WESTERN MIDGETS OFF UNTIL CALISTOGA; SCHUTTE TAKES “JACK LONDON HALL OF FAME” FEATURE
USAC’s Western States Midgets are idle until September 3-4 when they resume action as part of Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway’s ninth annual “Louie Vermeil Classic.”
Ronnie Gardner continues to lead the series standings as he searches for a fourth consecutive title. He has a 40-point lead over Michael Faccinto going into the two-night Calistoga program which also features the USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Cars.
The Saturday feature event at the “Vermeil Classic” is part of the inaugural Jonathan Byrd’s “Indy Challenge,” which affords drivers unprecedented opportunities to achieve the goal of competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The challenge began in June at the Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway during “Indiana Midget Week” when Rico Abreu took the victory. Remaining events included in the seven-race challenge are the final night of the Belleville (Kans.) Midget Nationals on August 6; the August 17 “Pennsylvania Midget Week” race at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA.; the “Louie Vermeil Classic” Western States Midget race at Calistoga (Calif.) Speedway on September 4; the “4-Crown Nationals” at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio September 24; the “Gold Grown Midget Nationals” finale at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill October 8 and the “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Ventura (Calif.) Raceway November 24.
Five wins in the “Byrd’s Challenge” would earn that driver a seat in the 2017 Freedom 100 Indy Lights race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Six victories would secure a seat for the full roster of oval races on the 2017 Indy Lights schedule, while a sweep of all seven USAC events would earn the driver the 2017 Indy Lights oval races mentioned, as well as propel the winner to a ride in the 2018 Indianapolis 500.
Alex Schutte of Redding, Calif. won Saturday night’s “Jack London Hall of Fame Night” USAC Western States Midget race at Petaluma (Calif.) Speedway. He passed Gardner on lap 17 and led the final 14 laps in his Proficio/Aircraft Electric Components Spike/Esslinger to beat Gardner, Shannon McQueen, Faccinto and Greg Bragg. The race was co-sanctioned by BCRA.
Schutte’s win was his second in his past four series starts dating back to last year.
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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT:
DATE: Saturday, September 3 & Sunday, September 4, 2016
SERIES: USAC Western States Midget Championship
TRACK: Calistoga Speedway (Calistoga, California) – ½-mile dirt oval
EVENT: 9th annual “Louie Vermeil Classic” featuring the USAC Western States Midgets and USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Cars
STARTING TIMES: Front gates: 4:00pm. Cars on track: 5:30pm.
TICKETS: General Adm.$30.00. Reserved seating: $35.00.
TRACK ADDRESS: 1435 N Oak St, Calistoga, CA 94515
TRACK PHONE: (707) 942-5111
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.calistogaspeedway.org/
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (486) Ronnie Gardner (Corona, CA)
2. (446) Michael Faccinto (Hanford, CA)
3. (355) Frankie Guerrini (San Rafael, CA)
4. (326) Cory Elliott (Bakersfield, CA)
5. (290) Cody Swanson (Norco, CA)
6. (287) Randi Pankratz (Atascadero, CA)
7. (279) Courtney Crone (Corona, CA) & Tyler Dolacki (Fresno, CA)
9. (249) Maria Cofer (Macdoel, CA)
10. (242) Sean Dodenhoff (Bakersfield, CA)
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (486) Six8 Motorsports #68
2. (446) MF Racing #35F
3. (326) Cory Elliott #11E
4. (309) Frankie Guerrini #63
5. (290) Kirk Swanson #71s
6. (287) Wally Pankratz #8
7. (279) Robert Dolacki #18 & Jerome Rodela #25
9. (249) Cofer Racing #57
10. (242) Sean Dodenhoff #9D
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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
WINNER: Rained Out
Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Michael Faccinto
Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway
WINNER: Alex Schutte
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 FEATURE WINS:
1. (4) Ronnie Gardner (Placerville Speedway on March 23, Bakersfield Speedway on April 30, Ventura Raceway on May 21 & Santa Maria Raceway on June 25)
2. (1) Michael Faccinto (Bakersfield Speedway on June 4)
(1) Alex Schutte (Petaluma Speedway on July 16)
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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. [17 wins] Ronnie Gardner
7. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen
10. [14 wins] 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, Alex Schutte, Shane Scully, Ricky Shelton, Tanner Swanson, Brad Sweet & Billy Wease
70. [3 wins] Ryan Bernal, Bobby Boone, Mario Bringetto, Jr., Danny Ebberts, Michael Faccinto, Shane Golobic, Jeff Gordon, Scott Hansen, Alex Harris, Robby Josett, Trey Marcham, Danny McKnight, Ryan Newman, Johnny Parsons, Scott Pierovich, Troy Rutherford & Chuck West
86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, 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.