HULL STARS IN USAC DMA OPENER AT BEAR RIDGE

Bradford, Vermont (May 8, 2021)………For the second straight year Will Hull of East Montpelier, VT drove the Skip Matczak #3 to victory on opening night at Bear Ridge Speedway in the USAC-DMA midgets. The 2019 series champion mastered a dry track surface taking the lead on lap eight and leading the rest of the way.

Mike Chaffee jumped into the lead at the start of the feature and held the point until lap seven when Will Hull motored by. Hull started outside fourth row but used the outside lane to work his way through the field. Once in the lead he was never seriously challenged.

Chaffee continued on in second until lap ten when he had to drop out with engine problems. While Hull was cruising along in the lead, Joe Krawiec, Justin Sheridan, Seth Carlson and Brandon Piastka were racing for the 3rd-6th positions. Carlson eventually broke free first and was challenging Chaffee for second place when Chaffee dropped out. Piastka won the battle of the Ray Miller Racing team but neither he nor Carlson could catch Hull.

A restart with four laps to go gave the field another shot at the lead but there was no stopping Hull. Carlson and Piastka dueled for a couple of laps before Carlson edged ahead. Hull took the checkers 0.82 seconds ahead of Carlson. Ray Miller Racing teammates Brandon Piastka, Joe Krawiec and Justin Sheridan rounded out the top five.

Manny Dias recovered from an early spin to finish sixth and Dan Lang was the top finishing rookie with a seventh place finish.

For Hull, it was a great way to begin the season. Anticipating a rough track from the recent rain the area received, Hull was a “little off” in finishing fourth in the second heat.  After a few adjustments were made on the car, Hull had the correct set up for the track as he quickly drove from eighth starting spot to the point in eight laps.

With many cars set up for the bottom, Hull made the outer groove of the race track work to his advantage. “I kind of go where others are not, I move around to find speed. I can’t ride behind and wait, it’s not my style” commented Hull after the race.

Defending champion Carlson also found the track a little drier than he anticipated. “There were two grooves early in the race but after five or six laps they were both used up. Will got to the front first and that was what you had to do tonight”. Carlson and the Matczak crew brought out a new Spike chassis for opening night and were pleased with the results. “The new car worked great. Everyone worked extremely hard over the off season and it showed” added Carlson.

Piastka was also happy with a strong opening night race. A member of Ray Miller’s team, Piastka is now driving the car Dean Christensen drove to a series championship in 2017. “The car felt pretty good, but we have a couple of issues we need to work out. The race was exciting though and coming from the back to finishing third was a great way to start the year.”

Former series regular Josh Sunn’s return to midget racing was short-lived as the driveshaft broke in hot laps ending the night for Sunn.

The two heat races were won by Mike Chaffee and Joe Krawiec.

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USAC DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: May 8, 2021 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps)  1. Mike Chaffee (#18c Miller), 2. Manny Dias (#42 Dias), 3. Tim West (#5 Matczak), 4. Wayne Koehler (#91 Koehler), 5. Dan Lang (#02K Kugler), 6. Kelly Ferrell (#2K Ferrell), 7. Adrian Tetreault (#52x Tetreault). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec (#1B Miller), 2. Justin Sheridan (#17 Miller), 3. Seth Carlson (#4 Matczak), 4. Will Hull (#3 Matczak), 5. Brandon Piastka (#7 Miller), 6. Justin Phillips (#16 Miller). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Will Hull, 2. Seth Carlson, 3. Brandon Piastka, 4. Joe Krawiec, 5. Justin Sheridan, 6. Manny Dias, 7. Dan Lang, 8. Tim West, 9. Wayne Koehler, 10. Kelly Ferrell, 11. Justin Phillips, 12. Mike Chaffee, 13. Adrian Tetreault. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Mike Chaffee, Laps 8-25 Will Hull.

USAC DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Will Hull-75, 2-Seth Carlson-73, 3-Joe Krawiec-69, 4-Brandon Piastka-68, 5-Justin Sheridan-65, 6-Manny Dias-62, 7-Dan Lang-56, 8-Kelly Ferrell-46, 9-Justin Phillips-44, 10-Adrian Tetreault-39.

NEXT USAC DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION RACE:  May 22, 2021 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont