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| AHRENDT WINS FIRST TQ-MIDGET MAIN AFTER 22 YEARS By Tim Kennedy |
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Bakersfield, CA., May 16 – Patience, perseverance and persistence finally paid off Saturday night for Ron Ahrendt, 65, at the third-mile clay Bakersfield Speedway. The Harbor City resident won the first three-quarter (TQ) midget main event of his career after 22 years. He drove his own No. 87 Dave Ellis-built chassis with a Honda 836-cc engine. He debuted the car in 1987 at Ascot and ran four races that year. He started first in a 12-car field at Bakersfield and led all 25 laps for his memorable victory. Fans and fellow competitors were happy and proud of his milestone achievement. The retired Los Angeles Police Department officer from the Harbor Division became the sixth different NMRA-TQ Midget Series feature winner in six point races this year for the competitive series. Ahrendt has not had a good 2009 season to date and has only raced in four of the six events. His engine failed and had to be rebuilt following race two on March 21, causing him to miss events three and four. His 63 points earned Saturday moved Ahrendt from 100 to 163 points, but he remained in 13th position among the 15 drivers with 2009 TQ points. Although Ahrendt has not won a TQ main in either USAC (from 1987 through 2001) or in NMRA (2002 to 2009), he has come as close as second. He almost won a main during 2002 when NMRA teams raced at the tenth-mile clay Plaza Park track in Visalia. The popular owner/driver with a great sense of humor serves as the NMRA championship awards banquet emcee each year. Consistency has been Ahrendt's forte. He has finished in the top ten in driver points almost every year with NMRA since it resumed sanctioning TQ midget races in the West in 2002. He ranked seventh in 2002, 14th a year later in an abbreviated season, fifth in 2004, seventh in 2005, third in 2006, seventh in 2007 and seventh in 2008. His USAC TQ career spanned 15 years when he ran a low of four races in 1987 to a high of 21 races. His USAC-TQ series final driver point rankings from 1987 through 2001 showed steady improvement. His final rankings in order were 33, 19, 17, 22, 20, 23, 24, 15, 11, 10 (1996), 9, 7, 10, 8 and 4 (2001) in the final season TQs ran under the USAC banner. Three main event winners this season chased Ahrendt across the finish line at Bakersfield. Scott Dobson (from 4th), 2008-co-rookie of the year Jimmy Dodson (from 10th), and May 2 winner Bruce Hiroshima (from eighth) finished second through fourth respectively. Richard Ortega, Jr., Scott Niven, Anthony Lopiccolo, West Evans, rookie Amanda Thomas, rookie Dakota Schweitzer and Dave Lambert all completed 25 laps in that order. Kenny Wiley dropped out on lap 8. Dobson and Ortega won the pair of six car, 8-lap heat races at Bakersfield in a four-division evening that also had IMCA modifieds, American stocks and mini stocks racing. TQ point leader Hiroshima retained his point lead (326-322) after six of 15 scheduled races this year. Dobson moved from fourth to second in driver points and Ortega slipped from second to third. Guy Barber's No. 18 TQ moved from fourth to second in current car owner points and dropped Ortega's No. 8 to third. The next TQ race will take place on Saturday, June 6 at Perris Auto Speedway. Summary: Heat 1 – Scott Dobson, Kenny Wiley, Bruce Hiroshima, Scott Niven, Amanda Thomas, Dave Lambert. Heat 2 – Richard Ortega, Jr., Anthony Lopiccolo, West Evans, Ron Ahrendt, Jimmy Dodson, Dakota Schweitzer. Main – Ahrendt, Dobson, Dodson, Hiroshima, Ortega, Niven, Lopiccolo, Evans, Thomas, Schweitzer, Lambert, Wiley. POINT STANDINGS: Drivers Owners 1 Bruce Hiroshima 326 1 No. 5 Bruce Hiroshima 342 2 Scott Dobson 322 2 No. 18 Guy Barber 340 3 Richard Ortega, Jr. 321 3 No. 8 Richard Ortega, Jr. 339 4 Anthony Lopiccolo 309 4 No. 21 Paul Lopiccolo 327 5 West Evans 295 5 No. 36 West Evans 313 6 Kenny Wiley 246 6 No. 96 Kenny Wiley 261 7 Scott Niven 238 7 No. 66 Scott Niven 253 8 Jimmy Dodson 225 8 No. 55 Dave Lambert 242 9 Dave Lambert 223 9 No. 6 Jimmy Dodson 240 10 Chuck West 218 10 No.38 West Evans 233 |
