SUNN BRINGS THE HEAT TO VICTORY LANE AT BEAR RIDGE

By: John DaDalt

Bradford, Vermont (July 2, 2022)………Josh Sunn (Quechee, Vt.) scored his second win of the season with the USAC SpeeD2 Dirt Midget Association at Bradford, Vermont’s Bear Ridge Speedway on Saturday night.  It was a dominating win and made Sunn the first two-time series winner in 2022.

At the drop of the green, Sunn vaulted from his fourth place starting position up to challenge the leaders. With aggressive moves, he shot into second place on the first lap.

A yellow on lap two for a Tyler Stark spin closed the field. Once the green flag flew, Sunn made a move on Dan Piastka for first place. From there on forward, it was all over.  Sunn was never challenged the as the race went green for the remaining laps.

Seth Carlson moved up to second, getting by Justin Sheridan and Dan Piastka on successive laps. He had nothing for Sunn though and that’s the way they finished.

Sunn’s win was his second of the season at Bear Ridge. He ran strong in both his heat race and the feature and was able to use either the middle of bottom of the track to finish three and half seconds ahead of Carlson, clearly the class of the field.

“The car was a rocket and on rails all night; I was able to move around the track with it,” Sunn said.  “J.R.’s (car owner J.R. Mancini) hard work is paying off the last couple of weeks.”

Two-time defending USAC DMA champion Seth Carlson ran second for the third straight race while  Brandon Piastka rebounded from a couple of off weeks to take third.

“The track was very tricky, I’m happy to come out with a podium after a couple of tough weeks,” Brandon stated.  “We were struggling for forward drive in the heat race, so we changed a few things and it helped.  Thanks to everyone who helps at Ray Miller racing.  I’m excited to go back to New Hampshire and hopefully get a much better result than the last race there.”

Justin Sheridan’s strong season continued with a fourth. It was Sheridan’s fifth top four finish of 2022. New Hampshire winner Dan Piastka came in fifth.

Manny Dias and Dan Piastka won the heat races.

The USAC DMA midgets will make their second appearance of the season at the Flat Track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday July 15.

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USAC DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION RACE RESULTS: July 2, 2022 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, Vermont

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Manny Dias (#42 Dias), 2. Tom Chaffee (#51 Chaffee), 3. Jeff Horn (#A1 Horn), 4. Mike Chaffee (#18c Miller), 5. Todd Mable (#2K Mable), 6. Tyler Stark (#75 Stark). NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Dan Piastka (#1 Miller), 2. Josh Sunn (#76m Mancini), 3. Seth Carlson (#4 Matczak), 4. Justin Sheridan (#17 Shookus), 5. Brandon Piastka (#7 Miller), 6. Nikki Ouellette (#14 Matczak). NT

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Josh Sunn, 2. Seth Carlson, 3. Brandon Piastka, 4. Justin Sheridan, 5. Dan Piastka, 6. Manny Dias, 7. Mike Chaffee, 8. Nikki Ouellette, 9. Tom Chaffee, 10. Jeff Horn, 11. Todd Mable, 12. Tyler Stark. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Dan Piastka, Laps 3-25 Josh Sunn.

USAC SPEED2 DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION POINTS: 1-Seth Carlson-354, 2-Josh Sunn-353, 3-Justin Sheridan-338, 4-Brandon Piastka-334, 5-Dan Piastka-323, 6-Ralle Rookey-204, 7-Mike Netishen-177, 8-Todd Mable-176, 9-Manny Dias-168, 10-Jeff Horn-159.

NEXT USAC SPEED2 DIRT MIDGET ASSOCIATION RACE:  July 15, 2022 – The Flat Track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, New Hampshire – Non-Points Special Event