USAC SPEED2 RACING SMORGASBORD ARRIVES THIS WEEKEND
Speedway, Indiana (September 19, 2019)………Four USAC Speed2 Midget series are in action this weekend in four different states: Vermont, Illinois, Indiana and South Carolina.
The weekend begins with the season finale for the DMA Midgets at Bear Ridge Speedway Friday night, Sept. 20, in Bradford, Vermont. Five different winners have reached victory lane in the 10 races held at the track this year: Will Hull (4), Seth Carlson (3), Adam Whitney (1), Mike Chaffee (1) and Joe Krawiec (1). Hull (Plainfield, Vt.) holds a 34-point lead over Krawiec in the title chase entering the event.
Engler IMRA is back at Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Illinois this Saturday after rain washed out the series’ August appearance there following the heat races. That’s where the program resumes Saturday, Sept. 21. All cars that were scheduled to compete in that night’s feature event will complete that program with a feature event. At the conclusion, the cars will go directly into a completely new program for the remainder of the evening. All cars signed in on Saturday night will compete in the Sept. 21 program. Andy Baugh (Mason City, Ill.) has a virtual lockdown on his second consecutive IMRA title, holding a 124-point lead over Tyler Roth.
The penultimate round of the Midwest Thunder season takes it back to Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway for the fifth time this season this Saturday, Sept. 21. Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio) is the only two-time winner this year at Montpelier and swept last weekend’s slate at Gas City and Montpelier. He’s closed up the gap on the title race to a mere 19 points behind two-time and defending champion Aaron Leffel (Springfield, Ohio) with two races remaining.
The Eastern series makes its season debut at Florence Motor Speedway in Timmonsville, South Carolina on Saturday, Sept. 21. In fact, it marks just the second appearance for the series at the paved oval and first since 2005, won by Aron Oakley. However, it’s not the series’ first rodeo in the state of South Carolina this year. Two previous stops this season in Dillon, S.C. netted victories for Sam Hatfield and Preston Lattomus. Jessica Bean leads the standings by just 25 over Connor Gross entering the race.
Friday action at Bear Ridge includes a full stock of racing with pits opening at 3pm (Eastern), front gates open at 3pm and racing at 6pm. In addition to USAC DMA Midgets, the night’s slate presents the Sabil & Sons DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds, Wells River Chevrolet DIRTcar Sportsman Coupes, C.A. Miller Limited Late Models, Peanuts Auto Four Cylinders and Twin State Dirt Stocks. Adult general admission tickets are $10, students 12-17 are $10, seniors 62+ are $10, kids 11 and under are $2 and pit passes are $30.
Saturday at Peoria, pits open at 4pm and grandstands at 5pm. IMRA Midgets are in the house along with UMP Late Models, UMP Modifieds, Street Stocks, B-Mods and UMP Hornets. Adult general admission is $10, kids 10 and under are free, adult pit passes are $30 and kid pit passes are $15.
Saturday at Montpelier, front gates open at 3pm (Eastern), hot laps at 5pm and racing at 6:30pm. Midgets are joined by UMP Modifieds, Super Streets, Thunder Cars and FWD Compacts. Adult general admission tickets are $15, kids 12 and under are free with paid adult. Pit passes are $30 apiece.
Saturday at Florence, pits open at 9am (Eastern), open practice 10am until 6pm, grandstands open at 5pm time trials at 6:30pm and racing at 8pm. Along with the Eastern Midgets are the Grocery Getter/Bangers, Stock 4/Pro 4, Street Stocks, Chargers and Late Models. Grandstand admission is $12 for adults, $5 for kids age 6-12 and free for children age 5 and under. Pit passes are $25 each.
USAC DMA SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Will Hull-1,198, 2-Joe Krawiec-1,164, 3-Seth Carlson-1,095, 4-Justin Phillips-944, 5-Adam Whitney-886, 6-Manny Dias-853, 7-Jeff Horn-824, 8-Justin Sheridan-776, 9-Tim West-648, 10-Jeff Champagne-642.
USAC ENGLER IMRA SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Andy Baugh-953, 2-Tyler Roth-829, 3-Jake Sollenberger-808, 4-Mark McMahill-698, 5-Kevin Battefeld-661, 6-Brent Burrows-637, 7-Russell Johnston-577, 8-Jeff Sparks-576, 9-John Heitzman-547, 10-Shane Morgan-495.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Aaron Leffel-713, 2-Stratton Briggs-694, 3-Cory Guingrich-563, 4-Alex Watson-494, 5-Zane Briggs-489, 6-Gunnar Lucius-459, 7-Kyle Kriegbaum-440, 8-Ian Creager-437, 9-Tommy Bigelow-324, 10-Bryce Dues-307.
USAC EASTERN SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Jessica Bean-669, 2-Connor Gross-644, 3-Nolan Allison-528, 4-Neal Allison-477, 5-Alex Murray-457, 6-Preston Lattomus-406, 7-Sam Hatfield-389, 8-Levi Riffle-273, 9-Daytona Spicola-257, 10-Eric Lewis-237.