Carbon Fiber Shock Guards

 

Carbon Fiber Shock Guards

Photo courtesy of EPARTTRADE

Ebbco Offroad run by 2001 USAC Western States midget champion Danny Ebberts introduced its line of Carbon Fiber Shock Guards, from are designed to protect your shock shafts and prevent dirt and mud from getting into coil springs which will change the spring rate. 

These guards are made from high quality carbon fiber, vacuum bagged for strength and weight. Cleanly bolts to supplied mounting ring with hardware. EBBCO also offers carbon fiber wheel covers.

Check out EBBCO’s website at https://ebbcooffroad.com/

 

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.

A variety of open-wheel race cars 

at the 2019 PRI show

The 2019 Performance Racing Industry trade show features every conceivable type of race car on display, but today we focus on short-track open-wheel cars 

Zeb Wise's USAC midget was at the Z-Max booth 

Justin Grant's NOS Energy midget was at the USAC Racing booth 

Logan Seavey's 2018 USAC Championship winning midget 

at the Mobil 1 oils booth. This Toyota-powered  car also won the 2018 

USAC car owner title  for Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb/Agajanian racing

This Toyota Racing Development winged sprint car at the 

Mobil 1 display was the focus of the TRD announcement 

of their development of an engine for the Word of Outlaws 

Kyle Steffens' USAC Silver Crown car 

in the Performance Plus Global Logistics booth.

Not only is P Plus his sponsor, Kyle is the Global Sales Director 

All photos by the author 

Midget auto racing on display

at the 2018 PRI show 

There was a wide selection of midget auto racing displays at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry show in Indianapolis Indiana. 

The #21 KS midget race car driven by Karter Sarff from Mason City Illinois in the 2019 Lucas Oil POWRi National Midget League was on display in the PAC Racing Springs booth. The car is powered by a Stanton SR-11 engine. PAC Racing Springs is the racing and aftermarket division of Peterson Spring Company  Check out their entire product line at https://www.racingsprings.com/

The Automotive Racing Products (ARP) booth featured the Honda engine that Scott Hatton used to win his fifth Badger Midget Racing Association championship in 2018 on display. The development  engine was built by  Haisley Machine of Farimount Indiana and used ARP fasteners throughout. Check out ARP's website at   https://arp-bolts.com/ 

The Mobil One display featured the Keith Kunz Motorsport Spike.Toyota that won  the 2018 United States Auto Cub (USAC) P1 Insurance National Midget championship driven by Logan Seavey. Seavey from Sutter California is only the third driver in USAC history to win the national midget championship as a rookie. 

Seavey started the 2018 season out right with a win in the season's first race in March at Southern Illinois Center indoor race, then added wins at Sweet Springs Missouri and Bakersfield CA on his way to the championship. Logan was a model of consistency thorough 2018 as he scored 15 top-ten finishes and started every feature event. 

All photos by the author 

     

USAC 2019 national event schedules

The United States Auto Club (USAC) announced the 2019 event schedules for their three national series at the 2018 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Indianapolis Indiana.  

NOS Energy Drink becomes the new title sponsor for the all-dirt national midget series, while AMSOIL remains the title sponsor of the all-dirt national sprint car series.  The Silver Crown series expands to twelve races for 2019 evenly split with six races each on dirt and pavement.

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.

Mike McLish’s 1968 Camaro

At first glance a visitor might dismiss this wide, low 1968 Chevrolet Camaro on display in the Flowmaster Mufflers booth at the 2018 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) as just another Camaro. But this Camaro built for owner Mike McLish by the Cotati Speed Shop in Santa Rosa California really is unique.

While a custom Art Morrison frame with Corvette ZR-1 suspension parts Brembo brakes and Forgeline wheels is not all that unusual, the powerplant is what really sets this car apart. The engine is an all-aluminum fuel-injected Donovan 410-cubic inch block built by Gaerte Engines of Rochester Indiana that has a unique racing history. 

It was with this engine that Brian McLish (Mike’s son) won the sprint car portion of the 2012 Gerhardt Classic at Madera Speedway and the 2012 United States Auto Club (USAC) Western Classic Racing Series pavement title. 

The detuned 750-horsepower engine, which now runs on gasoline instead of methanol, is connected to a six-speed sequential gearbox and differential from Australia’s Holinger Engineering.

After the SEMA show, Mike McLish intends to use his all-steel Camaro which was on the cover of the December 2018 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine, in Ultimate Street Car Association event and for track days.   

All photographs by the author

   

Jesse Love claims the Harvest Classic

13-year old racer Jess Love of Menlo Park California made history Saturday night at Madera Speedway as he won the 46^th annual Harvest Classic and became the youngest winner in the storied 79-year history of the Bay Cities Racing Association.  

Love started his night by qualifying second in BCRA time trials, as he powered his Van Dyne-powered 51 Fifty energy drinks to a time of 14.089 seconds, just 13/1000 of a second slower than fast qualifier Mark Maliepaard in his Esslinger-powered Fit & Finish Hot Rod Interiors Special. Perennial Madera standout Chad Nichols timed in third fastest in the orange #17 Shanonian Esslinger, with David Goodwill fourth and Cody Jessop fifth overall.

2013 BCRA Hall of Fame inductee Jimmy Screeton made his return to racing in the #1N Shanonian entry and qualified sixth fastest with Cody Gerhardt seventh fastest as the team battled fuel delivery issues.

US Western Speed 2 midget standout Toni Breidinger, USAC’s winningest female driver joined the BCRA field in her family’s #26B Honda-powered midget with an eighth-place qualifying effort, and Joey Iest, currently second in USAC Western Speed 2 midget point standings, qualified ninth, with the ageless JR Williams tenth and Austin Carter in the second Jessop Western Speed2 racing entry rounded out the qualifying field in eleventh.  Frankie Guerrini was unable to make the qualifying call as his Bob Rosen-owned Mr. Espresso midget suffered an oil pump issue during practice and was withdrawn.         

Chad Nichols claimed the lead of the first heat race at the drop of the green flag, was never challenged, and brought home the win over Jessop, Maliepaard, Gerhardt and Austin Carter. Screeton proved that was just as fast as ever as he led the second heat for several laps before he surrendered the lead to Jesse Love on lap six and trailed Love to the finish line. Goodwill finished third, with Iest fourth and JR Williams in fifth place.

Late in the evening, after the 10-car BCRA feature pushed off as the last race of the night, Chad Nichols jumped into the lead in the first turn trailed by David Goodwill, Love, Maliepaard and Jessop. On lap three, BCRA stalwart JR Williams pulled his midget into the infield, and then on lap five Love maneuvered past Goodwill to take over second place, five car lengths behind Nichols, then three laps later Maliepaard dropped Goodwill to fourth place.

On lap 13, Love began to reel in the leader Nichols and an epic duel ensued as Jesse in the blue #5 Van Dyne looked first to the high side then the low side of Chad, all the while glued to the rear nerf bar of the orange #17. On lap 21 as the pair entered turn three of the fast Madera 1/3-mile oval, Love dove to the bottom and after wheel-to-wheel contact, emerged with the lead briefly before Nichols recaptured the point.

On lap 24, Love again tried the inside move into turn three and again the lead cars bumped and both bobbled, with Nichols was scored the leader at the start-finish line. Finally, on lap 28, Love moved past Nichols in turn three to take the lead for good and finished the 30-lap feature .391 seconds ahead of Nichols to score his historic first BCRA feature win.

Mark Maliepaard recorded the race’s fastest lap and scored a strong third place finish, with Cody Jessop in fourth place and Goodwill fifth.  Cody Gerhardt finished sixth, with Jimmy Screeton a lap behind the leaders in seventh, trailed by Toni Breidinger in eighth place and Austin Carter in ninth, two laps in arrears. JR Williams, with the only car that did not complete the race was placed tenth.

Jesse Love, left, and car owner Tres Van Dyne, right 

celebrate Love's historic BCRA feature victory

BCRA wishes to recognize and thank the USAC Western Speed2 midget car owners, mechanics and drivers that made the necessary changes to their cars and joined the regular BCRA racers to present a thrilling non-stop race for the fans.

The mighty midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association return to action on September 29^th at the unique ¼-mile paved Lakeport Speedway on the grounds of the Lake County Fairgrounds.

Mark your calendars now for the big BCRA year-end doubleheader at the lightning-fast paved Stockton 99 Speedway on Saturday October 27th and Sunday October 28^th as part of the ‘Gun Slingers Sprint Car Series Championship’ weekend, with two complete shows that will also include the BCRA vintage division.                  

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.  

 

How competitive was the Chili Bowl?

A snapshot of championship diversity

 

 

 

 

By now, most racing fans know that Christopher Bell a member of the powerful Keith Kunz Motorsports/Toyota Racing Development team successfully defended his title as the 2018 Chili Bowl Nationals champion. Bell took the victory after his teammate and fellow NASCAR star Kyle Larson suffered an engine failure midway through the 55-lap feature race.

KKM Toyota -powered Spike chassis entries won three of the four 2018 Chili Bowl preliminary night features and Bell’s win is KKM’s fourth consecutive Chili Bowl win since 2015. KKM was dominant on Saturday as in addition to claiming the feature win, all three steps of the podium went to KKM drivers – Rico Abreu was second and Spencer Bayston was third.

With such domination by one team, some may ask the question with 345 entries in 2018, how competitive and diverse is the Chili Bowl? Consider the starting field for the first of two C-Main 15 lap features which included Tanner Thorson the 2016 USAC (United States Auto Club) National Midget Champion and  2017 National Midget Driver of the Year, 2008 ARCA stock car champion Justin Allgaier who finished third in the 2017 NASCAR Xfinity series, and Steve Buckwalter, who has over 30 wins on the tough ARDC (American Racing Drivers Club) midget circuit and was their 2010 series champion.

That trio was joined by multi-time ASCS (American Sprint Car Series) Northwest division champion Roger Crockett, three-time POWRi midget series champion Zach Daum, World of Outlaws late model series champion and 2006 Chili Bowl champion Tim McCreadie, and multi-time USAC Southwest sprint car champion RJ Johnson.

As if that is not a tough enough field, it also included two-time USAC National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon, Sprint Car Challenge Tour (SCCT) sprint car series star Colby Copeland, CJ Leary who won four USAC National sprint car features in 2017 USAC/CRA multi-time winner Jake Swanson, three-time King of West sprint car champion Kyle Hirst and USAC National Sprint car series star Thomas Meseraull who was the 2004 BCRA (Bay Cities Racing Association) Midget series champion.  

Of the twenty cars and drivers in the first C-Main race, only the top six advanced to the tail of the first B-main race – Thorson, Allgaier, local driver Ace McCarthy who races with the POWRi series, Daum, Bacon and Leary. Of those six drivers only one -Tanner Thorson-was able to advance to the night’s 55-lap feature where he finished fourth behind his three former teammates, as for 2018, Thorson drives for the Dooling-Hayward Motorsports/Richard Childress Racing team.  

 

 

Up-close with a Mercedes-AMG GT3 race car

AT PRI 2017  

 

 

 

 

 

The Hawk Performance (brakes) booth at the 2017 Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in Indianapolis featured the CRP Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 which competed in the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge Series SprintX GT series. Drivers Ryan Dalziel and Daniel Morad combined to finish second in the drivers’ championship, while the CRP Racing team finished third after the 11-round season which featured five rounds held in support of the IndyCar Series. Sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC), SprintX races were sixty minutes long with mandatory driver and tire changes.

CRP (Competition Race Parts) Racing based in Harrisburg North Carolina is a race car engineering company owned Nicholas Short who has experience in IndyCar, NASCAR, Trans-Am, Group C Endurance Racing, Baja desert racing and the World Challenge series. In 2016, CRP Racing competed in the 2016 SprintX GT series with an Audi R8 LMS and finished eighth in team points while Canadian driver Kyle Marcelli finished tenth in the 2016 drivers’ points championship.   

Driver Ryan Dalziel born in 1982 is one of Scotland’s leading race car drivers and in addition to the Pirelli World Challenge, finished fifth in the Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan Onroak DPI in the 2017 IMSA Weathertech season points in his fourth season with that team.  During the 2017 Pirelli World Challenge GT season, with his teammate Canadian Daniel Morad, the pair won two rounds at Virginia International Raceway and the Circuit of Americas.  

 

 

As with the street version of the Mercedes-AMG GT, the GT3 racer’s structure consists of a light stiff aluminum spaceframe with an integral high-strength steel roll cage. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 is powered by a 6.2-liter (380 cubic inches) V-8 M156 engine with unique bore spacing, and block design. The naturally aspirated powerplant which features dry sump lubrication produces 550 horsepower and 550 foot/pounds of torque.

 

All that power mean a BIG radiator

 

That power is fed through a sequential six-speed racing transmission with a multiple-disc limited-slip differential with adjustable traction control which is mounted on the aluminum double-wishbone rear axle for optimal weight distribution.  Mercedes-AMG sells the 2850-pound FIA GT3 regulation-compliant race car which can accelerate from 0-60 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds to race teams for $424,300.

 

 

The team’s primary sponsor, Devilbiss, manufactures and sells atomization & spray guns for the automotive painting industry – products that range from gravity guns, suction guns, pressure guns, and airbrushes as well as disposable paint cups and air filtration systems such as desiccant dryers and waterborne dryers.

 

 

 

Hawk Performance, a brand of Carlisle Brake & Friction, has been in motorsports market since 1990, offering engineered friction products (rotors and pads) for nearly every type of racing-  pavement short track, dirt short track, sports and GT cars, open-wheel road racing and drag racing. Hawk Performance also offer products designed specifically for passenger cars and motorcycles.  

Rumors heard on the floor at PRI 2017 have Nicholas Short and CRP Racing entering an LMP2 program in the 2018 IMSA Weather Tech SportsCar Championship and possibly the 24 hours of LeMans.                             

For additional information- check out these websites

http://www.hawkperformance.com/

https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/class/class-GT/bodystyle-CPE

http://world-challenge.com/

https://www.autorefinishdevilbiss.com/

 

All photos by the author

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.