Rodela Flies at Seaside – By Bobby Gerould, 06/19/04 – Ventura, CA. …Jerome Rodela scored his first career dirt feature win with a dominant drive in the 30-lap feature event for the United States Auto Club Western States Midgets at Seaside Park Saturday evening. The El Monte, CA. driver took the lead from Johnny Rodriguez on lap nine with a low pass in turn two. The win capped a big effort for Rodela who also notched his fourth consecutive quick-time run in the West Coast’s premier midget car series.

“Once the first couple of laps went down, I felt I had a car underneath me that was capable of winning the race”, said the 23 year-old Rodela. “Andy Bondio, and Van Dyne engineering helped me out a ton. This was only our second start at Ventura.”

Before the feature started there was drama as scheduled front row starter Garrett Hansen could not get his #70 to fire off. After repeated attempts, Hansen was forced to scratch with ignition box issues which changed the front row to Matt Mitchell, and Rodriguez, the points leader. Rodriguez jumped into the lead in his own #30 Esslinger. By lap two, Rodela, riding the high groove, was in the runner-up spot.

Ryan Kaplan of Chico showed early speed taking over fourth on lap three from Steven Graves with a low groove maneuver in turn four. Rodela actually passed Rodriguez on lap five but a yellow flag for Matt Streeter who spun in turn four negated Rodela’s pass. Rodriguez led the next three laps before Rodela repassed him. Robby Flock gained fourth place on lap 16 but ultimately, Flock dropped from the competition with a mechanical problem in the Mike Sala #19.

Wally Pankratz moved into the runner-up position on lap 21 after getting by Rodriguez low in turn two. The best racing of the evening occurred in the next three laps as Rodriguez and Pankratz swapped the runner-up spot three times before Pankratz held it for good. At the checkered flag, Rodela was a comfortable winner. Pankratz finished second, followed by Rodriguez, Michael Simpson, and Kaplan. The feature event ended as the sun set at 8:09 pm.

Dallen McKenney flipped wildly on his qualifying approach. He did not register a time but returned to run his heat and the feature. The two midget heats were won by Flock, and Rick Hendrix.

The 20-car, 20-lap Ford Focus feature started with Steve Koster Jr., and Bradley Galedridge on the front row. However, it was Chase Barber who led lap one. Bobby McGowan spun to a stop on lap two to bring out a caution flag. On the restart, Chris Rahe, the Ford Focus South points leader, blasted by Barber on the low groove to take command. Rahe opened up a straightaway advantage before a lap 15 yellow flag slowed the pack. The final four laps were all Rahe. Barber wound up second, with Koster, Bobby Michnowicz, and Ryan Pace rounding out the top five. Galedridge was sixth, just ahead of Ashley Swanson. Jet Davison, Josh Lakatos, and Cal Smith completed the top ten.

Focus heat winners were Rahe, Michnowicz, and Barber. Josh Lakatos was a runaway winner in the Focus Semi-main.

Summary: USAC Western States Midgets – June 19^th, 2004. Ventura Speedway

Car	Driver	Hometown	First Time	Quick Time
25	Jerome Rodela	El Monte, CA.	12.197	12.197
0	Steven Paden	Downey, CA.	12.413	12.219
8	Wally Pankratz	Orange, CA.		12.286
30	Johnny Rodriguez	Elk Grove, CA.	12.291	12.291
94	Steven Graves	Upland, CA.	12.307	12.307
70	Garrett Hansen	Manhattan Beach	12.426	12.426
37	Matt Mitchell	Yorba Linda, CA.	12.441	12.441
27	Ryan Kaplan	Chico, CA.	12.452	12.452
34	Tyler Brown	Norco, CA.	12.583	12.583
97	Matt Streeter	Manteca, CA.	12.663	12.663
41	Robert Ellis	Menifee, CA.	12.908	12.675
12	Rick Hendrix	Canoga Park, CA.	12.707	12.707
19	Robby Flock	Temecula, CA.	12.709	12.709
7	Shannon McQueen	Bakersfield	12.834	12.834
59	Michael Simpson	Apple Valley		12.842
48	James Miller Jr.	Perowan, UT.	13.303	13.303
88	Dallen McKenney	Clovis, CA.	NT	NT

First Heat: 1. Flock, 2. Pankratz, 3. Graves, 4. Rodela, 5. Mitchell, 6. Ellis, 7. Simpson, 8. Brown.

Second Heat: 1. Hendrix, 2. McQueen, 3. Rodriguez, 4. Hansen, 5. Kaplan, 6. Streeter, 7. Paden, 8. McKenney, 9. Miller Jr.

Main Event: 1. Rodela, 2. Pankratz, 3. Rodriguez, 4. Simpson, 5. Kaplan, 6. Brown, 7. McQueen, 8. Hendrix, 9. Graves, 10. Streeter, 11. Mitchell, 12. Ellis, 13. Miller Jr., 14. Flock, 15. Paden, 16. McKenney

* Hansen did not start.

USAC California Ford Focus Midgets – Ventura Raceway at Seaside Park – 06/19/04

First Heat: 1. Chris Rahe, 2. Steve Davis, 3. Ashley Swanson, 4. Cal Smith, 5. Bobby McGowan, 6. Kenny White, 7. Eric Pace

Second Heat: 1. Bobby Michnowicz, 2. Steve Koster Jr., 3. Jody Bandfield, 4. J.J. Ercse, 5. Josh Lakatos, 6. Ryan Pace, 7. Scott Nogrady

Third Heat: 1. Chase Barber, 2. Bradley Galedridge, 3. Jet Davison, 4. Jake Vail, 5. Tom Fish, 6. J.R. Williams, 7. Jon Santibanes

Feature: 20 laps: 1. Rahe, 2. Barber, 3. Koster Jr., 4. Michnowicz, 5. R. Pace, 6. Galedridge, 7. Swanson, 8. Davison, 9. Lakatos, 10. Smith, 11. Bandfield, 12. McGowan, 13. Williams, 14. White, 15. Nogrady, 16. Vail, 17. E. Pace, 18. Santibanes, 19. Ercse, 20. Davis

** #2 Tom Fish – did not start.