faeth’s Petaluma Speedway.  Time trials were exciting, with Alex Schutte in his Toyota-powered midget the fastest qualifier with a best lap of 14.888 seconds around the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Maria Cofer in her father’s #57 midget, now powered by a Stanton SR-11 engine, was just .001 of a second slower on her one and only qualifying lap, as a radius rod bolt broke as she started her second lap and she pulled into the infield.

Hawaii’s Larry Petersen powered Dave and Wendy Thurston’s #11 to third place with his lap of 15.997 seconds, followed by Floyd Alvis in the famed “Yellowbird” midget fourth fastest at 16.667 seconds. Rookie of the Year contender and current BCRA overall points leader Robert Carson in the Howard and Karen Segur #99 was fifth fastest at 17.305 seconds, and Beau Lemire in his family-owned Subaru powered midget posted a best lap of 17.730 seconds. Marvin Mitchell currently sixth in the BCRA dirt points, suffered ignition problems and his #78 machine did not post a time.

For the start of the 8-lap heat race, Lemire elected to move to the tail of the field, which put Petersen on the pole with Alvis alongside as Schutte and Cofer shared the second row. After a pair of aborted starts, the field took the green flag and Schutte led the field into turn one with Cofer in hot pursuit as Petersen settled into third place.

On lap three, the caution flag flew as Lemire spun for the second time in the race – the #14 race car appeared to have handling problems and officials pushed him back to the pit area. When the green flag flew again, Cofer stalked Schutte for a lap, then made her move on the low side down the back stretch and Maria powered into the lead which she never relinquished. At the checkered flag the finishing order was Cofer, Schutte, Petersen, Alvis, Mitchell and Carson.

After POWRi BCRA race director Don Thornburg tallied the passing points from the heat race finish to set the feature starting field, Maria Cofer paced the lineup for the 25-lap feature with Alex Schutte alongside. As the field pushed off and lined up for the feature start, the ignition problems in Marvin Mitchell’s #78 car resurfaced, and Mitchell rolled back to the pit area and did not take the green flag.

At the drop of the green flag, Schutte led the field into turn one followed by Cofer and Petersen. On lap two, Floyd Alvis pulled the #18 into the infield with fuel delivery problems, and on lap four Lemire spun for the second time in the race and was out for the rest of the event.  On lap seven, with Schutte still in the lead, Carson’s #99 rolled to stop on the front straightaway. Officials attempted to restart the Joyce Metal Works Special, but it would not re-fire and Robert retired to the pit area.

Schutte commanded the lap eight restart ahead of Cofer and Petersen, and Alex steadily built a lead while on lap 12, the Esslinger engine in the Thurston #11 machine began to backfire, and Larry pulled off the track. As the race continued, Cofer’s car appeared to pick up a push in the corners, which allowed Schutte’s Proficio-sponsored machine to pull away, and Alex had built up a six-car length lead on lap 20.  At the drop of the checkered flag, Alex Schutte won by 3.367 seconds over Maria Cofer. Larry Petersen finished third, trailed by Robert Carson in fourth.  Floyd Alvis finished fifth, Beau Lemire sixth, and Marvin Mitchell seventh.

The POWRi BCRA mighty midgets continue the club’s 80^th season of racing action when they return to action at the tight and exciting Lakeport Speedway on July 5^th, for the first night of a holiday weekend pavement doubleheader with Ukiah Speedway scheduled for the next night. Follow the last breaking news and updates at   http://www.bcraracing.com/

       

The BCRA 2018 Season finale Doubleheader Weekend

2018 BCRA Champion Jesse Love

photo by the author

Jesse Love makes it three wins in a row at Stockton 99 on Saturday

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) mighty midgets raced on Saturday night October 27 as the first part of a special 2018 season-ending racing program at the lightning fast Stockton 99 Speedway.  and concluded a big two-day weekend show that also featured the Gunslingers winged Sprint Car series, the BCRA vintage division, USAC Western Speed2 midgets and the Legends of Kearny Bowl which featured an entry from six-time BCRA champion Gary Koster.   

Twelve BCRA midgets signed in at the pit gate and the entry list included Cody Jessop in Karl Hokanson’s beautiful #98 midget which suffered mechanical plumbing problems during practice and was withdrawn. Mark Maliepaard topped the charts in time trials with a quick 13.157 second lap to edge out Jesse Love who recorded a best lap of 13.221 seconds. David Goodwill and Cody Gerhardt were third and fourth fastest respectively, while Chad Nichols surprised many as he struggled and was the day’s fifth fastest qualifier. Rookie Dylan Nobile of Clovis in his BCRA debut in the #55 midget formerly owned by Gary Conterno was sixth fastest, trailed by Maria Cofer, Richard “Skeeter” Flake from Washington state, the affable JR Williams, nine-time BCRA champion Floyd Alvis and George Tuttle, who was doing double duty with the Speed2 midgets.

Chad Nichols in the Shanoian #17N Esslinger-powered midget started the first heat race from the pole position with Maria Cofer alongside, as five cars took the green flag after the engine in Tuttle’s beautiful black #98T car wouldn’t start. Nichols grabbed the lead into turn one ahead of Cofer, who was passed by Maliepaard who used a nifty inside move through turn three on the first lap to grab the position. A lap later, Goodwill dropped Maria to fourth place, and the running order remained static from then until the end of the eight-lap race with the finishing order Nichols, Maliepaard, Goodwill, Cofer and Williams.

Floyd Alvis led the five-car second heat race to the green flag, but outside front row starter “Skeeter” Flake beat the rest of the field into turn one with Cody Gerhardt in second place and Jesse Love in third place. Gerhardt looked high and low at both ends of the track but could not find his way around the Washington midget racing veteran, all while Cody repelled the efforts of the young charger Jesse Love to grab second place. The finish at the end of eight laps was Flake, Gerhardt, Love, Nobile and Alvis.

Later the four fastest qualifiers lined up for the four-lap trophy dash in a fully inverted start. Cody Gerhardt made the most of his pole position start and he held off Goodwill, Love and Maliepaard to claim a popular win in the #29 Eskelsen Motorsports Mopar-powered Beast and $100 donated by Race Director Bob Roza.   

After the heat races and the trophy dash were completed, the re-draw for the start of the feature was held. The fastest qualifier Mark Maliepaard drew the magic “zero” pill for a straight-up lineup with the fast qualifier in the coveted pole position. At the drop of the green flag, Mark and fellow front row starter Jesse Love raced side-by-side for the first lap around the ¼-mile high-banked oval before Love thrust into the lead, trailed by Maliepaard, Goodwill, Nichols and Gerhardt. On lap four, Nichols slipped past Goodwill and Chad had a front row seat as Mark and Jesse battled for the top spot. On lap 12, Nichols passed Mark Maliepaard, then two laps later. Goodwill dropped Mark’s #51 Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special into fourth place.

The caution flag flew on lap 14 after the black #81 machine of “Skeeter” Flake rolled to a stop in turn two and he was pushed into the pit area to join early retiree JR Williams who had experienced an engine oiling issue. The ensuing restart got jammed up and unfortunately, young Dylan Nobile was the innocent victim as his #55 ended up nosed into the outside retaining wall at the end of the front straightaway. The car was undamaged but Dylan headed to the pits, his night over early.  

The next restart was clean and over the next nine laps, the crowd at Stockton 99 Speedway was treated to an epic battle for the race lead between the young phenom Jesse Love and the wily veteran Chad Nichols. Nichols’ orange #17N was brutally fast on the straightaways, but Chad’s machine could not hold the low line through the turns. Lap after lap Chad got underneath Jesse as the pair entered the corner, then edged ahead mid-corner, but Nichols just couldn’t make the pass stick, as Love would diamond off the corner and power underneath to retain the race lead at the start-finish stripe. 

After lap 23, the exciting battle ended and Love began to pull clear of Nichols. Jesse cruised to his third consecutive BCRA midget pavement win over Nichols, Gerhardt, Goodwill, Maliepaard, Alvis, Cofer, Flake and JR Williams.   

Gerhardt wins Sunday Afternoon at Stockton 99 Speedway - Jesse Love 2018 BCRA series champion

By Bob Roza

A special Sunday afternoon Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) season-ending racing program closed out 2018 and concluded a big two-day weekend show at Stockton 99 Speedway that also featured the BCRA vintage division, the Gunslingers Sprint Cars, USAC Western Speed2 midgets and the Legends of Kearny Bowl. The afternoon opened with BCRA Midgets time trials with Chad Nichols setting fast time at 13:105 over Mark Maliepaard from nearby Ripon at 13:229 seconds Jesse Love who was aiming for his fourth straight BCRA win was third fastest at 13:354 seconds.    

After hot laps, car owner Karl Hokanson withdrew his immaculate #98 car from competition due to internal engine problems. Karl has had a tough time getting the bugs worked out of his beautiful #98 machine, as problems have surfaced after hot laps at each of the car’s last three outings at Madera and Stockton.

The first heat race was won by midget rookie driver Dylan Nobile from Fresno in the recently purchased Mopar powered Beast formerly owned by Gary Conterno.  Finishing behind Nobile were Love, Nichols, and Richard “Skeeter” Flake who made the long 12-hour tow from Washington state to race with the BCRA midgets.  The second heat race was won by Malipaard from his fourth-place starting position over Gerhardt, Floyd Alvis and Maria Cofer who failed to finish after her black #88 machine suffered front axle damage from contact with a spinning car.

For the final racing event of the 2018 racing season quick qualifier Chad Nichols drew the zero pill, for a “straight up” starting field based on qualifying times, with Nichols on the pole position and Maliepaard on the outside.  When the initial green flag flew, Nichols bolted into the early lead over Love and Maliepaard, however Love’s blue #5 midget owned by Tres Van Dyne began to slow immediately.  Love’s engine popped and backfired as Jesse dove into the infield as caution flag was shown to the field. Once the car rolled to a stop, the crew quickly diagnosed the culprit as a bad magneto which meant that the young phenom was done for the night. 

When racing resumed, Nichols set a fast pace ahead of Maliepaard, Gerhardt and Nobile.  Several laps later Cofer pulled her ill-handling Arata Brothers Chevrolet-powered Spike chassis into the infield.  Her car owners, the Arata brothers, Jeff and Anthony, Maria’s father, John Cofer and Tim Grant, the father of the 2007 BCRA champion Justin Grant, all deserve praise for making the needed repairs after the heat race incident so Maria could start the main event.

With the race half over the racing continued with Maliepaard, Gerhardt, & Nobile in a spirited battle for second place behind Nichols until lap 18 when Maliepaard & Nobile spun together calling for a yellow flag. Both cars were restarted and rejoined the tail of the field.  When racing resumed Gerhardt closed in on Nichols rear bumper then made a clean pass on lap 20, and lengthened his lead as Chad’s handling issues worsened, eventually diagnosed as a bad steering box. Over the remaining laps, Cody was smooth and fast and he took the checkered flag in the Paul Eskelsen’s Mopar-powered Beast chassis over Nichols, Nobile and Malipaard with Skeeter Flake in the fifth position.

With the long season at a close, the BCRA racers gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of the 2018 champions – Maria Cofer emerged as the dirt driver champion, Chad Nichols repeated as the pavement driver champion, and Jesse Love is the 2018 BCRA overall series driver champion. Love will reign as the youngest-ever BCRA driver champion in the club’s long storied 79-year history.  Love’s car owner Tres Van Dyne is the series overall owner champion, while Team 17 captured the pavement owner’s title and John Cofer repeated as the BCRA dirt division owner champion.  

The Bay Cities Racing Association thanks all of the competitors who participated in our final weekend of racing for 2018, our valued sponsors and especially Business Manager Linda Manning. The club also extends our thanks to all the series’ fans, racers, promoters, and sponsors for their support throughout the 2018 season. 

 

       

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.        

 

  

Faccinto completed the “clean sweep”

at Fernley 95A Speedway

 

 

Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) racer Michael Faccinto unveiled a new Simpson driver’s uniform before the evening’s races at Fernley 95A Speedway Saturday, which he hoped would change his luck. In recent weeks Michael’s racing luck has been a roller coaster ride, as Michael flipped the Mike Sala midget at Placerville Speedway and took a precautionary trip to the hospital, but came back and won at Petaluma Speedway. Last week at Marysville Raceway, after he won the heat race, Faccinto had the field covered in the feature only to have the engine in the Sala midget fail with less than ten laps to go.

The night at Fernley started out well for Faccinto as he set quick time during the group qualifying session with his second lap which stopped the clocks at 17.244 seconds, which edged out BCRA points leader Maria Cofer’s 17.613 second lap. Third quick qualifier was Bobby Wilson at 17.704 seconds, with Floyd Alvis and JR Williams rounding out the top five qualifiers.  Williams battled back from an earlier drive line problem prior to hot laps to make successful repairs with the assistance of Rick Holbrook using parts provided by John Cofer.

Pole-sitter Bobby Wilson led the first ¾ of the first lap in the heat race before both Faccinto and Cofer swept by, and then Wilson and Alvis dueled for position before Bobby’s car got loose as he exited turn two and brushed the outside backstretch wall. Wilson recovered and maintained his third positon to the finish as Alvis settled into fourth place as Williams’ car missed the call.   

Young guns Faccinto and Cofer shared the front row for the start of the 20-lap feature event, and at the drop of the green Michael powered away from the field and built up a three-car length advantage over Cofer.  Wilson and Alvis dueled for third place during the race’s first three laps before Floyd established himself in third place and pulled away from Wilson.

During the middle laps of the race, Maria Cofer reeled in the leader; first she closed to within two car lengths then was right on the bumper of the #19 midget for several torrid laps. However, as track conditions changed, on successive laps Cofer’s car bobbled as she exited turn two which allowed Faccinto to pull away and rebuild his three-car length lead in the later laps of the race.  

The standing-room only crowd watched as Faccinto in his new “lucky” driver’s uniform cruised under the checkered flag to complete his “clean sweep” of the night’s racing program. Maria Cofer padded her points lead with a strong second place finish while the ageless Floyd Alvis scored his second straight third place finish ahead of Bobby Wilson. JR Williams encountered handling problems with his #74 midget and pulled into the pit area mid-race.

The BCRA mighty midgets return to the pavement on August 5 with the second annual Tom Manning Memorial Race at Stockton 99 Speedway, with opening ceremonies set to begin at 6 PM. See you there!

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!