RUTHERFORD TOPS AT BAKERSFIELD

Bakersfield, CA……..Troy Rutherford of Ojai Calif. scored a spectacular last-lap victory in Saturday night’s 30-lap USAC West Coast Sprint race at Bakersfield Speedway. Wheeling the Steve Watt JD Machine Tech/AAA Propane Maxim/Chevy, he fought off the late-race challenge of Nic Faas, who finished second after leading at the white-flag! Four drivers led the race, with Austin Liggett taking the first five laps and Markus Niemela the next 12. Faas led for nine laps and Rutherford two before they swapped the final two laps. Niemela took third at the checkered flag ahead of Danny Faria Jr. and fast qualifier Jace Vander Weerd.

USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 22, 2014 – Bakersfield, California – Bakersfield Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-12.597; 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-12.616; 3. Nic Faas, 73X, Ford-12.661; 4. Troy Rutherford, 81, Watt-12.668; 5. Markus Niemela, 73, Ford-12.868; 6. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-12.939; 7. Trent Carter, 13, Carter-12.968; 8. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-13.039; 9. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-13.083; 10. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.122; 11. Davey Pombo, 14, Pombo-13.145; 12. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter-13.150; 13. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-13.191; 14. Danny Faria Jr., 2, Bowman-13.216; 15. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-13.245; 16. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-13.250; 17. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-13.429; 18. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-13.550; 19. Luke Boles, 56, Boles-13.863; 20. Matt Day, 97, Day-13.984; 21. Garrett Long, 38, Long-14.179; 22. Connor Kassik, 26, Kassik-14.464; 23. Seth Hancock, 51S, Hancock-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Carlile, 2. Ennis, 3. Rutherford, 4. J.Vander Weerd, 5. Roa, 6. Carter, 7. Day. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Liggett, 3. R.Vander Weerd, 4. Niemela, 5. Pombo, 6. Boles, 7. Long, 8. Howell.  NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hurst, 2. Faas, 3. Sibley, 4. Barnes, 5. Kirkbride, 6. Mitchell, 7. Kassik. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Troy Rutherford, 2. Nic Faas, 3. Markus Niemela, 4. Danny Faria Jr., 5. Jace Vander Weerd, 6. Matt Mitchell, 7. Landon Hurst, 8. Brody Roa, 9. Dennis Howell, 10. Richard Vander Weerd, 11. Kevin Barnes, 12. Davey Pombo, 13. Ricky Kirkbride, 14. Luke Boles, 15. Chris Ennis, 16. Garrett Long, 17. Matt Day, 18. Rusty Carlile, 19. Jeff Sibley, 20. Austin Liggett, 21. Connor Kassik, 22. Trent Carter. NT

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*Liggett and Carlile flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Liggett, Laps 6-17 Niemela, Laps 18-26 Faas, Laps 27-28 Rutherford, Lap 29 Faas, Lap 30 Rutherford.

NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Niemela-167, 2-Rutherford-160, 3-J.Vander Weerd-147, 4-Faria-137, 5-Howell-134, 6-R.Vander Weerd-134, 7-Mitchell-131, 8-Liggett-130, 9-Faas-122, 10-Hurst-114.

NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: March 29 – Hanford, CA - Kings Speedway – “Gary Jacob Memorial”