TOTALLY RAD: BEAN DOUBLES UP WITH USAC RADICAL FOCUS TITLE IN 2021
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (December 28, 2021)………Not once, but twice is nice!
After wrapping up her fifth consecutive USAC Eastern Focus Midget championship, Jessica Bean added a dessert to her racing accomplishments in 2021.
One month later, in November, with five victories in nine starts already in hand, the Farmland, Ind. native collected her very first Radical Focus Midget driving title, her sixth overall USAC driving championship.
USAC’s winningest woman driver dominated the Radical standings from start to finish, winning the first four features of the season in her Radical Racing No. 5, sweeping both nights at Arizona’s Havasu 95 Speedway in March. She added two more back-to-back nights in August at Kentucky Motor Speedway and at Tennessee’s Veterans Motorplex. With her fifth and final score in September at Idaho’s Meridian Speedway, in Chuck Groat’s No. 5, Bean’s championship was already well in hand.
Bean’s 86-point margin of victory in the championship came with Nathan Byrd (Goodyear, Ariz.) as the series runner-up. Third-place finisher Hunter Wise (Allentown, Pa.) was a winner in August at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Randy Schaaf and Casey Tillman each scored first career USAC victories with the Radical series in 2021. Schaaf (Fife, Wash.) triumphed in September at Meridian while Tillman (Boise, Idaho) was victorious in the penultimate round at Havasu 95 in November.
Meanwhile, Chris Lamb (Colfax, N.C.), the USAC Eastern Focus series’ all-time winningest driver with 55 victories, notched his first with the Radical Midgets in the season finale at Havasu 95.
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2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET STAT LEADERS:
Driver Champion: Jessica Bean
Most Feature Wins: 5-Jessica Bean
Laps Led: 146-Jessica Bean
Top-Fives: 8-Jessica Bean
Top-Tens: 8-Jessica Bean & Nathan Byrd
Fast Qualifying Times: 3-Jessica Bean
Heat Race Wins: 1-Drew Crenshaw, River Merrill, Randy Schaaf, Michael Smith, Casey Tillman & Natalie Waters
Feature Starts: 9-Jessica Bean & Nathan Byrd
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 610 Jessica Bean, Farmland, Ind.
2 524 Nathan Byrd, Goodyear, Ariz.
3 309 Hunter Wise, Allentown, Pa.
4 305 River Merrill, Salt Lake City, Utah
5 298 Devin Westover, Saratoga Springs, Utah
6 257 Ashlyn Powell, Salt Lake City, Utah
7 231 Cheyenne Merrill, Salt Lake City, Utah
8 216 Kyle Cline, Apple Valley, Calif.
9 210 Brady Allum, Gold Hill, N.C.
10 192 Sam Mazzo, Burns, Tenn.
11 181 Mike Anderson, Nampa, Idaho
12 160 Buddy Campbell, Marietta, Ga.
13 143 Chris Lamb, Colfax, N.C.
14 109 Bradley Swift, Nashville, Tenn.
15 104 Caleb Edington, Thomasville, N.C.
16 98 Mike Creevan, Modesto, Calif.
17 33 Colton Ledbetter, Ceres, Calif.
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:
Mar 19: Havasu 95 Speedway – Lake Havasu, AZ
WINNER: Jessica Bean (Radical Racing #5)
Mar 20: Havasu 95 Speedway – Lake Havasu, AZ
WINNER: Jessica Bean (Radical Racing #5)
Aug 5: Kentucky Motor Speedway – Whitesville, KY
WINNER: Jessica Bean (Radical Racing #5)
Aug 6: Veterans Motorplex – Greenbrier, TN
WINNER: Jessica Bean (Radical Racing #5)
Aug 7: Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway – Nashville, TN
WINNER: Hunter Wise (Wise Racing #47)
Sep 24: Meridian Speedway – Meridian, Idaho
WINNER: Jessica Bean (Chuck Groat #5)
Sep 25: Meridian Speedway – Meridian, Idaho
WINNER: Randy Schaaf (Randy Schaaf #23)
Nov 12: Havasu 95 Speedway – Lake Havasu, AZ
WINNER: Casey Tillman (Creevan Racing #99R)
Nov 13: Havasu 95 Speedway – Lake Havasu, AZ
WINNER: Chris Lamb (Radical Racing #9)
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS:
5-Jessica Bean (Mar 19 at Havasu 95 Speedway, Mar 20 at Havasu 95 Speedway, Aug 5 at Kentucky Motor Speedway, Aug 6 at Veterans Motorplex & Sep 24 at Meridian Speedway)
1-Chris Lamb (Nov 13 at Havasu 95 Speedway)
1-Randy Schaaf (Sep 25 at Meridian Speedway)
1-Casey Tillman (Nov 12 at Havasu 95 Speedway)
1-Hunter Wise (Aug 7 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway)
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:
146-Jessica Bean
66-Hunter Wise
49-Casey Tillman
30-Randy Schaaf
28-Sam Mazzo
26-Kyle Cline
5-Nik Larson
4-River Merrill
3-Chris Lamb
2-Nathan Byrd
1-Caleb Edington
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:
8-Jessica Bean
6-Nathan Byrd
3-Brady Allum & Hunter Wise
2-Austin Barnes, Chris Lamb, Nik Larson, Sam Mazzo, Ashlyn Powell, Randy Schaaf, Kyle Tellstrom & Casey Tillman
1-Bradley Swift, Kyle Cline, Caleb Edington, Mason Hoskins, Rebel Jackson Jr., River Merrill, Trevor Miran, Natalie Waters & Devin Westover
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:
8-Jessica Bean & Nathan Byrd
4-Devin Westover & Hunter Wise
3-Brady Allum, Mike Anderson, Buddy Campbell, Kyle Cline, Sam Mazzo, River Merrill & Ashlyn Powell
2-Austin Barnes, Mike Creevan, Drew Crenshaw, Caleb Edington, Mason Hoskins, Rebel Jackson Jr., Chris Lamb, Nik Larson, Cheyenne Merrill, Trevor Miran, Randy Schaaf, Logan Sulyi, Bradley Swift, Kyle Tellstrom, Casey Tillman, Michael Vollbrecht & Natalie Waters
1-Monty Bergener, Matt Elliott, Randy Jahoda, Anthony Quintana & George Tuttle Jr.
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:
9-Jessica Bean & Nathan Byrd
6-Cheyenne Merrill, River Merrill, Ashlyn Powell & Devin Westover
5-Hunter Wise
4-Mike Anderson, Monty Bergener, Kyle Cline, Drew Crenshaw, Matt Elliott & Casey Tillman
3-Brady Allum, Buddy Campbell & Sam Mazzo
2-Austin Barnes, Mike Creevan, Caleb Edington, Brian Hayes, Mason Hoskins, Rebel Jackson Jr., Chris Lamb, Nik Larson, Sid McElreath, Trevor Miran, Josie Nelson, Anthony Quintana, Randy Schaaf, Michael Smith, Logan Sulyi, Bradley Swift, Kyle Tellstrom, Michael Vollbrecht, Natalie Waters & Tyler West
1-Randy Jahoda, Colton Ledbetter, Dwayne Swanson & George Tuttle Jr.
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
3-Jessica Bean
2-Brady Allum & Casey Tillman
1-Sam Mazzo
2021 USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET HEAT RACE WINS:
1-Drew Crenshaw, River Merrill, Randy Schaaf, Michael Smith, Casey Tillman & Natalie Waters
ALL-TIME USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)
7-Jessica Bean
2-Joseph Holiday
1-Chris Lamb, Randy Schaaf, Kyle Tellstrom, Casey Tillman & Hunter Wise
ALL-TIME USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
1-Jessica Bean & Bradley Swift
USAC RADICAL SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
2020: Joseph Holiday, Madera, Calif.
2021: Jessica Bean, Farmland, Ind.