WESTERN STATES MIDGETS AT TULARE APRIL 9; GARDNER TAKES PLACERVILLE OPENER
USAC’s Western States Midgets will invade the Merle Stone Chevrolet Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif. April 9 and defending series champion Ronnie Gardner will be seeking his first Tulare win.
Gardner, who leads the standings after winner the 2016 series opener last Wednesday at Placerville, Calif., finished second in a 2014 race at Tulare, but came short of cracking the “top-10” in two appearances there last year.
Gardner led the final 19 laps of the “Placerville Short Track Showdown” at Placerville Speedway in his Baldozier Racing/Ram Bull Racing Stewart/Esslinger. He passed Shane Golobic for the lead on lap 12 and Golobic grabbed the second-place finish ahead of Cody Swanson, Sean Dodenhoff and Michael Faccinto.
Wednesday’s victory was the 14th career Western States win for Gardner, who is seeking his fourth consecutive series title this year.
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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT
DATE: Saturday, April 9, 2016
SERIES: USAC Western States Midget Championship
TRACK: Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, California) – 1/3-mile, high-banked clay oval
EVENT: USAC Western States Midgets, USAC West Coast Sprint Cars, Western RaceSaver Sprint Cars and "Legends Of Kearney Bowl" Vintage Cars
TRACK ADDRESS: 6080 Leonard Noel Dr., Tulare, CA 93274
TRACK PHONE: (559) 688-0909
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com/
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PAST USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS AT THUNDERBOWL RACEWAY
9/17/1988: P.J. Jones
4/8/1989: Robby Flock
8/12/1989: Sleepy Tripp
11/13/2010: Tracy Hines
5/31/2014: Trey Marcham
5/2/2015: Michael Faccinto
5/30/2015: Brady Bacon
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
1. (78) Ronnie Gardner
2. (74) Shane Golobic
3. (69) Cody Swanson
4. (67) Sean Dodenhoff
5. (63) Michael Faccinto
6. (61) Randi Pankratz
7. (60) Brady Bacon
8. (54) Britton Bock
9. (49) Taylor Simas
10. (46) Frankie Guerrini
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
1. (78) Six8 Motorsports #68
2. (74) Bock Racing #26
3. (69) Kirk Swanson #71s
4. (67) Sean Dodenhoff #9D
5. (63) MF Racing #35F
6. (61) Wally Pankratz #8
7. (60) Keith Ford #73
8. (54) Bock Racing #67
9. (49) Bock Racing #62
10. (46) MF Racing #35s
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Mar 23: Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Apr 9: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds
Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway
Sep 3: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
Sep 4: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
Sep 8: Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway
Sep 17: Santa Maria, CA - Santa Maria Raceway
Oct 8: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
Oct 29: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Nov 19: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Nov 24: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
**Races noted with ### represent a race with the USAC National Midget Series.
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS
FEATURE WINS:
1. (1) Ronnie Gardner (Placerville Speedway on March 23)
FEATURE LAPS LED:
1. (19) Ronnie Gardner
2. (9) Shane Golobic
3. (2) Sean Dodenhoff
TOP-FIVE FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (1) Sean Dodenhoff, Michael Faccinto, Ronnie Gardner, Shane Golobic & Cody Swanson
TOP-TEN FEATURE FINISHES:
1. (1) Brady Bacon, Britton Bock, Sean Dodenhoff, Michael Faccinto, Ronnie Gardner, Shane Golobic, Frankie Guerrini, Randi Pankratz, Taylor Simas & Cody Swanson
FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
1.
HEAT RACE WINS:
1. (1) Brady Bacon, Danny Carroll & Ronnie Gardner
FEATURE STARTS:
1. (1) Brady Bacon, Britton Bock, Danny Carroll, Bryan Clauson, Maria Cofer, Courtney Crone, Robert Dalby, Sean Dodenhoff, Tyler Dolacki, Cory Elliott, Michael Faccinto, Brian Gard, Ronnie Gardner, Dustin Golobic, Shane Golobic, Frankie Guerrini, Terry Nichols, Randi Pankratz & Taylor Simas, Matt Streeter, Cody Swanson & Nate Waite
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS
1. [104 wins] Sleepy Tripp
2. [52 wins] Robby Flock
3. [41 wins] Billy Boat
4. [19 wins] Wally Pankratz
5. [18 wins] Page Jones
6. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen
9. [14 wins] Ronnie Gardner & Garrett Hansen
11. [13 wins] Jimmy Sills & Tony Stewart
13. [12 wins] Jay Drake & Tommy White
15. [11 wins] Josh Wise
16. [10 wins] Johnny Cofer, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman & Ron Shuman
21. [9 wins] Bobby East, Tracy Hines, Kasey Kahne & Rich Vogler
25. [8 wins] Stan Fox, Michael Lewis, Steve Paden, Dave Steele & Danny Stratton
30. [7 wins] Rick Hendrix, Chad Nichols & Kody Swanson
33. [6 wins] Rico Abreu, Bryan Clauson, Johnathon Henry, Ken Nichols, Brad Noffsinger & Dave Strickland Jr.
39. [5 wins] Tommy Astone, Christopher Bell, Bob Davison, Ronnie Day, Robert Dolacki, Davey Hamilton, Tony Hunt, Brad Kuhn & J.J. Yeley
48. [4 wins] Tyler Brown, Hank Butcher, Nick Chivello, Marc DeBeaumont, Nic Faas, Josh Ford, Chuck Gurney, Darren Hagen, Jordan Hermansader, Ryan Kaplan, Thomas Meseraull, Frank Pedregon, Chris Rahe, Keith Rauch, Jerome Rodela, Johnny Rodriguez, Shane Scully, Ricky Shelton, Tanner Swanson, Brad Sweet & Billy Wease
69. [3 wins] Ryan Bernal, Bobby Boone, Mario Bringetto, Jr., Danny Ebberts, Shane Golobic, Jeff Gordon, Scott Hansen, Alex Harris, Robby Josett, Trey Marcham, Danny McKnight, Ryan Newman, Johnny Parsons, Scott Pierovich, Troy Rutherford, Alex Schutte & Chuck West
86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, Michael Faccinto, Terry Farrar, Mike Figliomeni, Bobby Grewohl, Darryl Haugh, Dennis Hart, Jeff Heywood, Gary Howard, R.J. Johnson, Josh Lakatos, Kyle Larson, Evan Margeson, Matt Mitchell, Rory Price, Stevie Reeves, Bobby Santos, Darin Snider, Michael Snider & Bryan Stanfill
109. [1 win] Mike Appio, Caleb Armstrong, Brady Bacon, Donnie Beechler, Wayne Bennet, Pat Bliss, Garratt Boyden, Greg Bragg, Larry Brown, Keith Chrisco, Michelle Decker, Larry Derwin, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Dale Durbin Jr., Cory Elliott, Bob Ellis, Tommie Estes Jr., Duane Feduska, Billy Felts Jr., A.J. Fike, Joe Gaerte, Russ Gamester, Brian Gard, Damion Gardner, Cody Gerhardt, Rick Gerhardt, Frankie Guerrini, Jac Haudenschild, Lloyd Hemman, Nathan High, Rick Hood, Kenny Irwin Jr., A.J. Johnson, Jim Keene, Steve Knepper, Brad Loyet, Dallen McKenney, Shannon McQueen, Lealand McSpadden, Jeff Meyer, Andy Michner, Kevin Olson, Aaron Pollock, David Prickett, Davey Ray, C.J. Sarna, Zach Schiff, Ryan Scott, Jeremy Sherman, Graham Standring, John Starks, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Stockon, Matt Streeter, Cody Swanson, Jake Swanson, Sammy Swindell, Tanner Thorson, Richard Vander Weerd, Eric Wilkins, Rip Williams & Paul Zimmerly
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONS
1982: **Jeff Heywood
1983: Sleepy Tripp
1984: Tommy White
1985: Sleepy Tripp
1986: Robby Flock
1987: Sleepy Tripp
1988: Sleepy Tripp
1989: Robby Flock
1990: Sleepy Tripp
1991: Sleepy Tripp
1992: Sleepy Tripp
1993: Robby Flock
1994: Johnny Cofer
1995: Billy Boat
1996: Jay Drake
1997: Ricky Shelton
1998: Rick Hendrix
1999: Marc DeBeaumont
2000: Wally Pankratz
2001: Danny Ebberts
2002: Robby Flock
2003: Steve Paden
2004: Johnny Rodriguez
2005: Jerome Rodela
2006: Jerome Rodela
2007: Johnny Rodriguez
2008: Nic Faas
2009: Garrett Hansen
2010: Alex Schutte
2011: Cory Kruseman
2012: Shannon McQueen (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & David Prickett (Dirt)
2013: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & Ronnie Gardner (Dirt)
2014: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pavement), Ronnie Gardner (Dirt)
2015: Ronnie Gardner
**The 1982 Western Midget championship was derived from finishes posted in a number of “west coast” races held under National sanction. These events were NOT promoted, recognized or reported as “western” races and no series standings were generated.