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IRWINDALE, CA, Nov. 25
- Bobby McGowan, an 18-year old from Ramona near
San Diego, became the third and final leader of the USAC California
Series Ford Focus Midget 30-lap main event Thursday night. The race
on the third-mile track at Irwindale Speedway was the first support
feature of the night for the traditional Thanksgiving Night Grand
Prix for Midgets. All Focus cars used four-cylinder, 16-valve
internally stock 2.0 liter Ford Focus Zetec engines.
It was McGowan's fourth FF feature victory of the
29 race, three-year old FF California Series, which opened this
season in March at Irwindale. McGowan, who finished fourth in
California FF (South) final points, won $500 from the $3,380 FF
purse. He drove the Robert McGowan-owned Motive Energy Stealth in
which he also won twice at Madera, CA and once at Las Vegas, NV this
year.
As the fourth fastest qualifier in a
California-record 32-car field, McGowan started third in the six-car
inverted start. The first eight finishers in a 17-car, 12-lap
qualifying race won by Steve Davis, joined the fastest 14 qualifiers
in mid-afternoon time trials to comprise a 22-car starting field.
Brad Loyet, a 16-year old from Missouri and the eighth quickest
qualifier, did not start the 21-car race.
Chris Rahe, the 2004 California FF (South)
champion and an eight-time feature winner this season, shot his
Stealth into the first lap lead by passing pole starter Courtney
Kirts, a 19-year old Indiana driver. The first four drivers waged a
tight battle for the point for the first 12-laps. Ryan Pace, the
TNGP FocusMidget race winner last year, started fourth and shot to
second place on the initial lap. Pace executed an inside pass
entering the first turn on lap 12 and opened a 25-yard advantage
over McGowan and fastest qualifier/sixth
starter Chase Barber, a 17-year old from Morgan Hill, CA who made
his FF Midget
debut last Thanksgiving. Both McGowan and Barber passed Rahe on lap
13 and then closed on the leader. Pace paced the equally-powered
midgets as Rahe began fading to ninth-place before he dropped out on
lap 27.
As Pace tried to lap 17th-running J. R. Williams
on lap 23, their cars tangled briefly in the fourth turn. That was
the opportunity pressing McGowan sought and he quickly darted to the
inside and took command before Pace recovered and held second.
McGowan checkered first, with Pace a few yards back and third place
Barber five yards behind Pace. McGowan won by a mere 0.088 seconds
and Barber, the nephew of past TQ Midget car owner champion Guy
Barber, was 0.602 seconds in back of the winner. Beast-mounted Pace
and Barber were trying to win their first FF main event this year.
Josh Lakatos, the 2003 California FF (North)
champion, came from fifth to finish fourth, 0.905 seconds back. J.
J. Ercse (from 21st), Kirts and Bobby Owens followed. Audra Sasselli,
a 28-year old FF rookie from Fresno and winner of two FF features
this year (including the last Irwindale race on October 9) started
ninth and finished eighth in a Stealth owned by her mother and
wrenched by her father and husband Chris. Bradley Galedrige, a
five-time FF winner during his second season in the series, started
11th and finished ninth in his Al Galedrige Construction Stealth.
Eric Pace, older brother of Ryan, came from 14th in his Beast
chassis to earn tenth place.
Sixteen drivers received the checkered flag from
USAC starter Tony Roberts and 13 drivers ran all 30 laps, with three
finishers down one lap. The race had an opening lap spin, was
restarted and ran 30 laps in 8:04.672 with only one caution flag on
lap three for a brief incident.
At the finish line winner McGowan spoke to
spectators on the track PA system and thanked "the Agajanian
family and Irwindale Speedway for putting on this race, my mom and
dad, my girl friend, my brother and his girl friend for all their
help with my race car." He added, "Ryan (Pace) got in
trouble with a lapped car and I got by him." McGowan later said
he thought he would've won even without the trouble Pace
experienced.
Joining the top three finishers at the finish
line were FF champions Rahe (20-race CA South Series) and Galedrige
(17-race CA North Series). Galedrige also won the Belleville, KS
Nationals first-ever FF Midget 100-lap race this summer. Eight races
awarded both North and South points. During afternoon TT for the
TNGP race the 32-car field qualified in four groups "Grand
Prix" style with all laps timed by electronic transponders
simultaneously and the fastest lap counted as the official
qualifying time. Barber's 14.507 produced fast time honors.
During 2004 there were eight different California
FF winners--Lakatos, McGowan, Galedrige, Rahe, Sasselli, Greg Bragg,
Bobby Michnowicz and Ashley Swanson. Sprint car veterans Bragg and
Michnowicz, plus female drivers Sasselli and Swanson were first-time
FF winners. Car counts ranged from a low of 11 to an all-time FF
high of 38 cars at Belleville, where California, Midwest and
Carolina-Virginia FF teams converged for the first time on neutral
ground and points were awarded in all three series.
The 32-car count at Irwindale for the TNGP was a
California FF Series all time high and topped the last TNGP car
count by five cars. The scheduled 29 race California FF Series lost
two events (Perris and Ventura) to rain. Eleven tracks-four paved
and seven dirt-hosted 2004 CA FF racing in three states in the
expanding series that is popular with both fans and competitors.
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