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Patient Swanson surges to USAC Western Sprint Car win at Madera – By Bobby Gerould – June 3, 2006. Madera, CA. …Kody Swanson became the first repeat winner in 2006 USAC Western Sprint Car racing Saturday night at Madera Speedway. The 18 year-old from Kingsburg, CA showed his championship form with a masterful 50-lap drive from seventh starting position aboard the family owned DRC Framing #75.

“I was patient the whole time”, explained Swanson from the winner’s circle. “We have an awesome car week in and week out, and I am glad we could capitalize this time.”

Matt DeMartini out-gunned Mike Murgoitio at the drop of Noel Dawson’s green flag. But by lap four, at the end of the back-chute on the 1/3-mile paved oval, Murgoitio passed DeMartini under braking. Undaunted, DeMartini crossed under Murgoitio coming out of turn four and took the lead back.

Swanson was in a pack of five cars chasing the leaders. Using the high groove Swanson snatched third position from Jeff Gardner on lap 12. By lap 15 you could ‘throw a blanket’ over the top-seven cars who were battling side-by-side, and often three-wide. In the entertaining mix with DeMartini, Murgoitio, Swanson, and Gardner were Brian McClish, Tony Hunt, and Bradley Galedrige.

Murgoitio, after supplying relentless pressure to DeMartini, made the pass for the lead on lap 17 with a low move in turn one. Swanson and McClish passed DeMartini one lap later. Hunt gained fourth on lap 20.

Swanson, the 2005 USAC Western Sprint Car champion, pulled even with Murgoitio on lap 21, and took command on the next circuit. McClish passed Murgoitio on lap 23 for second place only to be ‘bottled up’ in traffic and lose the position on lap 25. Ultimately – McClish prevailed to earn runner-up honors.

The first 27 laps were caution-flag free. The yellow flag appeared for the first time for Tony Iacobitti’s damaged #71 which had contacted the back-chute wall. On lap 31 – the second and final caution came out for Anthony Simone who stopped on the race track.

The final 19 laps saw Swanson and McClish pull away. Galedrige was third at the checkered flag. The top-five was filled out by Hunt, and DeMartini. Murgoitio faded to sixth at the finish followed by Gardner, Nick Green, Tim Barber, and Jimmy Pelk.

Nick Rescino Jr. and Galedrige won heat races. Hunt was the fastest qualifier on the night with a 13.735 clocking.

In the companion USAC Ford Focus California Pavement Midget race, 16 year-old Michael Faccinto of Hanford, CA was the winner of the 30-lap feature. Faccinto drives a car owned by NHRA World Champion drag racer Gary Scelzi.

USAC WESTERN SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 3, 2006 – Madera, California – Madera Speedway (Co-Sanctioned by CASA)

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tony Hunt, 4, Kaiser-13.735; 2. Kody Swanson, 75, KT-13.750; 3. Brian McClish, 04, McClish-13.822; 4. Bradley Galedrige, 21, Hamilton-13.842; 5. Jeff Gardner, 51, Gardner-13.853; 6. Darren Rusconi, 66, Sullivan-13.891; 7. Mike Murgoitio, 20, Hamilton-13.982; 8. Matt DeMartini, 6, Carr-14.026; 9. Nick Green, 114, Green-14.066; 10. Anthony Simone, 10, Simone-14.177; 11. Tim Barber, 3, Finkenbinder-14.204; 12. Michael Newman, 9, Newman-14.220; 13. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-14.234; 14. Jimmy Pelk, 7s, Scott-14.274; 15. Nick Rescino Jr., 11, Rescino-14.217; 16. Glenn Hopper, 8, Hopper-14.518; 17. Jim Kaiser, 94, Kaiser-14.840; 18. Scott Clough, 5x, Clough-14.966; 19. Ivan Worden, 63, Worden-15.155; 20. Tony Iacobitti, 71, Oval Chassis-15.537; 21. Joe Helberg, 7x, Helberg-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Rescino, 2. Green, 3. McClish, 4. Barber, 5. Murgoitio, 6. Hunt, 7. Hogg, 8. Gardner, 9. Iacobitti, 10. Kaiser. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Galedrige, 2. Hopper, 3. Newman, 4. Simone, 5. Swanson, 6. Rusconi, 7. Worden, 8. DeMartini, 9. Clough, 10. Pelk. NT

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Kody Swanson, 2. Brian McClish, 3. Bradley Galedrige, 4. Tony Hunt, 5. Matt DeMartini, 6. Mike Murgoitio, 7. Jeff Gardner, 8. Nick Green, 9. Tim Barber, 10. Jimmy Pelk, 11. Shauna Hogg, 12. Darren Rusconi, 13. Jim Kaiser, 14. Anthony Simone, 15. Michael Newman, 16. Ivan Worden, 17. Glenn Hopper, 18. Nick Rescino Jr., 19. Tony Iacobitti, 20. Scott Clough. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 DeMartini, Laps 17-21 Murgoitio, Laps 22-50 Swanson.

NEW WESTERN SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Hunt-253; 2-Galedrige-232; 3-Murgoitio-224; 4-Swanson-204; 5-McClish-180; 6-Green-173; 7-Rescino-173; 8-DeMartini-166; 9-J.Gardner-159; 10-Pelk-150.

NEXT WESTERN SPRINT CAR RACE: June 17 – Tracy, CA – Altamont Motorsports Park

USAC CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS PAVEMENT SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 3, 2006 – Madera, California – Madera Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Michael Faccinto, 4, Scelzi-14.821; 2. Nic Faas, 17, Faas-14.843; 3. Tim Skoglund, 40, Camarillo-14.847; 4. Darrell Herzog, 0, Herzog-14.872; 5. Daniel Bedford, 12, Bedford-14.907; 6. Chris Veach, 63, Veach-14.929; 7. Laura Hayes, 27, Hayes-14.991; 8. Levi Roberts, 42, Sutton-15.003; 9. Jace Meier, 9, Sutton-15.087; 10. Garrett Peterson, 31, Peterson-15.104; 11. Ian Miille, 3, Sutton-15.108; 12. Laura Poorter, 32, Maier-15.134; 13. Cameron Veach, 53, Veach-15.272; 14. Paul Zimmerly, 8, Sutton-15.303; 15. Quintin Crye, 15, Crye-15.310; 16. Jenna Frazier, 29, Frazier-15.329; 17. Jared Little, 2, Luiz-15.348; 18. J.R. Williams, 74, Williams-15.749; 19. Joe Fabozzi, 84, Fabozzi-15.868.

FIRST HEAT: (9 laps) 1. Faccinto, 2. Frazier, 3. Peterson, 4. Hayes, 5. Fabozzi, 6. Cameron Veach, 7. Herzog. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roberts, 2., Zimmerly, 3. Faas, 4. Little, 5. Miille, 6. Bedford. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Chris Veach, 2. Meier, 3. Poorter, 4. Skoglund, 5. Crye, 6. Williams. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Michael Faccinto, 2. Levi Roberts, 2. Tim Skoglund, 4. Jace Meier, 5. Laura Poorter, 6. Garrett Peterson, 7. Paul Zimmerly, 8. Nic Faas, 9. Quintin Crye, 10. Jared Little, 11. Ian Miille, 12. Cameron Veach, 13. Laura Hayes, 14. J.R. Williams, 15. Daniel Bedford, 16. Joe Fabozzi, 17. Cameron Veach, 18. Darrell Herzog, 19. Jenna Frazier. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Roberts, Laps 21-30 Faccinto.

NEW CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS PAVEMENT STANDINGS: 1-Faccinto-145; 2-Skoglund-127; 3-Roberts-112; 4-Meier-109; 5-Faas-106; 6-Chris Veach-99; 7-Peterson-85; 8-Miille-81; 9-Poorter-74; 10-Zimmerly-74.

NEXT CALIFORNIA FORD FOCUS RACE (Dirt): June 10 – Ventura (CA) Raceway

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