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| ORTEGA WINS INITIAL NMRA-TQ
MIDGET FEATURE - By Tim Kennedy |
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Ventura, CA., Aug. 1 - Richard Ortega, Jr, the 2005 NMRA-TQ Midget
Series rookie of the year from nearby Camarillo, won his initial
NMRA feature Wednesday in a 25-lap race on the fifth-mile clay
Ventura Raceway. The mid-week race kicked off the first of two
racing nights at the seaside fairgrounds facility during the annual
Ventura County Fair from August 1-12. A packed grandstand of 3,000
fairgoers witnessed the action that included VRA dwarf cars, mini
dwarfs, junior midgets and sport compacts.
Third-year TQ driver Ortega started first and led all 25-laps
aboard his own No. 8 Stealth/Kawasaki, the former West Evans No. 38
car. He held the point despite three caution flags. Ortega climbed
from eighth to seventh in current point standings. Fifteen drivers
started the event, round nine of the year, and Two-time (1987-88) USAC-TQ champion Dennis Hart made his first racing start of the year in Greg Edenholm's No. 1 Hart/Honda. He charged from 13th in the 15-car field and finished second for 57-points. Hart now ranks 17th on the list of 22 drivers with 2007 NMRA points. Point leader Kenny Wiley started fifth and finished third to increase his point lead from 13 to 38 points. USAC-CRA sprint car driver Josh Ford made his first TQ Midget start and came from seventh to finish fourth in the No. 6 Richard Marshall Ellis/750cc Honda. West Evans started fourth and finished fifth in his Stealth/Suzuki. Chuck West, the two-time NMRA driving champion (2002 and 2006) and current second place driver in 2007 points, came from tenth to sixth. Scott Dobson, the 2006 NMRA rookie of the year, rookie Jonathan St. Clair, Ron Ahrendt and midget/sprint car veteran Randy Moody completed the top ten. Former2007 point runner-up Bruce Hiroshima finished 13th and dropped to fourth in points, behind C. West and W. Evans. Leading rookie St. Clair slipped from seventh to eighth in points with the next most successful rookie, Scott Niven, ranked 12th, more than 200-points behind St. Clair. Moody and Wiley won the pair of eight-lap heat races. With seven
drivers in each heat race, Hart did not compete in either race. Paul
Lopiccolo--Wiley's car owner--increased his car owner point lead
from 22 to 38 points. The next NMRA-TQ race in the 14-race schedule
will be held Saturday, August 11 at the Summary: Heat 1: Randy Moody, Jonathan St. Clair, West Evans, Josh Ford, Bruce Hiroshima, Mike Elliott, Ron Ahrendt. Heat 2: Kenny Wiley, Richard Ortega, Jr, Scott Dobson, Nick Cali, Chuck West, Scott Niven, Jimmy May. Main: Ortega, Dennis Hart, Wiley, Ford, Evans, West, Dobson, St. Clair, Ahrendt, Moody, Elliott, Cali, Hiroshima, Niven, May. POINT STANDINGS: DRIVERS CAR OWNERS 1 Kenny Wiley 527 1 21 Paul Lopiccolo 554 |
