INDIANA, ILLINOIS, CALIFORNIA & WASHINGTON HOST IGNITES;
GOETZ TAKES 5TH IN A ROW IN WASHINGTON
Four states host Honda USAC Ignite Midget racing this week. Midwest pavement races are slated Friday and Saturday nights in conjunction with the Honda National Midget Series at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind. (Friday) and Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill. (Saturday). The Western series competes at Madera (Calif.) Speedway Saturday with the Honda Western Midgets also on tap, while Saturday’s Washington series continues Saturday at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma.
Chase Goetz of Snohomish, Wash. won Saturday’s 20-lap Honda USAC Washington Ignite Midget race at Skagit Speedway in Alger. Colton Heath finished second ahead of Ariel Biggs, Michael Millard and Todd Hartman. Robbie Price led the first two laps and Goetz led the rest. Dougie James won both the Speedmart Hard Charger Award and the NWSPRINTCARHISTORY.com Rookie of the Race. Garrett Thomas was the Elma Auto Racing Hall of Fame Fast Qualifier.
Goetz is in rarified air regarding USAC consecutive victories, his five straight in the Washington series trailing only five drivers in USAC history. A.J. Foyt strung seven straight together in the 1964 Championship Cars, while Billy Vukovich III won seven straight in the 1987 Supermodifieds. Larry Dickson won six straight in the 1968 Sprint Cars and Michael Lang won six straight in the 1996 Speedrome Midgets. BUT – Billy Boat’s all-time USAC record stands untouched after his 11 consecutive wins in the 1995 Western Midgets!