West Coast Stock Car /Motorsport Hall of Fame Challenge announced for Petaluma

August 26th – Yesterday officials with the USAC (United States Auto Club) Western States series the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) and the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame revealed the details of the West Coast Stock/Motorsports Hall of Fame Challenge for the two upcoming races at Rick Faeth’s Petaluma Speedway.

The West Coast Stock/Motorsports Hall of Fame Challenge will award prizes to the top five drivers with the best combined performances in the   USAC & BCRA co-sanctioned races at Petaluma Speedway September 6 and October 24 2020.

The prizes are as follows:

First place:                  $1000

Second place:             $700

Third place:                 $500

Fourth place:               $350

Fifth place:                  $250

 

To be eligible for the West Coast Stock/Motorsports Hall of Fame Challenge, drivers must be a member in good standing with either USAC or BCRA and be entered in, and race in, both the September 6 and 24 programs.  Points will be tallied following the USAC Western States championship point schedule.

In the case of ties, the tie will be broken based on the qualifying times posted for the October 24 program.  In the case of the cancellation of the second event for any reason, the Challenge prize money shall be halved with the prizes awarded based on points earned in the September 6 event with ties broken by September 6 qualifying results.

Created in 2002, the mission of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame is to preserve the history and highlight the important role that west coast competitors have played in the sport’s development and continuation. The Hall recognizes through annual enshrinement, outstanding individuals and groups within the sport such as, but not limited to, designers, engineers, mechanics, drivers, race track owners, promoters, publicists and members of the motorsports media. The Hall’s future goal and mission is to share with the public displays of information about its enshrinees and various artifacts pertinent to the sport.

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/

       

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.     

      

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.

    

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.

 

Chad Nichols claims BCRA Ukiah victory

The midget racers of the Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) continued their 78^th year of providing racing excitement throughout the state of California with a stop at Ukiah Speedway located on the grounds of the Redwood Empire Fairgrounds along together with a contingent of BCRA vintage midgets.

In time trials Chad Nichols set a torrid pace of 12.496 seconds in the orange Shanoian Esslinger to lead all qualifiers, trailed by David Goodwill at 12.666 seconds for second fastest, and Maria Cofer in the Arata Racing #88 third at 12.913 seconds. Floyd Alvis is his #1 Buick powered machine was the fourth fastest as JR Williams Fontana-powered #74 rounded out the top five qualifiers.

The #88 of Trophy Dash winner Maria Cofer 

Maria Cofer jumped into the lead at the drop of the green flag for the trophy dash and led all four laps to claim a popular victory while Floyd Alvis repelled David Goodwill’s repeated passing attempts to claim second place, while Chad Nichols came home in fourth place.

Ms. Cofer again grabbed the point at the start of the heat race and led the first three circuits until the Arata #88 midget pushed high out of the groove in turn two which allowed Nichols and Goodwill to slip past her. At the drop of the checkered flag after six fast laps, Nichols claimed the win over Goodwill, Cofer, Alvis and Williams.

The BCRA drivers met the fans at Ukiah

Form top to bottom Chad Nichols, David Goodwill and Maria Cofer 

During the track intermission before the feature race, many fans took advantage of the opportunity to meet and get the autographs of BCRA drivers Chad Nichols David Goodwill and Maria Cofer. In the BCRA vintage feature, Norm Gray’s car refused to fire and Bob Pena claimed the trophy over Doug Shanoian.

Once again, Ms. Cofer took the point at the start and held off repeated attempts by second-place runner Goodwill to pass her using the upper groove of the slightly banked paved ¼-mile track. These efforts nearly resulted in disaster on lap 5 as Goodwill slid high out of the “groove” in turn one and onto the dirty part of the racing surface. As Goodwill masterfully fought for control through turn two, Nichols slipped past and led duo stretched out a 10-car advantage over Goodwill’s black #3g machine.

The machine of winner Chad Nichols 

On lap 13, leader Cofer encountered lap traffic as she entered turn three and she tried to pass the slower cars of Alvis and Williams on the high side of the race track, but she lost momentum out of the “groove.” Chad Nichols pounced and made a nifty set of moves to pass Cofer and then clear the lapped traffic. Over the final 11 laps, Nichols stretched his lead to more than five car lengths at the checkered flag over Cofer, with a fast-closing Goodwill in third, and Alvis fourth as JR Williams failed to finish.

The BCRA dirt midgets return to action in an action-packed back-to-back weekend of races which begins Friday June 9 at scenic Ocean Speedway and concludes the next day with BCRA’s first visit of the season to Petaluma Speedway.   

all photos by the author