HOWELL WINS SPECTACULAR THUNDERBOWL 30-LAPPER!

Tulare, CA……..Dennis Howell of Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. scored a sensational 30-lap USAC West Coast Sprint Car victory Friday night at Thunderbowl Raceway, beating Richard and Jace Vander Weerd to the checkered flag in one of the most exciting races in series history. Howell officially led all 30 laps although he withstood strong challenges in the closing laps from both Vander Weerds. Howell, who became the second driver to score his initial series win this year, piloted the San Pedro Auto Body/Howell Meyer Racing Maxim/SRE to the win. Defending series champion Danny Faria Jr. finished fourth ahead of fifth-place finisher Bud Kaeding.

USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: March 14, 2014 – Tulare, California – Thunderbowl Raceway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Markus Niemela, 73, Ford-15.225; 2. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-15.385; 3. Richard Vander Weerd, 10, Vander Weerd-15.425; 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, Bowman-15.538; 5. Dennis Howell, 62, Howell-15.594; 6. Jace Vander Weerd, 88, Vander Weerd-15.640; 7. Austin Liggett, 83, Liggett-15.671; 8. Troy Ruterford, 81, Watt-15.738; 9. Landon Hurst, 179, Hurst-16.016; 10. Danny Faria Jr., 2, Bowman-16.040; 11. Chris Ennis, 86, Ennis-16.101; 12. Trent Carter, 13, Carter-16.256; 13. Marty Hawkins, 3M, Hawkins-16.299; 14. Connor Kassik, 26, Kassik-16.307; 15. Kevin Barnes, 36B, Barnes-16.398; 16. Tony Everhart, 55, Everhart-16.534; 17. Jonathan Logan, 32, Evett/Logan-16.630; 18. Garrett Long, 38, Long-16.912; 19. Robert Nuckles, 27, Nuckles-17.756; 20. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Van Meter-18.370; 21. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-18.561; 22. Rusty Carlile, 51, Carlile-20.337; 23. Jeff Sibley, 42N, Sibley-20.344.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Faria, 2. Kaeding, 3. Niemela, 4. Liggett, 5. Hawkins, 6. Carlile, 7. Everhart, 8. Nuckles. NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Howell, 2. Mitchell, 3. Logan, 4. Kassik, 5. Sibley, 6. Ennis, 7. Rutherford. NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. R.Vander Weerd, 2. Barnes, 3. J.Vander Weerd, 4. Hurst, 5. Carter, 6. Long, 7. Richardson. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dennis Howell, 2. Richard Vander Weerd, 3. Jace Vander Weerd, 4. Danny Faria Jr., 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Markus Niemela, 7. Marty Hawkins, 8. Austin Liggett, 9. Troy Rutherford, 10. Kevin Barnes, 11. Matt Mitchell, 12. Landon Hurst, 13. Garrett Long, 14. Trent Carter, 15. Jonathan Logan, 16. Robert Nuckles, 17. Jim Richardson, 18. Rusty Carlile, 19. Tony Everhart, 20. Chris Ennis, 21. Jeff Sibley, 22. Connor Kassik. NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Howell.

NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Liggett-110, 2-Niemela-106, 3-Howell-97, 4-Rutherford-91, 5-R.Vander Weerd-90, 6-J.Vander Weerd-88, 7-Mitchell-82, 8-Faria-78, 9-Hurst-64, 10-J.J. Yeley-64.

NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT RACE: March 22 – Bakersfield (CA) Speedway