Stockton,
CA. 08/27/05 - … Brian Olson is on a roll. The
Puyallup, WA driver, fresh off two feature wins in a row in WMRA
action, traveled south to Stockton 99 Speedway Saturday night and
promptly drove away with a 50-lap USAC Western States Midget Series
A-Main victory. Olson started fifth on the grid at a track he was
competing at for the first time in his career.
“We are on roll right now”, said the
winner. “This makes three straight for our team. Tonight was just
supposed to be a tune-up for us for the September 11th
race here.”
Warm and sticky conditions made for a
considerable workout for the all teams. With an A-Main temperature
of 84 degrees – after a 100 degree day, pole-sitter Brian Gard led
the 15-car field to the green flag. Gard led the opening seven laps
before Olson pounced in turn one with a low move. By lap 20, Robby
Flock and Ryan Kaplan were dicing for second place, with Kaplan
emerging as the best candidate to unseat Olson in front.
Kaplan, a two-time USAC Western Midget feature
winner this season, pulled onto the rear nerf-bar of Olson on lap
26. While watching an entertaining fight for the lead, many fans
peeled their eyes toward Bradley Galedrige. The 2004 Ford Focus
California North Champion was moving forward on the high-side of the
paved ¼-mile oval. On lap 35, Galedrige pulled a slick crossover
maneuver on Flock to steal third place. Galedrige repeatedly sped
into turn three higher and harder than anyone else on the track. He
then darted down the high banks with a low exit off turn four.
Kaplan’s run at Olson was short-lived. The
Washington driver opened up a half straightaway lead by lap 43.
Galedrige tried everything to get by Kaplan for the runner-up spot
but Kaplan held his ground and that is how they finished. Flock, and
Ben Petter were next in line. Quick qualifier Tony Hunt rebounded
from an early spin to climb back to a sixth place result. The
top-ten was filled out by Pete Davis, Garratt Boyden, Scott
Pierovich, and Jerome Rodela.
The USAC Western Midgets return to Stockton 99
Speedway in Northern California for their next event, scheduled for
Sunday September 11, 2005. The race is the annual Fred Gerhardt Open
Wheel Classic which features twin 100-lap events with the Western
Sprint Cars.
USAC
WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 27, 2005 –
Stockton, California – Stockton 99 Speedway
QUALIFICATIONS:
1. Tony Hunt, 4, Rosen-13.529; 2. Brian Olson, 71, Olson-13.600; 3.
Brad Galedrige, 29, Galedrige-13.654; 4. Ryan Kaplan, 21,
Kaplan-13.726; 5. Ben Petter, 11D, Petter-13.789; 6. Brian Gard, 57,
Borghesian-13.828; 7. Robby Flock, 79, Sala-13.853; 8. Jerome Rodela,
5, VanDyne-13.931; 9. Garratt Boyden, 42, Boyden-13.949; 10. Shannon
McQueen, 7, McQueen-14.008; 11. Scott Pierovich, 35,
Pierovich-14.053; 12. Pete bDavis, 00, Davis-14.127; 13. Tyler
Brown, 34, Brown-14.229; 14. Scott Walker, 34s, Walker-14.344; 15.
Stephen Graves, 86, Graves-14.993.
FEATURE:
(50 laps) 1. Brian Olson, 2. Ryan Kaplan, 3. Brad Galedrige, 4.
Robby Flock, 5. Ben Petter, 6. Tony Hunt, 7. Pete Davis, 8. Garratt
Boyden, 9. Scott Pierovich, 10. Jerome Rodela, 11. Stephen Graves,
12. Shannon McQueen, 13. Brian Gard, 14. Scott Walker, 15. Tyler
Brown. NT
FEATURE
LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Gard, Laps 8-50 Olson.
NEW
WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Flock-608; 2-Rodela-515;
3-Brown-441; 4-Kaplan-429; 5-Graves-408; 6-Garrett Hansen-404;
7-Galedrige-323; 8-Chris Rahe-304; 9-Pierovich-303; 10-Dallen
McKenney-292.
NEXT
WESTERN MIDGET CAR RACE: September 11 – Stockton (CA) 99 Speedway
– “Fred Gerhardt Open Wheel Classic”
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