MITCHEL MOLES SWEEPS BAKERSFIELD MIDGET RETURN

By Lance Jennings

(BAKERSFIELD, CA – APRIL 19, 2022)… With a full moon overhead, Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, California) swept last Saturday’s USAC Western States and BCRA Midget show at Bakersfield Speedway. Driving Keith Ford’s #73X Woodworks Unlimited / Walker Performance Filtration TCR, Moles was the fast qualifier, won his heat race, and won the 30-lap main event. Matt Mitchell, point leader and hard charger A.J. Bender, Robby Josett, and Michael Faccinto rounded out the top five.

Faced with changing track conditions, outside front row starter Jake Andreotti led the opening four laps. Looking for his second win of the year, Andreotti’s hopes were dashed when his car lost power. Rookie contender Travis Buckley inherited the lead and hit his marks on the Bakersfield oval. Holding back the challenges from Mitchell and Josett, Buckley held strong. Moving from sixth, Moles took over second and quickly pressured Buckley for the top spot. Racing in close quarters, Mitchel took over the lead for the last eight circuits to claim the second win of his career.

Before winning the feature, Mitchel Moles earned fast time honors in Woodland Auto Display Qualifying with a time of 13.488 over the 21-car roster. The versatile driver also won the 10-lap Jordan Hanni Well Drilling First Heat Race. After making his first start of the campaign, Moles sits twelfth in points.

Jake Andreotti (Castro Valley, California) raced to victory in the night’s Ammonia Refrigeration Service Second Heat Race. Racing Pete Davis’ #00 Hot Head Competition Heaters / Buchannan Automotive Stealth, Andreotti qualified fifth overall and led the opening laps before scoring seventeenth in the feature. Jake sits fourth in championship points and leads the Elk Grove Ford points heading to Merced this Saturday night.

Ben Worth (Coalinga, California) won the 10-lap Wireless 101 Third Heat Race. Piloting Dean Alexander’s #5K Walker Air Filtration / WFX Spike, Worth was third quick in qualifying and placed fourteenth in the Bakersfield main event. The 2019 Rookie of the Year ranks second in the chase for the championship heading to the Merced County Fairgrounds.

A.J. Bender (San Diego, California) earned the night’s Rod End Supply Hard Charger Award with a third place run from tenth. Driving the LKK Racing #1X Josh Ford Motorsports / Rod End Supply Triple X, Bender qualified tenth overall and placed fourth in this heat race. The point leader also won the companion California Lightning Sprint feature at Bakersfield Speedway. 

Making his first USAC start, Racin Silva (Henderson, Nevada) claimed the night’s Wilwood Disc Brakes “Lucky 13 Award.” Piloting the family owned #5S Sponsors Needed Triple X, Silva was fourteenth fast in time trials and placed sixth in his heat race. Racin left Bakersfield tied for twenty-seventh in points.

The “mighty midgets” of the USAC Western States and Bay Cities Racing Association (BCRA) will return to action this Saturday, April 123rd, at Merced Speedway in Merced, California. The event is the second round of the Elk Grove Ford Mini-Series. The event will be broadcast at floracing.com.

The USAC Western States Midget Series thanks Ammonia Refrigeration Service, AMSOIL, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, FloRacing.com, Jordan Hanni Well Drilling, Hoosier Racing Tire, Rod End Supply, Vahlco Wheels, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.  

For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on the USAC Western States Midget Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 16, 2022 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, California – Co-Sanctioned with BCRA

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFICATONS: 1. Mitchel Moles, 73X, Ford-13.488; 2. Michael Faccinto, 14, Graunstadt-13.535; 3. Ben Worth, 5K, Alexander-13.614; 4. Travis Buckley, 7NZ, Buckley-13.644; 5. Jake Andreotti, 00, Davis-13.657; 6. Matt Mitchell, 68, Six8-13.751; 7. Brody Fuson, 51, Carlile-13.809; 8. Robby Josett, 73B, Ford-13.892; 9. Braden Chiaramonte, 14JR, Streeter-14.235; 10. A.J. Bender, 1X, LKK-14.251; 11. C.J. Sarna, 20, Sarna-14.301; 12. Terry Nichols, 1P, Nichols/Peckfelder-14.464; 13. Michael Snider, 6K, Snider-14.516; 14. Racin Silva, 5S, Silva-14.697; 15. Danika Jo Parker, 13, Parker-14.834; 16.Nick Velasquez, 1EM, Nichols/Peckfelder-14.895; 17. Randi Pankratz, 8, Pankratz-14.906; 18. Thomas Esberg, 8X, Esberg-15.159; 19. Zach Telford, 22G, GR-15.589; 20. Anthony Esberg, 1K, Esberg-NT; 21. Blake Bower, 9, Boscacci-NT.

JORDAN HANNI WELL DRILLING FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Moles, 2. Snider, 3. Fuson, 4. Bender, 5. Buckley, 6. Velasquez, 7. Telford. NT.

AMMONIA REFRIGERATION SERVICE SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Andreotti, 2. Faccinto, 3. Sarna, 4. Josett, 5. Pankratz, 6. Silva, 7. A.Esberg. NT.

WIRELESS 101 THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Worth, 2. Chiaramonte, 3. Mitchell, 4. Nichols, 5. Parker, 6. T.Esberg, NT. 

FEATURE: (30 laps, With Starting Positions) 1. Mitchel Moles (6), 2. Matt Mitchell (1), 3. A.J. Bender (10), 4. Robby Josett (8), 5. Michael Faccinto (5), 6. C.J. Sarna (11), 7. Brody Fuson (7), 8. Terry Nichols (12), 9. Travis Buckley (3), 10. Braden Chiaramonte (9), 11. Thomas Esberg (18), 12. Nick Velasquez (16), 13. Racin Silva (14), 14. Ben Worth (4), 15. Zach Telford (19), 16. Michael Snider (13), 17. Jake Andreotti (2), 18. Randi Pankratz (17), 19. Danika Jo Parker (15), 20. Blake Bower (21, #6X Snider), 21. Anthony Esberg (20). NT.

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**Bower flipped during hotlaps.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Andreotti, Laps 5-22 Buckley, Laps 23-30 Moles.

ROD END SUPPLY HARD CHARGER: A.J. Bender (10th to 3rd)

WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Racin Silva

NEW USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET POINTS: 1-A.J. Bender-208, 2-Ben Worth-174, 3-Travis Buckley-167, 4-Jake Andreotti-165, 5-C.J. Sarna-155, 6-Michael Faccinto-147, 7-Blake Bower-146, 8-Brody Fuson-139, 9-Michael Snider-136, 10-Thomas Esberg-115.

TOP QUALIFIER POINTS: 1-Ben Worth-14, 2-Jake Andreotti-8, --Michael Faccinto-8, 4-Shane Golobic-6, --Chase Johnson-6, --Mitchel Moles-6, 7-Shannon McQueen-4, --Travis Buckley-4, 9-Brody Fuson-3, 10-Dylan Ito-2.

PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-A.J. Bender-14, 2-Michael Snider-7, --Thomas Esberg-7, 4-Blake Bower-6, 5-Randi Pankratz-5, --Danika Jo Parker-5, --Anthony Esberg-5, --C.J. Sarna-5, --Mitchel Moles-5, 10-Ben Wiesz-4, --Robby Josett-4, --Terry Nichols-4, --Nick Velasquez-4, --Zach Telford-4.

NEXT USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET RACE: April 23 – Merced Speedway – Merced, California – “Elk Grove Ford Mini-Series Round #2” - Co-Sanctioned with BCRA