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| CHUCK WEST WINS NMRA-TQ
MIDGET VENTURA FEATURE by Tim Kennedy |
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Ventura, CA., Mar. 31 - Two-time NMRA-TQ Midget champion
(2002-06) Chuck West, of Clovis, started seventh and won a 25-lap
NMRA feature Saturday at the fifth-mile clay, scenic seaside Ventura
Raceway. He became the fifth race leader on lap 14 in a 15-car field
that provided close competition all the way. West drove a Stealth/JC
Performance Kawasaki owned by his cousin and fellow TQ driver West
Evans. It was the seventh NMRA main event triumph for West at five
different tracks since NMRA reformed in 2002. West's victories have
come at Visalia (2002), Santa Maria (2004), San Bernardino and
Ventura (2005), Santa Maria and Hanford (2006) and Ventura in the
second of 16 scheduled 2007 races.
Pole starter Richard Marshall led the first two laps Saturday and then flipped in a "tommy-tip-over" as TV analyst Larry Rice called easy rollovers. Outside front row starter Richard Ortega, Jr paced laps 3-5. Third starter Scott Dobson, the 2006 NMRA rookie of the year, led laps 6-9. Scott Hansen, a USAC TQ, full midget, sprint car and Silver Crown veteran, came from eighth grid position. He kept the Lambert No. 55 in front from lap 10-13, before West took charge and led lap 14-25. Bruce Hiroshima came from ninth to finish second. New NMRA point leader Ron Ahrendt started fourth and finished third. He now leads Hiroshima 119-118 after two races. Dobson and Ortega completed the top five. Rookies Jonathan St. Clair and Nick Cali finished sixth and seventh. West Evans, in his own Stealth/JC Performance Suzuki, Michael Bliffen and rookie Cathy O'Brien completed the top ten in the 15-car field. Hansen won the first eight-lap heat race from sixth grid position. Ahrendt took the second heat from the pole. No time trials were held. The next NMRA race will be held Saturday, April 14 at Santa Maria Speedway. The Summary: Heat 1 - Scott Hansen, Richard Marshall, Richard Ortega, Jr; West Evans, Bruce Hiroshima, Jonathan St. Clair, Michael Bliffen, Cathy O'Brien. Heat 2 - Ron Ahrendt, Kenny Wiley, Chuck West, Scott Dobson, Nick Cali, Scott Niven, Jef Marshall. Main - West, Hiroshima, Ahrendt, Dobson, Ortega, St. Clair, Cali, Evans, Bliffen, O'Brien, Hansen, Wiley, R. Marshall, Niven, J. Marshall. POINT STANDINGS Drivers Car Owners |
