WESTERN STATES MIDGETS GUN FOR FALL SHOOTOUT SATURDAY AT TULARE
Four races from the close of the 2016 USAC Western States Midget Series, Ronnie Gardner stands on the threshold of something not even seven-time champion Sleepy Tripp was unable to achieve. He could become the first driver to claim four consecutive series championships!
Tripp’s seven titles came in a 10-year span and ended with three in a row (1990-1992).
Coupled with Western States Dirt championships in 2013 and 2014, Gardner could be looking at six titles in four years!
Gardner’s next step on the road to the crowd comes this Saturday at the KRC Safety “Fall Shootout” at the Merle Stone Chevrolet Speedway in Tulare, Calif. In 10 2016 starts, he has four victories and three seconds.
April’s stop at Tulare was rained out, so this Saturday night’s event will mark the first visit by the series to the lightning fast one-third mile dirt oval since May of 2015.
In that one, Brady Bacon made a rare midseason excursion out west and, on lap 11, used a monster run off of turn two to make his way to the front past his Josh Ford Motorsports teammate Trey Marcham, then cruised to a comfortable victory that gave him a complete sweep of the night’s event after earlier recording the fastest qualifying time and a heat race victory.
Calistoga’s “Louie Vermiel Classic” winner Michael Faccinto was also a Tulare winner back in 2015 and trails Gardner by 82 points in the latest standings.
On tap Saturday night along with the USAC Western States Midgets are the King of the West Sprint Cars. Front gates open at 4pm, hot laps at 5, time trials at 6 with the green flag for racing set to wave at 7 o’clock. Adult bleacher seats are just 18 bucks while grandstand tickets are $20.
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UPCOMING USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT:
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 2016
SERIES: USAC Western States Midget Championship
TRACK: Thunderbowl Raceway (Tulare, California) – 1/3-mile, high-banked clay oval
TRACK ADDRESS: 6080 Leonard Noel Dr., Tulare, CA 93274
TRACK PHONE: (559) 688-0909
TRACK WEBSITE: http://www.thunderbowlraceway.com/
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (763) Ronnie Gardner (Corona, CA)
2. (681) Michael Faccinto (Hanford, CA)
3. (589) Frankie Guerrini (San Rafael, CA)
4. (578) Cory Elliott (Bakersfield, CA)
5. (493) Courtney Crone (Corona, CA)
6. (433) Randi Pankratz (Atascadero, CA)
7. (431) Cody Swanson (Norco, CA)
8. (426) Robert Dalby (Anaheim, CA)
9. (418) Maria Cofer (Macdoel, CA)
10. (335) Tyler Dolacki (Fresno, CA)
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10):
1. (763) Six8 Motorsports #68
2. (681) MF Racing #35F
3. (578) Cory Elliott #11E
4. (541) Frankie Guerrini #63
5. (493) Jerome Rodela #25
6. (433) Wally Pankratz #8
7. (431) Kirk Swanson #71s
8. (426) Robert Dalby #4D
9. (418) Cofer Racing #57
10. (362) Keith Ford #73
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS:
Mar 23: Placerville, CA - Placerville Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Apr 9: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
WINNER: Rained Out
Apr 30: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
May 21: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jun 4: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
WINNER: Michael Faccinto
Jun 25: Hanford, CA - Keller Auto Speedway at Kings Fairgrounds
WINNER: Ronnie Gardner
Jul 16: Petaluma, CA - Petaluma Speedway
WINNER: Alex Schutte
Sep 3: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
WINNER: Tanner Thorson
Sep 4: Calistoga, CA - Calistoga Speedway
WINNER: Michael Faccinto
Sep 8: Chico, CA - Silver Dollar Speedway
WINNER: Alex Schutte
Sep 17: Santa Maria, CA - Santa Maria Raceway
WINNER: Cody Swanson
Oct 8: Tulare, CA - Thunderbowl Raceway
Oct 29: Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
Nov 19: Bakersfield, CA - Bakersfield Speedway
Nov 24: ### Ventura, CA - Ventura Raceway
**Races noted with ### represent a race with the USAC National Midget Series.
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2016 USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS:
1. (4) Ronnie Gardner (Placerville Speedway on March 23, Bakersfield Speedway on April 30, Ventura Raceway on May 21 & Santa Maria Raceway on June 25)
2. (2) Michael Faccinto (Bakersfield Speedway on June 4 & Calistoga Speedway on Sept. 4)
(2) Alex Schutte (Petaluma Speedway on July 16 & Silver Dollar Speedway on Sept. 8)
4. (1) Cody Swanson (Santa Maria Raceway on Sept. 17)
(1) Tanner Thorson (Calistoga Speedway on Sept. 3)
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONSHIP FEATURE WINS:
1. [104 wins] Sleepy Tripp
2. [52 wins] Robby Flock
3. [41 wins] Billy Boat
4. [19 wins] Wally Pankratz
5. [18 wins] Page Jones
6. [17 wins] Ronnie Gardner
7. [16 wins] P.J. Jones, Jason Leffler & Rusty Rasmussen
10. [14 wins] Garrett Hansen
11. [13 wins] Jimmy Sills & Tony Stewart
13. [12 wins] Jay Drake & Tommy White
15. [11 wins] Josh Wise
16. [10 wins] Johnny Cofer, Jerry Coons, Jr., Dave Darland, Cory Kruseman & Ron Shuman
21. [9 wins] Bobby East, Tracy Hines, Kasey Kahne & Rich Vogler
25. [8 wins] Stan Fox, Michael Lewis, Steve Paden, Dave Steele & Danny Stratton
30. [7 wins] Rick Hendrix, Chad Nichols & Kody Swanson
33. [6 wins] Rico Abreu, Bryan Clauson, Johnathon Henry, Ken Nichols, Brad Noffsinger & Dave Strickland Jr.
39. [5 wins] Tommy Astone, Christopher Bell, Bob Davison, Ronnie Day, Robert Dolacki, Davey Hamilton, Tony Hunt, Brad Kuhn, Alex Schutte & J.J. Yeley
49. [4 wins] Tyler Brown, Hank Butcher, Nick Chivello, Marc DeBeaumont, Nic Faas, Michael Faccinto, Josh Ford, Chuck Gurney, Darren Hagen, Jordan Hermansader, Ryan Kaplan, Thomas Meseraull, Frank Pedregon, Chris Rahe, Keith Rauch, Jerome Rodela, Johnny Rodriguez, Shane Scully, Ricky Shelton, Tanner Swanson, Brad Sweet & Billy Wease
71. [3 wins] Ryan Bernal, Bobby Boone, Mario Bringetto, Jr., Danny Ebberts, Shane Golobic, Jeff Gordon, Scott Hansen, Alex Harris, Robby Josett, Trey Marcham, Danny McKnight, Ryan Newman, Johnny Parsons, Scott Pierovich, Troy Rutherford & Chuck West
86. [2 wins] Floyd Alvis, Alex Bowman, Rick Bussell, Tony Elliott, Terry Farrar, Mike Figliomeni, Bobby Grewohl, Darryl Haugh, Dennis Hart, Jeff Heywood, Gary Howard, R.J. Johnson, Josh Lakatos, Kyle Larson, Evan Margeson, Matt Mitchell, Rory Price, Stevie Reeves, Bobby Santos, Darin Snider, Michael Snider, Bryan Stanfill, Cody Swanson & Tanner Thorson
111. [1 win] Mike Appio, Caleb Armstrong, Brady Bacon, Donnie Beechler, Wayne Bennet, Pat Bliss, Garratt Boyden, Greg Bragg, Larry Brown, Keith Chrisco, Michelle Decker, Larry Derwin, Kevin Doty, Dan Drinan, Dale Durbin Jr., Cory Elliott, Bob Ellis, Tommie Estes Jr., Duane Feduska, Billy Felts Jr., A.J. Fike, Joe Gaerte, Russ Gamester, Brian Gard, Damion Gardner, Cody Gerhardt, Rick Gerhardt, Frankie Guerrini, Jac Haudenschild, Lloyd Hemman, Nathan High, Rick Hood, Kenny Irwin Jr., A.J. Johnson, Jim Keene, Steve Knepper, Brad Loyet, Dallen McKenney, Shannon McQueen, Lealand McSpadden, Jeff Meyer, Andy Michner, Kevin Olson, Aaron Pollock, David Prickett, Davey Ray, C.J. Sarna, Zach Schiff, Ryan Scott, Jeremy Sherman, Graham Standring, John Starks, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Stockon, Matt Streeter, Jake Swanson, Sammy Swindell, Richard Vander Weerd, Eric Wilkins, Rip Williams & Paul Zimmerly
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ALL-TIME USAC WESTERN STATES MIDGET CHAMPIONS
1982: **Jeff Heywood; 1983: Sleepy Tripp; 1984: Tommy White; 1985: Sleepy Tripp; 1986: Robby Flock; 1987: Sleepy Tripp; 1988: Sleepy Tripp; 1989: Robby Flock; 1990: Sleepy Tripp; 1991: Sleepy Tripp; 1992: Sleepy Tripp; 1993: Robby Flock; 1994: Johnny Cofer; 1995: Billy Boat; 1996: Jay Drake; 1997: Ricky Shelton; 1998: Rick Hendrix; 1999: Marc DeBeaumont; 2000: Wally Pankratz; 2001: Danny Ebberts; 2002: Robby Flock; 2003: Steve Paden; 2004: Johnny Rodriguez; 2005: Jerome Rodela; 2006: Jerome Rodela; 2007: Johnny Rodriguez; 2008: Nic Faas; 2009: Garrett Hansen; 2010: Alex Schutte; 2011: Cory Kruseman; 2012: Shannon McQueen (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & David Prickett (Dirt); 2013: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pave) & Ronnie Gardner (Dirt); 2014: Ronnie Gardner (Overall), Chad Nichols (Pavement), Ronnie Gardner (Dirt); 2015: Ronnie Gardner
**The 1982 Western Midget championship was derived from finishes posted in a number of “west coast” races held under National sanction. These events were NOT promoted, recognized or reported as “western” races and no series standings were generated.