USAC REGIONAL RACING PREVIEW: OCT. 16-17, 2020

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16:

Midwest Regional Midgets at Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana

Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets at Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17:

West Coast Sprint Cars at Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, California

Western States Midgets at Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, California

Eastern SpeeD2 Midgets at Lonesome Pine Raceway – Coeburn, Virginia

MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGETS & MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGETS

It’s Kokomo Klash weekend this Friday night, October 16, at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway, the 2020 season finales for both the USAC Midwest Regional Midgets and USAC’s SpeeD Midwest Thunder Midgets.

The event will have both series competing together, utilizing an open format that allows both current National and SpeeD2 engines.  The event will pay points toward both series’ standings.  Furthermore, USAC SpeeD2 licensed competitors will be eligible for bonuses.

Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) leads the Midwest Regional standings while Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio) tops the Midwest Thunder points coming into the event.  Gehrke holds a 59-point lead of his pursuit toward a first USAC Regional series title since 2007.  Meanwhile, Denney’s 44-point advantage gives him the upper hand as he bids for a first championship.

Past Kokomo Klash Midget winners include Jerry Coons Jr. (2007 & 2008), Bobby East (2009), Dave Darland (2010 & 2014), Tracy Hines (2011 & 2012), Shane Cottle (2013 & 2017), Spencer Bayston (2015), Chris Windom (2016) and Zeb Wise (2018).

Pits open at 3pm ET, grandstands at 4pm, hot laps at 6pm and racing at 7pm.  General admission tickets are $20, with kids age 12 and under free.  Pit passes are $35 for all ages.  The event will air live on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3frPoW6.

USAC MIDWEST REGIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-Chett Gehrke-305, 2-Adam Taylor-246, 3-Jacob Denney-236, 4-Emerson Axsom-231, 5-Stratton Briggs-215, 6-Ian Creager-193, 7-Hayden Reinbold-186, 8-Aaron Leffel-157, 9-Russ Gamester-156, 10-Daison Pursley-149.

USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Jacob Denney-842, 2-Stratton Briggs-798, 3-Adam Taylor-749, 4-Chett Gehrke-672, 5-Ian Creager-671, 6-Abby Hohlbein-649, 7-Aaron Leffel-629, 8-Kyle Dager-555, 9-Zane Briggs-542, 10-Zack Gingerich-538.

WEST COAST SPRINT CARS

This Saturday, October 17th, the USAC West Coast Sprint Cars will make their last appearance of the year at Petaluma Speedway.

Promoted by Rick Faeth, the special non-points event will also feature the USAC Western States and BCRA Midgets, WMR Western Midgets, and 600 Micro Sprints. The Pit Gates will open at noon, the GRANDSTANDS ARE CLOSED, Practice starts at 4:00pm, and Racing at “The Fastest 3/8 Mile Dirt Oval in Northern California” will begin at 6:00pm.

For event information, visit the track’s website at www.petaluma-speedway.com or call 707.763.7223 (RACE). FloRacing will broadcast a live stream of the event.

Thanks to support of an anonymous sponsor, the purse for Saturday’s event has been increased. As this writing goes to press, the race will pay $1,000-to-win, $650-for-2nd, $450-for 3rd, $350-for-4th, $300-for 5th, and $100-to-start.

To limit person to person contact during the night, all USAC racers must purchase their license / membership ahead of the event at www.usacracing.com or www.usaclicense.com. In addition, the entry fee will be taken from the night’s winnings.

WESTERN STATES MIDGETS

After a torrid battle at Placerville, the “mighty midgets” of the USAC Western States and Bay Cities Racing Association will clash at California’s Petaluma Speedway this Saturday, October 17th.

Promoted by Rick Faeth, the co-sanctioned special event / non-point race will also feature the USAC West Coast 360 Sprint Cars, WMR Western Midgets, and 600 Micro Sprints. The Pit Gates will open at noon, the GRANDSTANDS ARE CLOSED, Practice starts at 5:00pm, and Racing at “The Fastest 3/8 Mile Dirt Oval in Northern California” will begin at 6:00pm.

For event information, visit the track’s website at www.petaluma-speedway.com or call 707.763.7223 (RACE). FloRacing will broadcast a live stream of the event.

Originally cancelled on September 6th from a request by the Mayor of Petaluma and then again on October 3rd by hazardous air quality from nearby fires, Saturday’s show will be the first of two “West Coast Stock Car / Motorsports Hall of Fame Challenge” races.

Extra prize money will be up for grabs to the top-five drivers in points from the October 17th and 24th events at Petaluma. The mini-series will pay $1,000-to-win, $700-for-2nd, $500-for-3rd, $350-for-4th, and $250-for-5th. To be eligible, racers must be members in good standing with either USAC or BCRA. Points will be tallied using the USAC championship point schedule and ties will be broken by the October 24th qualifying times.

If the October 24th show is cancelled, the prize money will be halved and awarded by the October 17th points. Ties are broken by qualifying results.

A special thanks goes to the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, Ken Clapp, and everyone behind the scenes for their generous support. For more information on the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame, visit www.westcoaststockcarhalloffame.com.

Series officials are looking for sponsors to add bonuses and increase the night’s purse. As this writing goes to press, Saturday’s event will pay $600-to-win, $300-for-2nd, $250-for 3rd, $200-for-4th, $150-for 5th, and $100-to-start.

To limit person to person contact during the night, all USAC racers must purchase their license / membership ahead of the event at www.usacracing.com or www.usaclicense.com. In addition, the entry fee will be taken from the night’s winnings.

EASTERN SPEED2 MIDGETS

The USAC Eastern SpeeD2 Midgets make their first ever appearance at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va. this Saturday night, October 17.

Jessica Bean (Farmland, Ind.) won the only previous series event held in the state of Virginia this season, taking one of her three victories this year in August at Spotsylvania.  She won the most recent race as well on Sept. 19 in Dillon, S.C. and leads the series standings coming in by just 22 points over Hunter Wise (Allentown, Pa.) with Chris Lamb (Colfax, N.C.) just 25 points behind in 3rd.

Bean is pursuing a fourth consecutive series championship while Lamb is gunning for his fourth since 2013.

Pits open at 10am ET with the first round of practice for the midgets scheduled for 1:15pm.  The drivers meeting will take place at 3:15pm with front gates opening at 3:30pm.  Racing starts at 6pm.  Pure 4, Pure Street, Mod Street, Mod 4 and Limited Late Models are also on the card.  Adult general admission tickets are $10 and children 12 and under are free.

USAC EASTERN SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Jessica Bean-442, 2-Hunter Wise-420, 3-Chris Lamb-417, 4-Sam Mazzo-305, 5-Mason Hoskins-288, 6-Bradley Swift-234, 7-John Inman-122, 8-Daytona Spicola-62, 9-Jacob Boret-61, 10-Scott Hunter-60.