HammerDownUSA.com
Stratton best in Bakersfield USAC
Western Midget run
– By Bobby Gerould – March 24, 2007 –
Oildale, CA. …Danny Stratton used patience and skill to win the 30-lap USAC
Western Midget feature event Saturday night at a packed Bakersfield Speedway.
Aboard the Michael Burkhart #21x Spike/Esslinger, Stratton passed early leader
Chris Rahe on lap 21 in turn one, and then cruised to victory. Rahe finished
second followed by Nathan High, Greg Bragg, and Josh Wise.
“I was
telling myself to settle down, and make smooth laps”, said Stratton post-race to
announcer Mike Moshier. “The Burkhart team towed all the way from
Stratton
did just that. He also started well. He established quick time in qualifying and
began the feature race in sixth position. Rahe jumped into the lead at the
green flag and led the opening three circuits on the 1/3-mile dirt oval. The
first of seven caution periods waived on lap three for Wise who suffered front
end damage to the Cruz Pedregon owned #75 Spike/Toyota. Wise was able to
restart after repairs.
At the
front of the pack Rahe was leading High and defending series champion Jerome
Rodela. The racing was getting more fascinating by the lap with the promise of
traffic looming by lap 12. However, traffic never became an issue as the yellow
flag waived after a spin by rookie Quintin Crye, offering a clear track for a
restart. Stratton shot by Rodela for third place on the backchute on lap 13
just before the sixth yellow of the night – this time for a stalled Joey
Fabozzi.
At the
halfway point – Rahe was leading High, Stratton, Rodela, and Scott Pierovich
who was celebrating his 19th birthday. On lap 16 disaster struck for
Rodela. As he was approaching the start-finish line a tangle ensued that sent
Rodela’s #25 flipping hard. Rodela’s car was impacted by at least one other car
while it flipped, presenting a tense moment for all. Rodela did emerge from the
car under his own power but admitted, “…right now everything hurts.” Alex Harris was also involved in the Rodela
crash.
When the
racing resumed, Stratton continued his march forward, passing teammate High for
second with a low move in turn three. Two laps later Stratton showed Rahe the
nose of the #21x in turn three, setting up the winning pass at the other end of
the track. Stratton went around the outside of Rahe in turn one to seal the
deal.
Harris,
Wise, and Rahe were heat race winners. Stratton’s fast time-trial lap was a
13.274 second effort.
Rookie
Stevie Sussex III of Tempe, AZ endured a wicked gyration that bent the cage
badly on his #34 midget. The heat race crash saw the 16 year-old smack the back
straightaway wall before snapping violent rolls along the crash wall.
The
companion USAC Ford Focus California Dirt Midget main event was won by Nic Faas
of
The next
action for the USAC Western Midget series is set for
USAC WESTERN MIDGET
CAR RACE RESULTS:
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Danny Stratton, 21x,
Burkhart-13.274; 2. Jerome Rodela, 25, Rodela-13.327; 3. Quintin Crye, 15,
Crye-13.339; 4. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-13.395; 5. Nathan High, 21az,
Burkhart-13.434; 6. Chris Rahe, 3, Rahe-13.458; 7-Steve Sussex, 34,
Grau-13.463; 8. Josh Wise, 75, Pedregon-13.589; 9. Shannon McQueen, 7,
McQueen-13.642; 10. Alex Harris, 54, Martens-13.722; 11. Ernie Bartley III, 74,
Bartley-13.813; 12. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-13.918; 13. Greg Bragg, 05,
Walker-13.905; 14. Darrin Bolton, XX< Bolton-13.949; 15. Randi Pankratz, 8,
Pankratz-14.270; 16. Joey Fabozzi, 84, Fabozzi-14.809; 17. Doug DeWitt, 11D,
DeWitt-15.070; 18. Johnny Rodriguez, 37, Mitchell-NT; 19. Matt Mitchell, 37m,
Mitchell-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (6 laps) 1. Harris, 2. Bragg,
3. Pierovich, 4. Stratton, 5.
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Wise, 2. High, 3.
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Rahe, 2. McQueen,
3. Pankratz, 4. Crye, 5. Sarna, 6. Mitchell (#37). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Danny Stratton, 2.
Chris Rahe, 3. Nathan High, 4. Greg Bragg, 5. Josh Wise, 6. Darrin Bolton, 7.
Shannon McQueen, 8. Scott Pierovich, 9. C.J. Sarna, 10. Doug DeWitt, 11. Jerome
Rodela, 12. Alex Harris, 13. Ernie Bartley III, 14. Quintin Crye, 15. Joey
Fabozzi, 16. Randi Pankratz, 17. Matt Mitchell (#37). NT
**Mitchell
flipped #37m during qualifying.
FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Rahe, Laps 21-30 Stratton.
NEW
WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Rahe-121; 2-Stratton-108; 3-Darren Hagen-65;
4-Pierovich-65; 5-Jerry Coons Jr.-62; 6-Rodela-61; 7-Bragg-58; 8-Mitchell-55;
9-Wise-52; 10-Bolton-52.
NEXT
USAC WESTERN MIDGET RACE: April 7 –
USAC
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Jet Davison (#59
Davison), 2. Nick Carlson (#44 Carlson), 3. Bobby Michnowicz (#21
Michnowicz/Zoriki), 4. Ricky Kirkbride (#87 Van Meter), 5. Scott Oliver (#71
Oliver). NT
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Nic Faas (#17
Faas), 2. Dennis Howell (#62 Howell), 3. Walt Johnson (#15 Welcomer), 4. J.R.
Williams (#74 Williams), 5. Thomas Gray (#30 Gray). NT
FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Nic Faas, 2. Nick
Carlson 3. Walt Johnson, 4. Bobby Michnowicz, 5. Jet Davison, 6. Scott Oliver,
7. J.R. Williams, 8. Dennis Howell, 9. Ricky Kirkbride, 10. Thomas Gray. NT
FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Carlson, Laps 2-10 Howell, Laps 11-17 Carlson, Laps 18-20
Faas.
NEW
CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS DIRT SERIES POINTS: 1-Carlson-131; 2-Faas-127;
3-Michnowicz-119; 4-Johnson-114; 5-Howell-110; 6-Davison-103; 7-Kirkbride-92;
8-Oliver-89; 9-Gray-80; 10-Williams-47.
NEXT