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Bakersfield, CA., May 22 – West Evans became the fifth different winner in the fifth NMRA-TQ Midget Series feature this season on Saturday at the third-mile clay Bakersfield Speedway. The Moorpark-based TQ racing organization was part of a multi-division card at the historic Kern County track that began hosting races in 1946. He drove his own No. 36 Spike chassis powered by a Bob Wirth Suzuki engine to the first-ever main event victory for a Spike TQ midget chassis. Evans started second in a ten-car field and led all 25 laps. The winner is the Spike West Coast dealer for Spike chassis owner/manufacturer John Godfrey of Brownsburg, Indiana.
It was Evans' fourth NMRA feature triumph since he and others in 2002 reformed the three decades-old NMRA-TQ sanctioning body after USAC dropped TQ racing to sanction Ford Focus Midget racing. USAC sanctioned TQ racing for 15 years from 1987-2001. Evans was a super-modified driver in events such as the Copper World Classic on the Phoenix International Raceway mile as well during his racing career. He won two USAC TQ main events and both came in back-to-back races during the seven event final USAC 2001 season. He won initially on July 21 at Bakersfield and then on September 2 at Santa Maria driving his own No. 36 Stealth. He finished sixth in driver points that year.
Chuck West started sixth and finished second to his cousin Evans at Bakersfield in the No. 38 team car owned by Evans Motorsports. Bruce Hiroshima (from fourth starting spot) trailed in third position. Jimmy Dodson (from fifth), Scott Niven (from third) were the other drivers who completed all 25 laps. Sixth through tenth place drivers were: Bakersfield's Dakota Schweitzer (from ninth), Amanda Thomas (from pole) and Dave Lambert (from eighth). Seventh starter Anthony Lopiccolo dropped out on lap 6 and Ron Ahrendt did not complete a lap.
Evans (from second) also won the first of two five-car, eight-lap heat races. His teammate West (from fourth) took the second five-car eight-lap run. Every driver completed eight laps in both heats. Hiroshima, from the pole, won the four-lap trophy dash for the first two finishers from both heat races. Evans' feature victory propelled him from fifth to second in 2010 driver point standings. Lopiccolo retained his point lead but his DNF cut his point advantage from 43 to 38 points after five of 16 scheduled races. Lopiccolo's car owner (dad Paul) point lead slipped from 27 points to four over the Evans No. 38 TQ, which has been raced by West in four events and by Greg Edenholm once.
NMRA feature winners so far this season have been Hiroshima (No. 5), Dodson (No. 6). Lopiccolo (No. 21) and Schweitzer (No. 59) in the last event. The next NMRA-TQ event will be held on Saturday, June 12 at the third-mile clay Santa Maria Speedway as part of another multi-division program at the racy speedway on the central coast of California. NMRA has four remaining race dates at Bakersfield Speedway on June 26, July 24, August 21 and September 11.
Summary:
Heat 1 – West Evans, Bruce Hiroshima, Jimmy Dodson, Amanda Thomas, Dakota Schweitzer.
Heat 2 – Chuck West, Scott Niven, Anthony Lopiccolo, Ron Ahrendt, Dave Lambert.
Dash – Hiroshima, Niven, West, Evans.
Main – Evans, West, Hiroshima, Dodson, Niven, Schweitzer, Thomas, Lambert, Lopiccolo, Ahrendt.
POINT STANDINGS:
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