CARLSON SCORES BEAR RIDGE DMA OPENER
By: Mark Hann
Ellington, Connecticut (May 4, 2019)………Seth Carlson was victorious at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vt. for the 2019 season opening race of the USAC Dirt Midget Association. For Carlson, he continued the momentum from his run at the 2019 Chili Bowl in Tulsa, OK.
The feature race had Manny Dias starting from the pole position with Dan Douville outside row one. When the green flag was displayed, the field took off into turn one for the first feature of the season with the pack running side by side and Dias in the 42 holding the point position.
By the end of lap one, Dias would be second and Douville now had the lead. The only yellow flag of the race would come out on lap 3 for the spinning Adam Whitney. Back to green and Douville would keep the lead over Dias and Justin Phillips in third.
The top three would stay the same for the next several laps with Seth Carlson now making his move towards the front. On lap eleven, Carlson had worked his way up front and into the lead with Dias now second and Douville falling back through the field.
Carlson would hold the lead with a commanding margin over the rest of the field while positions two to four would see a battle between Dias, Joe Krawiec and Will Hull. The spectators, who filled the grandstands for opening night, were now standing to see side by side racing all the way around the track.
With two laps left, Hull would get around Krawiec for second which would move Dias back to fourth. Meanwhile, Carlson would be looking for season win number one. Under the checkered flag, Seth Carlson, in his Skip Matczak-owned Seals-it sponsored number 2 midget, would score the victory. Following Carlson would be his teammate Will Hull and rounding out the top three would be Joe Krawiec.
For heat race one, Manny Dias was on the pole with Dan Douville starting second. When the green flag waved, the field began the first official race of the season and Manny Dias took control. By lap three, Dean Christensen had moved into second and was closing in quickly on Dias. Lap four had the red flag come out for Tim West flipping on the back stretch and Steve Midford spinning to avoid West’s upside-down racecar. West would return to racing in the feature. Back to green, Christensen made quick work to get his car into the lead on lap five and moving Dias back to second. When the checkered flag waved, it was Dean Christensen of Granby, Conn., driving for Miller Racing, winning the heat race followed by Dias and Douville.
In heat race two, the lineup had Justin Phillips in the pole position with longtime racer Jeff Horn on the outside of row one. For the first five laps, Phillips and Horn battled to keep the top two spots while Mike Chaffee and Will Hull raced hard for third and fourth. With Hull on a mission to pick off the competition one by one, lap 6 would be pivotal as Hull moved into second, putting Horn back to third. With only two laps left, Phillips kept a commanding lead with Hull coming on strong and Chaffee now in third after getting around Horn. With this race going green flag-to-flag, Phillips, in his Miller Racing midget from Suffield, Conn., took the win over Hull and Chaffee.
The series will be back in action on May 18th at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, Vermont.
To learn more about the USAC Dirt Midget Association, please visit the series website at www.usacdma.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DirtMidgetAssociation
For additional information regarding this press release please contact Mark J. Hann, Director-USAC DMA Public Relations & Marketing, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
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USAC SPEED2 DMA MIDGET RACE RESULTS: May 4, 2019 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dean Christensen (#69 Miller), 2. Manny Dias (#42 Dias), 3. Dan Douville (#7x Big Enterprises), 4. Wayne Kohler (#91 Kohler), 5. Steve Midford (#5 Matczak), 6. Tim West (#23 West), 7. Justin Sheridan (#17 Miller). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Justin Phillips (#16 Miller), 2. Will Hull (#3 Matczak), 3. Mike Chaffee (#18c Miller), 4. Seth Carlson (#2 Matczak), 5. Jeff Horn (#A1 Horn), 6. Joe Krawiec (#1B Miller), 7. T.J. Foster (#26 Foster), 8. Adam Whitney (#12 Whitney). NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Cal Chandonnett (#71 Chandonnett)
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Seth Carlson, 2. Will Hull, 3. Joe Krawiec, 4. Manny Dias, 5. Justin Phillips, 6. Dan Douville, 7. Jeff Horn, 8. Dean Christensen, 9. Adam Whitney, 10. Wayne Kohler, 11. Tim West, 12. T.J. Foster, 13. Mike Chaffee, 14. Justin Sheridan, 15. Steve Midford. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Douville, Laps 11-25 Carlson.
NEXT USAC SPEED2 DMA MIDGET RACE: May 18 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont