WEST COAST SPRINTS AT TULARE MAY 31;

BERNAL SWEEPS WATSONVILLE & TULARE WEST COAST SPRINTS

The USAC West Coast Sprint cars resume May 31 at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. and Finnish driver Markus Niemela continues to lead the standings, 38 points ahead of Jace Vander Weerd. Niemela scored second and third-place finishes in last weekend’s races, while Vander Weerd was fifth and seventh.

Defending USAC Western Classic Sprint Car Champion Ryan Bernal of Hollister, Calif. won the Friday and Saturday night 30-lappers at Ocean Speedway in Watsonville, Calif. (Fri) and Thunderbowl Raceway (Sat.). He passed Austin Liggett on lap 14 at Watsonville and led the rest of the way in Mike Phulps’ Core Power/Metal Works ART/S&S. West Coast Sprint Car point leader Markus Niemela took second ahead of Liggett, Nic Faas and D.J. Johnson. Troy Rutherford led the first 10 laps before yielding to Liggett.

Bernal passed Nic Faas on lap 24 at Tulare Saturday and led the rest of the way to beat Danny Faria Jr., Niemela, Matt Mitchell and Jace Vander Weerd. Bud Kaeding led the first 21 laps and Faas led two. Bernal now has a 66-point Western Classic point lead as the two races awarded points toward both the West Coast and Western Classic titles.