KRAWIEC WINS DMA FINALE; HULL THE CHAMP
By: Mark Hann
Bradford, Vermont (September 20, 2019)………After setting fast time during time trials and winning two out of three races in one night, Joe Krawiec, driving his 1B Ray Miller Racing USAC DMA midget, won the overall in racing action Friday night at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT. Krawiec, from Granby CT, is also the series two-time past champion.
After taking the green flag in race one, Will Hull became the 2019 USAC Dirt Midget Association Champion. With five wins this season in the Seals-it Sponsored/Skip Matczak owned midget, Hull was unstoppable on his way to the championship.
Race one (10 laps) started with the pole position left open and the field pacing the track in missing man formation to honor Mike Hambleton who recently passed away. Mike turned the wrenches on the Seals-it/Matczak owned racecars for fifty years as he and Skip Matczak traveled all over the country winning races with some of the sport’s biggest names.
Race one set the stage for what would become an exciting night of racing action. Joe Krawiec of Granby, CT in the 1B would dominate the race by taking the lead on lap one followed by Justin Phillips in the 16 from West Suffield, CT and the 4 of Seth Carlson from Stafford, CT rounding out the top three. Carlson would have mechanical issues on lap five ending his night.
Dean Christensen of Granby, CT piloting the 69 would now move into third while the top two spots where still held by Krawiec and Phillips. The ten laps went by quickly and in the end Krawiec’s 1B would take the win. Second went to Phillips in the 16 and Christensen with the 69 was third. Race one would also be the start and end of the nights racing for Will Hull as his racecar had engine problems but with his eighth-place finish, Hull was now the 2019 season champion.
Race two (15) laps began with the 91 of Wayne Koehler of Jewett, NY on pole and the 68 of Bobby White starting second. The race got underway with Koehler’s 91 taking the point until the end of lap three when the 18C of Mike Chaffee from Corinth, VT would make the move for the lead by passing the 91 of Koehler.
On lap four the 23 of Tim West from Vernon, CT would spin in turn three but was able to keep the car pointed in the right direction, so no yellow flag was needed. Chaffee in the 18C would hold his lead with the 1B of Joe Krawiec now in second followed by the 69 of Dean Christensen for third. The top three would stay locked together until a lap ten red flag stopped the action as the 23 of West flipped.
The number 23 driver and racecar would return to action in race three later that night. Back to green with the 18C of Chaffee still in command of the field but now the 69 of Christensen and the 77 of Jeff Champagne of Westfield, MA would battle for second and third with Champagne taking the second spot on lap fourteen. Under the checker flag it was Mike Chaffee in the 18C getting the win followed by the 77 of Champagne for second and the 69 of Christensen in third.
Race three (20 laps) would be the last race of 2019 for the USAC DMA so the teams put on a great show for the race fans. The start had Owen Carbee in the 50 from Groton, VT starting pole position and the 91with Wayne Koehler of Jewett, NY starting outside row one. With the green flag waving the field would head off into turn one and the A1 driven by Jeff Horn of Ashland, MA moving from fourth to the lead before the end of lap one and Joe Krawiec in the 1B from Granby, CT now second after starting sixth. Krawiec would not settle for second and on lap four he would get around Horn’s A1 and take over the point.
On lap seven the caution would come out for the spinning 77 of Jeff Champagne of Westfield, MA. Back to green and the 1B of Krawiec would still be in command with the 16 of Justin Phillips of West Suffield, CT now in second after getting around the A1 of Horn.
Caution would once again come out on lap nine for the 91 of Wayne Koehler and 23 of Tim West coming together in turn four. The track was cleared and back to racing action with Krawiec’s 1B still holding the lead and now the 69 of Dean Christensen of Granby, CT in second with the 37 of Tyler Rivard from Woonsocket, RI in third.
Lap thirteen and Rivard would move around Christensen for second moving Christensen back to third. The top three would stay the same until lap seventeen when Justin Phillips in the 16 got around the 69 of Christensen and took over the third spot. In the end and under the last checker flag of 2019, Joe Krawiec in the 1B would take the win followed by the 37 of Tyler Rivard for second and Justin Phillips 16 for third.
To learn more about the USAC Dirt Midget Association, please visit the series website at www.usacdma.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DirtMidgetAssociation
For additional information regarding this press release please contact Mark J. Hann, USAC DMA Series Director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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USAC SPEED2 DMA MIDGET RACE RESULTS: September 20, 2019 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont
QUALFYING: 1. Joe Krawiec, 1B, Miller-13.755; 2. Will Hull, 3, Matczak-13.800; 3. Justin Phillips, 16, Miller-13.880; 4. Dean Christensen, 69, Miller-13.894; 5. Seth Carlson, 4, Matczak-13.919; 6. Manny Dias, 42, Dias-13.957; 7. Tyler Rivard, 37, Rivard-14.124; 8. Mike Chaffee, 18, Chaffee-14.257; 9. Justin Sheridan, 17, Miller-14.311; 10. Jeff Champagne, 77, Champagne-14.324; 11. Jeff Horn, A1, Horn-14.345; 12. Owen Carbee, 50, Carbee-14.915; 13. Tim West, 23, West-14.922; 14. Bobby White, 68, White-14.939; 15. Wayne Koehler, 91, Koehler-15.240; 16. Adam Whitney, 12, Whitney-NT.
FIRST SEGMENT: (10 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec, 2. Justin Phillips, 3. Dean Christensen, 4. Jeff Horn, 5. Manny Dias, 6. Justin Sheridan, 7. Mike Chaffee, 8. Will Hull, 9. Tim West, 10. Owen Carbee, 11. Bobby White, 12. Wayne Koehler, 13. Tyler Rivard, 14. Adam Whitney, 15. Seth Carlson, 16. Jeff Champagne. 4:07.00
SECOND SEGMENT: (15 laps) 1. Mike Chaffee, 2. Jeff Champagne, 3. Dean Christensen, 4. Joe Krawiec, 5. Justin Phillips, 6. Jeff Horn, 7. Bobby White, 8. Wayne Koehler, 9. Owen Carbee, 10. Justin Sheridan, 11. Tim West, 12. Tyler Rivard. NT
THIRD SEGMENT: (20 laps) 1. Joe Krawiec, 2. Tyler Rivard, 3. Justin Phillips, 4. Dean Christensen, 5. Mike Chaffee, 6. Jeff Horn, 7. Justin Sheridan, 8. Owen Carbee, 9. Tim West, 10. Wayne Koehler, 11. Jeff Champagne, 12. Bobby White. NT
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**Tim West flipped on lap 10 of the second segment.
OVERALL TOP-THREE IN POINTS FOR THE NIGHT: 1. Joe Krawiec, 2. Justin Phillips, 3. Dean Christensen.
FIRST SEGMENT LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Joe Krawiec.
SECOND SEGMENT LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Wayne Koehler, Laps 4-15 Mike Chaffee.
THIRD SEGMENT LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Jeff Horn, Laps 4-20 Joe Krawiec.
FINAL USAC DMA SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS 1-Will Hull-1,275, 2-Joe Krawiec-1,242, 3-Seth Carlson-1,169, 4-Justin Phillips-1,020, 5-Adam Whitney-956, 6-Manny Dias-926, 7-Jeff Horn-895, 8-Justin Sheridan-847, 9-Tim West-719, 10-Jeff Champagne-713.