Kern County Raceway hosts

historic first POWRi BCRA race

The Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) kicked off its 80^th year of racing action and entered a new era with the first-ever Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series race Friday night March 15, 2019 on the 1/3-mile Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway near Bakersfield. 

Seventeen mighty midgets posted qualifying times, topped by Austin Liggett in his own #83 midget. Liggett’s fast lap of 15.233 seconds edged out Chase Johnson in the Del Morris #47M by just .078 seconds, with Maria Cofer third in the John Cofer #57 at 15.331 seconds. Robert Dalby, Cory Elliott and Shannon McQueen rounded out the fastest six qualifiers.

The first heat started with a bang, as while the pole sitter Michael Faccinto streaked out of turn four on the first lap, CJ Sarna took a tumble back in the pack after contact with Jake Swanson. Sarna’s car was finished for the heat race, but Swanson’s crew replaced his flat right front tire and Jake rejoined at the back of the field for the complete restart. 

On the race’s first recorded lap, Liggett dropped to the low side through turn four and took the lead from Faccinto. By lap four Swanson had worked his way up through the field to run second behind Liggett with Dalby in third.  On lap seven, Faccinto pulled his #71R Morris Motorsports car into the infield, and the finishing order was Liggett, Swanson, Dalby and Ben Worth.

The second heat race was dominated by Bakersfield College student Cory Elliott, who obviously lost none of his talent in his during his short absence from midget racing, as the #11E went wire-to-wire. After eight laps, Elliott crossed the finish line ahead of Chase Johnson, Terry Nichols, Frank Guerrini III, Dylan Ito, and Robert Carson. Robert is the son of three-time BCRA champion Glenn Carson, and the grandson of the late BCRA legendary car owner Howard Segur. Robert’s grandmother is the owner of the #99 midget with which Robert is contending for 2019 POWRi BCRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors.

The third heat race had trouble on the first lap, as Shannon McQueen spun to a stop at the end of the backstretch after contact with another machine, but #7 McQueen Racing machine restarted and the 2011 BCRA Dirt Series driver champion rejoined the tail of the field for the restart.  At the drop of the green, Maria Cofer shot into lead and streaked away from the field and the 2017 BCRA champion won the heat race in convincing fashion ahead of McQueen, rookie Troy Morris III, and Gage Rucker in the Cory Kruseman entry.

While POWRi BCRA officials totaled up the passing points from the heat races to determine the feature race lineup, Frank Guerrini III’s F&F Racing #63 was withdrawn with engine issues, but CJ Sarna’s hard working crew affected repairs to the #20 machine following the heat race mishap.

Top points earner Liggett shared the front row with Maria Cofer for the start while Elliott and Johnson were deployed in the second row, and Swanson and McQueen shared the third row for the start of the 25-lpa main event. At the drop of the green flag, Cofer shot into the lead with Johnson and McQueen in hot pursuit. The action was slowed on lap two as Rucker spun to stop in turn three, and on the restart, Cofer’s car pulled a big wheel stand which allowed Chase Johnson to slip by into the race lead.

On lap five, Cory Elliott moved into fourth place, but his charge forward was halted for the moment when the yellow flag flew on lap eight as the #71R Morris Motorsports entry piloted by Faccinto rolled to a stop in turn two with engine maladies. On the restart, the field charged hard into turn one, but Elliott’s car caught a rut and went for a ride that ended against the turn one outside wall. Cory emerged from the car uninjured, but the #11E machine was done for the night.

After the third restart, Johnson began to stretch his lead and built up an eight-car cushion by lap 14 over Cofer, as Liggett, McQueen and Swanson rounded out the top five positions. On lap 15, Dylan Ito’s Josh Ford Racing #73 lost its left rear wheel and came to a stop out of turn two on the backstretch.  After the race’s final restart, Johnson again began to pull away as behind him Cofer fell to third place behind Liggett. Swanson began a late race charge to the front, and Jake moved into second place on lap 22 while Cofer reclaimed third place. 

Johnson held a ten-car advantage over Swanson at the checkered flag, with Maria Cofer third, Austin Liggett fourth and Robert Dalby in fifth place. Sixth through tenth place finishers were Shannon McQueen, Ben Worth, Terry Nichols, Troy Morris III, and Kyle Beilman.  Gage Rucker was eleventh with CJ Sarna twelfth and Robert Carson rounded out the finishers in thirteenth. The non-finishers were in order Dylan Ito, Cory Elliott, and Michael Faccinto with Frankie Guerrini, who did not start the feature, was scored seventeenth.  

The POWRi BCRA midget series returns to the Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway on May 3, 2019 for the series’ next dirt track race.

The first pavement race for

POWRi BCRA midgets

at Madera Speedway

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series presented a non-points exhibition race for the MAVTV Midget Series at the historic 1/3-mile paved Madera Speedway on Saturday March 16, 2019, the first pavement race of the new POWRi BCRA era.  

2018 BCRA overall champion Jesse Love in the 51Fifty Energy Drinks sponsored Van Dyne #5 topped the time trials speed chart with a blistering 13.974 second lap. Second qualifier Jerome Rodela in the Trench Shoring/Ed Pink Racing Engines #25 midget was just .019 of a second slower, while David Goodwill in his #3 midget wound up third with a best lap of 14.030 seconds.

Teammates Dylan Nobile and Cody Gerhardt claimed fourth and fifth qualifying spots respectively, while Toledo Ohio USAC Silver Crown racer Austin Nemire claimed sixth quick honors in the Charles Breidinger #80X Honda-powered midget. Rookie contender Robert Carson did not post a qualifying time with the Segur #99 and Cody Jessop unfortunately withdrew his #00 before qualifying with engine woes.

Both Nemire and Goodwill were late scratches as the field assembled on track for the heat race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela shot into the early lead ahead of Gerhardt and Love. Love worked past Cody on lap three, then Nobile relegated his teammate to fourth place on lap five, as Carson pulled his machine into the infield. The finishing order for the eight laps was Rodela, Love, Nobile and Gerhardt. 

After the new POWRi BCRA race director Don Thornburg totaled up the passing points from the heat race, Rodela started from the coveted pole position with the young phenom Love alongside while Nobile and Gerhardt shared the second row for the 40-lap feature race. At the drop of the green flag, Rodela and Love raced side-by-side around the track for the first lap before Jerome pulled ahead in his Toyota-powered machine as the pair crossed the stripe for the first time.

By lap seven, Rodela had extended his advantage to 10 car lengths over the 14-year old Love, while Nobile rode in third place ahead of Gerhardt. By lap fourteenth, the dominant red-and-white #25 midget held a straightaway advantage over second place, which was extended to ½ alp by lap 26.  On lap 32, Rodela lapped past fourth place Cody Gerhardt  on his way to a dominant nine-second $1500 victory at the drop of the checkered flag over Love, Nobile and Gerhardt, while 2019 POWRi BCRA series Rookie-of-the-Year contender Robert Carson in the Segur #99 scored a solid fifth place.   

The Performance Open Wheel Racing Inc. (POWRi) Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to action on April 27 at the lightning fast new Stockton 99 Speedway paved track along with the Gun Slingers Wing Sprint Car Series, North State Modified Series, Legends of Kearney Bowl, BCRA Midgets, Western US Midgets and the Vintage Midget division.

The POWRi BCRA Lucas Oil Midget Series returns to Madera Speedway for a double points MAVTV Midget Series $1500-to-win race on May 4 as part of a back-to-back POWRi BCRA dirt/asphalt midget racing weekend. 

Chili Bowl 2019 – night two

Night two of the 2019 33^rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire in Tulsa Oklahoma were spiced up with the 20-car 20-lap Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions. 

Tanner Thorson in Clyde Lamar’s Arai-sponsored #3C midget went wire-to-wire from his outside front row starting position to win over Keith Kunz Motorsports’ (KKM) Kyle Larson and his KKM teammate Christopher Bell who had started fifteenth. Ryan Bernal in Kevin Swindell’s #39 finished fourth and JJ Yeley fifth.

The night’s 25-lap A feature was captured by Kyle Larson in the KKM McDonald’s sponsored machine. Larson powered past early leader Zach Daum on the high side down the back stretch on lap five went to the cushion and motored away as Daum fought off the challenge of Sam Hafertepe Junior. 

Following a caution flag period with  25 laps completed for Larry Wright’s blown engine, Daum held off the charge of Jonathon Beason up from his tenth place starting position in his Hard Eight Racing entry as Larson drove away to a one-second advantage at the drop of the checkered flag.

2018 United States Auto Club (USAC) Light up the World Beverages Western States Midget champion Michael Faccinto used the low groove around the Tulsa Expo Raceway to finish in fourth place with Hafertepe Jr. fifth.

2018 USAC National sprint car champion Tyler “Sunshine” Courtney wound up with a disappointing sixth-place finish after he ran fourth for much of the race. Announcer and racer Dillon Welch placed seventh with NASCAR rising star and former USAC midget rookie of the year Alex Bowman finished ninth.

Author’s note: Kudos to Southwest Airlines and Avis Rent A Car for their excellent customer service provided during the author’s eventful trip from the West Coast to Tulsa.

Schutte claims Jack London race victory

On Saturday night July 21 at the fast 3/8-mile Petaluma Speedway, the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) joined forces with the United States Auto Club (USAC) ‘Light up the World Beverages presented by CBD Living Water’ Western States midgets to celebrate the Jack London Hall of Fame induction weekend.

Earlier in the day before the racing program began, members of the BCRA community gathered for the annual Jack London Bash and Hall of Fame induction on the grounds of the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. In addition to delicious luncheon, attendees saw the induction of drivers Don Meacham and Chuck Stevenson, midget and midget lite owner and driver Rick Holbrook, midget lite series official Peggy Holbrook, and long-time car owner and driver John Mosekian. 

In addition to honoring this year’s and previous years’ inductees and their families, there was a giant raffle of exciting prizes during the ceremony. A surprise inductee was former BCRA driver and Petaluma Speedway promoter Rick Faeth, who announced that earlier in the week he had signed a four-year extension of his lease of the Petaluma Speedway.

18-year old Clayton Ruston topped time trials with a best lap of 15.339 seconds followed by Alex Schutte, defending BCRA champion Maria Cofer, and Shannon McQueen as David Prickett rounded out the top five qualifiers. Sixth through tenth were Daniel Anderson, Jackson Dukes, Frankie Guerrini, Geoff Ensign, in the Finkenbinder 3F and tenth was Michael Faccinto in the Dodenhoff entry followed by Robby Josett, as all the top eleven cars recorded lap times in the 15-second range.

The twelfth fastest qualifier was Kyle Beilman, trailed by C.J. Sarna, Robert Dalby, Ashley Hazleton-Heredia, Rick Cook, Matt Sargent, Ariel Biggs, Marvin Mitchell, and J.R. Williams. Third-generation racer Randi Pankratz wound up 21^st fastest as she and her crew battled engine woes with her newly reassembled Edmunds AutoResearch #8 machine.

Pole position starter Faccinto reacted quickly and grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag in the first of three heat races, then steadily built his lead and won by six car lengths over Sarna with McQueen third and Ruston in fourth place.   In the second heat race, front row starter Guerrini took the early lead and held on to win over Josett, Prickett and Schutte.  Victory in the final 8-lap heat race went to Daniel Anderson, whose #77 was trailed across the finish line by Ensign, Beilman and Cofer.

Unfortunately, Rick Cook who pulled double duty in a 600-cc micro sprint car was involved in a serious crash at the start of their feature event and was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. The BCRA family extends best wishes to Rick for a speedy and complete recovery. 

After fast qualifier Ruston pulled the number six pill in the re-draw for the lineup for the feature race, Daniel Anderson and David Prickett shared the front row for the start followed by McQueen and Cofer in the all-female second row and Schutte and Ruston in row three. At the drop of the green flag for the start of the 30-lap race, there was a collision in the first turn that involved Dalby, Sarna, Mitchell and Pankratz.

Sarna’s midget suffered a left rear broken shock absorber in the collision but CJ elected to continue. On the complete restart, Prickett grabbed the lead before a flurry of activity during the race’s second lap. JR Williams retired his #74 to the pit area and McQueen her #7 pulled to the infield with a suspected broken rocker arm in the Esslinger engine before a mix-up occurred in the first turn on the third lap that claimed the cars of Hazelton-Heredia, Dalby and Biggs.    

When green flag action resumed, Prickett maintained his lead, as behind him Schutte moved into third place on lap 8 behind Anderson, then into second as Faccinto also got past Anderson and dropped the #77 machine into third place. After a restart for a stopped car on track, on lap 13, Schutte passed Prickett for the lead with Faccinto in third place.   

Schutte recorded a series of fast laps and built a five-car advantage which he extended to a full straightaway by the drop of the checkered flag. Alex was trailed across the line by Prickett, Faccinto, Cofer, Guerrini. Josett and Ensign. Randi Pankratz recovered from her mechanical gremlins to finish in eighth place, and for her outstanding run from the 21^st starting spot, Pankratz earned the race’s “hard charger” award.

Ninth place went to Sarna who ran the entire race with a broken shock absorber, with the finish rounded out by Beilman and Marvin Mitchell. Among the non-finishers, the official order was Anderson, Dukes, Ruston, Sargent, Hazelton-Heredia, McQueen, Biggs, Dalby and Williams.

The BCRA midgets will make their furthest visit north in the 2018 season for their next race at Ukiah Speedway in an event on Saturday August 18^th co-sanctioned with the Washington Midget Racing Association.  

 

Golobic dominates 

the Stockton dirt track

On Saturday night May 26 a group of thirteen Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) midgets were part of the $5,000 to win winged 360 cubic inch sprint car program along with the Joe Hunt sprint car series. Two of the thirteen BCRA drivers, young Kalib Henry and Michael Faccinto, were set to perform double duty in both the BCRA and Joe Hunt races. Due to the size of the fields in both the sprint car divisions, the BCRA competitors did not qualify through time trials, rather the field was set using a blind draw conducted by Jimmy Montgomery.

Unfortunately, two of the BCRA midgets did not survive the hot laps warmups – youngster Jackson Dukes’ car broke a rear end, and Frankie Guerrini III flipped his midget hard in turn three and the car was too damaged to continue. Kalib Henry exhibited great sportsmanship and offered to step out of the Finkenbinder #3F midget in favor of Guerrini.

In the first 8-lap heat race, the pole position starter Shane Golobic seized the lead early and was never challenged, as Guerrini moved up from the tail of the field to finish second with David Prickett third, Rick Cook fourth and JR Williams finished in fifth place.

Late arrival Marvin Mitchell tagged the tail of the second heat race, and at the drop of the green flag, outside front row starter Maria Cofer swooped across the track in front of John Sarale to take the early lead.  Entering the first turn, second place runner Alex Schutte encountered a rough spot in the clay surface which sent his car flipping high in the air and it continued to roll over the first turn banking. After a few anxious moments, Alex emerged uninjured but his #28 midget was done for the night. When the race resumed, Michael Faccinto in the Dodenhoff #9D powered past 2017 BCRA champion Cofer to take the lead which he held to the finish. Following Faccinto and Cofer across the finish line were Sarale in third, multi-time West Coast champion Ronnie Gardner fourth and Mitchell finished in fifth place.

Maria Cofer and Guerrini shared the front row for the start of the 25-lap feature race, with Faccinto and Golobic side-by-side for row two. At the drop of the green flag, Maria grabbed the race lead, but her advantage was short-lived, as Golobic soon powered past. As Golobic built his lead as the leaders maneuvered through traffic, Faccinto and Cofer dueled for second place, with Maria able to hold off Michael with Sarale in third place and Guerrini in fourth place.

Faccinto cleared Cofer on lap thirteen, but Golobic already had built a straightaway lead over second place, and the driver of the #9D midget was unable to close the gap as the race wound down. At the drop of the checkered flag, Shane Golobic in the Wood #17W had lapped up to the fourth-place finisher and won by ¾ lap over Faccinto. Cofer finished third, with Sarale fourth, Guerrini fifth ahead of David Prickett.  Ronnie Gardner finished seventh, Rick Cook eighth, JR Williams who battled a fuel leak in ninth and Marvin Mitchell in tenth place.

Next up for the BCRA mighty midgets is a big doubleheader weekend with races at Ocean Speedway on tap for Friday night June 8 and the next night June 9 at Petaluma Speedway.     

      

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!  

Faccinto returns 

and wins a thriller at Petaluma

Twenty-three midget cars drivers and crews were on hand Saturday night July 15 at the 3/8-mile Petaluma Speedway for the Jack London Hall of Fame race co-sanctioned by Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC). In the afternoon before the racing program began, BCRA hosted the annual Jack London Bash Picnic and the 2017 BCRA Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Behrens Park on the Sonoma - Marin Fairgrounds.

Among the race entries were four female drivers- Randi Pankratz, Courtney Crone, 2011 BCRA dirt series champion Shannon McQueen and current BCRA points leader Maria Cofer. Four midget drivers- Ronnie Gardner, Geoff Ensign, Britton Bock and Cory Elliott did “double duty” as they also raced in winged 360 cubic inch sprint cars which were also a part of the evening’s racing program. 

Ronnie Gardner in his #68 Stewart chassis midget powered by an Esslinger engine was the fastest qualifier with a best lap of 14.635 seconds, followed by Michael Faccinto who posted a lap of 14.665 seconds and Geoff Ensign third with a time of 14.679 seconds.

At the start of the first 8-lap heat race, front row starter Danny Carroll took the point and the Australian driver now living in Roseville California held the lead throughout in Sean Dodenhoff’s #9C.   Frankie Guerrini charged up from his fourth starting spot to run second behind Danny with Gardner third. On the last lap, Alex Schutte in #28 tried a ‘slide job’ in turn three to take third from Gardner but settled for fourth place. Young Mason Daniel finished in the important fifth place as the top five heat finishers kept their qualifying times to determine the starting position for the feature race.

In the second heat race, Cory Elliott charged into the lead at the drop of the green from the outside of the front row and held on despite his #11E machine experiencing an electrical issue which periodically caused the Esslinger engine to nearly stop running at times. Courtney Crone and Michael Faccinto battled hard for second place while David Prickett and CJ Sarna dueled for fourth place. Elliott was first under the checkered flag trailed by Crone, Faccinto, Prickett and Sarna as the top five finishers.

The third heat race featured three of the female drivers starting in the first front two rows, and Maria Cofer led the first two circuits before she was passed by Anaheim’s Robert Dalby in his new #4D Esslinger powered Spike midget. Sixth place starter Geoff Ensign aggressively moved through traffic to run in third place then in the closing laps pushed underneath Cofer to finish the heat race in second place. Shannon McQueen capitalized on Cofer’s detour out of the turn three and four racing groove to finish third as Maria recovered to finish in fourth place ahead of Tyler Dolcaki who charged into fifth on the last lap.

Fast qualifier Ronnie Gardner pulled the number “8” pill on the re-draw for the line-up of the 30-lap feature which placed Courtney Crone on the inside of the front row for the start with Guerrini alongside. The feature race action came to a halt quickly after the initial green flag however, as Nate Wait got tangled up in traffic and flipped the #35 midget in turn one of the opening lap which necessitated a complete restart less Wait’s machine.  On the second start, Guerrini blasted into the lead in the F&F Racing #63 trailed by Crone, Ensign, Gardner and Faccinto and the front five cars soon pulled away from the rest of the field by several car lengths.

The night’s first caution flag flew on lap nine for a spin by Sparky Howard in turn two, with his #3 machine soon pushed away to rejoin the field. On the restart, Gardner and Faccinto shot past Ensign as his car had broken a front brake line after contact with another car and Ensign without brakes soon exited to the pit area. On lap ten Daniels pulled his #33M machine into the infield while the racing action continued as Gardner began to press Crone for second place.

On lap 13, Guerrini bobbled in the rough inner section of turns one and two and both Crone and Gardner roared past to drop Frankie to third place. As the leaders entered lapped traffic on the 18^th lap, Gardner scooted past Crone and into the lead. On lap 20, young Santa Monica driver Kyle Beilman had a problem with his car’s Mopar engine and coasted through turns three and four and down the front straightaway and off the ramp to the pit area.  Although Beilman’s retirement did not interrupt the action, on the following lap after contact with another car, Prickett’s #22Q midget lost a wheel and rolled to a stop on the inside on turn one to once again slow the field.

Under caution with nine laps to go, the crowd began to buzz with excitement as they realized that Gardner who earlier won the winged 360 sprint feature in dominant fashion had a chance to become only the fourth driver in Petaluma Speedway history to win two features on the same night. On the restart, Faccinto charged past Crone for second place before the caution flag flew for a three-car tangle in run four that involved Dalby, Dolacki and Pankratz. The cars of both Dalby and Dolacki were too damaged to continue but Randi restarted her #8 Fontana-powered Edmunds midget at the tail of the field.

On the restart, Gardner encountered his own trouble on the high side of the rough turns one and two and his bobble allowed Faccinto and Crone to streak past. Gardner charged back and passed Crone in turn three on the next lap, but the pass was nullified when the caution flag flew as Terry Nichols’ #1P came to stop in turn three with an apparent broken rear end.  On the restart, with Faccinto ahead in the lead Crone and Gardner dueled side-by-side for over a lap, and as the pair exited turn two side-by-side the pair made wheel-to-wheel contact. Crone’s car crossed over from the inside and began a series of end-over-end flips down the backstretch along the outer fence. Behind Courtney, Gardner’s car also turned over once and came to rest on its wheels near the inside of the racing surface. 

Ronnie quickly emerged from his #68 car and the track crew pushed his car off the racing surface, while other safety workers rushed to Crone’s #25 Toyota-powered Malloy midget which was resting on its side midway down the back straightaway.  Once the car was righted, Courtney slowly climbed out but she soon laid on the ground behind the machine and was tended to by emergency personnel.

After several anxious minutes, Courtney walked with assistance to the ambulance to cheers from the crowd.  The author visited with Courtney after the race and is glad to report that after she spent part of Saturday night in a local hospital for observation, Courtney was reportedly quite sore from her rough ride and she and her father Jack returned home to Southern California on Sunday. 

The running order for the restart after the red flag was withdrawn with five laps to go was Faccinto, Alex Schutte, Guerrini, Cory Elliott (up from 13^th at the start) and Shannon McQueen in fifth. Elliott immediately charged past Frankie to grab third place, then powered into second while Danny Carroll moved past McQueen.  On race’s the last lap, Elliott’s machine suffered an apparent rear end problem and suddenly slowed in turn four, which created a traffic jam as the field packed up behind Elliott while winner Michael Faccinto streaked under the double checkered flags.

Fans will remember that at the last BCRA dirt track race at Placerville Speedway, Faccinto left the track in an ambulance after a scary-looking flip which makes his return to victory lane in the Carrillo Rod sponsored #35F midget a sweet one indeed.  Frankie Guerrini emerged from the last lap scrum to finish second to cap a strong feature performance, with Alex Schutte third and Shannon McQueen in fourth place. Danny Carroll got caught up in the confusion of the final turn to finish in fifth place, while Ronnie Gardner recovered from his earlier flip to finish in sixth place, one position ahead of Cory Elliott who coasted across the line in his wounded machine.

Maria Cofer edged Randi Pankratz for eighth, with the ageless Floyd Alvis in tenth place, CJ Sarna eleventh and JR Williams who solved his nagging fuel line problems of the past few events finished in twelfth position in his Carson City-based #74 midget. The non-finishers from thirteenth on back were Crone, Nichols, Dalby, Dolacki and Prickett with Britton Bock who grandfather Doug was inducted into the BCRA Hall of Fame earlier in the day in eighteenth place. Bielman in his second ever midget race placed nineteenth followed by Howard, Ensign and Daniel as Nate Wait rounded out the 23-car field.

The mighty midgets of the BCRA return to action on July 22 at Marysville Raceway in an exciting twin-bill with the BCRA midget lites division.   The racing program will also feature the track’s wingless sprint car division, economy sprint cars and super stocks on the program with hot laps scheduled to start at 6 PM.

    

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/