Madera, CA, Apr. 18 - Todd Hunsaker became the third winner
this season after three USAC Ford Focus Midget Series races in
California. The 30-lap feature at the third-mile Madera
Speedway Friday started 20 Midgets in the first main event for four
classes during two racing nights of the inaugural "Fred
Gerhardt Open Wheel Classic".
Hunsaker drove his own Stealth chassis.
He won five USAC Ford Focus main events last season during the
inaugural season for the increasingly popular circuit.
Hunsaker now has an eight-point lead in California (South)
point standings and a one-point advantage in the California (North)
standings. The race Friday carried points for both series.
Third fastest qualifier Hunsaker, the 2002 USAC
Ford Focus Series Champion and runner-up in NMRA-TQ Midget points,
started fourth in the six-car inversion.
He took third spot on the opening lap and second place during lap
11. The winner charged into the lead with an inside pass at
the starting line following a brief caution period. He
extended his lead to 20-yards at the Tony Roberts checkered flag.
Fastest qualifier Ray Neveau started sixth in his Edmunds/Ford Focus
and took second on the final lap with an inside pass from the fourth
turn to the finish line.
Ryan Kaplan, a 16-year old high school
sophomore from Chico making his USAC debut, started second as the
fifth quickest qualifier and led the first 16 laps. The 500 cc
outlaw karts champion at the Cycleland eighth-mile track in Chico
drove his family-owned new Stealth chassis. A thrilled Kaplan
told supporters in the pits he backed off during the final lap
because the temperature rose to 240 degrees, costing him second
place.
Tyler Brown came from 12th to earn fourth money.
Michael Lewis, the 2002 USAC Turkey Night 100-lap Midget Grand Prix
winner at Irwindale, competed in his first Ford Focus race.
The Indiana driver came from 20th grid position to finish fifth in
Gary Hansen's Stealth. "It was fun," Lewis said
later. Twelve of 20 starters were still racing at the finish.
Ninth place Jeff Gregory broke a fuel pump during the final lap and
pulled into the infield on the backstretch.
Josh Lakatos, winner of the Ford Focus opener
March 22 at Perris, came from tenth starting spot to place sixth.
Pole starter Bobby McGowan, Garratt Boyden, female winged mini
sprint veteran Ashley Walker, and TQ Midget veteran Steve Davis
rounded out the top ten finishers.
Phil Goodwine, winner of the last California Ford
Focus Series feature on April 5 at Bakersfield Speedway, was in
ninth position on lap 27 when he and another driver tangled.
Goodwine's car flipped and slid up the banked fourth turn to the
wall before landing upright near the wall, facing the infield.
A red flag followed. Goodwine was uninjured during his second
flip of the day. He also flipped during Friday afternoon
practice.
Time trials were conducted for the first time
here using electronic transponders loaned to the track by Irwindale
Speedway for use with the rented AMB scoring system. Each car
had an on-board transponder and a sending unit was embedded in the
track at the finish line. Six cars at a time in three groups
qualified simultaneously.
Neveau's 14.687 was quickest time in the initial
Ford Focus race at Madera. Eighteen of 20 drivers faced the
clocks, with Lewis and Heather Davis, the daughter of car owner Dave
Calderwood and the wife of driver Steve Davis, the only drivers
without qualifying times. Both drivers started the race from
the back row. There were no heat races because the Ford Focus
main preceded the 100-lap USAC/BCRA co-sanctioned Midget race
Friday. (See Floyd Busby's story for results of that race.)
USAC officials added ten laps to the usual Ford
Focus Series 20-lap feature distance. The rapidly growing Ford
Focus series had several new teams join the circuit. Bradley
Galedrige, a 16-year old high school sophomore from Los Altos, had
fourth fastest qualifying time at Madera. However, he dropped
out before mid-race while running seventh.
The Summary: (pick up agate)
(USE RESULTS FROM USAC HQ)
Fast Time: Ray Neveau, 14.687.
Main: Todd Hunsaker, Neveau, Ryan Kaplan, Tyler
Brown, Michael Lewis, Josh Lakatos, Bobby McGowan, Garratt Boyden,
Ashley Walker, Steve Davis, Jeff Gregory, J. R. Williams, Phil
Goodwine, Stephen Graves, Wayne McCormick, James Miller, Jr,
Bobby Owens, Darren Hagen, Bradley Galedrige, Heather Davis.
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